Monday October 15th,2007. Special Guest Alex Del Zoppo will be our guest speaker at our JPFolks meeting. Alex is one of the founding members and primary songwriter of the band Sweetwater, the opening band at the ORIGINAL WOODSTOCK. Alex also is the founder of the Songwriter's Co-op along with Franklin Spicer (who had a family emergency and will not be able to attend). Alex will be sharing with the group his tips on writing successful songs and also share some stories from his experiences in the business, (see his bio below). Bring your questions. If we have time, we'll do a song circle at the end. Here's the info:

Natalie Coffee:

Time: 7:00 to 9 ish
Place: Nata'le Coffee
2801 W. MacArthur Blvd., Santa Ana
Phone: 714-668-9094 (It's at the corner of Fairview and MacArthur in the
complex where the "Ralphs" is. If you take the 405 freeway, exit north on
Fairview, pass Sunflower, MacArthur is the next major street).

Alex Del Zoppo

Alex is one of the founding members, singer, keyboard player, and primary songwriter of Sweetwater ( http://www.SweetwaterBand.com ), the legendary rock band that opened Woodstock, and the subject of VH1’s first made-for-TV film “Sweetwater, a True Rock Story”. Sweetwater made three albums for Warner Bros/Reprise Records, played every major venue in North America including both Fillmore Auditoriums (several times each), most domestic colleges, and all of the largest Music Festivals during the “Golden Age of Pop Festivals”, including Atlanta Pop, Newport ’69, Texas International Pop Fest, Miami Pop, Detroit Pop, Palm Beach Music & Art Festival (w/the Rolling Stones), and of course, Woodstock. They had broad AM & FM radio airplay (worldwide), and were featured on American Bandstand, The Hollywood Palace (season premier show with Bing Crosby hosting), the Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, and Red Skelton Shows, The New Sound, and Playboy After Dark, as well as numerous regional TV shows of the era. During the promotion period for the Sweetwater movie, VH1 made a video of one of Alex’s earliest Sweetwater songs, “In A Rainbow.” Following interest from fans, they continued to run it in rotation on both VH1 and MTV for several months. The song was 30 years old.

Alex has also played and recorded with The Beach Boys, Eric Burdon, Gene Clark of the Byrds, John Beland of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Chi Coltrane, Patrice Zappa and Johnny Tillotson, etc.

He wrote and produced music for (and had a cameo in) Alan Rudolph’s feature film “Premonition.”

Linda Kraemer
JPFolks O.C.
Chapter Coordinator