Tanglewood Adds Elvis Costello To The 2023 Popular Artist Lineup

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced that Elvis Costello and The Imposters with Charlie Sexton as special guest have joined the lineup for the Popular Artists Series at Tanglewood. This will be the 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee's first appearance at Tanglewood.

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets will return to Tanglewood to open as Costello's very special guests after performing at the festival last summer with The Mavericks.

Adding Costello and Lowe to the schedule now offers four consecutive nights (July 1-4) of popular music concerts at Tanglewood over the Independence Day long weekend.

Tickets to Costello's July 1 performance will go on public sale April 6 at 10 a.m.

Tickets for the previously announced Popular Artists concerts and other performances at Tanglewood are already on sale through tanglewood.org.

Elvis Costello broke out of the British punk scene in 1977 with his debut album My Aim Is True, the first of six albums produced by Nick Lowe. A member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, Costello was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with his pioneering band The Attractions. Sir Elton John introduced him at the induction ceremony saying, "Elvis Costello took the literacy of folk music and broke it wide open against the ragged edges of punk. He was one of the best and most consistent songwriters of his generation, but he never used that as an excuse to get repetitive-Elvis Costello has experimented with everything from punk to opera. ... His songs have no musical boundaries."

Costello was first awarded a Grammy in 1998 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for a song with Burt Bachrach. Costello won his second Grammy in 2019 with The Imposters for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (Look Now), and they were nominated in 2023 for Best Rock Album (The Boy Named If). The Imposters include his longtime Attractions bandmates Steve Nieve (keyboardist) and Pete Thomas (drummer), Davey Faragher (bassist for The Imposters since 2001), and guitarist Charlie Sexton, who backed Bob Dylan on several albums and tours.

Drawing inspiration from every musical genre, Costello continues to experiment and innovate, collaborating with some of popular music's greatest names including Paul McCartney, Allen Toussaint, T Bone Burnett, and jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall, his wife since 2003.

Nick Lowe has made his mark as a producer (working with Graham Parker and The Pretenders in addition to Costello), a hit songwriter, and a musician's musician. Now touring and recording with Los Straitjackets, Lowe performs high-energy, guitar-driven rock and roll. Wearing their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, the "Jackets" have delivered their trademark guitar licks on 16 albums, thousands of concerts and dozens of films and TV shows.

Click here for photos and bios related to these and other Tanglewood 2023 programs

About the Popular Artist Series at Tanglewood

The 2023 Popular Artist Series opens June 22 with a live broadcast of NPR's "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" at 8 p.m. Tickets on sale here.

Elvis Costello and The Imposters, with very special guests Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, will perform on July 1 at 7 p.m., rounding out the previously announced schedule of popular musical artists as follows:

• Steve Miller Band with very special guest Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers (June 23, 7 p.m.) Tickets on sale here.

• Alison Krauss and Robert Plant with special guest JD McPherson (July 2, 7:30 p.m.) Tickets on sale here.

• James Taylor and his All-Star Band (July 3 & 4 at 8 p.m.) Both shows are sold out.

• Train with very special guest Parmalee (August 24, 7 p.m.) Tickets on sale here.

All Popular Artist Series events take place in the Koussevitsky Music Shed, which seats 5,000 with capacity on the Lawn for an additional 13,000 people.

Tickets to the newly announced Elvis Costello performance on July 1 will go on public sale April 6 at 10 a.m. through tanglewood.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office in Boston.

Tickets to the previously announced Popular Artists Series dates above and all other Tanglewood concerts and events are now on sale and may be purchased through tanglewood.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office in Boston.

The summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937, Tanglewood is one of the country's premier summer music festivals. With dance, jazz, drama, and opera joining the classical mix in this year's schedule, Tanglewood welcomes music lovers of all genres to its iconic grounds straddling Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Hills.

The 85th Tanglewood season offers a wide range of classical and contemporary music programs and educational events that spotlight favorite guest artists and repertoire, while introducing dynamic new performers, composers, and conductors.

See the full Tanglewood 2023 schedule here.

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