Friday, March 6, 2009

Roy Zimmerman to bring his satirical songs to the Coffee Gallery Backstage

Roy Zimmerman took his satirical songs to Real America last year, driving 12,000 miles and flying 12,000 more to do 107 shows in 47 states.

He brings his show Roy Zimmerman: Real American to Altadena Friday April 3 for two shows, 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 Lake St. Zimmerman will be recording these shows for a new CD. Tickets are $18 and can be reserved by calling (626) 398-7917. www.coffeegallery.com

Roy Zimmerman: Real American will also play McCabes Guitar Shop , 3101 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm. $15 tickets can be reserved by calling 310-828-4497

Real American is 90 minutes of Zimmerman’s funny songs about ignorance, war and greed, featuring new material infused with his on-the-road experiences and driven, as always, by the headlines.

Some have wondered if political comics will have a harder time without the easy target of the Bush administration. Zimmerman isn’t worried.

“Already Obama has a plan to put 2.5 million Americans to work taking down those Ron Paul signs,” he says.

Zimmerman performs his song, “Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual" in the new HBO documentary “The Trials of Ted Haggard,” directed by Alexandra Pelosi. And his tune “Buddy, Can YouSpace a Trillion Dollars?” landed him a mention on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, an unaccustomed honor for a folkie.

The Los Angeles Times says, “Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society’s foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer.”

His songs are heard on NPR, Air America and Sirius Radio. His YouTube videos have garnered over two million views and tens of thousands of comments, many of them coherent.

He says, “In this election we heard a lot about ‘Real America’ as exemplified by Joe, whose name isn’t Joe, the Plumber, who’s not a plumber.”

In one new song, Zimmerman imagines what Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher’s hit single might sound like.

Zimmerman explains the pre-election tour: “The idea was to get out of my little Liberal cocoon of Marin County, CA, and meet some of the most Progressive people in the least Progressive place s in the country.”

He played venues large and small in Red, Blue and Swing states, writing new songs on the road, and posting new videos to YouTube, often from the road itself.

“Gas was expensive and in short supply,” he says, “but Absurdity was plentiful and cheap.”

Along the way, Zimmerman played events at both Democratic and Republican national conventions, and joined forces with activist singer Holly Near for a series of “Sing Out the Vote Ohio” concerts.

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