An Evening with Leon Redbone at Union County Performing Arts Center

“(Performances) so authentic you can hear the surface noise.” ~Rolling Stone

“Leon Redbone, a master guitarist who’s been at it for 40 years, offers a distinctive style and an easy going live show.” ~Sarah McNaughton – dailyemerald.com


Leon Redbone returns to the Union County Performing Arts Center with his own special blend of jazz, ragtime and blues on Friday, May 18 at 8PM. He’s known for his eccentric sense of humor and skilled instrumental talent.

With his totally iconic guise of the signature Panama hat, jacket and sunglasses, it’s easy to get lost in the image and overlook what a gifted artist he remains – a role he tries to downplay. “In some ways I’ve always been complacent in my approach to music,” he says. “So in some ways maybe I’m the pure definition of consistent.”...

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“(Performances) so authentic you can hear the surface noise.” ~Rolling Stone

“Leon Redbone, a master guitarist who’s been at it for 40 years, offers a distinctive style and an easy going live show.” ~Sarah McNaughton – dailyemerald.com


Leon Redbone returns to the Union County Performing Arts Center with his own special blend of jazz, ragtime and blues on Friday, May 18 at 8PM. He’s known for his eccentric sense of humor and skilled instrumental talent.

With his totally iconic guise of the signature Panama hat, jacket and sunglasses, it’s easy to get lost in the image and overlook what a gifted artist he remains – a role he tries to downplay. “In some ways I’ve always been complacent in my approach to music,” he says. “So in some ways maybe I’m the pure definition of consistent.”

Redbone’s career first gained momentum in the early 70’s when Bob Dylan sought him out at The Mariposa Folk Festival, and then told Rolling Stone that if he ever started a label, Redbone would be the first artist he would record. At the core of his initial calling to music was simply a desire to honor songs from the past – a waltz with bygone days that established him as a sole curator of the museum of the 20th Century music. Over the course of his amazing 30+ years and 15+ album career, this modern day bard has continued his love affair with times from the turn-of-the-century, clapper-era ditties, Depression forged Ragtime and WWII era folk-jazz.






“Resolutely behind the times…Leon Redbone’s man-out-of-his-time shtick seems a quaint novelty in the mid 1970’s. while the rest of the world was twisting to disco, Redbone was recording standards from the ‘20’s and ‘30’s, performing them down tempo and with a resonant, clenched baritone that evoked the memory of the megaphone singers of yesteryear. Twenty-five years later, Redbone’s act is no longer a novelty, it’s a distinctive, warmly welcome persona that stands out on the musical landscape.” ~The Washington Post

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