14-time Grammy winner to kick off 2024-25 Hoover Library Theatre season

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Dan Tyminski, a 14-time Grammy Award winner and four-time Male Vocalist of the Year for the International Bluegrass Music Association, will kick off the Hoover Library Theatre’s 2024-25 season in September, library officials say.

The new season also includes country music star Collin Raye, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer, The McCrary Sisters gospel group, Celtic fiddler Mairead Nesbitt, The Mountain Grass Unit, a Louis Armstrong-Ella Fitzgerald tribute by Longineu Parsons and Tina Fabrique, and a radio stage adaptation of “A Room With A View” by L.A. Theatre Works.

“I feel like this is one of the best lineups we have had in the past 32 years,” said Matina Johnson, the fine arts manager for the Hoover Public Library. “I’m thrilled with what has come together this year. We are packed out with stars. … I think these tickets are going to fly out of the box office pretty quickly.”

Full-season tickets for this year’s season go on sale Aug. 27 for last year’s full-season ticket holders, and two days later on Aug. 29, anyone can buy a full-season ticket package. Individual show tickets will go on sale Aug. 30.

“I think we will have many, many sellouts that day,” Johnson said.

Tickets are $38 each and can be purchased online at thelibrarytheatre.com, beginning at 10 a.m. on the above dates.

Johnson said she’s excited to have a 14-time Grammy winner coming to the Library Theatre stage as well as Raye, who has had 24 top 10 records and 16 No. 1 hits.

“If you scanned through his songs or look him up, you’ll probably know the words to so many of his songs,” Johnson said of Raye.

Getting Nash also was a coup because she early this year reunited with other band members of Sixpence None the Richer after a long pause for the group, and they have scheduled a tour that starts in August. Johnson said Nash is scheduled to perform with three people at the Hoover Library Theatre, but “that’s about all I can say about that.”

The Library Theatre season normally includes something with jazz in January, but this year there is a break between Dec. 6 and Feb. 19. The Library Theatre is slated to undergo a renovation with new seating soon, but Johnson said she’s unsure of the timing. She purposely left a gap in the season in hopes that the renovation could take place in that time period, but it may not happen until after the 2024-25 season is over in May, she said.

This year’s season does have some jazz in it though because the December show with Parsons and Fabrique doing the Armstrong-Fitzgerald tribute has jazz elements, Johnson said. That show likely will include “Hello Dolly” and “What a Wonderful World,” she said.

Here’s a bit more about each of the acts that are part of this year’s lineup, based on information provided by the Library Theatre:

DAN TYMINSKI

When: Sept. 26-27, 7 p.m. each night

Details: With 14 Grammy awards and four IBMA awards for Male Vocalist of the year to his credit, Dan Tyminski is well-known for his performance of “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” in the film “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?,” and his global smash “Hey Brother” with Swedish DJ Avicii streaming over one billion times to date. Tyminski has played guitar and mandolin for Alison Krauss and Union Station since 1994. His 2023 album and original bluegrass compositions debuted at  No. 1 on Billboard’s bluegrass albums chart.

COLLIN RAYE

When: Oct. 27, 3 and 7 p.m.

Details: With 24 top 10 records and 16  No. 1 hits to his credit, Raye is also a 10-time male vocalist of the year nominee with the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Awards. Raye shot to fame with chart-topping hits such as, “If You Get There Before I Do,” “One Boy, One Girl,” “Little Rock,” “In This Life,” “Little Red Rodeo” and “I Think About You.” This platinum-selling artist will be performing live acoustic sets.

THE MOUNTAIN GRASS UNIT

When: Nov. 10, 3 and 7 p.m.

Details: The Mountain Grass Unit consists of three Birmingham pickers, Drury Anderson (mandolin and vocals), Luke Black (acoustic guitar and banjo), and Sam Wilson (upright bass). The Mountain Grass Unit takes on not only the vocal harmonies of traditional bluegrass tunes, but also adapts songs from various genres to an all-acoustic format, adding a bluegrass touch to country, jazz, funk, rock and even metal. Johnson dubbed it “newgrass” and said it’s really a different kind of music from traditional bluegrass. Aside from their original songs, all three pickers are equally comfortable restyling a Tony Rice number, a classic Grateful Dead tune or covering contemporary acoustic masters like Billy Strings.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD — LOUIS AND ELLA SING CHRISTMAS

Featuring Longineu Parsons and Tina Fabrique

When: Dec. 5-6, 7 p.m. each night

Details: In this tribute, world-renowned trumpet virtuoso and vocalist Longineu Parsons joins forces with Tina Fabrique, known for her award-winning portrayal of Ella Fitzgerald in “Ella” as well as the voice of the original theme for the “Reading Rainbow” TV show. Backed by a band, they perform holiday favorites celebrating the partnership between Louis Armstrong, one of the founding fathers of jazz, and the “queen of jazz” herself, Fitzgerald. 

THE MCCRARY SISTERS

When: Feb. 19-20, 7 p.m. each night

Details: The McCrary Sisters, daughters of the late Rev. Samuel McCrary, a founding member of the legendary gospel quartet The Fairfield Four, sing gospel that melds traditional with contemporary influences of classic soul, Americana, blues, rock and R&B music. Since forming their own group in 2011 and releasing their recording of “Amazing Grace” in 2021, The McCrary Sisters, dubbed “Nashville music royalty” by NPR, continue to share their family legacy, which has included performances with artists such as Bob Dylan, Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Stevie Wonder, Black Keys, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and many more.

MAIREAD NESBITT

Featuring the Jordan Tirrell- Wysocki Trio

When: March 20-21, 7 p.m. each night

Details: Hailed as “a demon of a fiddle player” by the New York Times, Grammy and Emmy-nominated artist and composer Máiréad Nesbitt has played for millions around the world as the featured Celtic violinist and founding member of the globetrotting music phenomenon Celtic Woman. “Saturday Night Live” parodied her along with Celtic Woman, making them modern cultural icons. Máiréad is the featured soloist in Disney’s newest Epcot show, “Harmonious Live” on Disney+ for the 50th anniversary hosted by Idina Menzel, is a featured soloist in “Rock Me Amadeus” and has performed at both the White House and the Pentagon for four U.S. presidents.

L.A. THEATRE WORKS

A Room with a View

When: April 10-11, 7 p.m. each night

Details: E. M. Forster’s novel, “A Room with a View,” is a romantic comedy with emotional intelligence, a-turn-of-the-century “When Harry Met Sally” set in sunlit Italy and rural England. Featuring animated classical art of Italian landscapes and cameo video appearances by celebrity actors, this is an immersive theater experience and a radio stage adaptation of the classic novel by L.A. Theatre works. Susan Albert Loewenberg is the producing director, and the story was adapted for a radio stage performance by Kate McAll.

LEIGH NASH of SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER

When: May 1-2 , 7 p.m. each night

Details: Nash’s voice is a fixture in modern pop as frontwoman for Sixpence None the Richer and also as a songwriter and solo recording artist. Her most recent offering, “The Tide, Volume 1,” earned Nash her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, marking another milestone for a lifelong musician who recorded the triple platinum-certified hit “Kiss Me,” as well as other familiar staples such as “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “There She Goes.” Her scheduled fall 2024 release, “The Tide, Volume 2,” is the first new Sixpence recording in over a decade. Nash and Sixpence None the Richer are also releasing new music this year accompanied by a nationwide tour to celebrate the band’s reunion.