What a fabulous co-bill this will be:  John Hiatt & The Combo and the Taj Mahal Trio will be appearing at the Lowell Summer Music Series on Thursday, August 27! These are two of my favorite performers and it will be great to see them at one show!

“John Hiatt, who the Los Angeles Times calls ‘…one of rock’s most astute singer-songwriters of the last 40 years’, released his latest album Terms Of My Surrender in July 2014.  Hiatt, a master lyricist and satirical storyteller, weaves hidden plot twists into fictional tales ranging in topics including redemption, relationships, growing older and surrendering, on his terms. The new record is musically rooted in acoustic blues, accentuated by Hiatt’s soulful, gritty voice, which mirrors the gravity of his reflective lyrics.”

“In September 2014, some 50 years after moving to Los Angeles to form the band Rising Sons with fellow blues musician Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, Taj Mahal hightailed it to Nashville to receive an honor he called ‘one of the most powerful and wonderful things that could ever happen in my life.’ Celebrating decades of recording and touring that have nearly single-handedly reshaped the definition and scope of the blues via the infusion of exotic sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and South Pacific, the two-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, film composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist was feted with the Lifetime Achievement for Performance Award at the 13th Annual Americana Honors and Awards.

“The night at the legendary Ryman Auditorium capped another extraordinary year for Mahal, which began with a performance at the Gregg Allman Tribute Concert in Atlanta and included playing on the entire Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas album; performing as part of the Bonnaroo Superjam on a bill featuring Derek Trucks with Chaka Khan, Eric Krasno from Soulive,  renowned R&B/blues session drummer James Gadson, David Hidalgo from Los Lobos and Susan Tedeschi; and playing and recording with Van Morrison in Dublin.”

Taj Mahal (Official Photo by Jay Blakesberg)

Tickets for the John Hiatt/Taj Mahal show are priced at $44 in advance (fee-free!), $50 on the day of the show (if available) and children 12 and under are always free courtesy of Eastern Bank. There are also premium seats – beach chairs are provided by the Series – set in two rows directly in front of the stage for $144.  Tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 22 at 9 a.m. through Lowell Summer Music Series.

For those of you who are unaware of the  Series, or if you are aware of it but have never attended a show there, it is an outdoor (weather permitting) concert series held on National Park Service grounds in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Series is not-for-profit, which helps keep the ticket prices reasonable.

Surrounding Boarding House Park are old mill buildings, part of the Lowell National Historical Park, which you can tour if you arrive early enough. They provide an unusual setting for an evening of great music and ambiance.

The Series generally runs from late June to early September.

This Series is dear to my heart. I have been a season pass holder since 2007 and it is one of the highlights of the year (and of summer in particular) for me. Many lasting friendships have been made there. I expect this will be another excellent year!

I will post additional announcements for the Series as they are made.

Shows announced to date are:

June 19 (Friday) – Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang

June 20 (Saturday) – Ani DiFranco

June 26 (Friday) – Mike Gordon

July 9 (Thursday) – The Wood Brothers with Tall Heights

July 17 (Friday) – Chris Robinson Brotherhood

July 18 (Saturday) – Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam

July 31 (Friday) – The Official Blues Brothers Revue

August 1 (Saturday) – Gordon Lightfoot

August 7 (Friday) – Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

August 14 (Friday) – Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers

August 27 (Thursday) – John Hiatt & The Combo and the Taj Mahal Trio

August 28 (Friday) – Lake Street Dive

August 29 (Saturday) – Melissa Etheridge