08 Jul "Stars coming out for Gram Parsons tribute concerts this weekend"
Redlands Daily Facts
LOS ANGELES “Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons” will include two star-studded concerts Friday, July 9, at the Santa Barbara Bowl and Saturday, July 10, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
Artists Norah Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Jim Lauderdale are already confirmed to perform. Many more have been invited to participate, including Beck, Ryan Adams, Ben Harper, Starsailor and The Old 97s.
Tickets for “Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons” are priced starting at $40.
Polly Parsons, Gram Parsons’ only daughter, is organizing the tribute concerts 30 years after her father’s death. She is recruiting both close friends and ardent fans of her father as well as contemporary artists inspired by his work.
Gram Parsons did not see boundaries in music and Polly now feels compelled to further his mission, breaking down perceived barriers of age and genre to bring together artists who audiences might not expect to be on the same stage together, she said. This celebration of her father’s music has been a lifelong dream for her, as she was just 6 years old when her father died at age 26 of a morphine and tequila overdose.
A portion of the proceeds from the concerts will be donated to the Musicians’Assistance Program, which makes it possible for members of the music industry to receive treatment for drug and alcohol addiction regardless of their financial situation.
House of Blues Concerts and Nederlander West Coast are working jointly to produce the tribute shows at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles and at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara.