OHR Presents: A.J. Croce

This week, American singer-songwriter and musical legacy A.J. Croce recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Hear A.J. speak of getting to know his famous musical father, Jim Croce, through his inherited collection of personal archival recordings. “A.J. Croce: Two Generations of American Music,” is a blend of A.J’s own soulful music, his father’s enduring hit songs, and some of the music that they shared as influences, together. It is a glimpse into the life of one of America’s greatest songwriters and his equally talented progeny. Adrian James "A.J." Croce is an American singer-songwriter. He is the son of singer-songwriters Jim Croce and Ingrid Croce. “According to Willie Nelson, “A.J. Croce has wisdom beyond his years. With his music, he represents his generation with a profound sense of honesty in his lyrics and quality in his delivery. The future of entertainment is safe in his hands!”     Some artists are afforded the chance to tell their personal stories as they see fit, at a particular moment when they know the time has come. But for many, there is no choice — the story emerges hardwired to the music and they become forever identified with it no matter how their story may evolve or change. A.J. Croce has been inextricably linked to a version of his own story by virtue of his name. He’s experienced a lifetime of comparisons to a father he lost at age two, whose music bears little resemblance to his own output yet still serves as a reference point despite the years that have passed and the many iconic mentors who have stepped in to offer their counsel, creativity, and endorsement throughout his long career. It’s curious that it now feels necessary to include the reference, as enough time has passed that a new generation of tastemakers and journalists might not know who Jim Croce was — that he was a golden-voiced everyman, a singer-songwriter-guitarist who died too soon, leaving one of pop music’s most beautiful and memorable ballads (written about a young A.J.) in his wake. Croce the younger, on the other hand, is a piano man, first and foremost, and a vocal stylist second. His muted growl pulls from a host of American traditions and anti-heroes — it’s part New Orleans, part juke joint, part soul, but somehow evokes New York, a continuum where John Lurie meets Lou Reed. He is further a songwriter, driven by a personal muse, informed by a life on a boomerang of tragedy.”