Jude Johnstone, Danny Flowers and James House will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 18, in the third concert of the 2009 Bluebird on the Mountain series.
Held on the scenic grounds of Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory, Bluebird on the Mountain showcases artists from one of Nashville’s top music clubs, the Bluebird Cafe. The series was created in collaboration with Amy Kurland, who founded the Bluebird Cafe in 1982 and built the club into one of Nashville’s premier performance venues for songwriters before selling the venue to Nashville Songwriters Association International in late 2007.
Season tickets are sold out for this year’s series, but advance tickets for the remaining single shows are available through Ticketmaster, which will add a handling fee. Tickets are $95 for a carload. No RVs or buses will be admitted.
Reared in Maine, Johnstone set out in pursuit of a musical career in her late teens. Arriving in Southern California at the height of the disco era, Johnstone realized her style of music did not curry favor with record company executives and redirected her energies on a career as a songwriter. Landing a lucrative publishing deal, Johnstone began to get her songs recorded by a veritable who’s who of female singers including Stevie Nicks (“Cry Wolf”), Bette Midler (“The Girl Is on to You”) and Bonnie Raitt (“Wounded Heart”).
In 1993 Johnstone received a BMI Award for Trisha Yearwood’s hit recording of “The Woman Before Me” and in 2007 Johnstone wrote the title track for Johnny Cash’s Grammy-winning album Unchained. In recent years Johnstone has recorded several solo albums including Mr. Sun, Blue Light and On a Good Day. Her songs have been featured on the television series “Army Wives” and in a recent episode of Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie.”
Flowers arrived in Nashville in the 1970s and played guitar for Dobie Gray and Don Williams’ Scratch Band. While on tour with Williams in 1978, Flowers wrote his signature song “Tulsa Time.” The song became a hit for Williams but it was Eric Clapton’s recording of the song for the Backless album that brought Flowers into the national spotlight. Other artists who have recorded Flowers’ songs include Emmylou Harris (“Before Believing”), Willie Nelson and Nanci Griffith (“Gulf Coast Highway”, co-written with Griffith and James Hooker).
Flowers’ prowess as a guitarist has also led him to work with some of Nashville’s finest performers including Vince Gill, Marshall Chapman and Griffith. In recent years Flowers has concentrated on his solo recording career and released a pair of well-received albums, Forbidden Fruits and Vegetables (2000) and Tools for the Soul (2007).
House, a native of California, began his musical career with the House Band, a group that recorded for both Warner Brothers and Atlantic Records. In 1990 House went solo and signed with MCA Records and released a pair of albums, the self-titled debut James House and Hard Times for an Honest Man.
A prolific writer, House had a Top Five single with Dwight Yoakam’s recording “Ain’t That Lonely Yet,” for which Yoakam received a Grammy in 1993. Other hits written by House include Diamond Rio’s “In a Week or Two” and “A Broken Wing,” which was a hit for Martina McBride. House recently signed with the independent Friday Records and will soon be releasing his debut project for the label, If I Had My Way.
Gates will open at 6 p.m. for the show and visitors are encouraged to bring a blanket, lawn chairs and pack a picnic basket. After the show, visitors can linger to stargaze using the observatory’s Seyfert telescope.
If severe weather is forecast for future show dates, please check the Dyer Observatory calendar for updates or call (615) 373-4897. Dave Berg, Rivers Rutherford and Victoria Shaw are the scheduled performers for the next show, which is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m.
Dyer Observatory is located at 1000 Oman Drive, off Granny White Pike between Old Hickory Boulevard and Otter Creek Road, near Radnor Lake. Directions are available at http://www.dyer.vanderbilt.edu/.
Media Contact: Chris Skinker (615) 322-NEWS
chris.skinker@vanderbilt.edu