Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Southern Arizona (JFCS) is pleased to present a fundraising concert featuring Vance Gilbert, the great American folksinger/songwriter, at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Sunday, October 29 at 4 p.m. The show will open with Tucson favorites the Ronstadt Brothers, P.D. and Michael (Linda’s nephews). Proceeds from the concert will benefit the work of JFCS.
Tickets for the show range from $46 to $75 and can be purchased here.
The Ronstadt Brothers, Michael Gilbert and Peter Dalton, represent five generations of the family’s musical traditions in North America. Along with multi-faceted drummer Aaron Emery, they present a new and fresh take on the traditional Southwestern and Mexican songs of their family’s heritage while offering innovative original material to millennials discovering the treasure of roots music. An aural illustration of inception to creation, this musical journey will take you from the past to the present steeped in the Americana vein. Carrying forward a sound closely tied in its infancy to their aunt Linda and their father Michael, join the Ronstadt Brothers on their journey through the post-modern American West.
Gilbert is a remarkably versatile performer and songwriter. 30 years into his career, his influence can be felt all over the contemporary folk and Americana realm as he has helped pave the way for many of the minority artists who have followed. Born and raised in Philadelphia he started his career as an R&B and jazz singer but in college discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter world. In 1992 Shawn Colvin invited him to be a special guest on her Fat City tour where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god.” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Gilbert has recorded 14 albums, and has opened for artists as varied as Arlo Guthrie, Anita Baker, The Milk Carton Kids, and Southside Johnny and in the mid 2000’s opened 150+ shows for comedian George Carlin. Vance’s new album, “The Mother of Trouble,” features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient (and Bonnie Raitt Grammy song co-writer) Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana-roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh.
