Veteran Promoter Adds Yacht Rock Festival to Impressive Resume

A wise man once told me that when you find something in life that you love to do, it’s never really work. And San Diego promoter Tim Ortiz, CEO and Founder of Eventvibe has found that to be so true in his long, successful career as a promoter in San Diego. “It all started in 1989 with me taking out a $3000 student loan for my first promotion while I was still a student at San Diego State,” Tim told me recently. “I lost half my money on that first show, but I broke even on the second show and by the third show I had gotten all my money back.” Ortiz, by his count, has presented shows to somewhere between 7-8 million people in San Diego since 1989 at several hundred events, booking acts at virtually all the San Diego venues, The Sports Arena, Fairgrounds, House of Blues, and many others. His latest project is San Diego Yacht Rock Festival.

“I learned a lot early on, sometimes the hard way, how to secure the right venues, how to negotiate, choosing the right talent and so much more that goes into being successful in this business,” he shared in our recent conversation. One example is Tim traveling to several markets across the country to find the very best bands, from New York, Scottsdale, Miami, and many other locations to make sure that the bands that will be performing were the absolute best in that genre. “ I just love what I do”, Ortiz shared with me. “Once that gets in your blood, and you see successful shows being presented, there’s nothing better than being part of entertaining so many people.”

As far as Eventvibe’s latest event, for those of us old enough to remember, the music now known as Yacht Rock is defined as the highly polished melodic brand of soft rock, smooth jazz and R&B that dominated FM radio airwaves from about 1976 to about 1984. The sound relied heavily on electric instruments and featured glossy production, tight groove structures, syncopated rhythms and layered vocal harmonies. The genre was really credited as being originally driven by a group of LA studio session musicians, and made successful by groups like the band Toto, Steely Dan, artists like Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, and the group Ambrosia to name just a few. The term was actually coined about 10 years ago, but those of us from that era clearly know exactly what kind of music it is and how much it impacted us as we searched for love and meaning in the 70s and 80s. It is just good stuff and has clearly passed the test of time, so much so that even Sirus FM has devoted the entire channel to the genre, which happens to be one of my personal favorites.

If you agree with me and want to enjoy an evening of Yacht Rock, don’t miss the San Diego Yacht Rock Festival on Saturday, September 19th at the Ingram Plaza at Liberty Station. ”People had so much fun at the last one, we just had to do another one,” Ortiz proudly states. My sources also tell me that there will also be a special guest, David Pack, formally of the group Ambrosia, the original lead singer and songwriter of the group. Pack is the voice behind some of Ambosia’s biggest anthems, including Biggest Part of Me, How Much I Feel and You’re the Only Woman. Pack joining the festival as a special guest which will definitely add a special touch.

The San Diego Yacht Rock Festival will be hosted by Captain Adam of Yacht Rock Radio who will be on deck (pun intended) introducing every act. There will also be a tasty food pavilion, specialty cocktails, and a special VIP option that provides even more fun things to do. So, if you’re in the mood for a fun evening of nostalgia, great music, food and libations, check out their website at sandiegoyachtrockfestival.com for details.