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Jonathan Edwards

  • Fri May 4 2012 - 8:00 pm • CSPS Hall
  • $20 advance | $25 door
  • BUY TICKETS

The word “legend” is often used to describe Jonathan Edwards, an artist whose rich career has ranged from folk/rock to country and bluegrass. He is best known for the 1971 hit “Sunshine,” which brought him instant fame and was inspired by a less than pleasant draft board physical.

“An Edwards performance is an unforgettable roller-coaster ride which combines his remarkable singing, storytelling, and wit,” wrote the Martha Vineyard Times about one of his recent performances.The Music City News said, “His throaty tenor, one of the most distinctive voices on record, has always had a natural, unadulturated, undiluted quality.”

Jonathan’s first studio CD in 14 years, My Love Will Keep (Appleseed Recordings), contains a dozen songs, and five new ones…including the tranquil “Surrounded,” the raucous “Crazy Texas Woman” and the bluegrass romp “How Long.” With My Love Will Keep, Jonathan joins Tom Rush, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jesse Winchester, David Bromberg, Roger McGuinn and Donovan, artists who have re-emerged with new albums on Appleseed after long absences.

At the dawn of the 1970s, Jonathan left his first band Sugar Creek and signed to Capricorn Records. While at work on his debut record, a studio engineer accidentally erased a finished song and Jonathan added the deceptively upbeat “Sunshine,” his declaration of independence from the US war machine. It became his self-titled 1971 album’s first single, reaching the national Top 5 record charts and earning him a gold record.

Suddenly a household name, Jonathan spent the next three years steadily touring, recording three more albums and achieving burnout from road life. With a life-threatening illness as an additional factor, Jonathan abandoned his career and moved to a farm in Nova Scotia.

Emmylou Harris and her producer/husband Brian Ahern soon beckoned Jonathan to Los Angeles to add backing vocals to Emmylou’s 1975 Elite Hotel album. His connection with Ahern led to two more Edwards albums, Rockin’ Chair (1976) and Sailboat (1977), on Warner Brothers. Moving back to the US, first to New Hampshire, then to the Appalachian region of Virginia, Jonathan began attending local shows by acclaimed progressive bluegrass band the Seldom Scene, soon joining them on stage and then moving the pickin’ party into a recording studio. The resulting collaborative album, Blue Ridge (1985), showcased Jonathan’s longtime country/bluegrass leanings to excellent advantage.

From there, Jonathan released an award-winning children’s album, toured with the Broadway show Pump Boys and Dinettes, recorded a country record in Nashville, launched his own record label, and acted in and provided the soundtrack for the 2009 movie The Golden Boys, starring David Carradine, Bruce Dern and Rip Torn.