Marc Cohn Returns to Pepperdine's Center for the Arts Tonight

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn comes to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu tonight, January 16 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $20 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at arts.pepperdine.edu. More information at marccohn.net.

Marc Cohn combines the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul-man. He is a natural storyteller, balancing the exuberant with the poignant, and he is able to distill universal truth out of his often romantic, drawn-from-life tales.

Cohn's career took off in 1990 with the recording of his critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album, which yielded such classics as "Walking in Memphis," "Silver Thunderbird," and "True Companion." He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992.

He has been obsessed with pop music for as long as he can remember. "I was hooked from day one," he says. "My older brother had a band that rehearsed in our basement, so I heard Bacharach, the Beatles, Ray Charles, and Motown coming up through the floorboards from the time I was six years old. By the time I was 11, though, the Beatles were breaking up and singer-songwriters were breaking through, and a lot of that music really resonated for me."

Cohn's 2010 recording, Listening Booth: 1970, represents a continuation of a creative resurgence brought on by one of the strangest and scariest events of his life. In 2005, while driving back to his hotel with his band and tour manager after a show in Denver, Cohn was shot in the head by a would-be carjacker. Although the bullet had to be removed from his left temple, it miraculously missed penetrating his skull by a centimeter, causing no physical damage and allowing him to be released from the hospital the next day.

After working through a bout of post-traumatic stress syndrome, Cohn has been busier than ever. Ending a nearly 10-year absence from the studio, he released one of his most critically acclaimed records, Join the Parade, in 2007 and followed it with well over 150 shows across the country.

Listening Booth: 1970 brought Cohn back to where he began--writing songs like "Walking in Memphis" that spoke so eloquently about the transformative, healing power of music. Like that hit single, Listening Booth: 1970 is really the soundtrack to his life.

He reflects, "It seemed like such a natural progression for me to do a record like this because, if you've been following my records from my first single, I have been paying tribute to musicians through my writing all along; from Al Green to Elvis to Levon Helm to Charlie Christian, it's really been a touchstone for me. Now I'm just repaying a debt of gratitude to the artists who've changed my life and taught me how to do what I do."

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from 664 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

IF YOU GO:

Marc Cohn

WHEN: Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 8 p.m.

WHERE: Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA

TICKETS: (310) 506-4522 or arts.pepperdine.edu

PRICES: $20-$45 for adults; $10 for Pepperdine students

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