Bruce Hornsby on stage Thursday at Peoples Bank Theater
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MARIETTA -- An entertainer who rose to prominence with the release of "The Way It Is" 37 years ago will perform Thursday at Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta.
Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers will take the stage at 8 p.m. in a show featuring songs from throughout Hornsby's career.
"We will range across the years to touch on every chapter of my peripatetic career," Hornsby said. "Hits included."
The show at Peoples Bank Theatre is part of the Esbenshade Series at Marietta College. The show is free, like other Esbenshade events, but no tickets remain.
Hornsby was nominated for a grammy 13 times. He has released 23 albums, selling 11 million around the world, and collaborated with Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Grateful Dead, Stevie Nicks, Ricky Skaggs, Bob Seger, Chaka Khan, Bon Iver, Brandon Flowers, Bonnie Raitt, Sting, Mavis Staples Willie Nelson, among others, on more than 100 records.
He also was a part time member of the Grateful Dead from 1990 to 1992.
"The Way It Is" was the most played song in 1987 and the style of his music has evolved over the years.
"…and the music has moved several times, to a more jazz-influenced sound, then to more of an Americana style, a brief foray into an electronics-blues feeling, then a jazz record, then two bluegrass records, then more of a modern indie flavor also influenced by modern 20th and 21st century classical music, which is sort of where I reside at this moment," Hornsby said.
"Flicted," the most recent album was released in May 2022.
Hornsby enjoys performing before a live audience.
"We love to play live," he said. "We take a very free and spontaneous approach to our concerts that keeps them, hopefully, ever fresh."
The show in Marietta is special because the band is giving away its upcoming 25th-anniversary re-release of 1998's "Spirit Trail," "a very special record for us," he said.
Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers are based in Virginia.
Among those who influenced him as a songwriter were Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead and old-time American folk music.
"My 'style,' such as it is, was built very naturally from music that I loved, music that really got under my skin and moved me, often to chills, a great deal," Hornsby said.
"I loved the piano voicing style of the great Bill Evans, so incorporated that into what I was doing. I loved the style and groove of the great Leon Russell, so took a bit of that. I loved the chordal movement of hymns, church music, so internalized that. I loved old-time traditional music, so that was an influence," Hornsby said. "So gradually these elements can get thrown into a pot, stirred and one can create something from the combination of influences, and this is what I did, fairly unwittingly. So my facile description of my style that I use when people ask is 'Bill Evans meets the Hymn book.' It doesn't say it all, but it's close enough."