Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn Makes Return Engagement to Rockwell Hall

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The Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall proudly welcomes back legendary founder of The Byrds and folk rock pioneer Roger McGuinn on Friday, March 30 at 8:00pm. Opening the show will be local songstress Maria Sebastian. This concert is part of the Performing Arts Center’s 2006-2007 Great Performers Series, presented by M&T Bank.

Tickets for Roger McGuinn are $28 each, with a discount for seniors and rush tickets for students. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, 1300 Elmwood Ave., by calling 716-878-3005 or online at www.buffalostate.edu/pac. Box Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Roger McGuinn’s signature 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and unorthodox melding of rock ‘n’ roll grooves with folk and country harmonies makes him one of music’s great innovators and visionaries. He has profoundly influenced everyone from the Eagles and Tom Petty to R.E. M. and Elvis Costello. In this one-man show, McGuinn delights audiences with Byrds classics, vintage Dylan, and a sparkling of folk standards. He will also share tales about his early days on the folk-rock scene and working with some of its pioneers. Those attending his packed 2003 and 2005 appearances at Rockwell Hall will agree that this intimate evening with a true folk-rock legend is not to be missed.

Jim McGuinn, later known as Roger, was already a veteran of the New York and Los Angeles music scenes, when he co-founded The Byrds with Gene Clark and David Crosby in 1964. Columbia Records signed the band later that year and in January 1965 The Byrds recorded “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Six months later the song was sitting atop the charts, and the “folk-rock” genre was born. Over the next four years The Byrds would produce a canon that is scarcely rivaled in pop music. Albums such as Turn! Turn! Turn!, Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, and Sweetheart of the Rodeo continued to explore the intersection between folk and rock while incorporating other elements such as country music and modern electronic composition to create a unique, innovative and, above all, artful pop music that ranks among the best work of Dylan, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. In 1973, McGuinn released his debut solo recording. In late 1975 and early 1976, he accompanied Bob Dylan on the pioneering Rolling Thunder Revue, a roving caravan of musicians.

The tour inspired one of McGuinn’s finest albums, Cardiff Rose. By 1981 McGuinn began performing a series of solo acoustic shows. Except for a couple of brief interruptions, he has continued to tour in that capacity ever since. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

A great proponent of the Internet, McGuinn began recording a series of traditional folk songs in 1994 and uploading them onto his own website (www.mcguinn.com) so that anyone can listen to or download them. At the interactive Folk Den, musicians and historians could find a captivating time capsule of storytelling and music, complete with free downloads, lyrics, chords and a note from McGuinn. McGuinn’s Grammy
Media Contact:
Jeff Marsha, Director of Operations, Performing Arts Center | 7168783032 | marshajl@bscmail.buffalostate.edu