Good music. Good friends. And a good cause.

That's what it's all about for a group of local musicians who get together very informally once a year to play music, socialize and hold a food drive for the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry.

"This is the ninth time we've done this," musician Jeff Meyer, of Stevenson Ranch, said of the event. "We're just a group of friends who all love music."

The 30 musicians and 250 friends and family gathered March 31 at a Santa Clarita Valley film studio to pay tribute to one of rock's most famous bands.

Previously, the musicians covered the musical catalogue of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and other favored artists, but this year's gathering featured the music of "England's greatest hitmakers," The Rolling Stones.

"This event was inspired by singer-songwriters," musician Matt Lincoln, of Valencia, said. "Each song has an owner, and the owner gets to say who is in the band for that song."

"It is very interesting to see how all these songs are interpreted by so many different people," he said.

Lincoln played guitar and sang lead vocals on the Stones' 1967 single "Let's Spend the Night Together."

"I owned that song," he said.

Along with paying tribute to the Stones, those both on and off the stage celebrated the life of Newhall musician Dave Fernandez who died from a heart attack in 2006, musician Phil Hyland said.

"He worked for Disney, and we used to meet in his backyard to play music," Hyland said. "This is an extension of that. Dave loved music, and he loved being around his friends."

Hyland sang lead vocals and strummed an acoustic guitar during a rendition of the Stones' ballad "Waiting on a Friend."

Lincoln considered Fernandez to be his best friend, he said.

"One of the things Dave used to do was inspire people," Lincoln said. "Honoring his memory is the right thing to do."

Meyer and his wife, Melanie Meyer, sponsored this year's event through their financial company and were among those on stage.

Jeff Meyer played percussive instruments called claves during "Waiting on a Friend" and sang lead on the 1971 ballad "Wild Horses."

The Meyers swapped vocals on "Gimme Shelter" from the album "Let it Bleed."

Publicity for the event was spread through email and word-of-mouth, Jeff Meyer said.

"It's just something we can share with friends," Melanie Meyer said.

Those invited were encouraged to bring canned goods or make a small donation to the SCV Food Pantry.

In all, 16 bags of canned and boxed goods were donated, and the Meyers also plan to make a donation through their financial business, Jeff Meyer said.

rbowden@the-signal.com
661-287-5518