"We're starting 2014 over with a New
Year's Party at Mountain Stage," said Mountain Stage host and artistic
director Larry Groce. "January 19 is the new January 1! After the water
disruption and the extreme weather, we all need a chance to re-boot and I
think an evening of good music seems like a fine way to do it."
Sunday’s
show features soul and R&B singer Bettye LaVette, Israeli superstar
David Broza, family-based North Carolina quartet Matrimony, modern
Irish singer/songwriter Declan O’Rourke and Noah Gundersen from Seattle,
Wash.
“Please
be our guest at this Sunday’s show, and if your budget allows it, we
hope you’ll use your ticket money to have dinner at your favorite
restaurant before you come, and be generous to the staff who have been
unable to work in the past week," Groce said.
"Let’s celebrate our family, friends, community and everyone who pitched in to help keep things going during the recent crisis."
Anyone
who already purchased a ticket may exchange it at the box office for a
gift certificate or a ticket to an upcoming show.
Bettye LaVette - A cult favorite among fans of ‘60s soul,
Detroit-based singer Bettye LaVette signed with Atlantic Records in the
early-‘60s and immediately scored a Top 10 R&B hit with her debut single
"My Man - He's a Loving Man." After a stint as a featured vocalist
with the traveling Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford Revue, she resurfaced with
the 1965 classic "Let Me Down Easy" which also cracked the R&B
Top 20. After a number of releases for regional labels (including a
never-released cover of Neil Young’s "Heart of Gold"), she joined the
touring company of the Broadway musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar.” Things began to
turn around in 2000 when a French label issued a previously unreleased album
LaVette had recorded for Atlantic Records in 1972. The 2003 release “A Woman
Like Me,” helped her win a coveted W.C. Handy Award for “Comeback Blues Album
of the Year” as well as the Living Blues critic pick as “Best Female Blues
Artist of 2004.” LaVette then signed to the ANTI- label where she released
”I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise” in 2005 and the Grammy nominated ”The Scene of
the Crime” in 2007. Next, she was tapped to sing a duet of Sam Cooke’s “A
Change is Gonna Come” with Jon Bon Jovi for President Obama’s pre-inaugural
ceremony. Her new album, “Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook,” finds
her not just covering but reinventing songs by Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The
Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Traffic and Elton John.
David Broza - Born in Israel and raised in England and
Spain, singer/songwriter David Broza’s long career has encompassed styles
originating in those three countries. His guitar style ranges from flamenco
flavored rhythmic and percussion techniques to nimble finger picking and rock
‘n’ roll. Broza is also known for his commitment to several humanitarian
causes, predominantly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since 1977, he worked
to bring the message of acceptance and his hit song, “Yihye Tov,” has become
the anthem of the Peace process. Recording both in Hebrew and English, Broza's
first English release, “Away From Home,” was produced by Steve Miller in 1989.
Broza has written and recorded with the Palestinian group Sabreen and has
featured children's choirs from both sides of the conflict. In Search for
Common Ground presented awards to both artists in 2006. Broza was awarded a
Spanish royal medal of honor by the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, for his
longtime contribution to Israel-Spain relations and his promotion of tolerance.
In 2010, he set poems by the late Townes Van Zandt to music on the CD
"Night Dawn; The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt.” In 2011, he
issued "Third Language." Recently, his "Poetry From The
Bench" project is a web series dedicated to intimate and live renditions
of poetry.
Declan O’Rourke - With praise like “He writes the sort of
classic songs that people don’t write anymore, songs that sound like they’ve
been around forever” - from none other than Paul Weller - Irish
singer/songwriter Declan O’Rourke has amassed a resume that musicians twice his
age would envy. His songs have been praised and recorded by a “Who’s Who” of
U.K. and Euro artists including Josh Groban, Eddi Reader, Snow Patrol, Kate
Rusby, and The Celtic Tenors. Weller, long a U.K. tastemaker, went on to say
that Declan’s song “Galileo, is possibly the greatest song written in the last
30 years.” That album, “Since Kyabram,” debuted in the Irish album charts at
No. 5 and went on to achieve double platinum status. Declan performed “Galileo”
at the 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration of Ireland’s National Concert Hall
before the President of Ireland, at the opening ceremony of the Solheim Cup
2011, and again at the BBC “Proms in the Park” with the Ulster Orchestra in
Belfast. Earlier in 2011, O’Rourke joined Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Amos
Lee for BBC-broadcast Transatlantic Sessions Series 5. In 2012, he took part in
Electric Burma, a concert celebrating Burmese humanitarian Aung San Suu Kyi,
alongside Bono, Bob Geldof, Damian Rice and Vanessa Redgrave.
Matrimony - A family band fronted by the husband-and-wife
duo of Jimmy Brown and Ashlee Hardee Brown, the North Carolina-based quartet
also includes Ashlee’s brothers Jordan and CJ. Jimmy Brown was born in Northern
Ireland and came to Charlotte, NC - where he met his life and musical partner -
via China. Melding rock, country, gospel, and the longstanding folk traditions
found in Ireland and the U.S., the group released an EP, “The Storm & The
Eye,” in 2010. The group’s full-length debut is titled “Montibello Drive.”
Noah Gundersen
- At the tender age of 24, Noah Gundersen is already a young veteran
who recorded his first album on a reel-to-reel home tape machine at 13.
Born in the tiny town of Centralia, WA—about midway between Portland and
Seattle—Gundersen has honed his craft through a series of albums, both
solo (with his sister Abby, an expert string player) and with their band
The Courage. He’s already placed songs on TV shows like Sons of
Anarchy, Vampire Diaries (“Family”) and One Tree Hill (“Middle of June”
from his 2009 EP Saints and Liars). Having built up a following through
touring and online marketing, Gundersen is set to release “Ledges” on
Dualtone in February, 2014.