The last time guitarist David Bromberg stopped through Tucson for a gig, Jimmy Carter had control of the White House and Donna Summer was burning up the charts as the latest disco sensation.
It really has been awhile.
Bromberg surprised the music world when he quit the business in 1980 to pursue other career options.
"I got burnt out with touring," said the 61-year-old folkie in a phone interview last week. "I didn't recognize it as burnout. I just thought it was over. I thought I wasn't a musician anymore. I didn't want to be one of those guys who kind of phones it in. It was time to find something else to do with my life."
The longtime musician, who had learned from the Rev. Gary Davis and made friends with the likes of Bob Dylan during his career, dissolved his band, moved to Chicago and enrolled in the Kenneth Warren School of Violin Making. He eventually made his way to Wilmington, Del., where he and his wife opened a retail violin shop that they own to this day.
People are also reading…
Bromberg had flirted with the idea of returning to the music scene during his time off. He'd play reunion shows every so often and released an album or two.
But it wasn't until he moved to Delaware that he truly found inspiration.
"When I moved to Wilmington, the mayor had mentioned he hoped someday there would be music on Market Street, where I lived, once more," Bromberg said. "I started a local jam session and some really good musicians came.
"I figured when I started the sessions, I would endure them for a little while and then let them live or die, but I love them. I go to them whenever I am in town."
The jam sessions rekindled Bromberg's loved for playing music and eventually led him to record "Try Me One More Time," the artist's first release in 18 years.
The 16-track release is dressed in a wonderfully crafted selection of traditional tunes, among them Davis' "I Belong to the Band," Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and the quintessential old-timey cover, "Levee Camp Moan."
"A lot of people had been asking me to create a record, including my manager and my wife," Bromberg said. "Basically, I didn't want to spend any more time in a windowless room. But then I was doing a gig in Texas with Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen and we were sitting around the dressing room talking about who we had played with. I mentioned I was the eyes for the Rev. Gary Davis for a little while. They were surprised and said I should be recording that stuff. The more I thought about it, the more I realized they were right."
Bromberg's song choice and delivery on his long-awaited return has earned him accolades from critics far and wide.
Newspapers and magazines from the Washington Post to Sing Out! to No Depression have showered Bromberg with unrelenting praise.
Rolling Stone said his fingerpicking on the album "is in undiminished bloom" and DownBeat declared his release "shows grace, not flashiness" and that Bromberg sings with a "quirky charm to times past."
Bromberg said he is astounded by the piles of positive feedback for such a simple recording but takes the whole situation in stride.
"I didn't choose the songs that went on there," Bromberg said. "I sat there and played what came to mind, the first songs I could think of."
An Evening of American Acoustic Music featuring Bromberg, with the Angel Band and Terri Hendrix
• When: Tonight at 7:30.
• Where: Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
• Cost: $26-$36 through the Fox Theatre, 624-1515.
