Bruce Hornsby goes solo for Ferguson show

Williamsburg native Bruce Hornsby, the genre-hopping, Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist whose eclectic music has been heard on the airwaves and in concert venues across the country for more than 25 years, will return to perform at the Ferguson Center for the Arts on Saturday.

Hornsby and The Range first topped the charts in 1986 with "The Way It Is," the title cut of the group's debut album, following with "Mandolin Rain" and "Every Little Kiss," among others.

Through the years, Hornsby has shared his unique improvisational style - a combination of pop, jazz and classical bluegrass that has sometimes been referred to as the "Virginia sound" - with a plethora of performers, including The Grateful Dead, Don Henley, Huey Lewis, Bela Fleck and Ricky Skaggs.

Hornsby's current solo tour began in London earlier this month and will continue through the spring, when he hooks back up with his band, The Noisemakers, for events such as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and FloydFest in Floyd, Va.

At various stops on this solo tour, he's been joined by a variety of performers, including Branford Marsalis, Gerry Douglass and Skaggs. During a recent telephone interview, Hornsby was mum on whether another famous name would join him at the Ferguson.

He did say that fans at the Ferguson should expect what his concerts are known for: variety and a show tailored to what the audience wants to hear.

"We've been doing that since the 1990s. There will be 50 to 100 pieces of paper (with requests) littering the stage. It's a broad-ranging affair," he said. "I've got a lot of new music that I've been playing, old favorites and a lot from the musical."

His fans, he said, have varying tastes. Some prefer the piano solos, others enjoy a rowdy party experience. Everyone, particularly Hornsby, enjoys the light-hearted and humorous, especially those from his musical - "Where's the Bat?" "The Don of Dons" and "Black Rats of London."

The musical, of course, is "SCKBSTD," which premiered in January 2011 at Norfolk's Wells Theatre. The musical, about how a small town reacts to the appearance of a mysterious stranger, was well received and will be one step closer to Broadway when it opens in Philadelphia this summer with the new title "Stranger."

Hornsby is not entirely happy with the name change, which he attributes to producers who claim that the name "SCKBSTD" is a tough sell for investors. It stands for "Sick Bastard." At concerts, he conducts a poll, asking audience members which is the better title, and the overwhelming vote is for the original name.

This past year, in addition to working on the musical, Hornsby also completed the score to Spike Lee's new independent movie "Red Hook Summer," which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Asked where he has the most fans - other than Virginia - Hornsby said, "I'm way more popular in other parts of the country than at home - the Rocky Mountains; the Pacific Northwest; Medford, Eugene and Portland, Ore.; the Bay Area; New England; and from D.C. on up to Maine. People would assume that the home area is the hotbed for me. I do fine in Hampton Roads, I'm not complaining, but it's not what you would think. I don't try to explain it. I'll let the arbiters of taste explain it."

Hornsby did surmise that his popularity pockets are because the "bluegrass and old-time music" that he plays, often with the likes of Skaggs, are more popular in certain parts of the country. In those areas, he said, "there's more of a consciousness of what I do."

Asked if he could live with some degree of anonymity in Williamsburg, Hornsby laughed.

"It's totally fine there. I'm such old news there. Locals are unimpressed, and that's the way they should be," he said. "Mostly, I'm approached by tourists who see me and know me and think I'm a tourist, too," he said.

Before signing off, Hornsby reminded fans that comments from the peanut gallery are encouraged at his show.

"People are welcome to heckle me," he said. "Shouting and yelling is allowed - not in the middle of the quiet parts - but in the right spot between songs, sure."

Joy Vann, joyvann@cox.net