These days, you don’t see or hear Linda Ronstadt in live performances in big concert halls or stadiums, other than online and on TV videos. Gone is her clear voice, which ranges from soprano to husky alto on songs like “You’re No Good,” “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” and “When Will I Be Loved?”
No, the Tucson-born singer-songwriter and actress revealed in 2013 that she has Parkinson’s disease and has lost the ability to sing due to the loss of muscle control common in Parkinson’s patients. As he told newsman Dan Rather in a 2014 interview, and said the same thing to filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman in the 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, she stopped singing
Across genres from rock and country to light opera, Great American songbooks to Latin tunes, his voice may be muted, but it’s heard again by Shannon Ray, lead singer of Ronstadt Revival. Saturday night’s first Bakaville appearance at Journey Downtown on Main Street.
The former model from Long Beach, who looks a lot like Ronstadt, wears clothing in a similar style to hers in performances, including Ronstadt’s iconic Cub Scout uniform and shorts. The nearly 30-song show conveys what Ray considers to be “the authentic sound of the Ronstadt catalogue.”
“We are 100% live,” said Rae. Her first album purchased during her teenage years was Ronstadt’s her 1976 LP Greatest Hits. “You can’t justify Linda without pedal steel.”
Based on videos of her performances, she covers the song lists of music legends, from Ronstadt’s Stone Ponies in the late-early 1960s to the heyday of the 1970s and ’80s and beyond, and features songs by Smokey Robison, Warren Zevon, Lowell George, Eagles, Rolling Stones, etc. Songs from the 90-minute show include “Different Drum,” “Long, Long Time,” “Willin’,” “It’s So Easy,” “Get Closer,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” and “Blue Bayou.” ”
In a phone interview Monday from Orange County, where she’s home with her husband and 14-year-old daughter, Ray said she hasn’t met her idol yet.
“I hope so,” she said. “Someone saw what we were doing and said he liked it.”
She recounted the band’s early days, formed in September 2019, and their first performance on February 29, 2020. Then came the months of COVID-19 and idleness, but she said, “We were in it together,” and later got together to rehearse and rehearse her November concert at Southern California’s Apple Valley. .
The Ronstadt Revival’s next show took place in March 2021 and sold out, and rumors began circulating about her performance and the delivery of Ronstadt’s songbook.
“We’re doing about 25 shows a year now,” says Rae, a tall brunette who has modeled swimwear, lingerie and worked in auto shows. We are getting requests all the time…England, Europe.In fact we have a very large number of fans in Japan.We have requests from all over the country.”
Of Ronstadt’s legacy, she added: She is very generous with her relationships with other musicians. She is still best friends with Emmy Lou Harris and other women. Tons of mariachi albums. I admire her drive and persistence. “
Yes, she’s seen the “The Sound of My Voice” documentary “over 100 times,” Ray said. “I studied her.”
Often after a performance, the audience “comes up to us and tells us how much she means to them,” she said.
While in high school, Ray joined the choir and then began singing in cover bands in college.
“When I was modeling, I was in a lot of bands,” she recalls. “As I got older, I stopped modeling. It would be a dream for me to participate in the Ronstadt Revival.”
Of course, there are other Ronstadt tribute bands, but in a diplomatic response to a question, Ray said in a text message:
What sets Ronstadt Revival apart is “our collective passion as a band and attention to detail to stay true to Linda’s music. I can cover it all My bandmates are so amazing, without them I’m nothing.
In addition to Ray on lead vocals, Ronstadt Revival is Dan Siegal on guitar. Kevin Ryan, pedal steel and guitar. Jeff Hale, bass and vocals. Rich Sanders, keyboards, vocals. 40, drums. Julie Push, fiddle, guitar, vocals.
if you go
Ronstadt’s revival
8 p.m. Saturday
Journey Downtown
308 Main Street, Vacaville
Ticket: $25-$30
There are floor seats and mezzanine seats
https://ftpresents.com