Joseph Arthur will perform at the Columbia City Theater tonight, June 5, 2014 at 9 PM. Age Limit: 21 & Over. Price: $20.00 (not including fees). Seating: General Admission Seating.
Ticketing Information: Available online at Tickets.com; 24-hour ticket kiosks located outside the Paramount, Moore, and Neptune Theatre, Sonic Boom Records in Ballard, in person at the Paramount box office, or may also be purchased by phone at 1-877-STG-4TIX. For more information visit STGPresents.org.
When Lou Reed friend Bill Bentley, now working as an A&R director for Vanguard Records, read Joseph Arthur's moving eulogy in American Songwriter magazine, he approached him to record an album of Lou Reed songs. "Bill told me, 'Don't overthink it,'" says Joseph. Arthur set himself up in his Brooklyn studio last December and proceeded to cut twelve of his favorites-using only acoustic guitar and bass, piano and vocals. "The only way I know to give new life to something as rich with life as Lou's songs and recordings is to go about them in a completely different way. No drums or electricity."
By stripping these songs down to their essence, Arthur allows us to hear Reed's music and especially his lyrics, with brand-new ears, from the well-known ("Walk on the Wild Side," "Heroin," "Pale Blue Eyes," "Satellite of Love" and the first song he attempted, "Coney Island Baby") to the more obscure (Magic and Loss' "Sword of Damocles," Set the Twilight Reeling's "NYC Man," Lou Reed's "Wild Child" and "Stephanie Says," later reworked as Berlin's "Caroline Says").
Arthur was also a member of two super groups, including Fistful of Mercy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, releasing the album As I Call You Down in 2010, also collaborating with Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament in the band RNDM. He released three solo albums over the past three years: The Graduation Ceremony, The double-CD Redemption City and last year's The Ballad of Boogie Christ, which he successfully financed through online crowd-funding site, Pledge Music.
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