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Judy Collins coming to Key City
Key City Theatre is proud to present 1960’s folk icon Judy Collins November 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Her impressive career has spanned more than 50 years.
Raised in a family of five children, her father was a blind singer and radio-show host. As a child Judy and her family moved throughout Western United States spending time in Seattle, Hollywood and Denver. Originally trained in classic piano Judy made her public debut performing Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos at the age of 13. But it was her father’s introduction to a wide variety of artist including Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger that eventually sparked Judy’s love of lyrics.
By the time Judy turned 19 she was a wife and mother living a simple life touring the local bars throughout the Rockies. Within two years she was fully immersed in the folk circuit and was soon touring with the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Arlo Guthrie. In 1961, Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow and began a 35 year association with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records.
Over the next 50 years she released 49 albums often interpreting songs of fellow artists including the social poets of her time Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. Judy was instrumental in bringing other singer-songwriters to a wider audience including poet/musician Leonard Cohen – and musicians Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman.
In 1968 Collins released her Wildflowers album which won a Grammy for her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ and was subsequently entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1975 her version of ‘Send in the Clowns’ – a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim – won song of the year at the Grammy awards. Judy has continued an impressive musical career with an extensive catalog from every decade throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and up to the present.
Judy has authored several books, including the inspirational memoir Sanity & Grace, focusing on the death of her only son and the healing process following the tragedy; it speaks to all who have endured the sorrow of losing a loved one before their time.
She is also co-director, with Jill Godmillow, of an Academy Award-nominated film about Antonia Brico, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world—and Judy’s classical piano teacher when she was young.
In 1999, Judy founded her own record label, Wildflower Records – a grass roots artist driven label committed to nurturing fresh talent. The aim of the label is to develop long-term relationships with artists and their representatives in a way that Judy’s own career was nurtured by major labels.
Collins, now 71, is still writing, performing, and nurturing fresh talent. She plays 80 to100 dates a year around the country. A relentlessly creative spirit, she is a modern day Renaissance woman who is also an accomplished painter, filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.
Judy Collins performs the Key City Theatre in Cranbrook on Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m.
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