STARLIGHT CONCERTS MCCANN BEGINS SUMMER SERIES AT SAUGUS SPEEDWAY.

Byline: Sharon Cotal Staff Writer

SAUGUS - The Saugus Speedway is opening its gates to nighttime music concerts so Santa Clarita residents won't have to drive ``over the hill'' to catch the popular acts that pass through the Los Angeles area.

With a large special-events facility that can seat 13,000 people, the Speedway is the perfect spot for outdoor concerts under the stars, said Speedway spokeswoman Terri Burbank.

``Chairs will be brought in and put on the track so that everyone will get a good seat,'' Burbank said, adding that seating is currently general admission, but assigned seating will be added later.

The Speedway's Summer Concert Series 2000 will kick off with country pop star Lila McCann at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

McCann, a 17-year-old high school junior in Tacoma, Wash., released her first album at age 15 and has been climbing the charts ever since. As a performer with the 1998 George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival, McCann performed for 60,000 nightly in stadiums across the nation with a country music lineup that included Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and John Michael Montgomery.

She received a double platinum record for her contribution to the ``Hope Floats'' soundtrack in 1999 for her song ``To Get Me To You'' and her latest album, ``Something in the Air'' has been doing well since its release earlier this year.

Opening for McCann will be singer, songwriter and Los Angeles native Karla Bonoff.

Bonoff came of age in the midst of L.A.'s folk-rock scene in the late 1960s, where she played at the legendary Troubadour, a proving ground for many artists of that time including Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Elton John.

Bonoff, who primarily pens moody, pained ballads, has written songs for Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Rait and Wynonna Judd over the years, and recently released a collection of her greatest hits titled ``All My Life: The Best of Karla Bonoff.''

Tickets to the McCann/Bonoff concert are $20 and are available by calling the Saugus Speedway concert hotline at [phone].

Future performers in the concert series include Weird Al Yankovic on June 2 and Patty Loveless on July 20.

``We hope to bring some big-name acts to the Santa Clarita Valley at reasonable prices so that the people here can enjoy them without having to do a lot of driving,'' Burbank said.

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Photo: (1 -- 2) Country pop star Lila McCann, top, will kick off the Speedway's Summer Concert Series 2000 Wednesday evening. Opening for her is singer, songwriter and Los Angeles native Karla Bonoff, bottom.