Musician to showcase classics, rare tracks in Austin

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, June 12, 2010

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Where: Paramount Theatre, 125 Fourth Ave. NE

Reserved seating: $29

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Preferred seating: $49

A historic musician makes his way to Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre this week.

Bobby Vee and The Vees take the downtown Austin stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Vee, who’s celebrity is famously linked to the 1959 plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, Jape Richardson, will play share of his work Friday that has never seen the limelight.

“I will play all of the hits … and one or two unreleased songs,” he said.

Vee is in the process of releasing a new 60-track CD set: “BOBBY VEE Rarities: Previously Unreleased Gems From The Capitol Vaults.”

Vee was 15 in 1959 when he stepped into the lights in Moorhead; His band, The Shadows, was called to take a stage meant for Holly, Valens, and Richardson whose plane went down in a snowstorm en route to the show.

More than 50 years later, Vee has 38 Billboard hits to his name, 10 of which hit the Top 20 and hundreds of tracks that never made it off the cutting room floor — until now.

EMI UK will release the new two-disc set — with most songs dating back to the 1960s — in October.

“I’m really excited,” he said.

Friday, the bulk of Vee’s concert will be his hits, and tributes to Holly mixed in with storytelling.

“He’s my hero,” Vee said of Holly. “(My work) is a tribute to him. I’ve never gotten tired of it.”

Vee, who lives near St. Cloud, Minn., wants to hold more concerts in the small Midwest cities.

“It’s a joy for me to drive down the roads that I drove down when I was first starting,” said Vee, who was born in Fargo, N.D.

He continued: “A lot of small towns have new theaters and old historic theaters… Having a theater says a lot about how much you care about your community.”

Vee said he’s happy to focus on touring near home, but that’s he’s not planning on slowing down soon.

“I’m always at some point of writing … dreaming up music.”

Reserved seating to the concert is $29 and tickets are available at the box office, by calling 434-0934 or online at www.paramounttheatre.org. Preferred seating is $49 and available only through the box office.

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Where: Paramount Theatre, 125 Fourth Ave. NE

Reserved seating: $29

Preferred seating: $49