Artist Cat Power will perform Saturday, Sept. 21, presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
The singer-songwriter and guitarist, born Chan Marshall, fearlessly explores deep emotions through heartfelt songs and honest lyrics. Born and raised in the South, she is known for her powerful live performances and introspective songwriting and has earned acclaim and awards including a Shortlist Music Prize.
Her latest album, “Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert,” pays homage to Bob Dylan’s iconic 1966 concert with soulful renditions of Dylan’s timeless classics.
A singularly gifted song interpreter whose catalog includes three acclaimed covers albums (2000’s “The Covers Record,” 2008’s “Jukebox,” 2022’s “Covers”), Marshall holds an especially strong affinity for the songwriter-poet, according to her artist’s statement.
“More than the work of any other songwriter, Dylan’s songs have spoken to me, and inspired me since I first began hearing them at 5 years old,” Marshall said. Like the original concert (and all of Dylan’s 1966 world tour), Marshall kept the first half of her set entirely acoustic, then went electric for the second half with the help of a full band: guitarist Arsun Sorrenti, bassist Erik Paparozzi, multi-instrumentalists Aaron Embry (harmonica, piano) and Jordan Summers (organ, Wurlitzer), and drummer Josh Adams.
“I knew that, when representing a performance that changed the rock-and-roll landscape forever, I needed to be very serious about it,” she said. “Although ‘serious’ feels like a small word for how deeply immersed I felt.”
Tickets are $59, $69, $89 and $99. For tickets, visit AlysStephens.org or call the Alys Stephens Center Box Office at 205-975-2787.
Before the performance, stop by UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts from 5-6:30 p.m. for a pre-show gathering with food trucks and live music. On exhibition will be works from artists Odili Donald Odita and Manjari Sharma, and “Outside Lines: Selections from AEIVA’s Permanent Collection.”