ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MORE MUSICIANS–Gary Lynch, left, of Moorpark and Carl Gage of Simi Valley are recruiting musicians, music teachers and other participants for the Oct. 3 Americana MusicFest at Paramount Ranch. An acoustic music event coming in October has been enthusiastically endorsed by two Ventura County men who are seeking support for the event.

Carl Gage of Simi Valley and Gary Lynch of Moorpark are helping the Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Club present the inaugural Americana MusicFest, America’s Music for the Generations. Proceeds will help the Kiwanis Club educate, benefit and empower the youth of America and support other causes that receive help from the Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Club Charitable Foundation.

One of the main goals right now, Gage said, is to attract a headliner, a well-known artist or group that would help ticket sales. The event also needs sponsors to supply instruments or funds to acquire them, other performers to run workshops and volunteers to make the event run smoothly.

Both men discussed music in general and the Americana MusicFest over coffee recently at Starbucks in Wood Ranch, a residential area of Simi Valley.

Music, Gage and Lynch said, is good for people. It can enhance their quality of life. It can help them relax. It can soothe their souls. It can make them think. It can change their mood. People from every walk of life can appreciate music, even if they can’t play or even sing it.

The goal of Americana MusicFest is to teach children about forms of music that grew in America. Acoustic music, particularly folk, bluegrass, country and other forms of old-time traditional music will be emphasized, but other forms of acoustic music will also be presented, including Celtic, gypsy and blues.

The Americana MusicFest will do more than teach the connection between music and history. Families will gather for workshops, craft vendors and other activities.

“People with music in their families are tighter knit and closer,” Gage said.

It will also help fill a void. “It’s an era where music is being deemphasized in schools because of budget reasons,” Lynch said.

Regarding Americana MusicFest, Gage said, “We want to inspire kids. We want to get the word out to musicians, music teachers and children.” It’s an important event, he said, because it’s designed to bring together the music community with the community at large.

Many young people of today don’t know about or appreciate acoustic music because they’ve grown up on a steady diet of heavy metal or rap music. They might be surprised to learn that music doesn’t have to be loud to be good.

Both Gage and Lynch are in their 60s. They grew up with rock ’n’ roll, but they also knew and enjoyed groups like Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio and the New Christy Minstrels. Music at Americana MusicFest will be similar to MTV’s “Unplugged,” a show that proved to Gage, for example, that Guns N’ Roses was loaded with great musicians.

Both Gage and Lynch love almost every form of music, but they prefer acoustic. Lynch picked up a guitar at age 10, and by 10th grade his older brother had taught him how to play. He also had parental influence. “My mom sang a lot,” Lynch said.

As a toddler in Tennessee, Gage was taken to a radio show similar to the Grand Ole Opry. “I had bluegrass in my roots,” he said. “After high school, I started playing when I found out girls dug that stuff,” Gage said.

Although some people theorize that playing music improves math skills, both Gage and Lynch wondered if it’s the other way around; that musically talented people have a natural affinity for arithmetic.

“Music is mathematical,” Lynch said.

Gage, who has a background in mainframes, information services and computers, said many people in those industries are musicians.

“Music is morphing,” he said.

Because of Internet downloads, iPods and MP3 players, “artists make more money in concerts and tours, not CDs,” Gage added.

“In a way, it’s better,” said Lynch. “You don’t have to buy an album with seven clunkers.”

Lynch was born in Alhambra and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley but graduated from high school in Maryland.

“(Music) selection has never been better,” said Gage, who grew up in Santa Monica.

“You can make your own music and market it over the Internet,” Lynch said.

Gage and Lynch have known each other for 13 years. They met through Songmakers, a Southern California group of folk musicians and music lovers (www.songmakers.org).

Gage is engaged to a singersongwriter. He has a daughter from a previous marriage. Lynch and his wife have a total of four children between them.

To contact Gage about headlining or participating in the Americana MusicFest, call (805) 581-4243 or e-mail him at carl@americanamusicfestkw.org.

For complete information about the event, go to www .americanamusicfestkw.org.