New Music for the New Year

LIGHTING THEIR PATH: Want to celebrate the holidays with a concert that combines charity, family, love, and good, new music? Grammy-nominated Amy Holland will join her longtime musical partner and husband, Michael McDonald, on Saturday, December 17, at the Plaza Playhouse Theater (4916 Carpinteria Ave.) in Carpinteria for a special concert benefiting the theater. Holland will be playing songs from her newest album, Light on My Path, on which she performs both with Michael and their son, Dylan. In fact, it was Dylan’s performance at the Plaza Playhouse Theater last year that inspired this benefit concert, an event at which Holland hopes to “spread a little joy” with a “potpourri of Christmas songs” and pieces from her new album.

Produced by Fred Mollin and recorded in Nashville, Light on My Path, Holland said, is about finding your way in times of feeling lost and trusting in following your life’s guiding path. Mixing country songs, light pop, folk, and Motown-inspired numbers, the album also features an appearance by one of her all-time favorite musical artists, David Crosby, whom she bumped into one day in the Gelson’s parking lot. “Why aren’t you singing lately?” he asked her, and in no time, collaboration ensued. “You gotta be careful about what blonde you ask to sing,” she joked to him.

Proceeds for the evening will help the Playhouse continue its excellent lineup of theater performances, touring rock acts, and movie nights. Attend the show, and help the theater that has lit the path for so many entertainers in Carp and beyond.