Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Folk Music Pioneer JOAN BAEZ Performs with Special Guest Steve Earle at the Academy of Music, Oct. 29

OCTOBER 8, 2010

“Emotionally direct and unabashedly sentimental, her songs merge an earth-motherish resilience with a 1950's-style romanticism.” —New York Times

Folk music pioneer Joan Baez with special guest Steve Earle performs folk ballads and blues at the Academy of Music on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 8pm.  Baez stirred the masses during the American roots revival of the early 1960s, all the while introducing the world to Bob Dylan. Joining Baez on stage is special guest Steve Earle, the ‘hard-core troubadour who recently won his third Grammy for Townes, a tribute to Townes Van Zandt.

 

Ms. Baez’s Kimmel Center Presents performance includes interpreted works of Steve Earle, Eliza Gilkyson, Patti Griffin, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Diana Jones, and Thea Gilmore, among others.

 

Tickets for Joan Baez with special guest Steve Earle are available from $45 to $65 by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings...  (Additional fees may apply.)

 

A limited number of $10 community rush tickets will be available for this performance. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Academy of Music box office beginning at 5:30pm prior to evening curtain time. Limit one ticket per person.

 

Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter and social activist, Joan Baez celebrated 50 years as a performer with the September 2008 release of Grammy®-nominated Day After Tomorrow. The album was produced by Steve Earle and features a band of bluegrass veterans including Tim O’Brien and Darryl Scott as well as Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone. Baez is best known for her signature song “Diamonds and Rust” and for her long-lasting relationship with America’s folk poet Bob Dylan, introducing him to audiences at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.

 

Demonstrations, rallies and protests were at the core of Baez’s musical fiber; her songs emitting harmonic unity toward social injustices of her time. She has sung “We Shall Overcome” for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington, her vocals permanently etched in history; her recording of “Birmingham Sunday” has appeared in Spike Lee’s racially charged film Four Little Girls; her travels to Hanoi, North Vietnam in 1972, where she survived a week-long bombing campaign, are revealed in the half spoken word poem and half tape recorded sounds of 1973’s Where Are You Now, My Son? 

 

In 2007, Baez received a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award for her ability to convey the American spirit in folk, rock, pop, country and gospel music. Idolized by artists such as Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and Joni Mitchell, she has released more than 30 albums.

 

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle brings a country rock sensibility to his music and recordings.  His work has received a total of 14 Grammy nominations.  His 2009 album release, Townes, features 15 songs on behalf of his late friend and musical mentor Townes Van Zandt.  Various artists have covered his work through the years, including The Pretenders, Eddi Reader, Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash; earlier in his career, he wrote songs for Carl Perkins, Vince Gill and Johnny Lee.  In 2004, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting by U.K.’s BBC Radio 2. Earle also received an Emmy nomination for his song, "This City" in the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Category in 2008.

 

Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center.  Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts’ Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience from throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. The 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Citi, and the Broadway 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Verizon, and American Airlines.  For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.  

 

Subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.

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