In partnership with Santa Monica Cultural Affairs and KCRW, McCabe’s Guitar Shop presents Americana in the Park 2026, a free event featuring a live concert celebrating a broad spectrum of Americana music—from traditional roots, blues, jazz, and folk to its modern forms.
Join us for family-friendly programming featuring top-notch local talent including Albert Lee, Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, Abby Posner & the Big Fall, Jason Luckett, and the Bob Baker Marionettes, along with food trucks, kid-friendly interactive elements, and a McCabe’s Guitar Shop pop-up!
Live at Gandara Park 1819 Stewart St. Santa Monica, CA 90404
In partnership with Santa Monica Cultural Affairs and KCRW, McCabe’s Guitar Shop presents
Americana in the Park 2026, a free event featuring a live concert celebrating a broad spectrum of Americana music—from traditional roots, blues, jazz, and folk to its modern forms.
Join us for family-friendly programming featuring top-notch local talent including
Albert Lee, Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, Abby Posner & the Big Fall, Jason Luckett, and the Bob Baker Marionettes,
along with food trucks, kid-friendly interactive elements, and a McCabe’s Guitar Shop pop-up!
Live at Gandara Park
1819 Stewart St.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Looking forward to having my old friends J Ramada and Est Nyboer present their newest directions on the next Second Saturdays!
J Ramada’s guitar playing will blow you away. I get a similar feeling seeing him as I did when I first encountered Michael Hedges in my youth!
“J. Ramada is a singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist based in Los Angeles, California, who specializes in Americana music with diverse influences. His music incorporates elements of folk, rock, latin/flamenco, jazz, EDM, and acoustic soul, creating what has been described as a ‘rainbow of sound.'” — jramada.com
Est is a renaissance creative with whom I’ve played since we were in Kevin Frank’s Kaliband back in the early aughts. We performed a lot as a guitar/drums duo subsequently. The piano is a percussion instrument, and that’s what he’s playing on Saturday, bringing his new songs out of the studio for us.
“Est Nyboer is a few things to a lot of people – L.A.’s best street dance photographer; drummer for Jason Luckett, Mexico68 and various other situations; and now he’s decided that a piano and microphone are the best way to deliver his inventory of lyrics to the listener. His intention is to make you feel something and maybe think just a little bit.” — estnyboer.com
—— Doors open at 7:30, music starts at 8:00 and will go until 10:30ish. Pay what you can to support musicians and this wonderful community event. See below how we’ve altered our suggested donations to reflect what’s needed to keep this series thriving and to offer you new ways to support.
Thanks so much for your support
Jason
Second Saturdays Jazz Night w/ Jason Luckett & Friends Saturday, August 8, 2026 7:30 pm Doors, 8:00 Showtime, runs until 10:30ish
$25 — Suggested Entry $35 — Supporter $50 — Patron (helps sustain the music + space) $10 — Student / Low Income (everyone is welcome)
Archetype Yoga 638 E. Colorado Blvd. Ste. 301 Pasadena, CA 91101 626-345-5676 Please RSVP to coordinate accessibility options. Elevator is in the back so we’ll need to meet you there.
In Playhouse Village in the heart of Pasadena, just around the corner from the Playhouse, plenty of parking on Colorado or in the city lot behind Urth Cafe.
Enter through the front, we’re on the third floor. Let us know if you need an elevator and will let you in the back through the alley. 626-345-5676
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • 7:00 PM Live on KXLU 88.9 FM — Los Angeles
Wildwood Flower Radio Hour featuring
Jason Luckett, Pi Jacobs, and Shane Alexander, with guest host
Tom Zehnder of McCabe’s Guitar Shop, in celebration of
Americana in the Park 2026 on September 13 at Gandara Park in Santa Monica.
Tom will interview us, and we’ll each perform about 25 minutes of music live.
The show will also stream on Instagram.
As we lead up to the show, follow the backstory on my Substack and Medium.
I’m creating a soundtrack of life, love, and comfort this year for my birthday … sung and/or played by my friends. I want it to feel a trip to the family home where the old records still sit by the turntable. We may bring some new ones to share where we are now, but the root is in the music that Dad or Mom might use to remind me of what led to this musical life.
Is it a Bacharach song? Is it the Beatles? Is it something written by Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, Paul Simon, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Elton John or Pete Townshend? Or could be those records they really didn’t get — the ones that got me through adolescence by Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, or The Smiths? Or the stuff we shared like Earth, Wind & Fire, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Bill Withers and most of all Stevie Wonder? Get the picture?
This year, I’m older than my father when he died and my mom can’t tell stories like she did since her stroke, so I just want to feel that lifelong connection and share it with people I love. I want this to feel like a musical hug and a tribute to songs, songwriters and the inspiration we gather from them.
Most artists will do one song and I’ll do a few.
DETAILS:
Artist:JASON LUCKETT
Jason Luckett Pasadena Residency: Second Saturdays Jazz Night+
June was dynamic! The NBA Finals kept the audience small, but mighty at the last SSJN… I would’ve struggled to get away from the game if it weren’t my gig, so I understand. But we had a great show with Alison Lewis and Mary Scholz. We had great stories at the Juneteenth event earlier that day, too. And we joyfully gathered this past weekend at the Idyllwild Songwriters Festival.
This month we’re back in Pasadena with Patricia Bahia and Charles Steen. That will be my only full set in July, I think. But I’m also contributing songs to an afternoon of protest songs, new and old, at the Silverlake Library on the 18th, and on the 20th, the Harry Nilsson Singalong is back for its 11th year at Molly Malone’s. I’ll sing the classic, “Snow,” from Nilsson Sings Newman, thus giving tribute to two of my heroes, Nilsson and Randy Newman. I’ll be on Substack and Mediumagain this month. I’m loving that some of you are reading and engaging with me about these pieces. This month was a little quiet except for a brief Clive Davis story. I’d love for you to read (like, comment, and subscribe to) what I’m sharing there. As it develops, I hope to integrate writing with the shows, to give behind the scenes of developing a musical community.
Please click the links at the top of this post or visitjasonluckett.com for full info on all the shows and for the essays. I’m trying to streamline this process, and the posts are quite expansive!
A little bit about my guests on July 11:
I’ve gotten to know both Patricia and Charles through my long-time musical brother Jami Lula, who’s played the series several times. Patricia’s story is quite inspiring, taking a life-threatening condition and turning it into art! Her soulful vocals and piano fuel her latest release, “Together We Rise,” written in response to the events in Minneapolis in January this year.
Charlie plays in the house band at NHCRS where I played last month. I felt so supported by his playing, then I heard him warm up with some “Ted Greene on the Telecaster” sweetness and knew I wanted to hear more. Charlie’s résumé includes stints with some of the biggest artists of the 60s and 70s. He humbly calls himself a “journeyman.” That journey contains a lot of beauty.
As always, please keep in touch, be good to each other, and let’s build this community. One might say this Fourth of July is hitting different…. Given that, we might need community more than ever.
‘This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender,’ à la Pete Seeger is more my style, but you can’t deny the historic power of Woody Guthrie and the slogan scrawled on his guitar. I look forward to participating in this second afternoon of protest music new and old at the Silverlake Library.
DETAILS:
Artist:JASON LUCKETT
Short Appearance / Guest Artist
Date:Saturday, 07/18/26
Time:2:00pm
Venue:Silverlake Branch Los Angeles Public Library
So happy to be a part of the 11th Annual Harry Nilsson Singalong!
Check out this lineup:
Alex Vincent Alyssandra Nighswonger Carolyn Soyars Danette Christine Danny Henry Dave Soyars Evie Sands Feef Mooney Fernando Perdomo Gary Stockdale Hunter Hawkins Isobel Campbell James Nolte Janice Mautner-Markham Jason Berk Jason Luckett Joe Kennedy Kaitlin Wolfberg Kristi Callan Luis Enrique Lopez Lyn Bertles Mark Fletcher Michael Culhane Milo Binder Nathalie Archangel Nick Guzman Nick Vincent Rick Hromadka Ruthann Friedman Sean David Christensen Steve Barton Suzy Williams Tara Austin Teresa Cowles Tom Bishel Willie Aron David Bash – Master of Ceremonies and more…. Tickets are $15 advance /$20 day of show This show is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend Zak Nilsson. See you there!
Notes:11th Annual Nilsson Singalong! Organized by my friend, Todd Lawrence. These are wonderful shows, jam packed with great artists. I’ll be singing “Snow” this year from ilsson Sings Newman.
This month we have Patricia Bahia and Charles Steen joining us.
My recent connection to both of them comes through one of our favorites, Jami Lula.
Jami gathered PATRICIA, a bunch of other songwriters, and me sometime last year which got me reacquainted with Patricia’s positive energy and artistry. And she joined us at Archetype to start off this year for a few songs, which got us singing!
In her own words:
“Though I was always a singer, I didn’t write my first song until after receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2003. I’d spent my life doing what was expected of me, pursuing a career as a lawyer, living out someone else’s dream, while secretly harboring a dream of writing songs”
“Songwriting was on my bucket-list–something I’d always wanted to do, but didn’t know I was capable of, and had no idea of how to even start.”
“The diagnosis and treatment changed me–it loosened the grip of my conscious logical mind and freed up my right brain creative side. And having a life-threatening illness gave me the immediacy I needed to trade my brief cases for guitar cases and start living my bucket-list life. I realized, ‘I’ve only got one life. I’m not going to get another chance to do what I feel called to do. So, if not now, when?”
I met CHARLIE after Jami invited me to play at North Hollywood Church of Religious Science. He’s part of the house band and really made my songs come to life. He gets a sweet Ted Greene type of tone out of his Telecaster. I’m really looking forward to hearing him do his own thing on the 11th. He humbly describes himself as a “journeyman musician” and what a journey it’s been, reaching back to accompany some of the classic artists of the 60s and 70s to now.
DETAILS:
Artist:JASON LUCKETT
Jason Luckett Pasadena Residency: Second Saturdays Jazz Night+
This is my second time up there to play the festival. It comes at the end of a weeklong writing retreat, bringing in songwriters from all over the country. I made fast good friends and collaborators from being there, including Steve Key, whom I’ll accompany the day before. I’m excited to be back!
A solo hike at the 2022 retreat! Yes, I’m happy!
Brett Perkins Presents: Idyllwild Songwriters Festival 10th Anniversary, June 27/28, 2026 (Click for info)
Amilia K. Spicer * The Brothers Landau Paula Fong * Will Hawkins * Ricky Berger * Steve Key * Syante * Kathryn D’Costa * Jason Luckett * Dave Preston * Nick Justice * Mikele Kreitner * Paddy Marsh * Julie Lee * Apis Mellifera * actual size * Dennis & Laura * Mark Alciati & Sherie Davis * Mike Berman * Joshua Winget-Hill
The Idyllwild Songwriters Festival is celebrating a tenth year of presenting original singer/songwriters at Spirit Mountain Retreat @spiritmountainretreat , Idyllwild, California, as a free to the public, fully outdoor, family and dogs friendly event produced in support of Idyllwild Help Center @idyhelpcenter via voluntary donations accepted during the event.
Singing for Sunday Services at North Hollywood Church of Religious Science. They’ve got great musicians and it’s always a pleasure to play and take in the service.
Click to watch “Daydream” performed in December at NHCRS
Notes:Singing for Sunday Services at North Hollywood Church of Religious Science. They’ve got great musicians and it’s always a pleasure to play and take in the service.
of Jason by Kimberly Adams Fongheiser
