Jackson Browne

Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp remember Woody Guthrie

October 13, 2012

On Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, a group of legendary folk and rock artists will convene to pay tribute to the man who laid the foundation for them: Woody Guthrie. But for Nora Guthrie, the folk masters daughter, the concert will be more a meeting of old friends.

“We dont really have stars in folk music, says Guthrie, 62, director of the Woody Guthrie Archives, which is organizing the Centennial Celebration Concert in conjunction with the Grammy Museum and the Kennedy Center. For me its much more personal than that. These are all people who know the material, they know the spirit, they know the cause and theyre all doing it on their own. They are the sons and daughters of Woody in their own right.

The concert which includes performances by Ry Cooder, Tom Morello, Lucinda Williams and Old Crow Medicine Show, among others marks the culmination of a year of concerts celebrating Guthries life and musical legacy. The performances have roughly traced Guthries footsteps from his beginnings in Oklahoma to Texas, California, Canada and New York.

The folk pioneer, who died in 1967 at age 55, never spent time in Washington, but Guthrie says that in light of her fathers strong social consciousness, the District in many ways provides a fitting place to conclude the tour. (The concert also kicks off the Kennedy Centers Songs of Conscience initiative, a series of interactive events focusing on the role of civic action in the arts.)

Woody Guthries influence on todays folk singers is at once well documented and immeasurable.

Read More at The Washington Post

KCSN-FM Los Angeles Announces Fall 2012 Benefit Concert With Jackson Browne, Sara Watkins & Jonathan Wilson

October 11, 2012

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, AT THE VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Public Radio station 88.5 FM KCSN Los Angeles announces its 2012 Benefit Concert with Jackson Browne, Sara Watkins and Jonathan Wilson on Sunday, November 18, 2012 at the Valley Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State Northridge. Tickets will be available to KCSN listeners in a pre-sale beginning Wednesday, October 10th. General on sale begins Saturday, October 13 at 10AM via Ticketmaster and at The Valley Performing Arts Center Box Office.

KCSN GM & Program Director, Sky Daniels, commented, KCSN is blessed to have engendered the commitment of a true legend and one of the most influential songwriters of our time in Jackson Browne. The idea of Jackson participating took place backstage at last years KCSN Benefit with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Jackson felt the magic in the room, and volunteered on the spot to perform for KCSN.  And, its great to have Sara Watkins, who has been on tour with Jackson this year, and Jonathan Wilson joining them for this years benefit concert. It should be a night of musical collaborations and there will be some special guests.  KCSN previously reported Eagles Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit might sit in for a song or two.

Sara Watkins first gained recognition as a founding member of the GRAMMY-winning trio Nickel Creek. Sun Midnight Sun, the second solo album from acclaimed singer, songwriter, and fiddle player was released earlier this year on Nonesuch Records. Produced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Blake Mills, the album features special guest appearances by Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins.

Long heralded for his work as a producer, including recent work with Dawes, Father John Misty, Roy Harper, Bonnie Prince Billy and Erykah Badu, Jonathan Wilson released his brilliant debut album Gentle Spirit in 2011 to great acclaim. The album was featured as Mojos #4 record of the year and earned Wilson Uncuts award for 2011 New Artist of the Year. Wilson has since been touring in support of the album, including invitations to support Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Wilco as well as collaborations with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and more.

Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007.  Beyond his music, Browne is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education. He’s a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), Nukefree.org, and the Success Through the Arts Foundation, which provides education opportunities for students in South Los Angeles.

Tickets for the 2012 KCSN Benefit Concert are available for KCSN members through a Pre-Sale offering at 

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 AM through Ticketmaster and at the Valley Performing Arts Center Box Office.

As a service of California State University, Northridge, KCSN offers a 24-hour, commercial-free blend of rock, Alternative, soul, blues and Americana, including a wide range of artists such as Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, Steve Earle and Bon Iver. The stations programming is also available on the stations HD1 channel and online at KCSN.org.

Woody Guthrie gave life to protest songs he wrote, sang

October 11, 2012

As a teenager growing up outside Denver, Judy Collins and a few friends used to hike up Lookout Mountain to listen to musicians play folk music. It was there that she saw a man wearing overalls and an engineers hat named Martin Hoffman singing a song called Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos). It was the first Woody Guthrie song she ever heard, and for a kid whose home echoed with the works of George Gershwin and the American songbook, hearing the music of Guthrie from folkies up on the mountain was a revelation.

It was like going up and getting an injection of this culture that I knew zero about, Miss Collins said in a recent phone call.

She picked up the guitar and began writing songs. Hoffman moved to Arizona, taught school in the desert, and committed suicide. Miss Collins was so moved by his death that she wrote Song For Martin. Released in 1973 on True Stories and Other Dreams, she claims it as a classic Judy Collins song.

Recently in Brooklyn, Miss Collins and several colleagues who have celebrated and poached from the Guthrie songbook for decades performed in one of many celebrations commemorating what would have been Guthries 100th birthday this year. There, she was handed a published copy of Deportee sheet music that said Lyrics by Woody Guthrie, music by Martin Hoffman.

Read more: Woody Guthrie gave life to protest songs he wrote, sang – Washington Times

Jackson Browne to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and at Kennedy Center

September 18, 2012

In support of woody 100- The centennial celebration of the life of Woody Guthrie Solo Acoustic Tour with special guest Sara Watkins begins october 15th. Tickets are on sale now.

Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne will perform “You Know The Night,” a song he co-wrote with Rob Wasserman and Woody Guthrie on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on October 11th. The song was released earlier this year to kick off the Centennial Celebration for Woody Guthrie on GRAMMY award winning bassist and collaborator Rob Wasserman’s Woody Guthrie tribute album Note of Hope. Note of Hope released as a celebration of the words and music of Woody Guthrie, is just one of the many tributes and celebrations planned in conjunction with “Woody 100” – a celebration of Woody Guthrie’s centennial.

The centerpiece of the celebrations will take place on October 14th at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Produced by the Kennedy Center and the GRAMMY Museum, This Land Is Your Land- The Woody Guthrie Centennial Celebration Concert will feature Browne, Wasserman and an array of renowned artists including Ry Cooder, Roseanne Cash, Tom Morello, Joel Rafael, John Mellencamp, Arlo Guthrie, Old Crow Medicine Show and more. The performance is part of the Songs Of Conscience concert series.

In addition to these two special appearances honoring the life and work of Woody Guthrie, Jackson Browne will launch the fall portion of his 2012 U.S. Acoustic Tour. The tour, which begins in West Virginia on October 15th and runs throughout the Midwest, ending on November 15 in Colorado Springs, CO. Playing guitar and piano, Jackson will perform songs from his entire body of work, with varying set lists each night, accompanied by Val McCallum (guitars) and Mauricio Lewak (drums). Singer-songwriter and fiddle player Sara Watkins will open the Acoustic Tour as a special guest; she will be joined by her brother Sean Watkins (guitar) and Tyler Chester (bass, organ). Tickets are on-sale now for the fall tour. Premium benefit seats are available for purchase through The Guacamole Fund: www.guacfund.org.

Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Beyond his music, he is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education. He’s a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), Nukefree.org, and, Success Through the Arts Foundation, which provides education opportunities for students in South Los Angeles.

Jackson Browne 2012 Acoustic Tour Dates with special guest Sara Watkins:

Jackson Browne gratefully takes requests during sold-out tour closer at Cain Park’s Evans Amphitheater

August 20, 2012

Anything can happen on the last night of a tour.

Lucky for us, when venerable singer-songwriter Jackson Browne wrapped up a 20-date summer trek with a sold-out concert Wednesday evening at Cain Parks Evans Amphitheater in Cleveland Heights, anything went.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had a set list. But it soon went out the window, as Browne did his best to honor impromptu requests from the audience.
It means an awful lot that you come here and call out for my songs, he said.

In the middle of the show, he sat down behind a baby grand piano and tickled the ivories tentatively. He soon thought better of it, grabbed one of the dozen-plus acoustic guitars onstage and serenaded us with In the Shape of a Heart, his 1986 hit concerning a dysfunctional relationship. A fan had called out for it earlier.

Throughout the two-hour performance, Browne switched between guitar and piano, where he got down to business with Black and White and Standing in the Breach, an understated yet powerful new tune inspired by the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

At 63, Browne still flaunts a crystalline tenor equally suited to big-picture calls to action or poetic introspection, although he experienced a senior moment during The Naked Ride Home, from his 2002 album of the same name. When he forgot the lyrics, those crickets that incessantly chirped in the background suddenly got louder.

Each time I sing it, I remember less of it, Browne said, laughing off the flub.

He had no trouble remembering the words to a well-rounded offering of much older favorites, including signature tunes such as The Pretender and Running on Empty and deeper cuts such as Your Bright Baby Blues, Shaky Town and Sleeps Dark and Silent Gate.

He reached back to his self-titled debut, released 40 years ago, for no fewer than four selections: Rock Me on the Water, Something Fine, Child in These Hills and a spirited shuffle through the Top 10 breakthrough Doctor My Eyes.

His lean and mean backing unit was anchored by drummer Mauricio Lewak and graced by the stellar musicianship of guitarist Val McCallum, who got to shine on a romantic charmer of his own, Tokyo Girl.

Opening act Sara Watkins, a fiddle-playing singer formerly of the bluegrass group Nickel Creek, also proved to be an inspired addition to the bill.
She got a warm introduction from Browne, who sat in during her set on You and Me, Take Up Your Spade and a shimmering cover of Willie Nelsons Im a Memory.

Watkins and her bandmates — her brother Sean on guitar and Tyler Chester on keyboards and bass — returned the favor during Brownes performance. Their lively accompaniment put a fresh spin on the likes of Live Nude Cabaret and Ill Do Anything.

A surging encore of Take It Easy brought fans to their feet and culminated in hoedown mode, with the Watkins siblings trading hot licks. Browne wasnt the only one looking on with a smile.

SET LIST:
Black and White
Standing in the Breach
Call It a Loan
The Naked Ride Home
Your Bright Baby Blues
Rock Me on the Water
Doctor My Eyes
Something Fine
Shaky Town
Child in These Hills
Tokyo Girl
Looking East
In the Shape of a Heart
Sleeps Dark and Silent Gate
The Pretender
Live Nude Cabaret
The Late Show
Ill Do Anything
Running on Empty
ENCORE:
Take It Easy