For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Jim Motavalli at 203-610-0549
Guitar Hero Gary Lucas (Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart, Gods and Monsters) to Headline WPKN Benefit
Guitarist Gary Lucas will play a benefit concert for WPKN (89.5 FM, and WPKN.org) at the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport (275 Fairfield Avenue) Saturday, July 9. Tickets are $40 ($45 with a table). Doors open at 7 p.m., and jazz/experimental band Barbra (featuring WPKN’s own Sam Hopkins) will be opening the show at 8 p.m. For more information and tickets, see: https://tinyurl.com/fmx4tzun
Lucas, a Yale graduate, has released more than 50 albums as a solo artist or band leader. In addition to Captain Beefheart and Jeff Buckley (both of whom he worked with closely) Lucas has worked with John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen (of the New York Dolls), Lou Reed, Bryan Farmer, Warren Haynes, Joe Lovano, Hal Willner, Iggy Pop and many more.
Lucas co-wrote Joan Osborne’s Grammy-nominated song “Spider Web,” and also co-wrote two songs with Jeff Buckley, “Grace” and “Mojo Pin.” Buckley actually sang with Lucas’ group Gods & Monsters before achieving much success as a solo artist.
The New Yorker (which also said that WPKN is “the greatest radio station in the world”) said that Lucas is “The thinking man’s guitar hero.” The Independent said he is “the world’s most popular avant-rock guitarist,” and the New York Times called him “the guitarist of 1,000 ideas.”
About WPKN
WPKN, rated “the greatest radio station in the world” by The New Yorker, recently completed its long-awaited move to 277 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport—walking distance to Read’s Artspace and other arts venues. Founded in 1963 as a 100-watt campus outlet, WPKN is today a 10,000-watt listener-supported community radio station broadcasting at 89.5 FM and streaming online at WPKN.org. WPKN’s terrestrial signal now reaches to a listenership of 1.5 million people in Connecticut, Long Island, parts of New York and Massachusetts. Operating 24/7 and largely run by volunteers, WPKN offers a unique and eclectic mix of live and recorded music, news, public affairs, spoken word, arts and culture and other free-form programming which defy genre. WPKN is proud to be listener-supported, commercial-free, community-driven radio available to the public at no cost, any time, day or night.