November 11th, 2008
ROCK LEGEND JOHN OATES AND THE WHEELER IN ASSOCIATION WITH JAZZ ASPEN TEAM UP
TO CREATE THREE-PART SONGWRITER SERIES THIS WINTER
The Wheeler Opera House today announced the details of THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS, a three-part musical series that it is co-producing with American Songwriters Hall Of Fame member John Oates, and in association with Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
"John and the Wheeler have been working on this for the past few months," said Wheeler Executive Director Gram Slaton. "Basically, John saw first-hand how exciting it was to create the comedy series that we did with David Brenner in February and March of this year and thought we could do the same sort of thing with songwriters. Songwriters are literally the unsung heroes of the musical world: they create the artistic vision that vocal stars and musicians fill out and turn into a hit single. Sometimes learning the story behind how that song came to be and hearing how its creator heard it in his or her head is much more satisfying than being at the concert where the big star sings it. We think this is another opportunity for the Wheeler to break new ground in what a performing arts center can and should be - a place where artists share the joy of their craft with an audience and each other."
All of the songwriters have been personally selected by John Oates, who himself is not only an accomplished master of the craft but also, along with partner Darryl Hall, was inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. In May of this year, Hall and Oates were presented with the prestigious BMI Icon Award for their outstanding career achievement in song writing. John's new solo album, "1,000 Miles Of Life," is getting tremendous industry buzz ahead of being released in September.
A very special component of the series will be an opportunity for junior high and high school students, through a songwriting competition that is being offered to schools throughout the valley. Participating schools will solicit original songs from their students, with each school deciding on three finalists that will have their songs submitted on CD to the Wheeler by Monday, December 15th at 5pm. The Wheeler will then send all the collected CDs to the executive offices at Broadcast Music International (BMI), one of the world's leading songwriting rights organizations, in New York City. BMI will choose three songs, with one of the three being performed at each of the three series performances, thus giving each student an opportunity to share the stage with some of the world's best writers, plus being interviewed live on stage by John Oates.
THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS will feature a headliner songwriter and a guest songwriter, plus John Oates, at each performance. "These are award-winning, proven talents," said Slaton. "John has been fortunate enough to count many of the nation's best writers among his collection of friends, and now he's convincing them to spend some time in the big living room we call the Wheeler stage."
The series starts on Saturday, February 15th with PATTY GRIFFIN in the featured writer seat alongside Oates. Besides an annual outing to Aspen in each of the last two years, she received the Americana Music Association's highest honor as "Artist of the Year" in 2007. Less than two weeks later, on Thursday, February 26th, the second STORIES evening will feature TIFT MERRITT, a Grammy nominated singer/songwriter who was one of the biggest surprise hits from Jazz Aspen Snowmass' 2009 Labor Day Festival. Bringing the series to a rocking close on Thursday, March 19th will be one of Nashville's hottest new talents, JIMMY WAYNE, who has the #1 single on the Country Music charts for the past 3 weeks. Each evening will also have a special guest singer-songwriter, making it three perfomers on stage and a full evening of music and storytelling. All the special guests are all either writers John knows or has admired for years. "The feel of the show is going to be like a great big living room. This is going to be one hell of a good time."
Tickets for all shows will be priced at $25.00 for adults and $20.00 for students 18 and younger. Limited premium seating is also available at $50.00. A package price for tickets to all three shows will be offered at $69.00 for adults and $50.00 for students 18 and under.
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, December 12th.
For more information, please call Wheeler Opera House Executive Director Gram Slaton at 920-5790, or email at grams@ci.aspen.co.us.
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