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Remembering Nick Drake

Joe Boyd, Gabrielle Drake & Jolie Holland
Co-presented with Noise Pop

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 | Herbst Theatre, 8pm

Nick Drake was an English singer/songwriter and musician known for his lush, autumnal songs. His elegant guitar melodies enhanced poetic lyrics, whose symbols and metaphors of nature drew from his studies of English literature at Cambridge University. Drake signed to Island Records when he was just twenty years old, releasing his debut album Five Leaves Left in 1969. Drake's preference for a more organic sound is clear on the intimate album, which received little attention when it was issued but is now widely considered a masterpiece. Drake recorded two more albums in the next few years, though he rarely gave interviews and grew increasingly reluctant to perform. His last album Pink Moon was just the artist and a guitar, a final expression of the gentility, melancholia, and casual mastery that have become synonymous with Nick Drake. Suffering from lifelong depression and insomnia, Drake died on November 25, 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants. Although he failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, Drake's stature has grown steadily in the thirty years since his death. He is widely considered one of the most influential English singer/songwriter of the last fifty years.

This evening of conversation with Nick Drake's sister Gabrielle Drake, producer Joe Boyd, and singer/songwriter Jolie Holland will include discussion about the influence of Nick Drake's life and work. Gabrielle Drake is Nick Drake's sister and a British actress best known for her starring role in the 1970 science fiction television series UFO, Shakespearean plays, and film roles including There's A Girl In My Soup. Joe Boyd is an influential American record-producer who produced two of Nick Drake's three albums and was a close friend of the musician. Jolie Holland is a singer/songwriter and a founding member of The Be Good Tanyas; she cites Nick Drake as one of her musical influences.

Noise Pop has championed new music since 1993 through its annual music festival, spotlighting local talent and bringing nationally known, independent artists to San Francisco stages. For more information, visit www.noisepop.com.

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