UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 21, Page 1
February 22, 1996
Wynonna, BlackHawk to perform April 30 at BCC
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Saturday for an April 30
concert featuring top-selling solo country artist Wynonna, with
special guest BlackHawk, at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Tickets for this show-$20 for full-time UD undergraduates with
ID, $22.50 for UD faculty and staff and $25 for the general public-
will be on sale at the Carpenter Center and Perkins Student Center box
offices and from Ticketmaster at 984-2000 or (215) 336-2000. A
convenience charge may apply.
Wynonna, who first gained renown with her mother, Naomi, as The
Judds, is now riding another wave of popularity with a new CD,
revelations, which has already yielded the chart-topping single "To Be
Loved by You," a world tour, a television special on CBS and feature
stories in national magazines.
She launched her solo career in 1992 with Wynonna, which featured
a No. 1 single, "She Is His Only Need." Her second album, Tell Me Why,
came out in 1993.
At 31, Wynonna is a country singer with the instincts and stamina
of a gospel-rocker. revelations includes up tempo numbers, soaring
melodies, a gospel number backed by a 25-voice choir and her 1994
rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird."
The new recording sums up her personal turmoil over the last few
years as her life changed with the birth of her son, Elijah, now a
year old. Wynonna, who has often said that "life is more important
than show business," discontinued her live performances in September
1994. She chose to postpone a decision about marriage to Nashville
businessman Arch Kelley III, her boyfriend and Elijah's father. She
was the subject of controversy and saw her life story on national
television and in the tabloids. She recently married Kelley and is
expecting a second child.
"One thing about Wynonna, she really has a vision of herself and
she stays true to it," Tony Brown, producer and president of MCA
Records, said. "She doesn't, and won't sing a song that doesn't speak
to her. Even her #1 hits always have a little different wrinkle to
them than what other female country artists in Nashville do. I don't
think any other woman could have hit with her songs. That speaks a lot
about the artist, doesn't it?"
"I was never satisfied being a girl sitting there with a guitar
looking beautiful and all prissy-butt," Wynonna said. "I wanted to get
dirty and I wanted to get out and play my music and sweat like a dog.
I wanted to be on the road, hanging out with musicians. Today, I
listen to everything from Doc Watson and the rawest acoustic stuff I
can find to Aretha Franklin's gospel.... Early Emmylou Harris, that
rocked my world, plus Linda Ronstadt and Karla Bonoff and Carlene
Carter and Delbert McClinton and Little Feat. My parents back in
Kentucky were hip record buyers back when I was starting to jam....
And my dad listened to a lot of Rolling Stones and Warren Zevon, back
when he was just wild...."
After its platinum-selling debut album that yielded four Top 10
singles, BlackHawk is touring in support of a second album, Strong
Enough, which already has several top-selling singles, including "Like
There Ain't No Yesterday," "I'm Not Strong Enough To Say No" and
"She's Almost a Memory Now."
The recording offers a range of musical styles, from strong
harmonies to the rock side of country to one song that blends the '60s
and the '90s.
BlackHawk, which includes Henry Paul (lead vocals and mandolin),
Dave Robbins (vocals and keyboards) and Van Stephenson (vocals and
guitar), is well-known for its energy-charged live shows.
"One of the things we wanted to do when creating this album was
to transfer the same quality and energy from our live shows to this
project," Paul said. "We're happy to give the fans in our live shows
the same quality of music they hear on our album.
"One thing our fans respond to is our energy," he said. "They see
our show as a very genuine presentation-not a staged, choreographed,
walk-through of showmanship. The live show has a great deal to do with
our success as record-sellers."