The Live Oak Coffeehouse Presents
Dallas Songwriters in the Round
To Benefit National MS Society

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Jeff Dorsch, Concert Publicity: 925-7874
Concert Line: 219-9008
Coffeehouse Web Site: www.liveoakuu.org/coffee/

JANUARY 2003 (Austin, Texas) - The Live Oak Coffeehouse this month presents
Dallas Songwriters in the Round, in a benefit for the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society, Lone Star Chapter. The three performers sharing the stage
are Annie Benjamin, Eric Folkerth and Bill Nash. The performance is at 7:30
p.m. on Friday, January 10, at the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in
Northwest Austin.

Admission is $10 at the door. Gourmet coffee and pastries will be served, and
are included in the price of admission.

As always, the concert will be smoke-free and alcohol-free, putting the
emphasis on the music and the musicians. Three-quarters of the gate goes to
the performers, and one-quarter to the selected charity. Since the
coffeehouse is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, all of the money
from admissions paid at the door and season passes goes to the performers and
the charity.

The Lone Star Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is based in
Houston, with regional offices in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Corpus
Christi. The mission of the National MS Society is to end the devastating
effects of MS. Ultimately, the National MS Society would like to announce to
the world that a cure has been found. But until that time, we continue
funding research to find a cause and a cure. Since 1946, the National MS
Society had invested more than $284 million toward research. For more
details, visit their Web site at www.nmsslonestar.org.

Annie Benjamin tells folks that she "woke up one morning with a voice that
could stop traffic." She has been moving audiences with her nonstop energy
and inspirational lyrics ever since. Her songs reflect her girlhood memories
of growing up during the urbanization of Texas - a time when traditional
rural ways were rapidly becoming part of the past. She writes of family and
life's blessings, of mud-flap girls and Ferris wheels. Annie's timeless
melodies have elements of country, folk, jazz and gospel, and are
unforgettable. She's played at the Bitter End and the Lone Star Roadhouse in
New York City, at Poor David's Pub and Uncle Calvin's Coffee Emporium in
Dallas and at the Kerrville Wine and Music Festival in 2000 with Dana Cooper.
Her debut CD, "Life's Blessings," was released nearly two years ago, and she
is at work on another release.

Award-winning songwriter Eric Folkerth (yes, it's his real name) is an
accomplished songwriter who finds metaphors in all sorts of life experiences:
everything from dinosaurs and bungee jumping, to the birth of his first
child. Audiences and critics alike say Eric is a spellbinding storyteller
through music. After a mostly blissful childhood in Dallas, Eric lived in
Austin for four years, where he went to UT Austin and majored in journalism.
After school, Eric was back in Dallas. "That was something I never expected
to happen," he explains. "I thought, when I left, I was leaving for good.
But, much to my surprise, I came back home again, and found that it was a
much different place. I crammed a four-year graduate program at SMU into
five." His CD is "Songs for the Time Being."

Bill Nash has been a musician all his life. He was a 5-year-old boy soprano,
a fourth-grade French horn player, a 15-year-old beginning guitarist, and a
graduate of Bradley University's school of music, majoring in composition.
Bill began writing music and lyrics in his early teens and his roots are
firmly embedded in what is now known as the singer/songwriter acoustic genre.
He has performed styles as diverse as rock and roll, fusion, country, polka,
folk, and even old-time western music, a la the Sons of the Pioneers. Bill
has two albums available, "Mostly True Stories" (1996) and "Runs With
Scissors" (1998), containing mostly original songs and a few cover tunes from
some of his favorite songwriters. His songs range from love songs to
heartbreak songs, from true stories to completely imaginative fabrications,
from protest songs to environmental songs, and he even wrote a tribute song
for Uncle Calvin's in Dallas ("the best coffee and hugs in town!"), where he
has been a volunteer almost every Friday night since 1993.

The Live Oak Coffeehouse has set dates and performers for our Spring 2003
season, which opens our sixth year of presenting monthly coffeehouse
performances. Season passes are on sale at $40 for five shows, or $8 per
show. For more information on season passes, call 331-8956. The schedule is
as follows.

JANUARY 24: Fourth Annual Benefit for the Austin Conspiracy of Performing
Songwriters - "send the kids to camp." Proceeds from the show will allow
Austin performers to travel to February's Folk Alliance conference in
Nashville. $10 admission; no season passes, please
FEBRUARY 14: Steve Fisher and Jamie Byrd; the Undercurrents to open
MARCH 7: The Kennedys; Edge City to open
APRIL 11: Anni Clark
MAY 9: Billy Jonas and Eric Schwartz

Doors open at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 10, at the Live Oak Unitarian
Universalist Church, located at 12310 Ranch Road 620 North. For driving
directions, visit the church's Web site at www.liveoakuu.org or call 219-9008.


THE LIVE OAK COFFEEHOUSE - GREAT MUSIC FOR GOOD CAUSES.
NOW IN OUR SIXTH YEAR.