Emmylou Harris, Beso Negro, Margaret Belton & The Patsychords and San Francisco’s own Tim Flannery Rock the House to Benefit Rocket Dog Rescue in its 21st Anniversary Year
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Emmylou Harris, Beso Negro, Margaret Belton & The Patsychords
and San Francisco’s own Tim Flannery Rock the House
to Benefit Rocket Dog Rescue in its 21st Anniversary Year
Celebrity Auctioneer Liam Mayclem
“The Bummer’s Ball”: Saturday, November 12 at SF Jazz
11 October 2022 – San Francisco, CA: If you’ve ever had a rescue dog look into your eyes, you understand. For 21 years, the esteemed San Francisco nonprofit Rocket Dog Rescue (www.rocketdogrescue.org) has united cold noses with warm hearts. To celebrate that milestone – and raise funds to continue that mission – the annual Bummers Ball takes place on Saturday, November 12 at the spectacular SF Jazz Theatre (201 Franklin Street) with a litter of incredible talent headlined by Emmylou Harris and featuring Beso Negro, Margaret Belton & the Patsychords and San Francisco’s own Tim Flannery. Rounding out the evening will be a live-and-silent auction overseen by San Francisco’s popular “Foodie Chap” Liam Mayclem. Tickets may be purchased online at https://bit.ly/3zKB0Fi
“Rocket Dog is all about making an emotional connection,” said Pali Boucher who founded Rocket Dog Rescue in 2001“The bond between humans and dogs is something that has to be experienced to be understood. I should know, a dog, literally saved my life.”
Boucher, a San Francisco native, is a recipient of a 2001 Points of Light Award for outstanding volunteerism. A onetime homeless spirit, burdened with the diseases of addiction and HIV, Pali found a better existence though recovery, the arts, the adoption of a dog she called Leadbelly and the formation of a nonprofit that saves canines. Since that day two decades ago, Rocket Dog Rescue has tagged and adopted over 14,000 dogs. And, its mission has expanded.
Rocket Dog has rescued pigeons, crows, hawks, falcons, put out alfalfa and hay for deer during California wildfires, and provided troughs of water for wildlife and farm animals during the same. They’ve even rescued pigs.
“Our animal family can’t always defend or protect themselves,” says Pali. “That’s where Rocket Dog comes in. I know, if they could, our furry, and sometimes not-so-furry friends, would do the same for us.”
The help goes both ways, as “helping animals” is also a way to help their humans. Other ways that Rocket Dog assists foster the relationship between the species includes:
- Paying for vet care for those experiencing homelessness
- Food for homeless dogs and people
- Waiving adoption fees for families who are on the lower income level
- Helping those who struggle with health issues and abuse to get pets and/or keep their pets
- Free of charge boarding when low income or veterans are in the hospital
- Volunteer dog training for youth and adults
“We’re also international,” says Boucher, noting that Rocket Dog has provided canine vaccines to Africa and set up free spay-and-neuter clinics in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of disasters such as Hurricane Maria. “We are of the community, by the community, for the community and lives in the heart of the community no matter where that community is.”
All of this is more amazing when you consider that Rocket Dog spends around $500,000 annually on vet bills, and that’s without natural disasters. Staff costs? There are none. Rocket Dog has an all volunteer staff.
“Our volunteers’ hearts glow the brightest when we are out there in the midst of insane crazy rescue energy,” says Boucher. “They are the real heroes and heroines of Rocket Dog.”
Clearly, entertainment royalty agrees. This year’s 20th Anniversary Gala is, pardon the pun, really putting on the dog.
“Emmylou said ‘yes’, right away,” says Audrey Joseph, longtime event producer in San Francisco. Puppy tracks tattooed on her arms bear witness to her motivation. “Beso Negro, Margaret Belton and Tim Flannery jumped in too to make for what will be not only a really good cause, but a really dynamite evening of music at San Francisco Jazz.”
About the Artists:
Iconic singer, songwriter and musician, Emmylou Harris has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1992 and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2018, she was presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Harris’ work and recordings include work as a solo artist, a bandleader, an interpreter of other composers’ works, a singer-songwriter, and a backing vocalist and duet partner. She has worked with numerous artists.
Throughout his baseball career, Tim Flannery had his guitar in hand. He writes songs about his family roots, love, and the surrender that comes when you understand some things are out of your control. He writes about baseball and being on the road, the call of the highway, and the beacon of home. He has an ace band, the Lunatic Fringe, that bring his songs roaring to life in various musical genres like bluegrass, country, and rock. Flan has three World Series Championship rings as a third-base coach with the San Francisco Giants, and he has released 14 albums of original music over the years. He and his wife, Donna, created the Love Harder Project, a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization dedicated to anti-bullying and funded by proceeds from his performances and public donations. His latest album, Waiting On A Miracle, was released this year.
Beso Negro has an all-star lineup of internationally experienced musicians who have brought drive and passion to Gypsy Rock. The love for tradition has collided with a modern sensibility and has transformed the genre into a vibrant new beast. Darker, faster, more danceable, more blues, more Gypsy, Beso Negro’s indelible fingerprint brings Jazz Manouche to a new generation and to the 21st century.
Javier Jimenez of Madrid adroitly conjures the ghost of Django with his phenomenal guitar playing. Adam Roach’s vocals are singular, soulful and penetrating. Steve Gardner’s fiddle playing is fluid and dark. Cheyenne’s Bass playing locks with Ethan Turner’s hard swinging drums, driving the rhythm and laying down the foundation. One night with Beso Negro and you will understand what is means to get the “Black Kiss”.
Margaret Belton is that rare artist who fuses her exceptional talent with a genuine warmth that makes audiences feel they’re part of the family.
A true renaissance woman, She is a songstress, theater and film actor and a visual artist. She has starred in many independent films, theater
productions and crooned various stages around The Bay Area and beyond. She founded her Patsy Cline Tribute band called ‘The Patsychords’
in 2011 and has accomplished five rounds of her critically acclaimed portrayal of Patsy Cline in ‘Always… Patsy Cline’. Margaret continues to
croon, perform and collaborate with artists near and far and she is over the moon to be here at the SF Jazz Center for another round of The
Bummers Ball to benefit our four-legged friends!
The Patsychords are comprised of Maurice Tani on guitar, David Phillips on pedal steel, Ken Owen on drums, Henry Salvia on piano, Kathleen Salvia on harmonies and Jeanine Richardson the tambourine queen.