Fogelberg tribute is a gem
A careful return to concerts at the Franklin Opera House includes a hybrid live and livestream show on Nov. 14, with Maine singer-songwriter Don Campbell playing the music of Dan Fogelberg. Employing a voice that closely resembles the soothing tenor that propelled hits such as “Leader of the Band,” “Same Old Lang Syne” and “Go Down Easy,” Campbell will perform both solo on piano and guitar, and with an expanded band.
For Campbell, hearing Fogelberg’s Souvenirs album as a teenager in the early 1970s was a transformative experience.
“It made me want to become a songwriter,” he said in a recent phone interview. “It felt like he was singing directly to me. A common thread with fans that I meet is it’s almost like you knew him through his music.”
Campbell has had a lot of success with his chosen craft. He’s a six-time winner of the Maine’s Best Singer-Songwriter poll and took top honors at a Grand Ole Opry competition of original artists that earned him $50,000 and a Gibson Les Paul custom guitar. He’s made 14 CDs of original music, including a pair of Christmas albums. His most recent release is 2014’s The Dust Never Settles.
It’s Campbell’s tribute act that’s getting the most notice in recent years, however.
When prostate cancer claimed Fogelberg in 2007, Campbell began recording his favorites to memorialize him, ultimately releasing a double album in 2012, Kites To Fly – The Music of Dan Fogelberg. Its title is a metaphor, not a lyric reference.
“His songs are like beautiful kites that you take down from the wall and outside to fly a little bit,” Campbell said. “That’s the only way I can describe them for someone who doesn’t know Dan’s music.”
The tribute was noticed by the Fogelberg Association of Peoria, Illinois (the singer’s hometown). The family trust invited Campbell to perform at their annual Celebration Weekend in 2013 and endorsed his act on its website.
“I got to speak to his mother through the foundation president, who put me on the phone with her,” Campbell said. “It was really quite an honor.”
The upcoming Franklin show will be Campbell’s first livestream, and he said he’s relieved to be performing for an in-person crowd at the same time.
“We like to play for people, not at people, where you can talk to the audience,” he said. “So I love opera houses. They always sound great, and they were built for carrying sound. We’re not a loud band; we’re more about playing the parts.”
He’ll bring a seven-piece band that includes fiddle and mandolin players for the evening. It will span Fogelberg’s career, from his gentle, semi-confessional early work to mid- ‘70s jazz rock and the 1985 bluegrass classic High Country Snows, a record Campbell names as one of his most beloved in the catalog.
“It was a special project,” he said.
Over the summer, Campbell and his band did a few outdoor, socially distanced shows. One memorably happened in the parking lot of The Clambake, a favorite seafood restaurant in his hometown of Scarborough, Maine; he and his band played atop a flatbed truck.
“People got lobster rolls and sat in lawn chairs between each car or in the back of a pickup truck,” he said. “We put on a three-hour concert and it was really great. I’ve always said, ‘Evolve or dissolve.’ Everybody’s had to evolve in 2020 to keep things going.”
Asked what he’ll remember most about this challenging year, Campbell answered quickly.
“Playing in close proximity to people,” he said. “Being able to play in venues where there are dancers right in front of you, it’s hard to replace that.”
The Music of Dan Fogelberg – Don Campbell Band
When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Franklin Opera House, 316 Central St., Franklin
Tickets: $18 & $20 ($17/livestream) at franklinoperahouse.org
Featured photo: Don Campbell. Courtesy photo.
