Robert Cray Band To Perform At The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
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- February 3, 2014
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Ponte Vedra Beach, FL--(Monday, February 3, 2014) — Blues guitarist and five-time GRAMMY award winning artist Robert Cray Band will perform at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Friday, April 4 at 8:00PM.
The five-time Grammy Award winner summarized 35 years of mastery on the debut Nozzle release Live From Across the Pond (2006), an electrifying two-CD concert set drawn from a series of shows (opening for Eric Clapton) at London’s Royal Albert Hall. When the time came to follow up that widely praised collection with a studio recording, Cray viewed it as an opportunity to move his sound in other directions.
He found exactly what he was looking for by turning to one of his oldest friends and colleagues: bassist Richard Cousins, whose tenure with the Robert Cray Band began with its barnstorming regional origins in Eugene, Oregon, in 1974 and extended through 1991, encompassing such early high-water marks as Strong Persuader (1986) and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1988), both winners of the best contemporary blues performance Grammy.
I’ve known Richard for 40 years,” Cray says. “We go back to 1969, and we grew up in the same area together. We’ve always had a really good rapport together stage-wise. Richard and I have remained the best of friends ever since he departed way back in ’91. I’d still see Richard, whether it was in the States or in Europe – where he still lives. He’d always come to see us at the gigs. We always remained close. We talked on the telephone all the time. “It just so happened that last year, I wanted to make personnel changes in the band. So I asked Richard to come back.” Cousins’ return to the Cray fold bonds him once again with keyboardist Jim Pugh, a cornerstone of the guitarist’s group since 1989. In the hunt for a new drummer, Cray – with encouragement from Cousins—struck on a musician whose style and experience perfectly complemented his own: the road-tested Tony Braunagel, whose résumé includes work with Bonnie Raitt (including her Grammy-winning Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw), Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, and B.B. King
Tickets for this seated show will go on sale this Friday, February 7 at 10AM. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and St. Augustine Amphitheatre box offices, findmytix.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets.
SHOW: Robert Cray Band
DATE: Friday, April 4, 2014
TIME: Doors 7:00pm / Show 8:00pm
TICKET PRICE: Reserved Seating - $59.00-; $49.00