Singers, songwriters, and storytellers will perform throughout the park and onstage in the winery ruins during Jack London State Historic Park’s new Call of the Wild Weekend, May 14 and 15, 2022. The two-day, family-friendly community open house celebrates Jack London’s love of nature, storytelling, music, and gatherings of good friends.
All visitors that weekend will receive free admission to the park, normally $10 per vehicle with up to nine passengers. For complete details of the schedule – with more events to be added – visit https://jacklondonpark.com/call-of-the-wild-weekend/.
The weekend’s organizers have booked four of the most entertaining and compelling singer-songwriters to engage visitors around the park during the day and at a 6-8 p.m. concert on Saturday, May 14:
John Elliott – Inspired equally by Bruce Springsteen and Eminem, Bob Dylan and Guns N’ Roses, Tom Petty and Queen. John has been releasing albums and performing in every type of venue you can imagine for twenty years from his home base in Northern California. He headlines the Call of the Wild Weekend musical experience and is the inspiration behind “Jack London’s Mysterious Call.” www.thehereafterishere.com
Diana Gameros – A Bay Area singer, songwriter, guitarist, social activist and formerly undocumented immigrant, Gameros’ songs have been featured on Billboard, Mother Jones, NPR’s All Songs Considered, NPR’s Alt. Latino Podcast, Public Radio International – The World, and PBS Newshour. DIANA GAMEROS | Linktree
Maya Hall – A native of Japan, Hall is a singer, songwriter, and explorer of sound and vibration.
Her intuitive style of playing is combined with her original songs and improvisation, tuning into the surrounding nature, the audience, the space, and the environment around. She also hosts sound sessions using her voice, dialing into the person’s energetic field, and allowing sounds to come through intuitively. As sound penetrates to the cellular level, oftentimes can invoke a memory, an epiphany and an important message that resides in us. She invites audiences on a quest through sound, to explore, express and connect with our authentic nature. www.mayahallmusic.com
Chris Chandler – An “American Storyteller,” Chandler has performed on thousands of stages across the US and Canada as well as for hundreds of organizations seeking social justice. He has worked with everyone from Allen Ginsberg to Ani DiFranco and Pete Seeger to Mojo Nixon. Utah Phillips says, “Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen.” https://chrischandler.org/
Visitors can join “Jack London’s Mysterious Call,” departing at 11:00, 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. There will be three easy, guided walks between four significant sites at Beauty Ranch. The 10-minute walk between stops is rewarded with 10 minutes of live musical performances at each point, provided by singer-songwriters John Elliott, Diana Gameros, Maya Hall, and storyteller Chris Chandler.
The concept of the “mysterious call” comes from Jack London’s famous novel, “The Call of the Wild:” “But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signs and sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called—called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come.”
The call of an empty stomach can be answered with a picnic basket, or a meal ordered in advance from the Tri-Tip Trolley food truck, served in the spacious Meadow from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Beer and wine will also be available.
Around 1:30 p.m., music-makers and fans will join the singer-songwriters and storytellers in a free Songwriters Circle in the park. Elliott, Gameros, Hall and Chandler will join other local artists and interested visitors in a circle and discuss the art of storytelling, the craft of writing, and the mysterious something that calls creative artists. Expect songs, stories, and interactions as all attendees are invited to join in the circle.
Saturday’s finale will be the Call of the Wild live concert in the winery ruins, featuring John Elliott, Diana Gameros, Maya Hall, and Chris Chandler from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, free for children ages 12 and under, and can be purchased at https://jacklondonpark.com/events/call-of-the-wild-concert/. Seating is festival style and visitors are encouraged to bring folding chairs and/or blankets.
The inspiration to feature the art and craft of telling stories through song and spoken word came from two board members of Jack London Park Partners, the non-profit organization that manages and operates the park. Former tech executive Ford Goodman and retired San Francisco Ballet executive director Glenn McCoy shared a vision of presenting touring singers, songwriters, and storytellers of diverse backgrounds.
“We see this as a way to honor and reflect the whole community, an extension of how Jack London traveled the world to meet and truly understand people,” Goodman said.
Call of the Wild Weekend comes as the park also celebrates the tenth anniversary of the formation of Jack London Park Partners, one of the first non-profit organizations to be entrusted with the management of a state park on behalf of the people of California. Funding to keep the park going strong is received from visitors, annual pass holders and generous donors.
