An Evening with Joan Baez
A rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s greatest performers. America’s legendary folk singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez returns!
A musical and political force of nature whose influence is incalculable. Joan Baez´s music encompasses everything from folk rock to country and gospel music. The powerful messages, sung in her passionate, sensitive voice remain as compelling today as when they were first heard.
Now she makes a welcome return to Australia after 2 years. Don´t miss her special performance at the Sydney Opera House this September!
Joan Baez recorded her first solo LP for Vanguard Records in the summer of 1960, the beginning of a prolific 14-album, 12-year association with the label. Her earliest records, with their mix of traditional ballads and blues, lullabies, Carter Family songs, Weavers and Woody Guthrie songs, cowboy tunes, ethnic folk staples of American and non-American vintage, and much more – won strong followings in the US and abroad. Among the songs she introduced on her earliest albums that would find their ways into the repertoire of 60’s rock stalwarts were “House Of the Rising Sun,” “John Riley” and “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” to name a few.
In 1963, Joan began touring with Bob Dylan and recording his songs, a bond that came to symbolize the folk music movement for the next two years. At the same time, Joan began her lifelong role of introducing songs from a host of contemporary singer-songwriters starting with Phil Ochs, Richard Farina, Leonard Cohen, Tim Hardin, Paul Simon, and others.
At a time in our country’s history when it was neither safe nor fashionable, Joan put herself on the line countless times, and her life’s work was mirrored in her music. She sang about freedom and Civil Rights everywhere, from the backs of flatbed trucks in Mississippi to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963.
Her life story reads as a remarkable list of achievements in the arena of human rights. In 1978 Joan received her first “Bammy” as a Outstanding Female Vocalist. 30 later she was seen by a billion tv viewers around the world, standing center stage behind Nelson Mandela at the “46664” 90th birthday celebration in his honor, at London’s Hyde Park on June 28, 2008.
Her latest album is 2008’s “Day After Tomorrow“, which was recorded in Nashville and is produced by Steve Earle. In a statement Baez said:
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had an entire album of songs that speak to the essence of who I am in the same way as the songs that have been the enduring backbone of my repertoire for the past 50 years”
For the Australian concert series, Baez will be backed by both her son, Gabriel Harris on percussion, and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell on banjo, guitar, keyboards and fiddle. See tour dates and ticketing information below.
After 50 years of experience, she continues to show renewed vitality and passion in her concerts and records. She feels more comfortable than ever inside her own skin. In this troubled world, to paraphrase “Wings,” she will always continue to seek “a place where they can hear me when I sing.”
What: Concert of Joan Baez
When: Sunday, 20th of September, 8:30 pm
Monday, 21st of September, 8:30 pm
Where: Sydney Opera House
For more information about Joan Baez click here
Tickets on sale now, click here