Vance Gilbert
Grassroots/Americana

Dates

March 6, 2010
in the Abby Theatre

Description

Listen to samples of Vance Gilbert's music

Presented by the Gilbert Players

Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90's when buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-multicultural arts teacher who was knocking 'em dead at open mics. Once word got to New York about this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer, Shawn Colvin invited Gilbert to be a special guest on her Fat City tour. Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm. "With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener"
wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from that tour.

Gilbert's three albums for the Rounder/Philo label - Edgewise (1994), Fugitives (1995), and the celebrated, arrestingly sparse Shaking Off Gravity (1998) - are all essential additions to the American singer-songwriter collection. These discs were followed by the self-released Somerville Live (2000), lionized by the Boston Globe as the disc "young songwriters should study the way law students cram for bar exams," and One Thru Fourteen (2002), a stylistically varied offering that New York's Town and Village called "lively, eclectic, electrifying and transcending." Gilbert followed with Side Of The Road (2003), a duo album with Ellis Paul, lauded as "haunting, artful, and lovely" by Boston Magazine and nominated for a 2004 Boston Music Award. Unfamiliar Moon (2005) came as an impressive continuation to this mostly original composition discography. "The songwriter's
most compelling work; literate, heartfelt, rippling…emotionally resonant songs" raved the Boston Globe, placing the album in its Top 10 CDs of the year (#4). On Angels, Castles, Covers, "Gilbert's choice of an album of covers seems both fitting and fearless. …he displays his vocal virtuosity with some unexpected choices from the late 20th century songbook. From the sounds of Motown, through the R&B of Al Green to classic Joni Mitchell and Shawn Colvin…He makes each and every tune sound fresh and new," writes Roberta Schwartz of Fame.

Finishing a year and a half as support for George Carlin is the most recent chapter in Gilbert's varied and successful performance history, leading up to the creation and recording of Up On Rockfield. Up On Rockfield is indeed Vance Gilbert's career-crowning achievement. This tour de force of borrowed styles is classic Vance Gilbert original songwriting at its most timeless, compelling best. Gilbert unflinchingly renders blame and absolution, trapped hearts and free-riders, class and station, uncertainty and resolution, the spiritual and the visceral, the forever and the now, all side by side in song. His is a presentation steeped in deep humanism and bravery, stunning artistry and soul, and unbridled joy. No great surprise to the learned acoustic listener.

This is Vance Gilbert, after all.

“It's possible, even probable that any time you see Gilbert in person his songs will make you laugh and cry simultaneously.”

— Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

“He does not duck hard truths and never succumbs to the temptation to tie his points up in neat platitudes or truisms.”

— The Boston Globe

“His lyrics are highly personal, his tenor vocals fluid and enthralling”

— Dirty Linen

Price

$19 adults; $15 seniors, students, teachers

Performance Schedule

Sat, Mar 6 - 7:30PM