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Marietta theater sets summer-fall spotlight series

Jon Anderson

MARIETTA — A total of eight national touring artists will be featured in the 2019 Summer-Fall Spotlight Series at the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta.

Marketing director Drew Tanner said the series comes just as the theatre celebrates its 100th anniversary. From Grammy Award-winning musicians, to stand-up comedy and trapeze artists the Summer-Fall series continues the theatre’s century-long history of live entertainment, he said.

The season’s headliners include Sam Bush, Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, Jon Anderson of Yes, Kenny G, Bill Engvall, Cirque Mechanics, Asleep at the Wheel, and Wynonna & The Big Noise.

Tickets for the Summer-Fall Spotlight Series go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. May 6.

* Sam Bush will perform at 8 p.m. July 11.

Sam Bush

A Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist, Bush has extended the musical capabilities of the mandolin and the fiddle to incorporate a seamless blend of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and reggae. As the founder and leader of the Newgrass Revival, Bush pioneered and guided the evolution of modern Americana music.

Bush worked with Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers for five years, then did stints with Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck. He took home three-straight IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year awards, 1990-92 (and a fourth in 2007). He’s released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades. In 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist.

* Mountain Stage with Larry Groce will be featured at 7 p.m. July 21.

Mountain Stage returns to Peoples Bank Theatre to record an evening of live performance radio. For more than 30 years, Mountain Stage with Larry Groce has been the home of live music on public radio. Produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR Music, each two-hour episode of Mountain Stage can be heard every week on more than 200 stations across America, and around the world via NPR Music and mountainstage.org.

Recorded in front of a live audience, Mountain Stage features performances from seasoned legends and emerging stars in genres ranging from folk, blues, and country; to indie rock, synth pop, world music, alternative, and beyond. Special guests include duo Charlie Hunter and Lucy Woodward, John Paul White, with more artists to be announced.

Kenny G

* Jon Anderson, of Yes will perform at 8 p.m. Aug. 16.

Anderson is one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind the band Yes. In the mid ’70s he created a pure solo album, in every sense of the word: performing all the music, playing every instrument, writing a storyline, and of course singing all the vocals in the critically acclaimed “Olias of Sunhillow.”

Anderson is currently releasing an album he started 28 years ago, called 1,000 Hands, a reference to the fact that numerous guest musicians perform on the album, including Ian Anderson, Billy Cobham, Chris Squire, Alan White, Steve Howe, and many more.

* Kenny G will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 8.

A Grammy Award-winning instrumentalist whose recordings have routinely made the pop, R&B, and jazz charts, Kenny G’s sound is a staple on adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio stations. He is known as a player who often caresses melodies, putting a lot of emotion into his solos.

Wynonna & The Big Noise

Kenny G’s records have sold remarkably well, particularly Breathless, which has easily topped eight million copies in the U.S.; his total album sales top 30 million copies.

* Bill Engvall will perform at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Oct. 4.

Engvall is a Grammy nominated, multi-platinum selling recording artist and one of the top comedians in the country. Engvall also lent his voice to the animated comedy series Bounty Hunters, which aired on CMT. He previously starred in, and executive produced, the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show.

Engvall was part of the enormously successful Blue Collar Comedy concert films, which sold over nine million units and received a Grammy nomination. He also starred on the WB’s hit sketch comedy show Blue Collar TV and in several solo specials for Comedy Central. In 2012 he reunited with Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy on the Them Idiots Whirled Tour, which aired as a special on CMT.

Engvall’s first album, Here’s Your Sign, is certified platinum and held the number one position on the Billboard Comedy Chart for 15 straight weeks. His second album, Dorkfish, also debuted at number one on Billboard’s Comedy Chart, as did his subsequent comedy albums. Bill has written several books, including his 2007 autobiography Bill Engvall — Just A Guy.

* Cirque Mechanics: 42FT — A Menagerie of Mechanical Marvels will be featured at 7 p.m. Oct. 6.

At the center of every circus rests a 42ft ring full of thrills, laughs, and excitement. 42FT — A Menagerie of Mechanical Marvels, is the latest invention from the creative minds of Cirque Mechanics. The company dares the audience to leap into the circus ring and experience the timelessness of this evolving art form.

The show’s unique mechanical interpretation of the traditional, and its story full of the lore of the historic one-ring circus, create a welcoming place, like a big top, where the audience can be amazed. The action in 42FT is full of theatricality and a modern sensibility, showcasing a galloping mechanical metal horse and a rotating tent frame for strongmen, acrobats and aerialists.

* Asleep at the Wheel with The Quebe Sisters will be 8 p.m. Nov. 2.

Ray Benson founded Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, W.Va., 47 years ago. Now based in Austin, the band holds 10 Grammy awards, 20 studio albums and 20 singles on the Billboard country charts. The Grammy Award-winning Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys is the band’s most recent release (2015) and marks their third full-length Bob Wills tribute album.

* A Wynonna & The Big Noise Christmas will be held 8 p.m. Nov. 29.

Wynonna–along with her band, The Big Noise–will bring “A Wynonna & The Big Noise Christmas” to audiences across the country for the sixth year. The show will feature musical arrangements from The Big Noise, putting Wynonna’s voice front and center for a memorable evening of music and holiday magic.

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