Legendary musician Steve Winwood set for F.M. Kirby Center

WILKES-BARRE – Legendary vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, mandolin player, producer, Grammy winner and BMI Icon Steve Winwood brings his latest live tour to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, September 22, at 8 p.m.

This show is presented by SLP Concerts and tickets are now available for purchase online at kirbycenter.org and ticketmaster.com, or at the F.M. Kirby Center Box Office during regular business hours or by phone.

For more than five decades, Steve Winwood has remained a primary figure in rock ‘n’ roll. His skills as a composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist have developed an impressive catalog of popular music.

Winwood burst into prominence in 1963 at the age of 15 with the Spencer Davis Group. The band enjoyed a string of chart-topping hits by way of such enduring classics as “Gimme Some Lovin’”, “I’m A Man”, and “Keep On Running.”

In 1967, Steve left the Spencer Davis Group and co-founded Traffic. Landmark albums such as ‘Mr. Fantasy’, ‘The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys’, and ‘John Barleycorn Must Die’ confirmed their position as one of the most important British groups of the 1960s and 1970s.

Eager to try his hand with other creative partnerships, Winwood left Traffic in 1969 to form a new group called Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. The pairing of Winwood with Cream’s Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and later, former Family bassist Rick Grech, created what many critics dubbed rock’s first supergroup. The international popularity of Blind Faith, the group’s sole #1 album, confirmed their chemistry. Blind Faith staples written by Winwood such as “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Had To Cry Today” continue to rank among his finest achievements.

In 1970, Steve reformed Traffic with Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood and guided a highly successful run with the innovative albums The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, John Barleycorn Must Die, and Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory. By 1975, Traffic splintered.

1977’s solo debut Steve Winwood signaled a bold new artistic direction, including writing partnerships with Viv Shanshall and Will Jennings. This shift kickstarted the creation of Steve’s landmark solo albums including Arc Of A Diver, the three-time Grammy-Award-Winning Back In The High Life, and the Grammy-award-winning Roll With It.

Winwood has always nurtured a restless creative spirit, mining rich musical traditions such as Delta Blues, English folk, Plainsong, R&B, Afro-and Caribbean & Brazilian rhythms; merging these diverse influences within his own unmistakable sound.

Winwood’s solo career has yielded a rich catalog of popular songs including “Back In The High Life,” “While You See A Chance,” “Roll With It”, “Valerie,” and “Higher Love.” The latter was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning three: ‘Record Of The Year’, ‘Best Engineered Non-Classical Album’, and ‘Best Male Pop Vocal Performance’. Roll With It received four Grammy nominations in 1989 and won ‘Best Engineered Album’. Steve’s most recent solo albums, About Time and Nine Lives have received critical acclaim, earning Winwood one of his highest Billboard chart entries.

Steve has since renewed his creative partnership with Eric Clapton. Their expansive CD and DVD ‘Live At Madison Square Garden’ was nominated for two Grammys and rewarded their many fans with some of the most exciting performances of their careers.

In addition to his many achievements as a solo artist, Winwood has remained an in-demand session player throughout his career, contributing to landmark recordings by Jimi Hendrix (Voodoo Chile), The Who (Tommy), James Brown (Gravity), George Harrison (Dark Horse, George Harrison), Tina Turner (Break Every Rule), Eric Clapton (The Rainbow Concert, Powerhouse), Billy Joel (The Bridge), Joe Cocker (With A Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker), Toots & The Maytals (Reggae Got Soul), Jimmy Buffett (Hot Water), Phil Collins (But Seriously), Van Morrison (Duets), B.B. King (In London), Muddy Waters (The London Muddy Waters Sessions), Christina Aguilera (Back To Basics), Miranda Lambert (Four The Record), and Etta James (The Right Time).

He has toured with Joe Cocker, Tom Petty, Carlos Santana, The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, The Grateful Dead, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, The Funk Brothers, and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, among others.

Steve Winwood is a recipient of the BMI Icon Award, the Musicians Union Classic Rock Award, The Nashville Symphony Harmony Award, and has been nominated for 11 Grammys, winning two. Steve has received Honorary Doctorate degrees in Music from Berklee College Of Music, Aston University in his hometown of Birmingham, England; and from the University of Gloucestershire.

Traffic was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004, and the following year, Steve was honored for his “enduring influence on generations of music makers” by BMI. In 2005, Steve received the Golden Eagle Medal from Hungarian Ambassador Andras Simonyi.

Rolling Stone Magazine named Steve Winwood one of the ‘Greatest Singers Of All Time’ in 2010, and Steve performed for President Obama at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.. On June 5th 2014, he was inducted into the Walk Of Fame in Nashville.