Livermore, CA - Immediately after the official 2024-2025 Season Opening with star headliner Katharine McPhee, Livermore Valley Arts is thrilled to launch its Bankhead Presents lineup with music stars that have roots in the past, but with modern-day talents. From eclectic pioneers of the alternative country and Americana movements The Jayhawks on Saturday, September 14, to not one but two icons of music at Together Again: Karla Bonoff & JD Souther in Concert on Friday, September 27, the new Bankhead Presents lineup will be taking off heartily, bringing The Bankhead alive with delights for the ears and the heart, right here in the Tri-Valley. Both of these exciting concerts will be at the beautiful Bankhead Theater in Downtown Livermore.

The Jayhawks and their rootsy sound were definitely swimming against the tide when they emerged from a crowded Minnesota music scene in 1985. Over the course of almost 4 decades, 11 albums, countless memorable live shows, and enough personal drama to fill a couple of Behind the Music episodes, this beloved band soared to heights few ever achieve while winning the hearts and minds of numerous critics, fans, and peers in the process. After releasing two Indie albums in the 80s, The Jayhawks signed with American Recordings in 1991 and over the next decade released 5 challenging, at times groundbreaking albums, toured the world to widespread acclaim, and even survived the departure of founding member Mark Olson in 1995. After a hiatus in the mid-2000s, the “classic” 1994 lineup reunited for another new studio album in 2011 and 2 years of solid touring, reacquainting audiences old and new with the band’s timeless musical vision. The year 2014 saw a late 90s version of the band led by Gary Louris hitting the road to support the reissues of the 3 Jayhawks albums released from 1997-2003. This lineup released the band’s 9th studio album in 2016, recorded in Portland, OR with producers Peter Buck and Tucker Martine. The band’s next studio album, Back Roads And Abandoned Motels was released in the summer of 2018, featuring Jayhawks versions of songs Gary Louris had previously written with other artists plus 2 new compositions. Recording for a new Jayhawks album was completed in Minnesota in late 2019, and in July 2020 the band released their 11th studio album, XOXO. The Jayhawks will celebrate their decades of music for fans new and old at The Bankhead on September 14, a feast of a concert LVA is thrilled to kick off its regular Bankhead Presents season.

On September 27, two true icons of music will play in Downtown Livermore. JD Souther, a luminary of the L.A. music scene of the 70s collaborating with the Eagles & Linda Ronstadt, brings his unparalleled songwriting to the forefront, weaving together a tapestry of melodies that seamlessly blend together a lifetime of musical influences. Karla Bonoff’s timeless songwriting has touched everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Linda Ronstadt to Wynonna Judd. Her emotive vocals and soul-stirring ballads have that effortless power to sweep audiences away. Performing together on stage once again, JD Souther and Karla Bonoff promise an evening of musical magic, where the beauty of storytelling through song takes center stage. Tickets are already selling fast.

Born and raised in Southern California, Karla Bonoff became friends with other singer-songwriters and musicians [in the ‘60s] who were creating their own unique sound, and eventually, they decided to put a band together: Kenny Edwards, (who had started the Stone Poneys with Linda Ronstadt and Bobby Kimmel), Wendy Waldman, and Andrew Gold, and thus the band Bryndle was born - one of the early songwriter groups, even before the Eagles. A bit ahead of their time, Bryndle broke up, but it launched four very illustrious careers. Kenny and Andrew joined Linda Ronstadt’s band, and through that connection, Ronstadt was to hear a demo of hers. On Linda’s Hasten Down the Wind album (1976), there were three Bonoff songs: “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me,” “If He's Ever Near,” and “Lose Again.”

As Ronstadt was scoring hits with Karla Bonoff songs, Karla herself was signed as a solo artist to Columbia Records in 1977. There, she not only recorded the three songs Linda had done but also the hit single “I Can't Hold On” and the tune “Home,” which later wound up on one of Bonnie Raitt's albums. The producer of this great first album [and the next two] was Karla’s old friend and partner, Kenny Edwards. She went from there to coveted spots on major tours, opening for James Taylor and Jackson Browne and earning a rave review in Time Magazine. Two subsequent albums, Restless Nights (1979) and Wild Heart of the Young (1982), established Karla as one of LA’s major artists and songwriters. Musicians such as Russ Kunkel, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar, Don Henley, Timothy Schmit, Peter Frampton, Bill Payne, JD Souther, and her old partners from Bryndle, Wendy Waldman, Andrew Gold, and Kenny Edwards, all participated in the making of these wonderful records.

There’s been work in film - she and Souther wrote songs for the motion picture About Last Night. She is also the voice on the Tom Snow/Dean Pitchford song from Footloose called “Somebody's Eyes.” In 1994, Karla had a top-ten AC hit single with a song from the film 8 Seconds, called “Standing Right Next to Me.” She's toured with Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, JD Souther, and others, resulting in sold-out houses everywhere. In 1990, she wrote three songs that wound up on her old friend Linda Ronstadt’s album Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. “All My Life,” a duet with Ronstadt and Aaron Neville, won the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, ranked by People Magazine as one of the top 5 most popular wedding songs.

In 1993, Karla's song “Tell Me Why,” sung by the legendary Wynonna Judd [with Karla on acoustic guitar, and Bryndle members singing backup vocals], was the title song to Wynonna’s second album, and a tremendous hit. The Eight Seconds soundtrack album (1994), featured the aforementioned “Standing Right Next to Me” and a duet with Vince Gill on “When Will I Be Loved” [a ‘70s hit for Linda Ronstadt], bringing Karla’s sound to an even bigger Country audience.

Karla and her three old partners, Kenny Edwards, Andrew Gold, and Wendy Waldman, then decided it was time to put Bryndle back together again, with much more to bring to the Bryndle experience. In the fall of ‘95, after four years of hard work writing together, the first Bryndle CD came out with some incredible showstoppers for Karla: “On the Wind,” “Under the Rainbow,” and “Daddy's Little Girl.” House of Silence (2002), the second collection of songs from Bryndle, was independently released. Although a different feel compared with the first album, it still reflected the unique sound that these artists make when their talents merge. Although there are no plans for Bryndle presently, the members remain friends and there is always the possibility of future recordings and performances. In 1999, Sony/CBS Legacy released All My Life - The Best of Karla Bonoff, a 16-song fully remastered  collection spanning Karla’s entire career.

Karla continues to perform all over America. Her legacy as a writer and perseverance as a performer is best expressed in a Billboard Magazine review of her All My Life recording: “Long before Alanis and Jewel, there was a breed of singer/songwriters whose earthly anthems of soul-searching, heartache, and joy touched souls in a way few can muster today.”

Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther is “one of the most celebrated songwriters of his generation,” writes Interview Magazine. “Raised on a steady diet of big band and jazz during his childhood, Souther has routinely returned to that music—as well as the genius songwriters of the early 20th century (Gershwin, Cole Porter)-for inspiration. On his latest studio album, Tenderness, Souther combines these musical threads, striking a perfect balance between understated jazz and the ineffable pop narratives that have been the backbone of much of his greatest work.” JD’s latest releases include Tenderness (Sony Music Masterworks), described by Uncut Magazine as an album that connects “LA’s ‘70s golden age with the Great American Songbook,” with songs that “sound like standards themselves.” Souther has also reissued expanded editions of John David Souther, Black Rose, and Home By Dawn, followed by a reissue of Longbranch Pennywhistle. Longtime friends Glenn Frey and JD Souther, known as Longbranch/Pennywhistle, originally released on the Amos label in 1969, the self-titled Longbranch Pennywhistle may have ultimately been consigned to the side bins of the acid-rock era, but songs like “Kite Woman” and “Run, Boy, Run” serve as the literal seeds of the country-rock movement Frey and the Eagles perfected to a T. Besides navigating the success of his own fine solo career (“You’re Only Lonely”). Souther also went on to be a chief Frey collaborator on such pivotal Eagles songs as “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight.”

Souther has penned countless hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, Don Henley, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks and Dunn, and others while establishing a cult following as a performer with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and as a solo artist. As an actor, he has appeared in the TV shows Thirtysomething and Nashville, among others. A passionate animal lover and advocate, JD is also involved with Best Friends Animal Society. “Souther proves his work holds up as well as Dylan’s or Simon’s or Lennon and McCartney’s and [...] deserves such astute re-examination.” (JazzTimes)

Show: The Jayhawks
Date/Time: Saturday, September 14, 2024, at 8:00pm
Tickets: $25-$85 ($25 student/military personnel) / Groups of 10 or more save 20%

Show: Together Again: Karla Bonoff & JD Souther in Concert
Date/Time: Friday, September 27, 2024, at 8:00pm Selling Fast!
Tickets: $25-$75 ($25 student/military personnel) / Groups of 10 or more save 20%

Tickets for shows in the 2024-2025 Bankhead Presents season are available online, by calling 925-373-6800, or at the box office windows. For a complete list of events, visit livermorearts.org.