Corey Glover will lead The New Stew in a tribute performance of Bill Withers' classic album "Live at Carnegie Hall" Friday, Jan. 27, at Capital Ale House Richmond. (Photo by Bob Forte)
Stevie Wonder, Korn, Pearl Jam and, more recently, U2 have capitalized on a trend: playing an album in its entirety in concert. This week Corey Glover, lead singer of the Grammy-winning rock band Living Colour, will hop on the bandwagon in his own way at Capital Ale House’s Richmond Music Hall. Glover is performing with a group called The New Stew, and covering Bill Withers’ “Live at Carnegie Hall” from beginning to end.
“It’s a seminal record for a lot of folk,” Glover says. “Not only are all these songs funky tunes, but they were actually saying something.”
The album, named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 50 greatest live albums ever, includes several of Withers’ biggest hits, including “Lean On Me,” “Grandma’s Hands” and “Use Me.” The recording finds the guitarist and singer at the height of his power and influence, mixing soul, blues and folk sounds effortlessly, all grounded by a blue-collar sensibility.
“How many people playing popular music [in the 1970s] were playing at Carnegie Hall?” Glover asks. “And then afterwards, [Withers] went back to his factory job. He had a work ethic that was very interesting. He was playing working-class songs for working-class people.”
The New Stew, a six-piece band, will perform the album from start to finish, foregoing the extended introductions and dialogue Withers shares with audience in the 1973 original recording. The New Stew is a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of the Derek Trucks Band, the Susan Tedeschi Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit and, of course, Living Colour. Fans of the latter group can look forward to a new album, “Shade,” in mid-March. A Richmond native named Jared Stone is the founder of the group and came up with idea to cover Withers’ music.
Corey Glover (Photo by Bob Forte)
Glover adds that he has met Withers on more than one occasion, but he doesn’t know if the 78-year-old West Virginia native is aware of what The New Stew has been cooking. He adds that the trend of groups performing songs solely from a single album proves that music matters, more than some might think.
“The general consensus is that music is disposable. It’s [what you listen to] when you’re doing something else. You’re washing the dishes and you turn on your iTunes,” Glover says. “What people fail to realize is what human beings need is music, because music is the way we interpret the world. It’s the guidepost to your life. Despite what corporations and people who don’t understand that power want it to be. There is some power to it.”
The New Stew pays homage to Bill Withers live at Capital Ale House Richmond (623 E. Main St.) on Friday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $20.
