Ronnie Earl is a two-time W.C. Handy Blues Award winner as Guitar Player of the Year. He has served as an Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music and has taught at the National Guitar summer workshop in Connecticut. The Chicago Sun-Times says about Earl "… the unbridled passion in his playing creates a joyous, uplifting vibe."
After picking up his first guitar at age twenty, he learned the craft quickly and went on to stretch the boundaries of electric blues guitar, lifting hearts and souls a little higher as he did. He would eventually emerge into the New England blues scene as a budding young guitarist. He took a serious musical turn toward the blues after attending a Muddy Waters concert at the Jazz Workshop in Boston.
Earl's discography includes acclaimed albums, like his 1996 release, Grateful Heart: Blues and Ballads, which won Downbeat Magazine's Blues Album of the Year, and in 2004 Earl's Hey Jose won the Best Blues/R&B Song at the 3rd annual Independent Music Awards. In 2008 Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters celebrated 20 years as a band. Their most current album, Just for Today, was released in 2013.
Ronnie Earl has played alongside such legends as Hubert Sumlin, Earl King, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band and many others, including B.B. King who said about Ronnie, "I feel the respect and affection for him that a father feels for a son. He is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud."
Tickets for Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters are $34.00 for Premium seating, $29.00 for the Orchestra and $24.00 for the Balcony. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the Box Office at 973-383-3700.
The historic Newton Theatre, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ, was founded in 1924. Revitalized and fully renovated, Sussex County's premier entertainment venue reopened in 2011 as a 605 seat capacity live performing arts center. With it's rich history and diverse programming The Newton Theatre is essential to the buoyancy of New Jersey's Skylands region. More information about The Newton Theatre may be found by calling 973-383-3700 or by visiting its website at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com.
