July 5: 3rd Annual Summer Concert – Vance Gilbert

Well, against all the odds, the weather held out and the Acoustic Long Island 3rd Annual Summer Concert was a blast. Over a thousand people chanced the rains to see some of the best modern acoustic music around today.

Our fourth featured artist: Vance Gilbert - Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90′s when the buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-jazz singer who was knocking ‘em dead at open mikes. The word spread of this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer to New York; Shawn Colvin invited Vance Gilbert to be special guest on her Fat City tour. Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm (“With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in it’s review of a show from that tour). Gilbert’s three albums for the Rounder/Philo label – EDGEWISE (1994), FUGITIVES (1995), and the celebrated, arrestingly sparse SHAKING OFF GRAVITY (1998) – are all essential additions to the American singer-songwriter collection. With guests as varied as Tuck and
Patti, Jonatha Brooke, Patty Larkin, Dee Carstensen, Vinx, and Jane Siberry, all three albums found significant niches on NAC (New Adult Contemporary) and Non-Commercial A3 (Adult Album Alternative) radio. These discs were followed by the self released SOMERVILLE LIVE (2000), his live recording lionized by the Boston Globe as the disc “young songwriters should study the way law students cram for bar exams”, and ONE THRU FOURTEEN (2002), a stylistically varied tour de force that New York’s Town and Village calls “lively, eclectic, electrifying and transcending.” Follow that with SIDE OF THE ROAD (2003), a duo album with Ellis Paul, lauded as “haunting, artful, and lovely” by Boston Magazine and nominated for a 2004 Boston Music Award.
UNFAMILIAR MOON stands as a most impressive cap to this discography. This is Vance Gilbert at his most fearless, timeless, compelling best. These examples of classic songwriting, presented with deep humanism and bravery, stunning artistry and soul, and unbridled joy are inarguably the blue ribbons that tie and seal the seemingly impossibly package that is… Vance Gilbert. Get even more at www.vancegilbert.com.

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