BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
Sometimes, you can only shake your head at the timing of things.
Sharon Jones, the spitfire soul singer who demonstrated those powerful chops on David Letterman’s show last night, will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bell Auditorium in Augusta.
The “Heart Song Concert” is a benefit for the University Health Care Foundation Smart Heart Fund, which provides free heart and vascular screenings for the community, student athletes and public safety first responders.
It’s a gig that Jones – who was born in Augusta and now lives nearby in North Augusta, S.C. – committed to months ago … before she knew she’d be nominated for her first-ever Grammy Award.
That ceremony is Sunday in Los Angeles.
But Jones is nothing if not loyal.
“As soon as my managers asked me about doing the show, I was like, ‘Yeah!’,” Jones said a few weeks ago during a visit at the Heart and Vascular Institute in Augusta. “But I’ll tell ya this: If it comes down to my canceling this show or the Grammys, this show will NOT be canceled. It’s OK. This was my first commitment.”
Jones’ plan is to leave Augusta immediately after the concert and head to Atlanta, where she can catch a pre-dawn flight to L.A. and arrive in time for the Grammy pre-show.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
The award in her nominated category, Best R&B Album (for "Give the People What They Want"), will be presented during that pre-show, which begins at 3:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on www.Grammy.com. About 70 Grammy categories will be announced during this time.
For those who want to hit the road to check out Jones' live performance on Saturday in Augusta, tickets for the concert are $50 and available at www.georgialinatix.com.
Our video maestro, Ryon Horne, and I spent some time with the dynamic Jones a couple of weeks ago in Augusta. You can check out that story – and some other Grammy info – in Sunday's Living & Arts section in the AJC, as well as Ryon's video on MyAJC.com later this week.
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