The Kent Stage

An Evening With Judy Collins

Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 55-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.

The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Judy’s dreamy and sweetly intimate version of “Send in the Clowns,” a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, won “Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards. She’s garnered several top-ten hits gold- and platinum-selling albums. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honored her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.

Similar backgrounds yet different paths.

Paul Thorn and Steve Poltz have a 20+ year friendship and are taking it on the road and in the ring together this Spring for a multi-city tour, surely to bring love, laughter and mischief along with them. Equal parts humor, poignant stories, and expert musicianship, these two storytellers with contagious smiles will put on a show that will make you laugh one minute and cry the next.

About Paul Thorn:

Paul Thorn has created an innovative and impressive career, pleasing crowds with his muscular brand of roots music – bluesy, rocking and thoroughly Southern American, yet also speaking universal truths. Among those who value originality, inspiration, eccentricity, and character – as well as talent that hovers somewhere on the outskirts of genius, the story of Paul Thorn is already familiar. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, raised among the same spirits (and some of the actual people) who nurtured the young Elvis generations before, Paul Thorn has rambled down back roads and jumped out of airplanes, worked for years in a furniture factory, battled four-time world champion boxer Roberto Duran on national television, performed on stages with Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Sting, and John Prine among many others, and made some of the most emotionally restless yet fully accessible music of our time. He’s also appeared on major television shows, received numerous National Public Radio features, and charted multiple times on the Billboard Top 100 and Americana Radio Charts.

Paul’s latest release, “Never Too Late To Call,” is seven years in the making and features all original material. The CD was recorded at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis and produced and engineered by Grammy winning wunderkind Matt Ross-Spang. 

About Steve Poltz:

With a cult following that includes fellow musicians, regular folks and festival goers who stumble onto his performances, there’s no common denominator to Steve’s fans. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and raised in San Diego, CA, Steve initially toured and recorded with San Diego cult favorites The Rugburns. But it was through his creative partnership with Jewel that he vaulted into the national spotlight; co-writing her multiplatinum Billboard Hot 100-busting smash, “You Were Meant For Me,” and continues to work with her to this day.

Over the years, the Nashville-based troubadour has built a fascinating solo catalog, earmarked by his debut, One Left Shoe, Dreamhouse, Folk Singer, and 2019’s Shine On. No Depression crowned him, "A sardonic provocateur with a lighthearted acoustic-driven wit, suggesting at times a sunnier, less psychedelic Todd Snider, or maybe a less wan, washed Jackson Brown,” while the Associated Press dubbed him "part busker, part Iggy Pop and part Robin Williams, a freewheeling folkie with a quick wit and big heart.”

Among other collaborations, GRAMMY-winning bluegrass phenom Billy Strings tapped him to co-write “Leaders” on 2021’s Renewal and he’s co-written with Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Nicki Bluhm, Oliver Wood and even Mojo Nixon.

Steve’s latest record, 2022’s Stardust & Satellites (Red House / Compass Records), was produced by Oliver Wood and Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers.

COLIN HAY
Now And The Evermore 

“I’m deeply grateful for the life I have,” says Colin Hay, “and I think my natural tendency has always been towards optimism and humor. Lately, though, I’ve had to be more intentional about it. I’ve had to actively seek out the positive, to let new rays of hope shine on some seemingly dark situations.” 

That’s precisely what Hay does with his extraordinary new solo album, Now And The Evermore, facing down struggle, loss, and even his own mortality with grit and wit at every turn. Written and recorded in Hay’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles, the collection is a defiantly joyful celebration of life and love, one that insists on finding silver linings and reasons to smile. That’s not to say the record deludes itself about the realities of our modern world, but rather that it consistently chooses to respond to pain with beauty and doubt with wonder. 

The music on  Now And The Evermore (Lazy Eye/Compass Records) is vibrant and animated, brimming with fanciful melodies, lush orchestration, and even a guest appearance from Ringo Starr, who kicks the whole thing off with a signature drum fill. Hay’s performances are likewise buoyant and full of life, drawing on vintage pop charm, pub rock muscle, and folk sincerity to forge a sound that’s at once playful and profound, clever and compassionate, whimsical and earnest. At its most basic level, Now And The Evermore offers a deeply personal acknowledgement of the relentless march of time, but zoom out and you’ll see that Hay’s contemplations of identity and eternity are in fact broader reflections on our shared humanity, on letting go of dead weight and reaching for the light no matter how dark things may get. 

“It’s a troubling and confounding and ever-inspiring world that we live in,” he muses. “I’m lucky to be able to wander downstairs and try to make some sense of it, at least to myself.” 

Born in Scotland, Hay moved with his family as a teenager to Australia, where he first came to international fame with seminal ’80s hitmakers Men At Work. While the band would reach the heights of stardom—they took home a GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist and sold more than 30 million records worldwide on the strength of #1 singles like “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under”—by 1985, they’d called it quits and gone their separate ways. Hay released his solo debut the following year and, over the course of the next three-and-a-half decades, went on to record twelve more critically acclaimed studio albums that would help establish him as one of his generation’s most hardworking and reliable craftsmen. Rolling Stone praised his “witty, hooky pop” tunes, while NPR’s World Café lauded his “distinctive voice,” and late night hosts from David Letterman and Craig Ferguson to Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have all welcomed him for performances. 

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   Carbon Leaf debuted as an independent college band in1993, gaining a strong regional following playing small clubs and campuses in surrounding Virginia. The band spent 5 years establishing their roots in the mid-Atlantic region, picking up weekend shows where they could and putting the funds into four self-released albums between 1995-2000.In 2001 the band received national attention with their song “The Boxer” which gained key support at a handful of AAA radio stations across the country, a unique accomplishment considering the group was still an unsigned band at the time with no formal representation. Carbon Leaf’s momentum continued into 2002, becoming the first unsigned act to ever win an American Music Award in the show’s 46-year history, and the first to perform live at the AMAs to a globally televised audience as an independent artist. The band’s 2004 radio single “Life Less Ordinary”, received considerable airplay and reached a broader audience nationwide, peaking at #5 on AAA radio and #28 at Hot AC. The increased exposure put the band on the road for 250+days in2004 and 2005. Between 2007-2009, the band collected a series of songwriting awards, including the International Songwriting Competition’s first prize honor for ‘The War Was In Color”. Missing the autonomous flexibility of their earlier years, the band decided not to extend its contract for a 4th release under the label, and as 2009 came to a close, Carbon Leaf once again embraced it’s independent roots. Energized by the renewed freedom, Carbon Leaf built it’s own recording space, Two-Car Studio, and began writing and releasing on their own again. The band’s creativity accelerated in this new environment and 6 independent projects were released between 2010-2013, including two EPs (How The West Was vol. One and Christmas Child); alive album and acoustic concert film (Live, Acoustic...and in Cinemascope!); two full-length albums (Ghost Dragon Attacks Castle and Constellation Prize) and the soundtrack for Universal’s Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey. "We’ve been gifted an opportunity to write and perform in front of a live audience,” said Barry Privett, while reflecting on the band’s 27 years. "We are lucky to have fans on the other end of that long road, receiving what we create. Our audience has been what sustains us. And what compels us forward. It’s not something we take for granted." Carbon Leaf is Barry Privett (lyrics, vocals), Terry Clark(guitars, vocals), Carter Gravatt (guitars, strings, vocals),Jon Markel (bass, vocals) and Jesse Humphrey (drums, vocals).From 2014-2016 the band focused their efforts on re-recording the three albums released through Vanguard, which hold the rights to those master recordings, but not to the songs themselves. Fans eagerly supported the three re-recordings, and with the newly completed versions (Indian Summer Revisited, Love Loss Hope Repeat Reneaux and Nothing Rhymes With Woman 16), Carbon Leaf regained the publishing rights to 100% its song catalogue.

   
   

   
   After taking a much-needed break from touring in 2016 to focus on things back home and in the studio, the band returned to the road heavily in 2017 behind Gathering Vol.1, the first of four acoustic EPs released under the ‘Gathering’ banner. In 2018, the band celebrated its 25th Anniversary with extensive U.S. touring.2019 was spent writing and recording songs for a new EP(Gathering 2: The Hunting Ground) and a 27-song video project filmed on location at a beach house on the Atlantic Ocean (Carbon Leaf Cottage: Songs By The Sea)