Back and forth to preschool my twin daughters would ask me to play the cat song. “Play it again mama,” they’d say. The song was so fun for all of us. We’d turn it up and belt it out on our short ride to school or back home again. Singing together created a shared experience and a happy memory all within the span of five minutes. The song is What Kind of Cat Are You? by performer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator, Billy Jonas.
What kind of cat hangs out in your house? HOUSE CAT!
What kind of cat hangs out in the alley? ALLEY CAT!
What kind of cat is a chocolate candy bar? KIT KAT!
We’d laugh and sing and see how many cat questions we could get right. (There’s a bunch more!) Billy Jonas is a happy part of my daughters’ first school experience, and he’s performing in Asheville this weekend. The award-winning Billy Jonas Band will be performing with its creative, interactive, and soul-inspiring music at the Grey Eagle this Sunday, June 30 at 1:30 p.m.! Bound to delight children and adults of all ages, The Billy Jonas Band inspires a sense of connectedness which makes perfect sense because Billy says his favorite instrument to play is “the audience." Come on out and enjoy funky folk music for the whole family!
For 25 years, Billy Jonas has perfected the art of the neo-tribal hootenanny with audiences around the globe. Using voice, guitar, and industrial re-percussion, each concert is a soul-spelunking, heart healing, joy-filled journey.
Billy said his musical journey began “around a campfire in the summer of 1972 as the songs Leaving on a Jet Plane and Blowing in the Wind rising with the sparks into the darkness ... communal singing, guitars strumming, and a bucket thumping the back beat. 40 summer campers and 8 counselors became one big, glorious, harmonizing being. I remember thinking: wouldn’t it be great to carry this ecstatic connectedness, and musical magic out into the world?”
Billy Jonas co-founded Oberlin's Big Bang Theory in the 80s, went on in the 90s to funky folk fame and fortune with TheBillys, and now with The Billy Jonas Band goes hummin' and strummin' and bangin' and sangin' across North America, promulgating homemade "industrial re-percussion," genre-bending "funky family folk," and the participatory joy of "everybody's in the band."
Billy has made Asheville his home since 1991. Find out more about Billy here and get your tickets!
The Billy Jonas Band features guitarist / vocalist / industrial re-percussionist Billy Jonas, Ashley Jo Farmer (vocals, re-percussion), Sherman Hoover (bass, marimba,re-percussion, vocals), and Juan Holladay (vocals, re-percussion)! For more information, please visit: www.BillyJonas.com
WHAT: BILLY JONAS BAND - CONCERT for FAMILIES
WHERE: The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
WHEN: Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at 1:30 pm.
TICKETS: $12 at the door; $10 advance, and $9 each for groups of 4 or more. Kids under 2 are free.
INFO: 828-232-5800 / http://www.thegreyeagle.com/
