Singer-Songwriter Marc Cohn to Bring the Music of 1970 to the Garde Arts Center

Grammy Award-winning artist to perform from his new album “Listening Booth: 1970”

Marc Cohn, the singer-songwriter behind the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling song “Walking in Memphis,” makes his Garde Arts Center debut on Saturday, October 2, at 8 p.m., with an evening of his greatest hits and a sampling of titles from his latest CD, Listening Booth: 1970, an album dedicated to Cohn's personal interpretations of classic songs from 1970. The performance is presented in association with Kitchings Productions.

On Listening Booth:1970, Cohn, collaborating with longtime producer-arranger-multi-instrumentalist and fellow Grammy Award-winner John Leventhal, transforms songs from such artists as Cat Stevens, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bread into tracks that are warm, soulful, more than a little sexy and full of easy-going charm.

“To be honest” Cohn said, “I don’t even view this as a ‘covers’ record in the traditional sense. Records like ‘Nick of Time’ by Bonnie Raitt, or ‘Raising Sand’ by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant were more the templates for me in the way these songs were arranged and performed. What those records taught me was that just because the singer didn’t write the songs, the record itself didn’t need to be any less of an original statement.”

Cohn’s own career took off at the turn of another decade, 1990, with the recording of his critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album, which yielded the song that would launch him into the spotlight, “Walking In Memphis,” and would go on to win him the “Best New Artist” Grammy Award.

Listening Booth:1970 represents a continuation of a creative resurgence for Cohn, 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 during an attempted carjacking. A bullet was removed from his left temple, but 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 post-traumatic stress syndrome, Cohn reemerged 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 followed by this year’s Listening Booth: 1970.

Tickets for The Marc Cohn Band are $48 (Garde Circle), $38 (orchestra), $48 (loge), $32 (front balcony) and $28 (rear balcony) and are available at the Garde Box Office, 325 State St., New London, Conn. The Garde Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and two hours prior to the curtain on performance days. Tickets may be purchased by phone during regular box office hours at (860) 444-7373, ext. 1, or online at www.gardearts.org.

CALENDAR INFORMATION:

WHO: The Marc Cohn Band
WHEN: Saturday, October 2, at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Garde Arts Center, 325 State St, New London
CO-PRESENTED BY: Kitchings Productions
TICKETS: $48 (Garde Circle), $38 (orchestra), $48 (loge), $32 (front balcony) and $28 (rear balcony)
BOX OFFICE: 860-444-7373, ext. 1 or www.gardearts.org

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About the Garde Arts Center

Now in its eighty-second season, the Garde Arts Center is southeastern Connecticut’s non-profit center for the performing arts. The Garde owns and operates the historic 1450-seat Garde Theatre and the 130-seat Oasis Room where it presents musicals, opera, orchestras, contemporary music, film, dance, and family events. Home of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, hosts performances by regional arts organizations and provides educational programs for more than 12,000 young people. Under the leadership of Steve Sigel, executive director, since 1988, the Garde has become a major catalyst for the cultural and economic revitalization of New London.


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MEDIA INFO

For photos and interviews, please contact Jeanne Sigel, (860) 444-4430, jsigel@gardearts.org

Official Marc Cohn Web site: www.marccohn.net