The bars and clubs of the world are littered with tribute acts – countless musicians performing the music of their heroes to a room full of punters who are just happy to hear songs that they know.
But Jim Curry’s tribute to John Denver is a little different. Curry was the voice of Denver on the CBS movie about his life.
And in addition, he performs with members of Denver’s band. “Jim Curry Presents the Music of John Denver” will take place at Boulevard Music on Saturday, so we spoke with Curry…
CULVER CITY NEWS: WHEN DID YOU START DOING THIS?
Jim Curry: This is something that began about five years after John had passed away, which was 1997. We had decided, my wife and I, that we would give this a try and see how it went, and everything seemed to never go back. It’s been full time since 2000 – I did my very first concert with John Denver’s band that year, out here in California at the Botanic Garden. It went really well, so we developed this and just started picking up more and more.
WHAT HAD YOU DONE BEFORE, MUSICALLY?
Just hobby. I was a self-taught guitar player, and my wife and I had a bluegrass trio over the years that we were part of. Did some folk festivals – that sort of thing.
HOW DID YOU CONNECT WITH JOHN DENVER’S BAND?
After John had passed away, there was a natural migration of fans from all over the world every October to come and commemorate John and his music. We went to the second year of that in 1999. While we were there, there were movies that CBS was making a movie. I looked up CBS and got on the phone when I got home, and asked who was doing the music. They passed we right over to Mike Flicker, and he told me that he was looking for a sound-alike. I sent a CD to him in Burbank, and that same day he called me back. Later that year, I was in the studio recording the voice of John for the CBS movie. It was an amazing transition that went to quickly. Some of John’s band members were doing background music on the film, and I had met them in Aspen so I out this together as an idea that I had. I took the credit of doing the movie, and we started launching our own tribute show idea.
HAVE YOU PLAYED AT BOULEVARD BEFORE?
Yes, we’ve played there a few times before with different configurations. This time there will be four of us.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE SET?
With the addition of the flute and the keyboard it expands the possibilities quite a bit. It gives us some bigger possibilities with the orchestral music rather than just the earlier folk stuff. We get to do both. The later music was much bigger production-type music.
Jim Curry performs at Boulevard Music at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26; 4316 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City; 310-398-2583
