Werewolves of New Haven: A Tribute to Warren Zevon
Calling all sandwich lovers, werewolves, and Zevonistas . . .
Werewolves of New Haven is a tribute to the late great musical legend, Warren Zevon. In addition to his big hits like “Werewolves of London” and “Lawyers, Guns, and Money,” this supergroup of New Haven musicians will perform plenty of deep cuts including “Detox Mansion,” “Splendid Isolation,” and “Things to Do in Denver When You Die.” Warren Zevon was a regular on the Late Show with David Letterman. On occasion he filled in for house band leader Paul Shaffer. When Zevon announced that he was dying of mesothelioma, Letterman had him on the show for a special episode as the only guest. This is when Warren Zevon offered his famous advice, “Enjoy every sandwich.” In the 1970’s Linda Ronstadt recorded and made hits of Zevon’s songs “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me,” “Hasten Down the Wind,” “Mohammed’s Radio,” and “Carmelita.” This helped introduce Zevon’s songs to a wider audience. In addition to covering his songs, Linda Ronstadt sang back- up when Warren Zevon recorded his famous song “Excitable Boy.”
Warren Zevon was a musician’s musician. He collaborated with well-known artists Jackson Browne, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Everly Brothers, and Bruce Springsteen. Many famous musicians contributed to Zevon’s recordings: Jackson Browne, Chick Corea, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Tom Petty, Ry Cooder, Bruce Hornsby, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen. His songs have been covered by Jerry Garcia, Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams Jr., Jason Isbell, the Bangles, Drive-by Truckers, Pretenders, Flamin’ Groovies, Shawn Colvin, Widespread Panic, Stevie Nicks, and The Turtles.
To celebrate the genius of Warren Zevon’s music, a supergroup of local New Haven musicians will perform many of his greatest songs. The band includes Thom Guthrie (The Gleeful Conspiracy), Jeff Bowen (Buckingham Brown, Rolling Thunder Revival), John Spignesi (John Spignesi Band), Kedric Becker (Bad Assets, Russ Becker Quartet), Bruce Crowder (Shellye Valauskas Experience), Mark Zaretsky (Chicago Dawgs, Cobalt Rhythm Kings), Kevin Day (gigglejuice), Loralee Geil (The Vomettes), Shellye Valauskas (Shellye Valauskas Experience), Dustin Kreidler (Dusty K Workman, The Future Heavies, Tuxedo Junction), Whitney Guthrie (The Gleeful Conspiracy) and Dave Schneider (The Zambonis, The LeeVees). In addition to performing and making sandwiches, Rebecca Scotka (The Vomettes) helped coordinate the project. The event will be emceed by Fran Fried (Cygnus Radio).