There once was a man named Steve Pile, who came from a town called Healdsburg. Steve loved music, and one day went to a little town in West Africa to learn how to play a traditional instrument called the kora. Steve noticed that the musical tradition was being lost, and decided to help save the music of the Gambian people at risk of losing their traditions and oral history. This story isn’t finished; Steve is back in town and raising money to help build the Konteh Kunda School of Music in Gambia to teach the art of the kora and to build a library to preserve traditional songs. Be part of the happy ending when Pile plays with Daouda Traoreon, Cahoots, Chris Herrod and others at a benefit on Friday March 9, at the Arlene Francis Center. 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 7pm. $10 donation. 707.528.3009.
