COODER-WHITE-SKAGGS ANNOUNCES SPRING CONCERT DATES FOR 2016 "SONGS FOR THE GOOD PEOPLE" TOUR

Nashville, Tenn. (February 16, 2016) - Last spring when music legends Ry Cooder, Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs came together for their maiden voyage as a touring trio, they weren't sure how it would be received.  Now, more than 30 live concerts later, and with critics raving coast-to-coast, it's apparent that Cooder-White-Skaggs is a touring force to be reckoned with.

 

The New York Times says Cooder-White-Skaggs is a "Roots-music celebration" that conveys "a sense of rare joyous occasion" while The Oakland Press calls it "a dream collaboration of kindred spirits."

 

"The seven-piece ensemble delivered almost two hours of classic American roots music sung in glorious harmony, and the performance was at once virtuosic and disarmingly casual," wrote The Times Union newspaper following a performance in Albany, New York.

 

Following the trio's Berklee show, The Boston Globe reported, "It was a down-home salute to country and bluegrass pioneers whose songs remain an indelible part of the canon, from Hank Williams ('Mansion on the Hill') and Jimmy Martin ('Hold Whatcha Got') to Flatt & Scruggs ('Gone Home') and the Delmore Brothers (an especially stealth 'Pan American Boogie')."

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer says Cooder-White-Skaggs is "a comfort and joy, focusing on rural, family-harmony-driven, 20th-century classics."  The Dallas Morning News raves, "Rarely has passion and performance been so effortlessly entwined in the context of songs written (mostly) before any of the players were even born."

 

Due to the rising demand for Cooder-White-Skaggs, the trio will keep the train rolling into 2016 with the "Songs For The GoodPeople" tour.  Additional live concert dates have been announced in Atlanta, Nashville, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Canada and more.  See below for a complete listing of shows.

 

Cooder-White-Skaggs brings master multi-instrumentalists Ry Cooder and Ricky Skaggs alive on stage to deliver a revelatory program of blues gospel and bluegrass.  They are joined by Sharon White, one of the purest voices in country music, Joachim Cooder on drums and Mark Fain on bass with occasional guest performances by Buck White and Cheryl White of The Whites.

 

March 30 - Savannah, GA - Savannah Music Festival

March 31 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - Ponte Vedra Concert Hall

April 1 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Parker Playhouse

April 2 - Tampa, FL - Straz Center

April 3 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage Atlanta

April 5 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium

April 6 & 7 - Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere

April 9 - Wilmington, DE - The Grand Opera House

April 11 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Massey Hall

April 13 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - Centrepointe Theatre

April 14 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - Centrepointe Theatre

April 16 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre of Ithaca

April 17 - Tarrytown, NY - Tarrytown Music Hall

 

 

Ry Cooder is a virtuoso roots guitarist who is steeped in the blues but has spent much of his career exploring new musical worlds from Tex-Mex to Cuban bolero.  He has won 6 GRAMMY awards, most recently for Best Traditional Latin Album (2003) and Best Pop Instrumental Album (2003).  In 1997, Ry Cooder traveled to Cuba to produce and play with a group of musicians who had little exposure outside of their homeland.  The resulting album, Buena Vista Social Club, was a platinum-selling international success that made stars of Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Ruben Gonzalez, and earned Cooder another GRAMMY.  He has collaborated with an incredible variety of artists over the years including Flaco Jiménez, The Chieftains, Ali Farka Toure, John Hassell and Manuel Galban.  Ry has written scores for over 16 major motion pictures for directors for Walter Hill, Mike Nichols, Louie Malle, Tony Richardson and Wim Wenders.  In 2011, City Lights published his critically acclaimed book "Los Angeles Stories."  Ry Cooder has released 17 solo records since 1970 as well as several compilations.

 

 For more information on Ry Cooder, visit www.nonesuch.com/artists/ry-cooder.

 

As a member of beloved country-gospel family band, The Whites, Sharon White has been making music alongside her father Buck and sister Cheryl for more than 40 years.  Both with The Whites and as a solo artist, Sharon White has won multiple awards, including GRAMMY, CMA and Dove Awards, among others.  The Whites have been esteemed members of the Grand Ole Opry since 1984, and they appear on the world famous Opry stage nearly every weekend.  Sharon White and her family trio became well known for their string of Country hits in the 1980s, including "Hangin' Around," "Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling," and "Pins and Needles."  With the release of Hearts Like Ours (2014), a dream came true for Sharon and her husband, country and bluegrass music legend Ricky Skaggs.  Previously in 1987 the pair won a CMA Vocal Duo of the Year award for "Love Can’t Ever Get Better Than This."  This first-ever studio album is produced by Skaggs and White and features the couple dueting on handpicked country love songs.

 

For more information on Sharon White, visit www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com. 

 

Over the course of his 40 plus year career, Ricky Skaggs has won 14 GRAMMY Awards, 8 CMA Awards, 9 ACM Awards, 11 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Assn.) Awards, 9 ICM Awards, 2 Dove Awards, 3 honorary Doctorate degrees and countless other awards.  Ricky has had 12 #1 singles on the Billboard Country charts and 12 Top 20 Country albums, along with twelve consecutive GRAMMY-nominated albums, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label.  In 2012, Ricky Skaggs was inducted into the GMA’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  Past recipients of this prestigious award include Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.  That same year, Ricky received the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM).  In 2013, Grand Ole Opry member Ricky Skaggs released his first-ever autobiography, "Kentucky Traveler: My Life In Music."  The book details the life and times of Skaggs and provides a descriptive history of Country and Bluegrass music, as told by the master himself.  Last September, Ricky received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association in the Instrumentalist category. 

 

 For more information on Ricky Skaggs, visit www.rickyskaggs.com.