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Randy Jackson performing Sept. 12

Lead singer of influential metal band Zebra coming to Bayfield

The new Bayfield Performing Arts Center has hosted local and national folk musicians, a Music in the Mountains classical concert, and coming next - rock acoustic.

Randy Jackson, the lead singer of Zebra, an influential 1980s heavy metal band, will perform an acoustic show in Bayfield on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Zebra is known to hardcore MTV fans from the 1970s and 80s, and the band is promoting its 40th anniversary this year. It's one of the few rock bands that has had the same members for 40 years, Jackson noted in a telephone interview from Long Island, New York, where he now lives.

"There's ZZ Top," he said, "and Rush," although that band had a different drummer. It's trios that tend to be able to play together that long, he noted.

In addition to playing with band members Guy Gelso and Felix Hanemann, Jackson has evolved on other musical fronts. Last year, he released "Empathy for the Walrus," a CD of Beatles songs produced last year on Red River Records to commemorate 40 years of Beatles music.

"I'll perform a lot of that, along with some Led Zeppelin and Elton John and Zebra stuff," he said of his solo shows. "It's a mixture."

For the past 20 years, Jackson has performed with orchestras all over the world, doing the music of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Doors. These shows have been sellouts in both Denver and Colorado Springs. A native of New Orleans, Jackson also has played with the Lousiana Philharmonic,

Jackson is coming to Bayfield because Julia Hollingsworth, a Bayfield artist, created the artwork for the "Empathy of the Walrus" CD cover.

This show will be the first time that the artwork will be on display at an event where the music is being performed.

"She did it and did a great job," he said of the artwork. Hollingsworth has been trying to get him to perform here for a few years, then decided to promote the concert herself.

Zebra has toured or performed with Aerosmith, Kiss, Journey, ZZ Top, Loverboy, Cheap Trick and Sammy Hagar. The band is still in rotation on Sirius XM metal channels.

In 1989, Jackson joined the original Jefferson Airplane band for their final reunion tour.

He will play with Zebra in Dallas and St. Louis in December, as well as a Long Island show in November.

Zebra's MTV videos include "Who's Behind The Door", "Tell Me What You Want", "Wait Until The Summer's Gone", "Bears" and "Can't Live Without."

Jackson said his parents took him to a Beatles concert in New Orleans in 1964, and he loved the music and decided he wanted to be a musician. His voice covers a wide range of influences from Jim Morrison to Robert Plant.

Tickets for the concert are $30 and are available at the Billy Goat Saloon, Mill Street Drug and Southwest Sound in Durango.

Sponsors for the show include the Wells Group, Bottom Shelf Brewery, Mile High Plumbing and Subway of Bayfield.

Ticket sales also are online at ticketriver.com.

There will be no concession stand, and concertgoers are asked to leave food and drinks in their car. Photography and video will be allowed.