Our Mother’s Day concert for Sunday May 9 at 2 pm, originally planned to 
feature AJ Croce, has suddenly changed. AJ was turned back at the Canadian border, and will not be able to carry out his tour. We have a substitute performance for you by Ariana Gillis, an award-winning young folksinger/songwriter with David Gillis on guitar-banjo and Rob McBride on bass, 2 pm, Sunday May 9, $10.
http://www.myspace.com/arianagillis
Nashville-based, AJ Croce is on tour in Ontario, and we are delighted to host him at Artword. He’ll also be playing our baby grand piano as well as guitar (see second video).
AJ makes music he loves, grounded in his wide range of influences — he’s a one man music festival, who€™ll pull an old barrelhouse boogie woogie stride piano jam out of one sleeve, a psychedelic pop gem or New Orleans funk groove out of the other. Imagine an American roadhouse nightclub on a warm summer night, poised between city and country…
In the video clip below, that’s AJ on the left.
AJ Croce’s biography:
Born Adrian James Croce on September 28th 1971. The son of legendary singer/songwriter Jim Croce, A.J. lost his father to a 1973 plane crash. Soon after his father€™s death, he lost his sight, and began playing the piano. He regained partial vision at age 10. Croce began performing professionally at age 12.
A.J. got his first break at 18 when B.B. King heard him play and asked him to join him on tour as a support act. The next year A.J. was signed to Private Music and made his first recording the self titled €œA.J. Croce€. His debut was produced by T-Bone Burnett and John Simon. On the session for his first recording A.J. met Jim Keltner, who became a mentor and hired A.J. to write for a project with Ry Cooder. Keltner would end up producing Croce€™s second release €œThat€™s Me In The Bar€.
To this date A.J. Croce has recorded 7 albums, all of them reaching the charts in different categories, from Jazz, College, AAA, Americana, and Top 40. A.J€™s diverse writing and musical abilities have made him a go to songwriter and session musician for a variety of films and numerous creative projects. His 7th CD €œCage Of Muses€ was released in 2009.
Beside being a multi-talented musician and songwriter A.J. Croce also runs two record labels, his own Seedling Records, which features an eclectic roster of talent that range from Rock to Jazz, as well as the new family owned Croce Music Group, a vehicle for the release of Jim Croce€™s music. A.J. also runs Croce Publishing, a music publishing company.
A.J. Croce has performed on The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan O€™Brien, Austin City Limits, CNN, E!, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Today Show€¦
In Concert A.J. has performed with some of the most legendary acts of our time. It started with B.B. King, and then, A.J.€™s hero Ray Charles invited him on tour. He has played on stage with Willie Nelson, Ben Harper, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Lyle Lovett, The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Rod Stewart, Santana, Taj Mahal and Dave Mathews just to name a few.
