News
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The legendary folk singer Judy Collins' new album “Bohemian” includes new songs by Collins as well as songs from the 1960s.
“It's about the past, present and future,” Collins said by phone Wednesday from New York.
Covers include Woody Guthrie's “Pastures of Plenty,” Joni Mitchell's “Cactus Tree,” and “Camp de Encino,” by Jimmy Webb.
The album is a complement to her new memoir, “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music,” a title borrowed from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song “Suite Judy Blue Eyes,” written about Collins.
Stephen Stills wrote the song “when (he) and I were having our great love affair in 1968,” Collins said.
Collins will perform Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Avalon Theatre. Singer-songwriter Amy Speace, another amazing sweet voice, will open for Collins.
Trained as a classical pianist, Collins picked up the guitar and took up folk music as a teenager, following in the footsteps of people like Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
Collins has famously interpreted the songs of fellow artists, and social poets of the time: Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. She's credited with bringing other musicians like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman, to a larger audience.
She recorded Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” on her 1967 album “Wildflowers”— an album entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Collins' rendition of “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim won “Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards.
It's fitting that Speace would be opening for Collins.
The two women met about six years ago after Collins' manager heard Speace sing at a singer showcase event during the Texas music festival South by Southwest. Collins was looking for new talent to feature on her Wildflower Record label. The manager asked Speace for a demo CD.
“Judy loved it and wanted to put it out as a record,” Speace said.
Released in 2006, “Songs for Bright Street,” was Speace's first nationally-known record.
Speace said she is always writing — on scraps of paper, with her guitar, or piano, or after someone has said something interesting.
“I'm always whittling at a song in my head,” Speace said.
Collins recorded Speace's “The Weight of the World” — a song named in the top five list of “Best Folk Songs of the Decade” by radio programmer John Platt of New York City's radio station WFUV.
It's a “fantastic song,” Collins said.
And Speace has recorded one of Collins — “Born to the Breed.”
“It's about the past, present and future,” Collins said by phone Wednesday from New York.
Covers include Woody Guthrie's “Pastures of Plenty,” Joni Mitchell's “Cactus Tree,” and “Camp de Encino,” by Jimmy Webb.
The album is a complement to her new memoir, “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music,” a title borrowed from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song “Suite Judy Blue Eyes,” written about Collins.
Stephen Stills wrote the song “when (he) and I were having our great love affair in 1968,” Collins said.
Collins will perform Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Avalon Theatre. Singer-songwriter Amy Speace, another amazing sweet voice, will open for Collins.
Trained as a classical pianist, Collins picked up the guitar and took up folk music as a teenager, following in the footsteps of people like Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
Collins has famously interpreted the songs of fellow artists, and social poets of the time: Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. She's credited with bringing other musicians like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman, to a larger audience.
She recorded Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” on her 1967 album “Wildflowers”— an album entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Collins' rendition of “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim won “Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards.
It's fitting that Speace would be opening for Collins.
The two women met about six years ago after Collins' manager heard Speace sing at a singer showcase event during the Texas music festival South by Southwest. Collins was looking for new talent to feature on her Wildflower Record label. The manager asked Speace for a demo CD.
“Judy loved it and wanted to put it out as a record,” Speace said.
Released in 2006, “Songs for Bright Street,” was Speace's first nationally-known record.
Speace said she is always writing — on scraps of paper, with her guitar, or piano, or after someone has said something interesting.
“I'm always whittling at a song in my head,” Speace said.
Collins recorded Speace's “The Weight of the World” — a song named in the top five list of “Best Folk Songs of the Decade” by radio programmer John Platt of New York City's radio station WFUV.
It's a “fantastic song,” Collins said.
And Speace has recorded one of Collins — “Born to the Breed.”
GO&DO
WHAT: Judy Collins concert, opening act Amy Speace
WHERE: The Avalon Theatre, 645 Main St. WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. COST: $29, $39, $49 — reserved seating; available at City Market stores and Back Porch Music INFO: 243-TIXS (8497) |
