Vance Gilbert

One of the originators of the RandB/folk/jazz crossover sub-genre, Vance Gilbert was born and raised near Philadelphia. Starting out hoping to be an RandB and jazz singer at college, he discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter. Word spread like wildfire about Gilbert’s stage-owning singing and playing, and Shawn Colvin invited him to be a special guest on her 1992 Fat City tour, where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. 

Along with being an opener of choice for artists as varied as Arlo Guthrie, Anita Baker, The Milk Carton Kids, and Southside Johnny, the mid-2000s found Gilbert opening 150+ shows for comedian George Carlin. Gilbert has also been a prominent presence at some of the world’s most prestigious gatherings and halls, among them the Newport, Winnipeg, Rocky Mountain, Calgary, Ottawa, and Falcon Ridge Folk festivals, the Kate Wolf Music Festival, Australia’s Woodford Folk and Mullum Music Festivals, Mountain Stage, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Nashville’s Lyman Auditorium, The Barns at Wolftrap, and a private party for his veterinarian where there was terrific lo-mein.

Most recently, Gilbert has been the opener of choice for Paul Reiser’s stand-up shows, along with his own busy acoustic music touring schedule, including Vance’sMondayNightAcousticPajamaParty on YouTube. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Vance has played a live, themed, weekly 90-minute mixed bag of originals and cover tunes, donating a portion of his tip jar to a local charity of his choice. Having done more than 240 of these Pajama Parties is newsworthy in itself because he just forgot to stop doing them.

Noted not only for being the ever-consummate performer, Gilbert has recorded 14 albums. His 2023 album, The Mother Of Trouble, features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient and Bonnie Raitt Grammy hit song co-writer Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh. With four bullies, four deaths (three of them murders), three moms, two accidents, two Black people, two dogs, one dog ball, and one missed flight thanks to gas station sushi, this album benefits from the gifts of time and experience honing songwriting skills that put this most vital of acoustic storytellers at the top of the game.

Gilbert runs three to four miles ever so slowly, five days a week, to stay sharp for the road and does historical aviation research and model building just for great, nerdy fun. He even has a tune on a Grammy-nominated children’s album. How rounded is that?

“If Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens had a love child, with Rodney Dangerfield as the midwife, the results might be something close to the great Vance Gilbert” --Richmond Magazine.

“With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god...” --Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“By this point in their career, most performers are zeroed in on playing fan favorites and a few new songs for a change of pace. Gilbert, on the other hand, is some sort of one-man musical universe that just keeps expanding.” --Twangville

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.

This project is made possible with funds  from the Tier Three Project Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of the County Executive and administered by CNY Arts.

  ~ This project is also made possible through the support and generosity of our Folkus members. ~