John Hiatt
This concert is rescheduled from September of 2023. For anyone who did not get a refund or exchange their 9/2023 tickets to a different date, your original seats have automatically been held for the new date and your original tickets are still valid.
If you have any questions, please contact the box office at (513)977-8838.
A master lyricist and satirical storyteller, John Hiatt delivers songs filled with tales of redemption, relationships and surrendering on his own terms. Hiatt’s finest album is 1987’s Bring the Family; other catalog highlights include the pop and rock of 1983’s Riding with the King, the rough-hewn blues-rock of 2008’s Same Old Man, and 2021’s Leftover Feelings. His lyrics and melodies have graced more than 20 studio albums, have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and scores of others, and have earned him a place in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BMI Troubadour award, and a lifetime achievement in songwriting designation from the Americana Music Association.
Another Longworth-Anderson Series evening of great music, food, and drink! Complimentary pre-concert reception features live music by Sarah Asher, light bites from Ollie’s Trolley and N.Y.P.D. Pizza, and craft beer tastings from HighGrain Brewing Co.
RICKY SKAGGS & KENTUCKY THUNDER
Fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Ricky Skaggs’ career is easily among the most significant in recent country music history. If Skaggs’
burgeoning trophy case full of awards wasn’t already enough evidence of that fact, consider that legendary guitarist Chet Atkins once credited
Skaggs with “single-handedly saving country music.” His life’s path has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact.
Born July 18, 1954 in Cordell, Kentucky, Skaggs showed signs of future stardom at an early age, playing mandolin on stage with bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe at 6 and appearing on TV with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs at 7. He emerged as a professional bluegrass musician in 1971, when he and his friend Keith Whitley were invited to join the legendary Ralph Stanley’s band the Clinch Mountain Boys.
Skaggs then went on to record and perform with progressive bluegrass acts like the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & the New South, whose self-titled 1975 Rounder Records debut album was instantly recognized as a landmark bluegrass achievement. He then led Boone Creek, which also featured Dobro ace and fellow New South alumnus Jerry Douglas.
But Skaggs turned to the more mainstream country music genre in the late ‘70s when he joined Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band, replacing Rodney Crowell. He became a recording artist in his own right in 1981 when his Epic label debut album Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine topped the country charts and yielded a pair of #1 hits. Overall, his productive stay at Epic Records would result in a total of 12 #1 hits. Additionally, he garnered eight Country Music Association Awards–including the coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy in 1985.
Skaggs, of course, fit right in with young “new-traditionalist” ‘80s artists like Randy Travis, and helped rejuvenate the country music genre after the worn-out “Urban Cowboy” period. But, Skaggs put his own stamp on the country format by infusing his bluegrass and traditional country music roots into the contemporary Nashville sound.
Skaggs’ 1997 album Bluegrass Rules!, released on his newly-formed Skaggs Family Records label, marked a triumphant return to bluegrass—which he’s solidified ever since with a series of GRAMMY® Award winning albums, recorded with his amazing bluegrass band, Kentucky Thunder (8-time winners of the IBMA ‘Instrumental Group of the Year’). Skaggs’ label has also served as a home for similar bluegrass and roots music-oriented artists including The Whites.
In the past decade, he has been honored with inductions into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. In 2018, a landmark year, Skaggs was also awarded membership into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and country music’s greatest honor, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2020 for his contributions to the American music industry.
Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin over 60 years ago, and he continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. Clearly his passion for it puts him in the position to bring his lively, distinctively American form of music out of isolation and into the ears and hearts of audiences across the country and around the world. Ricky Skaggs is always forging ahead with cross-cultural, genre-bending musical ideas and inspirations.
Steep Canyon Rangers
Hailing from both the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of North Carolina, the Rangers have long held traditional bluegrass paramount, while possessing an exceptional ability to bring it down the mountain, and to incorporate accessible influence from all walks of the region. With the band’s last few albums, they have gained recognition from well beyond the world of bluegrass, earning a reputation as some of the most influential songwriters in Americana today.
Newcomer to this ship, Aaron Burdett, brings a soul-stirring element to the Rangers’ mastery of mountain music. Burdett is an award-winning singer-songwriter, and a student of folk tradition. He provides a fresh, emotional context to the songbook, which “can reach out and touch your heart or slap you in the face,” to use the praise of drummer and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Ashworth.
Steep Canyon Rangers is made up of Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar, and vocals.
Over the band’s esteemed career, the three-time Grammy nominees have released 14 studio albums, three collaborative albums with actor and banjoist Steve Martin, been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, and appeared on some of music’s biggest stages. In 2013, Nobody Knows You won the GRAMMY Award for Best Bluegrass Album, while 2012’s Rare Bird and 2020’s North Carolina Songbook garnered nominations in the same category.
Jimmy Webb – America’s Songwriter
Jimmy Webb, America’s Songwriter, has written songs that transcend generations and genres –think “Wichita Lineman,” “MacArthur Park,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” and “Didn’t We.” This Motown-trained composer writes all of his own lyrics and music and is the only hit maker to have scored songs on the Pop, Country, R&B, Rap, Disco and New Age charts. During this Evening with Jimmy Webb, audiences will hear this multi-Grammy Award winner’s songs and experience his insightful and often humorous stories about his work with Glen Campbell, Frank Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt (“Still Within the Sound of My Voice”), Art Garfunkel (“All I Know”), The Fifth Dimension (“Up, Up and Away”), The Highwaymen (“The Highwayman”), Kanye West (“Famous” features Webb’s “Do What You Gotta Do”), and more.
Jimmy Webb is the author of the memoir, The Cake and the Rain, and the “bible” of songwriting, Tunesmith: The Art of Songwriting. In 2019 Webb released a piano-only CD, SlipCover, featuring some of his favorite songs from his contemporaries; Billy Joel, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones and more.
“… A night with Jimmy at the keys is not unlike getting to hear George Gershwin or Cole Porter live. It’s hard to believe one guy could have written all these amazing songs…if you get a chance to see him live, grab it…”
– Paul Zolo, American Songwriter Magazine
The Eagles Project (Acoustic)
The Eagles Project returns to Memorial Hall for a special acoustic performance of favorites from the catalogues of The Eagles and their solo projects. They will be returning with the Eagles Project Strings for a special holiday flavored performance.
It all began with an idea and a love of great music shared by talented musicians. Wanting a creative project to both enjoy and perform for fans became our mission and now we want to share it with you. All of our members have had success in the music industry and performed all over the country. Yet coming together to perform the music of the Eagles, Henley, Frey and Walsh and James Gang has created an explosive dynamic project. One that has been delighting and exciting fans of this music like never before. The Eagles Project presents the music as it should be, true to the originals. Come see for yourself, your ears will thank you!