Ravinia 2019, Issue 1, Week 1

7:30 PM THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019 PAVILION CHIP TOOTH TOUR ABBY ANDERSON † –Intermission– ROB THOMAS † Ravinia debut ABBY ANDERSON Making her Grand Ole Opry debut in 2018, Abby Anderson saw her star swiftly ascend when she received a standing ovation after performing her first song, “Make Him Wait.” With the release of her debut EP, I’m Good , that same year, Anderson has since been named to The Bobby Bones Show ’s “Class of 2019” and MusicRow ’s “Next Big Thing for 2019,” as well as one of Sounds Like Nashville ’s “19 New Coun- try Artists to Watch in 2019.” A native of Tex- as, Anderson began learning piano at age 5 and broke into performing at age 15, two years later relocating to Nashville and cutting some demos while making the rounds on Music City’s stages. Shortly after signing a recording and publishing deal in 2017, she dropped her first single, “This Feeling,” and racked up nearly a million streams before making a bigger splash with “Make HimWait.” That quick success has just as quickly put her on bigger stages, opening for the likes of Kelsea Ballerini, Bobby Bones, Billy Currington, Devin Dawson, Russell Dickerson, Brett Eldredge, Walker Hayes, and Chase Rice. Just before she made her international debut at C2C London in March, Anderson teamed up with fellow country newcomer Jimmie Allen to release a cover the Grammy- and Oscar-winning song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born . She has also recently released a new single, “Good Lord,” as she prepared to join Rob Thomas on his 44-date Chip Tooth Smile Tour, which brings Abby Anderson to Ravinia for her festival debut. ROB THOMAS Though his 2015 album was titled The Great Unknown , singer-songwriter-guitarist Rob Thomas is well-known indeed, thanks to his longtime career as frontman for the pop-rock band Matchbox Twenty in addition to a suc- cessful solo career. With Matchbox Twenty (which also comprises Paul Doucette, Brian Yale, and Kyle Cook), Thomas breathed life into the band’s hits “Push,” “3AM,” “Bent,” “Unwell,” “Real World,” and “Back 2 Good,” among oth- ers, on the multiplatinum records Yourself or Someone Like You (1996), Mad Season (2000), and More Than You Think You Are (2002). He also took a multiple-Grammy-winning turn as vocalist and co-writer on the Santana megahit “Smooth” in 1999. Thomas released his first solo album, Something to Be , in 2005, capturing the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart with such hits as “Lonely No More,” “This Is How A Heart Breaks,” “Ever the Same,” and “Street- corner Symphony.” One year earlier, Thomas had become the first artist to receive the Song- writers Hall of Fame’s Starlight Award, which recognized the impact of his burgeoning catalog of original songs. In addition, he has twice won Billboard ’s Songwriter of the Year honors. With the results of a monthlong studio stay, Match- box Twenty sweetened the hits compilation Ex- ile on Mainstream (2007) with seven new songs, including the top-20 single “How Far We’ve Come.” After his sophomore solo album Cra- dlesong (2009), which featured the top-40 hit “Her Diamonds,” Thomas reconvened with his Matchbox Twenty bandmates to plan out what would be their first full album of original ma- terial in a decade, North (2012), featuring more contributions from Cook and Doucette. The first single off The Great Unknown , “Trust You,” saw Thomas co-writing with a fellow superstar collaborator, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. His new album, Chip Tooth Smile , was released in April and featured the single “One Less Day (Dying Young),” which continued his streak of charting a top-20 hit from each of his solo al- bums. Rob Thomas previously appeared at Ra- vinia in 2013 with Matchbox Twenty and with a solo tour in 2015. MAY 31 – JUNE 9, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 95