ABC News Today

For a time in the 1970s, the Pousette-Dart Band ranked among the favorite live acts of every college student in New England.

With sing-song lyrics, tight harmonies and a smooth rock vibe that sounded just as good in the dorm room as it did in the arena, the Pousette-Dart Band seemed to be everywhere. They disbanded in the 1980s, with a couple of reunion tours since then, and a 21^St moment of the century when the elegant ballad “Fall on Me” was resurrected in an episode of the TV show Lost. (This viewer recognized it and screamed out loud!)

50 years later, founder Jon Pousette-Dart is still playing live. He’s bringing the band to town later this week and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for the show at the Narrows Center for the Arts on Friday, August 19th. For your chance to win tickets, email Ken Abrams with “Free Tickets” in the subject line by 9am on Wednesday, August 17th.

I spoke with Pousette Dart last week as she prepared for several dates around the region. He is definitely ready to go out and play live music again. “We’re coming back from this bank where we were during the pandemic; now it’s starting to increase,” he explained. “I’m back on duet dates with my guitarist (and producer) Jim Chapdelaine. I’m really looking forward to the band playing Fall River, it’s a real unit, like a close family.”

Pousette-Dart is touring with several high-profile players including Malcom Gold (Sheryl Crow, Indie.Arie) on bass/vocals, Eric Parker (Joe Cocker, Mick Taylor) on drums and Jim Chapdelaine (Al Anderson, Phoebe Snow) on guitar/vocals.

Much of the band’s success can be traced back to their early days when they engaged with senior management.

“When I first started, I started working with a famous manager in the area. Don Law was a promoter in the Northeast, he had just put us on the road, we started touring big in the early 70’s on the college circuit, there’s a huge concentration of schools in the Northeast, so we be very active We were able to share accounts with a lot of acts both on big and small stages, that time paid off, it really helped the longevity of the band a lot,” explained Pousette-Dart.

In addition to headlining gigs, the band opened for James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, The Eagles and Ry Cooder, among others. At one point, he shared an apartment with Livingston Taylor, James’ brother, who was also a client of Law’s.

There were too many memorable moments to mention. “I was always a big fan of Little Feet, we were lucky enough to have a lot of dates with them before Lowell died, it was a lot of fun and it felt like a watershed moment,” said Pousette-Dart. “We also got to play some shows with The Byrds before Clarence White passed away, that was my favorite incarnation of The Byrds. I always enjoyed playing with the original incarnation of NRBQ, my guitarist, Jim, works with Big Al Anderson (formerly of NRBQ).

Pousette-Dart has seen widespread transformation in the music industry over the past fifty years, and has adapted as best she can, releasing music one song at a time these days.

“I think the biggest change is the music delivery system, now that streaming has become the main way people get music, it’s brought me back to a real singles-oriented mindset,” he said. . “The last record I did, we recorded it in Nashville and I thought it was my best record, but it just didn’t register. So what I’ve been doing is releasing singles and putting them out immediately instead of waiting for a full release. I’m trying to tell things as they come.”

He is also working on the reissue of the band’s classic albums.

“I spent about 40 years trying to get the Capital masters back, they wouldn’t give them to me,” explained Pousette-Dart. “Well, Capitol Records was recently acquired by Universal and it turns out that the lawyer there, I was one of the first bands he heard as a kid. So he gave us the rights to the original masters and we’re going to make masters of hi-res with really nice covers. We’re going to release it on a label called Direct Grace, and it’s going to be a fundraiser to benefit children sold into slavery around the world.”

Due to delays in vinyl production, it may be a year or two before you see these releases; In the meantime, you can expect a great show from the band this weekend. “I try to mix it up and bring it all to the table, the old stuff and the new stuff, and I love making hand taps of people I like.”

For more information on the Narrows Center show, click here.

To learn more about Jon Pousette-Dart, click here.