Last month, Reverb’s Co-Executive Directors and Founders Lauren Sullivan and Adam Gardner of Guster, reconnected with Bonnie at her concert in Portland, ME. In 2004, Adam and Lauren — concerned about the environmental impact of music tours — decided to make a change for the better. Having heard about Bonnie’s Green Highway campaign, they called Bonnie’s manager to find out more. Bonnie and her manager took Adam and Lauren on as a project of their ARIA Foundation mentoring their start-up until REVERB was able to launch as their own 501c3 organization. We are so proud of the incredible impact REVERB has made on the touring industry over the past 20 years, working with a range of musicians, festivals and venues to engage fans to take environmental and social action.
To learn more about their work, visit https://reverb.org

The Kennedy Center has just announced their 47th class of honorees, and we are thrilled to share that Bonnie will be recognized alongside Francis Ford Coppola, Grateful Dead, Arturo Sandoval and Apollo Theater. Visit https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/honors to learn more and tune in for the broadcast this December on CBS.

Happy 85th Birthday to my dear ‘big sis,’ Mavis Staples. I cherish every moment we’re together, including your incredible early birthday celebration in LA a couple of months ago. What a blast we had and what a lineup gathered in celebration to honor and adore YOU! Your irrepressible vitality and spirit shine through every song you sing, calling us to keep up the fight for equal rights, freedom and justice for all. You bring us all together in ways no one else can. I send my deep love and warm wishes for many more wonderful years to come. Hope to see you soon!..XX your ‘lil sis,’ Bonnie

Bonnie Raitt and her long-time touring band will perform at the historic Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel-By-The-Sea on California’s Monterey Peninsula. Special guest Roy Rogers will support the show. Proceeds will be donated to non-profit organizations dedicated to investigative journalism and protecting a free press. “With our democracy at a crossroads, never have investigative journalism and protection of a free press been more essential to holding the powerful to account and keeping the public informed and engaged,” says Raitt.

Tickets for Carmel-By-The-Sea concert will go on Fan Presale tomorrow, Tuesday July 9th at 12pm local time here. Please use the code BonnieFC24 when prompted.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 12th at 12pm local time.

Tickets $350; $200; and $100. There are a limited number of VIP Fundraising Packages ($500) available: Patrons receive a ticket to the concert and can enjoy some dessert and join Bonnie for a picture at a post-concert Reception. Limited to 50 people.

https://cart.sunsetcenter.org/883?queueittoken=e_vmsafetynet~q_7520ad76-0061-4c3b-b7ed-3da25876f59c~ts_1720457783~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_47121ad01e81bb7d26445a545e38548925d931fe2f6ec892a9058a543b31d192

In celebration of the band’s 50th Anniversary, The Fabulous Thunderbirds have just released Struck Down, their first studio album in eight years on Stony Plain Records. The ten-track album includes a wonderful cover of Memphis Minnie’s “Nothing in Rambling,” featuring longtime friends, T-Birds founding member Kim Wilson, along with Bonnie, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal and Mick Fleetwood.

Bonnie and the band go way back, playing live together often over the decades. Bonnie invited Kim to be one of her special guests on ROAD TESTED, her 1995 live album/concert film. Here’s a clip of their rockin’ duet of Kim’s T-Birds hit, “I Believe I’m In Love With You,” from that show, which has been a highlight of Bonnie’s concerts for years. — BRHQ

Check out Struck Down including the track, “Nothing in Rambling,” here: https://stonyplainrecords.com/fabulousthunderbirds/

Watch the clip from Road Tested here: https://www.tiktok.com/@bonnieraittofficial/video/7385585402700156191?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7345185561815369246

What a great time was had by all on Saturday night at Bonnie’s sold out show at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway. She was honored to have fellow soul rocker Peter Wolf at the show. Here’s a photo of them backstage after the show and linked below are a couple of great reviews. Bonnie thanks all the fans, her band and crew, The James Hunter Six and their MGM hosts for a fantastic night!
— BRHQ

Photo by Duke Levine

Boston.com review: https://tinyurl.com/4tez795f
Boston Globe review: https://tinyurl.com/mr38sue7

With Father’s Day this weekend, we wanted to note how special it has been for Bonnie to perform in some of the more historic venues on the East Coast of the U.S. where her father, Broadway legend John Raitt, performed many times over his career. John brought Broadway to “small town USA” appearing in Summer Stock productions across the country for 25 consecutive summers from 1960-1984. Performing in venues like Westbury Music Fair (now know as NYCB Theater at Westbury) and Cape Cod Melody Tent, both of which Bonnie and her band played to sold out crowds this past week.

Thinking of John Raitt and the many fathers and father-figures in our lives who have inspired and taught us so much. Happy Father’s Day to all! — BRHQ

Learn more about John’s Summer Stock legacy here: https://www.johnraitt.com/career/road

Marquis photo by @James “Hutch” Hutchinson

Written by Jay Lustig

“Oh my gosh, what would we do without soul music!” said Bonnie Raitt, before singing her own soulful “Nick of Time” at her June 5 concert at Prudential Hall at NJPAC in Newark.

Testifying to the power of music itself was a constant theme of her between-song commentary during this show. After performing John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” for instance, she remembered how Phoebe Snow used to come to her New Jersey shows and how Snow would sit in with the band and “tear the roof off of that sucker right there. We’d do a Sam & Dave song, ‘I Thank You,’ and it was just … I fell over, you know.”

Read the full review here:
https://www.njarts.net/bonnie-raitt-remains-at-top-of-her-game-at-njpac-concert-review-photos-setlist-video/

Photo by John Cavanaugh

Local favorite Bonnie Raitt returns for a concert at MGM Music Hall at Fenway.

by Steve Morse, Globe Correspondent

Bonnie Raitt can’t be summed up easily. Some people might view her as a sassy
blues singer, some as a no-nonsense social activist, and some as an observant
balladeer who writes deeply serious songs such as “Nick of Time” (a 1990
Grammy winner about a woman wanting to get pregnant before it’s too late) and
“Just Like That,” a stunning track about a heart transplant survivor that won a
Grammy last year for song of the year.

Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/yc467zkp

I’m heartbroken at the loss of one of my dearest friends, Spider John Koerner, who passed away last Saturday at 85 in Minneapolis, surrounded by his family.   

We’ve been close friends since we met in ‘69, hung out in Cambridge in the early 70’s and in all the decades since. John, along with Snaker Dave Ray and Tony Little Sun Glover, comprised one of the greatest and most influential blues groups from the mid-Sixties. From the first time I heard their seminal ‘Blues, Rags and Hollers’ album, I’ve been completely under his spell. 

He was funny, talented, mischievous, always curious —loved life, good music, watching stars and a high time with friends. Between his incredibly unique, funky, rhythmic guitar playing and singing, his great original songs and the hilarious, long-winding stories he’d weave into his sets, there was simply no one like him. 

Through their terrific album together, ‘Running, Jumping, Standing Still,’ I met Willie Murphy, who went on to produce my first album and record one of my favorite song of John’s, “I Ain’t Blue.“

We got to enjoy a lifetime of fun, great music and meaning. John will be remembered as one of the most beloved and important revivalists of the great folk and blues song tradition. 

My deep condolences to his family and we will remember and treasure him and his wonderful music always.

— Bonnie

https://www.startribune.com/spider-john-koerner-obituary-minneapolis-minnesota-bob-dylan-ray-glover-bonnie-raitt-palmers-cancer/600366946

http://www.redhouserecords.com/artists/spider-john-koerner/

One of my faves of John’s originals, from his first album with Dave Ray and Tony Glover, 1963‘s  Blues, Rags and Hollers.
“Creepy John” https://youtu.be/C91OMLB36I8

Another great original from one of my favorite albums ever—Running, Jumping, Standing by Still, recorded with Willie Murphy and  released in 1969.
“Running Jumping Standing Still” https://youtu.be/lK8Xry9I-1k

And here’s my version of John’s beautiful “I Ain’t Blue,” from my first album 1971.  Produced by Willie Murphy 
“I Ain’t Blue” https://youtu.be/YsELUACBg8s

Photo Courtesy of Treehouse Records (top); Photo Courtesy of Red House Records (bottom)