Show moved from August, 13, 2020 and then again from April 30, 2021.

After winning a Grammy for his soulful ballad “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters, combining the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul man. Rooted in the rich ground of American rhythm and blues, soul and gospel and possessed of a deft storyteller’s pen, he weaves vivid, detailed, often drawn-from-life tales that evoke some of our most universal human feelings: love, hope, faith, joy, heartbreak.

Cohn followed up his platinum-selling debut with two more releases in the 1990s, at which point Time Magazine called him "one of the honest, emotional voices we need in this decade" and Bonnie Raitt declared, "Marc is one of the most soulful, talented artists I know. I love his songs, he's an incredible singer, and I marvel at his ability to mesmerize every audience he plays for."

Raitt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Patty Griffin all made guest appearances on Cohn’s early records for Atlantic as his reputation as an artist and performer continued to grow. In 1998, Cohn took a decade-long sabbatical from recording, ending in 2007 with Join the Parade. Inspired by the horrific events following Hurricane Katrina and his own near fatal shooting just weeks before, Join the Parade is his most moving and critically acclaimed record to date.

About his album Listening Booth: 1970, a collection of reimagined classics from that seminal year in music, Rolling Stone said, “Cohn has one of rock’s most soulful croons – a rich, immediately recognizable tenor that makes these songs his own.” In late 2014, Cohn released “The Coldest Corner in the World,” the title song to the documentary "Tree Man" and his first original song released in more than seven years.

On March 25, 2016, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his platinum-selling debut album, released Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs and Rarities along with the bonus album Evolution of a Record, featuring never-before-heard songs and demos dating back to years before his debut album and the Grammy award that followed.

Marc’s momentum continued into a busy and fruitful 2017, which he spent in part on the road with the legendary Michael McDonald, garnering critical acclaim across the U.S. His writing talent was also drafted for work with a roster of American music greats including soul survivor William Bell, who won his first Grammy at age 78 with Marc’s help; Marc co-wrote a solid half of Bell’s celebrated album This is Where I Live, including the passionate opening cut “The Three Of Me.” The album revived the sound of Stax soul’s golden age, when Bell had first cut his teeth as an artist, and which had influenced Marc Cohn so powerfully - in its way, completing a circle and letting Marc give back to one of the originators of the sound that shaped him.

Marc revisited another corner of American music’s rich heritage with the Blind Boys of Alabama on the Grammy-nominated song “Let My Mother Live,” and also worked with David Crosby on the album Lighthouse. As powerfully influenced by the singer-songwriter tradition as he is by the legacy of soul and gospel, working with the ‘60s icon was a project that got right to Marc’s creative core.

In 2019, Marc will release a collaborative record with gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama titled Work To Do which was released on August 9 on BMG. Work to Do is comprised of three studio tracks by Cohn and the Blind Boys (two originals, including the title track, and a version of the gospel standard “Walk In Jerusalem”), plus seven intimate live performances recorded at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Conn., during a taping of the PBS series "The Kate." Original plans were to release an EP containing the studio tracks, but the excitement and magic captured during the taping inspired the decision to create this unique hybrid album.

Moving forward, Marc continues to do what he does best: infuse American music with both a fresh perspective and a reverence for its deep roots.

With a vocal-coach mother and that Joni Mitchell-inspired name, it’s hardly surprising that Williams embraced music early on. By 12, she was writing songs and hitting open-mic nights. At 14, she joined a band of blues players closer in age to the grandfather she never knew. At 21, she started busking at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. After watching her solo mom struggle to raise two daughters (even selling her guitar to buy them Christmas gifts one year), Williams’ simply wanted to make a living playing her dreamy-sounding pop for attentive — and hopefully generous — listeners. Performing five hours a day, four days a week, she not only achieved that goal, she wound up scoring a high-profile TV commercial singing in Maroon 5’s “Playing for Change” version of their hit “Daylight”, and landing not one, but two record deals. Catching the appreciative ears of prominent Promenade strollers, including Ron Howard and the revered influence Sheryl Crow — to whom Rolling Stone Country compared Williams in a 2017 ”10 artists you need to know” feature — was a huge bonus. The release of Beautiful and Strange, her second album for L.A. independent label Blue Élan Records (that second deal), will bring even more attention for Williams’ musical charms. Nailing down her eclectic style is somewhat of a conundrum, however. Williams’ airy, elegantly nuanced vocals carry reminders of Sixpence None the Richer’s Leigh Anne Nash and the Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler. There are also tangential comparisons to jazz chanteuse Kat Edmonson and the recent work of genre-fluid Hymn for Her singer Lucy Tight. If those references seem esoteric, that’s a good thing, because having to stretch for comparisons reinforces the unique allure of Williams’ delivery. There’s no shoegazing detachment or sonic tripping involved; if anything, the opposite is true. On Beautiful and Strange, which follows 2017’s Boomerang, Williams and her producer (and husband) Ross Garren, somehow strike a wire-walker’s balance between the seemingly opposing forces of childlike whimsy and mature sophistication. The former manifests as toy pianos, singing saws and a general lightness of being that floats like a breeze throughout these 11 tracks. The latter permeates their sweeping, deeply-layered arrangements, as well as Williams’ engaging style, whether she’s dissecting relationship dynamics or examining the very notion of destiny. “If I had to define my style, it would be Americana with a bit of modern pop, topped off by a healthy dose of reckless abandon,” Williams says. “I never want to confine myself creatively, and I apply these categories very loosely.” Williams, who also performs in bluegrass/Americana band the Salty Suites and met Garren when both played in a country cover band, explains: “My music tends to be as diverse as my musical taste. I grew up listening to every genre, from classic greats like the Beatles and Yes to the Flaming Lips, the Pixies and all the way over to Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine and Tom Waits. I even dabbled in jazz with people like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.” Her diverse musical influences are evident all over these tracks. “Muskegon” pays subtle homage to about half of The Beatles’ career. Then there’s the title tune, a merry-go-round waltz on which Williams’ vocals ribbon around a symphony of harmonicas, keyboards and strings as she sings about the dichotomies between “magical” and “scientific” thinking. “The overarching theme of Beautiful and Strange is that regardless of all the lies flying around and clashes in ideology, I still think that there is an exquisite charm and beauty to all of the chaos,” explains Williams. “Sometimes, I think about what would happen if we could all just step back for a moment and appreciate this beauty.” It’s a lovely sentiment that encapsulates the album’s feeling of optimism despite the darkness. Even “Wasted”, the opening track about a destructive relationship that needs to have its plug pulled, is filled with sunny pop hooks. The Americana-pop “Red Flag”, one of two co-writes (with Julian Bunetta, Toby Gad and John Henry Ryan), is equally engaging. With one marvelously executed run up the scales, Williams perfectly evokes the breathless, caution-to-the-wind intensity of new love’s passion. But it’s the gorgeous and moving “Dust” that clinches Williams’ worthiness for accolades such as her 2017 Hollywood in Music and Media Awards win for Singer-Songwriter of the Year. Sounding understated at first, the intensity builds as Paul Wiancko’s cello takes over for Garren’s Fender Rhodes until her voice splits into an entire chorale of angelic notes before intricately arranged strings bring a final catharsis. It’s a powerful moment, one born from the ironic ascension to a heavenly peak by way of the lowest roads. Williams and Garren tracked “Dust” at home in their bathroom on a stifling 100-degree day. To avoid ruining the recording, they had to silence their air-conditioning and turn off the heat-producing overhead light. “With each take we did, it got hotter and hotter in the bathroom,” Williams relates. “So I ended up recording the vocals in a pitch black bathroom in my drawers.” After years of busking in whatever conditions a day might bring — from label heads and musical idols to wildfire smoke and a guy who liked throwing dirty socks her way — she wasn’t fazed. In fact, Williams still tries to hit the promenade at least a couple of times a month when she’s not touring. “It’s an important part of my core identity,” she says. “And I never feel quite like myself when I spend too much time away.” Beautiful and Strange is the culmination of all the experiences that have led Chelsea Williams to this point, and it’s clear she’s not finished yet.

Website:

https://chelseawilliams.com/