Bonnie Raitt to Perform at UB as Part of "Souls Alike" Tour

Buffalo, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Bonnie Raitt at 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the Mainstage Theatre, located at the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

More than a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer and accomplished songwriter, Raitt has become an institution in American music. So frequently pigeonholed as a guitar-slingin' blues mama, Raitt has in fact created a unique musical territory with a career spanning nine Grammys and 15 million album sales in more than three decades.

The first single from her next album, "Souls Alike," will hit radio in August. "This record was a matter of stretching and not repeating myself," says Bonnie Raitt. "Some of the songs are clearly terrain that people have come to know and appreciate from me, but the rest are about finding some new direction and something new to say."

"Souls Alike" is her first album ever to bear the credit "Produced by Bonnie Raitt." Where most of her projects have contained a mix of songs written by both celebrated songwriters and her own new discoveries, usually with some original material, all 11 compositions on Souls Alike come from lesser-known writers with whom Raitt feels a deep affinity and whose work she wants to champion. That connection, together with a flourishing creative collaboration with her beloved touring band and co-producer/engineer Tchad Blake, provided the lifeblood and inspiration for the album's direction, and even its title. It marks a brave, exhilarating step in a legendary body of work.

It has been three years since Raitt's last new release, 2002's "Silver Lining," but she's stayed busy non-stop in the interim. A lengthy world tour followed the album's release, along with numerous guest recordings (including the stunning "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" on Ray Charles' final album "Genius Loves Company," which won last year's Grammy award for Album of the Year). Most recently, she participated in the historic "Vote for Change" tour leading up to the 2004 Presidential election.

All the while, Raitt was also dealing with a series of family crises. Her older brother developed brain cancer, now in remission, while both of her parents passed away less than a year apart. "It's been a heavy time," she notes. Not coincidentally, the opening track and first single from "Souls Alike" is "I Will Not Be Broken," an anthem of strength and survival with a classic R&B feel.

Various television appearances are planned around the album's release, leading immediately into a year-long tour from this veteran road warrior. In typical form, Raitt is fired up by the challenge of performing the ambitious and innovative material on "Souls Alike" onstage. "You gotta do stuff that stretches you," she says. "I would hang up my spurs if I didn't have something new to play."

Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, followed by her welcome into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame along with her father, in June 2001. Over the years, Bonnie has appeared as a guest on over 100 album projects. In 1988, she co-founded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, which works to improve royalties, financial conditions and recognition for a whole generation of R&B pioneers to whom she feels we owe so much. In 1995, she initiated the Bonnie Raitt Guitar Project with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, currently running 200 clubs around the world, to encourage underprivileged youth to play music.

Tickets for Bonnie Raitt are $55, $46 and $37. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.