Grammy winner Marc Cohn plays Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts February 4

Grammy winner Marc Cohn plays Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts February 4

Image: Marc Cohn For reasons best explained through his music, Marc Cohn has had some rough years. Cohn's loyal followers and the uninitiated will have the chance to catch up with him and hear his soulful sound at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8:00 p.m. Cohn's appearance is a feature of Fairfield University's 2009-2010 Arts & Minds series.

An acclaimed singer/songwriter, Cohn won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. In the years following he endured the pain of divorce, the joy of a new marriage in 2002 to anchor Elizabeth Vargas, the struggle of writer's block and more.

He sought to break through the block with a month-long tour in the summer of 2005 and was doing well until the night of Aug. 7, 2005 when he was shot in the head during a random attempted carjacking after a concert in Denver. Cohn was fortunate that he never lost consciousness and he left the hospital the next day. Three weeks later, while recuperating at home in New York, he watched the city of New Orleans destroyed by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"I'm in the middle of my own crisis, and now I'm watching all these haunting images on television of thousands of people suffering through a far more horrific event. And then something I never could have predicted happened. It was like my song-writing receiver got flipped into the 'on' position. Everywhere I turned, in conversations I overheard, even in get-well e-mails I was receiving, song ideas started coming. For several weeks, I'd be working on two or three songs simultaneously."

The result was "Join the Parade," a recording that demanded to be made and has been called Cohn's most accomplished and compelling album to date. "...These songs weren't polite about their sudden presence ... they insisted on being written," Cohn acknowledges.

Cohn's songs are layered with textures and soulful singing and he has featured many notable guest artists on his albums including David Crosby, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt. While he may be best known for his early song, "Walking in Memphis," the events of his life have opened new avenues for his music and have provided him with an even deeper appreciation for the struggles that must be endured.

Tickets are $40, $35, $30 and are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center's e-mail list. Join, by contacting boxoffice@quickcenter.com . And become a fan of the Quick Center for the Arts on Facebook! Keep up-to-date with the latest performance news, plus special offers and discounts! Find the Quick Center at www.facebook.com/FairfieldQuickCenter.

Posted On: 01-12-2010 10:01 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 167