SF Conversion benefit Oct. 2

[bjallen@igc.org]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
BRUCE ALLEN
SEPTEMBER 1, 1995
(415) 968-8798

"Trains Not Tanks:" Folk Legends Ramblin' Jack Elliott, U. Utah
Phillips Head Up 20th Anniversary Benefit for the Center for
Economic Conversion

 Some of the most renowned figures in the world of
 traditional American folk music will team up for a benefit
 concert to observe the Center for Economic Conversion's
 20th anniversary on Monday, October 2, 1995, at the
 historic Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
 "Trains Not Tanks: a Concert for Conversion" will feature
 Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who traveled with Woody Guthrie and
 became known as the foremost interpreter of Guthrie's
 music, bringing the great songwriter's body of work to a
 worldwide audience after the debilitating disease of
 Huntington's Chorea took Guthrie off the road. Elliott was
 one of Bob Dylan's main early influences and is admired by
 luminaries from Johnny Cash to Jack Nicholson. The show
 will also feature another folk singer of eminent stature:
 U. Utah Phillips, "the Golden Voice of the Great
 Southwest," whose rich baritone and satirical wit have
 made him an immensely popular national performer and a
 tireless champion of the peace, labor, and environmental
 movements. The event will also showcase the long-awaited
 West Coast return of Jaime Brockett, a one-time protege of
 Ramblin' Jack's who has since earned a reputation as one
 of the most dynamic live performers in America. Brockett
 has been named as a major influence by such current folk
 stars as John Gorka and Bill Morrissey. Opening the show
 is Bay Area native Michael McNevin, a rising young star
 recently nominated for Artist of the Year by the National
 Academy of Songwriters. "With only one recording to his
 credit," writes one reviewer, "McNevin has stepped to the
 forefront of the New Folk Movement." The Mountain
 View-based Center for Economic Conversion, founded in
 1975, works both locally and nationally to promote
 positive alternatives to the military economy, and is at
 the forefront of the prodigious effort to replace the
 nearly 40,000 jobs the Bay Area will ultimately lose due
 to military base closings. The Center is also a leader in
 the fight to prevent Congress from further inflating an
 already-bloated military budget at the expense of health
 care, housing, education, environmental, transportation,
 and job training programs. Tickets for the event are $20
 or $10 for students and seniors with ID. All proceeds go
 to the Center for Economic Conversion. Doors open at 6:30
 PM; show begins at 7:30 PM. Valet parking is available for
 $5.00. Tickets are available at all Bass Ticket outlets
 (1-800-762-BASS), at the Great American Music Hall box
 office at 859 O'Farrell Street in San Francisco
 (415-885-0750), and at the Center for Economic Conversion
 at 222 View Street in Mountain View (415-968-8798).

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