Madeleine Peyroux at the Rio Theatre

Much like songbird Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris. Just like the ‘little sparrow,’ Peyroux befriended the city’s street musicians and made its Latin Quarter her first performing stage. Years later, Peyroux would cite iconic Piaf as an influence on her music and record a rendition of the classic “La Vie En Rose,” soulfully capturing the tune’s romanticism and melancholy.

Born in Athens, Georgia in 1974, Peyroux “grew up in a house filled with music” and from an early age “instinctively realized music’s soothing power” but it was her teenage years in the French capital that turned the childhood notion into an all consuming vocation for life. A subsequent two-year touring adventure set Madeleine on a creative path for life and proved to be a gateway to greater things. In 1991, her band travelled to New York where Peyroux’s unique talents were spotted by Atlantic Records’ Yves Beauvais.

The young singer declined the music executive’s initial record deal offer but relented several years later and in 1996 her breakthrough album Dreamland was released. Dreamland sold a striking 200,000 copies and Peyroux’s dusky voice was likened to that of jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

Thirty years after her formative busking days Peyroux is the proud curator of nine beguiling albums and an accomplished performer with sell out worldwide tours under her belt. She will be joined on this concert date by guitarist/vocalist Jon Herington and bassist/vocalist Barak Mori.

Madeleine Peyroux Website
Rio Theatre Website
(Ticket Includes 5% City of Santa Cruz Admission Tax)