Thursday, August 16, 2007

Richie Furay, Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen coming to Coach House

There is sure to be plenty of sonic magic when three legendary talents linked with the birth of country rock perform at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Friday night, August 17.

Richie Furay (a founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco), Chris Hillman (an original member of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band) and Herb Pedersen (the Desert Rose Band) are set to play on the same bill, bringing together their collective skills as songwriters, singers and musicians for a celebration of a style of music that paved the way for the Eagles, as well as modern day champions such as Carbon Leaf.

Hillman undertook his own musical trek in 1963 as a young mandolin player in the bluegrass band, the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, but he was to find even greater fame as an original member of the Byrds and with his contributions on classics such as “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High.” After the release of the seminal album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” in 1968, Hillman and fellow Byrds member Gram Parsons left to form the Flying Burrito Brothers (speaking of the Flying Burritos Brothers, Amoeba Records is releasing a 2-CD set titled "Gram Parsons Archive Vol 1: The Fying Burrito Brothers LIVE at the Avalon Ballroom 1969" in October 2007).

Hillman found further success with the Desert Rose Band in the 1980s. His contributions to the Byrds will be among the many highlights of a forthcoming 2-disc DVD titled “The Byrds Under Review” set for release next month.

Furay’s career is also one who emerged during the Southern California rock explosion of the 1960s, when he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills and Neil Young in 1967. After that group disbanded, Furay and Jim Messina formed the countryrock group Poco. Furay and Hillman began working together when they teamed with J.D. Souther in the Souther Hillman Furay Band. That 1970s trio released several wonderful albums, including 1976’s “Slippin’ Away” and 1977’s “Clear Sailin’.” Furay returned to the spotlight earlier this year with the release of a new solo album, “The Heartbeat of Love.” Notable guests appearing on Furay’s latest disc include Timothy B. Schmit (Poco, the Eagles), Kenny Loggins and aforementioned Young and Stills.

Pedersen has been an active part of the Los Angeles and Nashville area recording scenes for 35 years, having utilized his tenor voice, as well as his equally-strong 5-string banjo and guitar playing talents on recordings for Emmylou Harris, Gordon Lightfoot, the late John Denver, Linda Ronstadt and Martina McBride. And as a member of the successful Desert Rose Band, he saw songs such as “Love Reunited,” “One Step Forward” and “Start All Over Again” score high on the country music charts.

Richie Furay, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen will perform at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17. Tickets are $30.
Information: 949-496-8930.

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