Click HERE to watch Joshua in a live performance of "A Case of You."
"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling..." -All I Want, 1971
"I'm traveling in some vehicle, I'm sitting in some cafe..." -Hejira, 1976
Join us for a special evening celebrating the work of Joni Mitchell, one of the most innovative and inspiring artists of our time. This night will pay tribute to two of her masterpiece records, 1971's Blue and 1976's Hejira. Philadelphia musician, singer, and songwriter Joshua Thomas will be performing these albums in their entirety, with the help of a few musical guests.
ABOUT I AM ON A LONELY ROAD: A TRIBUTE TO JONI MITCHELL'S BLUE & HEJIRA
In 1971, Mitchell released Blue, an astonishingly raw portrait of the joys and woes of romantic relationship. Five years later, in the summer of 1976, Mitchell made a solo drive from Maine to LA during which she wrote the bulk of what would become Hejira. A meditation on melancholy and the value of being alone, this album features a Joni Mitchell no longer as fragile as she was on Blue, and unafraid to question her place in life, relationships, and in the restlessness of a creative mind.
While these two albums are often vastly different and were written at varying points in Joni Mitchell's musical journey, they center on Mitchell when she is at her most unsettled and trying to find clarity. We hope you hear the wisdom, beauty, and enduring truths held in Blue and Hejira when they are performed live for you on August 1st.
"I was demanding of myself a deeper and greater honesty, more and more revelation in my work in order to give it back to the people where it goes into their lives and nourishes them, and changes their direction and makes light bulbs go off in their head, and makes them feel. And it isn't vague, it strikes against the very nerves of their life and in order to do that, you have to strike against the very nerves of your own."
-Joni Mitchell
ABOUT JOSHUA THOMAS
Joshua Thomas has released three albums and lives in Philadelphia. The Harboring, his most recent work, has been called "inspiring and heart-wrenching" by Philadelphia Magazine and WXPN called the record "beautifully composed." Thomas has been covering the work of Joni Mitchell since 2006 and is honored to perform these songs for you tonight.