By Daniel Pearson
SDUN Reporter
But the Normal Heights United Methodist Church serves as a different type of gathering place for live music lovers year-round. The church hosts the Acoustic Music San Diego (AMSD) Concerts series, a labor of love Carey Driscoll started in 2003.
Driscoll, who originally moved to San Diego in 1965, launched AMSD Concerts because he was a fan of Jack Williams – a singer-songwriter with a 51-year career in music who’s played with John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Jerry Butler, Hank Ballard, and the Shirelles, to name a few – and he wanted to see Williams perform, Driscoll said.
“Starting with that show, I had to learn the ins and out of booking artists as I went,” he said. “I applied my music knowledge and sales experience – whatever it took to the get the job done. What I did learn along the way is that this is not something easy to do as a one-man operation.”
Since the 250-seat AMSD Concerts is a one-man operation with no ties to Ticketmaster or Clear Channel – the major promoters and ticket sellers for nearly all U.S. concerts – Driscoll gets the word out the old-fashioned way. He makes sure each concert is listed in the calendar of events sections of local newspapers and he sends e-mails to his ever-growing list of contacts.
In the early days, some of the AMSD shows he managed were coups of a sort – they included original member of The Byrds Chris Hillman, John McEuen of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fame, and Country Joe McDonald. But Driscoll also landed some household names, such as Judy Collins (who’s now performed twice for AMSD); Janis Ian, scheduled to perform September 3; and John Sebastian, who has shows booked for October 23 and 24.
Maria Penny, 70, who lives in Clairemont, is one of AMSD Concerts’ e-mail subscribers and regular attendees.
“I just love the venue,” Penny said. “The acoustics are great, and the variety of artists he brings in is more in the folk tradition, which is the music I grew up on. And it’s getting harder to see those artists anywhere these days.”
Cindy Myhra, 57, who also attends regularly, said what she loves most about the shows is that alcohol is not sold at AMSD Concerts.
“That way you don’t have some obnoxious jerk sitting next to you talking all night and yelling out, ‘Play Freebird,’” Myhra joked. “I’ve been to 82 (AMSD) concerts and it’s just one of the best, intimate settings in existence, or at least anywhere in San Diego in my opinion. You get to talk to the artist after the show, get your picture taken with them – it’s just an all-around great experience.”
