Reasons to watch:
- With a famously creative ancestry, Johnny Irion’s writing and musical talents shine in his latest album.
- Darren Jessee’s first solo album is quiet and intimate, defying genres and focusing on the delicate beauty of songwriting.
- This intimate performance is a special night for folk and acoustic fans.
Johnny Irion and Darren Jesse are coming to HT on Friday, September 20th at 8:00pm. What do we know, and what can we expect of the two virtuosos?
Johnny Irion‘s family is rich in storytelling and music. His great uncle is the famous John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, and partner and collaborator Sara Lee Guthrie is Arlo Guthrie’s daughter and Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter. Irion’s newest album Driving Friend is full of the writing and musical creativity present in his lineage. He tells Scott Simon in this NPR interview, “Every song has a story.”
We usually see Darren Jessee behind a drum kit with Ben Folds Five, Sharon Van Etten, Hiss Golden Messenger, The War on Drugs, and others. His band Hotel Lights brought Jessee to the front of the stage. Now, with an acoustic guitar backed by piano and a string section, Jessee dropped his first solo album, The Jane Room 217 last year. Wanting to avoid genres with this album, he instead focused on purely songwriting ideas. It is a quiet album, and in a recent Billboard interview, Jessee explains that he likes “the idea of those artful records that are still sort of pop music, but deconstructed.” Get tickets for the September 20th show here.
Be sure to sign up for our weekly e-blast to stay in the loop of exciting program updates, concessions specials, and other deals!