Rock ‘n’ Roller Announces Concert Tour . . . of L.A.
Never mind the Who, the Stones, the Doobie Brothers or anyone else embarking on an extravagant tour this year.
Pop singer-songwriter Parthenon Huxley is doing Los Angeles, and all he needs is a map, a guitar, a band and a rusty 1978 Honda Civic.
“A tour of Los Angeles is like touring a small country,†said Huxley, 33, of Echo Park, whose next stop will be tomorrow night at the Palomino in North Hollywood. “We tend to think of Los Angeles as a homogenous mess, but it’s really a distinct city with many different sections.â€
The no-frills rock ‘n’ roll adventure started earlier this month at Club Lingerie in Hollywood, moved to the Music Machine in West Los Angeles and will continue around town through the end of June. Huxley conceived the idea while on the road with his band between San Jose and San Luis Obispo. He doesn’t hide that the “tour†is an attempt to break from the pack of anonymous Los Angeles singer-songwriters.
“You can call it a gimmick,†said Huxley, hesitant at first. “Geographically and demographically, it’s a viable tour . . . OK, it’s definitely a gimmick.â€
Huxley and his band wanted to go all out--a van with a whole entourage and long stays at ritzy hotels.
“But it was simply not feasible,†he said. “Our lives are more complicated, but that’s definitely the way it should be done.â€
Huxley, who wouldn’t reveal his real name, adopted music as his career six years ago. He released an album, “Sunny Nights,†for Columbia Records in 1988. The record sold 10,000 copies, with tracks played on radio stations from San Francisco to New Jersey. Although Columbia dropped him because the record didn’t do well enough, Huxley still writes songs every day, and says he’s close to signing with another major label.
“I hear ‘Sunny Nights’ now and it still sounds great to me,†he said. “I’ll happily move on.â€
Neither does Huxley apologize for his positive message: All you need is love. A Beatles fan from the beginning, he has decorated his apartment with Fab Four memorabilia everywhere.
His lyrics include verses like: “When you’re independent, you can be free, but you’re free from love, and that’s no way to be,†or “love between you and me is the dream we dare. It’s a trigger hair that releases the life that we share.†He wrote all 12 songs on the album.
“I know these words aren’t new, but that doesn’t mean they’re not important,†Huxley said. “I try to make love the cornerstone of my existence. I don’t see anything better.â€
His music is upbeat too, filled with gentle guitar riffs and softly melodic background sounds. But he says his next album will offer a slightly less hopeful tone.
Spending his adolescent years in Greece and his early adulthood in the university town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Huxley admits he was secluded from the clash of cultures he finds in Los Angeles. As such, life isn’t as neatly packaged as he once assumed.
“It’s taken me awhile to get used to this American thing again,†said Huxley, who moved back to the United States in 1974. “And a place like Los Angeles is a lot less idyllic than North Carolina.â€
Idyllic or not, Huxley is busy planning more tour dates, extending its borders from the Westside to the northern limits of the San Fernando Valley.
“And I’m not even including Long Beach or Malibu,†he said.
His show at the Palomino will begin at 9 p.m. and costs $6.50. Tickets can be obtained at the club.
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