Bonnie Raitt at Damrosch Park Bandshell

Bonnie Raitt was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Broadway singer John Raitt (Carousel, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game) and pianist/singer Marge Haydock. She was raised in Los Angeles with Quaker traditions, a commitment to social activism, and a respect for the arts. Her musical journey began at age eight with a Christmas present of a Stella guitar, which she began playing while at a Quaker summer camp in upstate New York. She became fascinated with blues and slide guitar at age 14. In 1967, she entered college and joined the local folk and blues music scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she gained recognition for her bottleneck-style guitar playing. Raitt's commercial breakthrough began 20 years after she started playing clubs, with a string of multi-million-selling records and 10 Grammy awards. Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. Raitt's 17th and most recent studio album, Dig in Deep, was released on February 26, 2016.

Closing the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors summer series at Damrosch Park tonight, Raitt was backed by guitarist George Marinelli, keyboardist Mike Finnigan, bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson, and drummer Ricky Fataar. She told the audience she had long heard of the AmericanaFest and always wanted to perform in it. While her albums have transitioned her path from blues to pop to Americana, the thread is that her powerful, soulful vocals and her stirring guitar work, especially on slide, links the copious work to Americana. The set hopped from newer songs to hits from her most successful 1989-1991 period and to five songs from the early 1970s when she was first finding her road. The repertoire consisted of 10 original songs, plus covers of songs spanning from Mose Allison, Chris Smither, and John Prine to INXS and Talking Heads. Her stylistic changes from soft and sensitive to loud and rocking showed an uncanny ability to marry the modern with the traditional. Raitt may be undercelebrated these days, because she is a musical treasure.

Visit Bonnie Raitt at www.bonnieraitt.com.

Setlist

1. Unintended Consequence of Love
2. Need You Tonight (INXS cover)
3. No Business
4. Take My Love with You
5. Everybody's Crying Mercy (Mose Allison cover)
6. Spit of Love
7. Love Me Like a Man (Chris Smither cover)
8. Nick of Time
9. Have a Heart
10. Let's Give Them Something to Talk About
11. The Comin' Round Is Going Through
12. Angel from Montgomery (John Prine cover)
13. Don't Answer the Door (B.B. King cover; Mike Finnegan lead vocals)
14. I Believe I'm in Love With You (The Fabulous Thunderbirds cover)

Encore

1. I Can't Make You Love Me
2. Crazy Love (Van Morrison cover) (duet with Marc Cohn)
3. Burning Down the House (Talking Heads cover)
4. Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes