 |
Special Guests
Saturday, February 3, 2001
JOHN HIATT grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was inspired by the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and played in a number of garage bands. After graduating from high school, he moved to Nashville and worked as a songwriter. He wrote and performed at clubs for several years, and his songs were recorded by artists such as Conway Twitty, Tracy Nelson and Three Dog Night. He signed with Epic Records in 1974, and released his debut album, Hangin' Around the Observatory, later that year. In the late ’70s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he opened for various folk musicians, including Leo Kottke. Through Kottke, Hiatt found a new manager who helped him sign with MCA Records. After recording two albums with that label, he spent a couple of years touring and recording as a member of Ry Cooder’s band. In 1981, he signed a contract with Geffen Records and released All of A Sudden, followed by Riding with the King, and Warming Up to the Ice Age. In 1986, Hiatt moved to A&M Records and put together a small band of his former associates (Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner) for his first record with them. Bring the Family, released in 1987, had a direct, stripped-down rootsy sound that differed greatly from his earlier albums. It garnered the best reviews of his career and became a cult hit. Slow Turning and a number of other albums that followed helped establish Hiatt as a highly successful singer-songwriter. Among the artists who have recorded his work are Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Jewel, B.B. King and Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt, whose cover of “Thing Called Love” became a huge hit on her multi-platinum comeback album, Nick of Time. Hiatt has recorded a total of 16 albums, including his latest CD, Crossing Muddy Waters (Vanguard Records), which received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album. He recently tested his non-musical capacity as host of the PBS music series Sessions at West 54th, and is currently recording an album with his late-’80s band, the Goners. ( www.johnhiatt.com)
RHONDA VINCENT was born in Kirksville, Missouri and grew up in nearby Greentop. She was raised in a family with a rich musical heritage. Her family had a weekly TV and radio show in Iowa and Missouri from which their band took its name, The Sally Mountain Show. Vincent first sang with the band at the age of 3, and made her first recording at age 5 (two songs on a Sally Mountain Singers album). After her father bought her a snare drum for her sixth birthday, she became the official drummer for the group, then took up the mandolin at age 8 and the fiddle at 10. Throughout her teens and early 20s, Vincent toured, recorded, and performed on TV and radio programs with The Sally Mountain Show. In 1985, she appeared on TNN’s talent search show, You Can Be a Star, and landed a job with the Grand Ole Opry’s Jim Ed Brown. While still releasing bluegrass albums on her own and with her family, Vincent decided to try her hand at country music. She signed with Giant Records in the early ’90s and released two albums with them, Written in the Stars and Trouble Free. She made her solo debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and opened for artists like Alan Jackson, but her country career didn’t take off as she might have liked. After returning to Missouri to re-evaluate her goals, she decided to go back to her bluegrass roots. She put together a band, The Rage, started playing festivals, and last year released her first bluegrass album in ten years, Back Home Again (Rounder Records). In addition to eleven albums with The Sally Mountain Show and her own solo recordings, Vincent has also appeared on records by Dolly Parton, Ralph Stanley, Irish artist Dominic Kirwan, and Mark Newton. In October, she was named the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year. Joining Vincent tonight are The Rage: Tom Adams (banjo), Randy Barnes (bass), Mike Cleveland (fiddle), and Audie Blaylock (guitar & mandolin). The band will perform a concert here at the Fitzgerald Theater following this evening’s broadcast. ( www.rhondavincent.com)
|
|
|
|
|
|
