FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2013
Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions Revisited:
Aaron & The Spell covers the album live on the 40th anniversary at shows in Philadelphia and New York City
This year, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, Philadelphia-based music outfit Aaron & The Spell will cover the entire record from front to back in a live setting at shows in Philadelphia and New York City. The show in Philadelphia, an XPN Welcomes event, will take place at World Café Live (upstairs) on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, with proceeds from ticket sales benefitting Pathways to Housing PA (www.pathwaystohousingpa.org). The show in New York City will take place at the Cutting Room on Thursday, November 21, 2013, with a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales going to Pathways to Housing NY (www.pathwaystohousingny.org). Both shows feature Jeffrey Gaines as a special guest.
The idea for the shows was initially inspired by a Facebook comment made by Robert Drake, on-air host and producer for WXPN, in which he said, “The #XPNfest has just started and I already have a new favorite band!! Philly’s own Aaron & The Spell… it’s like listening to vintage 1970s Stevie Wonder.” After reading that comment, it struck lead singer and songwriter Aaron Brown that it would be great fun to actually cover a Stevie Wonder record. After looking into it further, Aaron realized that it was the 40th anniversary for one of his favorite albums, Innervisions, and the rest was easy after that. He enlisted some great friends to help play and promote the shows.
To make the performance even more special, the shows, held during National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week (November 16-24), will be a benefit concerts with ticket proceeds for the Philadelphia show going to a non-profit organization called Pathways to Housing PA, which offers hope and an array of innovative services to chronically homeless individuals battling severe mental illness in Philadelphia. Says Brown, “It is only fitting to tie Innervisions to giving back to the community, because if you really listen to the record, Stevie’s concern for people and the community are what make that record so meaningful for me and so many others.” Brown plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the New York City show to Pathways to Housing NY.
By the start of the 1970s, Stevie Wonder had hit his groove as one of the most gifted entertainers on the planet. After releasing gems Music of My Mind and Talking Book in 1972, he was on the verge of producing the most epic album in his catalog. On August 3, 1973, Innervisions was released and it became his third consecutive successful album within a two-year span. The record would spawn three singles, including the hits “Living for the City,” “Higher Ground,” and “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing.” Innervisions became the first R&B album to be named Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards (where he also won two others, including Best R&B song for “Living for the City”). The album has been hailed as one of the top 25 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Tickets for the Philadelphia show are expected to go quickly; fans are encouraged to go to http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/ now to purchase tickets to the event. Tickets for the New York City show will be available starting tomorrow at http://thecuttingroomnyc.com/. To learn more about National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week go to www.pathwaystohousingpa.org.
Philadelphia, PA-based Aaron & The Spell released its album, Sing, on September 10, 2013, and Brown is already busy writing for the next album, which is slated to be recorded in the spring of 2014. Brown’s bold sensitivity as a vocalist and a songwriter has earned him favorable comparisons to Amos Lee, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Ben Harper. Sing has been garnering acclaim, with songs like “Don’t Cry,” which has been played regularly on WXPN, and “A Beating Heart,” which recently won the Independent Music Award in the Adult Contemporary Song category. Brown has also been nominated for a Tri State Indie Music Award, named “Artist to Watch” in 2013 by Ticket Magazine/Montgomery Media, and listed as one of the “10 Artists You Should Have Known In 2012” on NPR Music.