The Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena is treating you to an evening of Nick Binkley and his international trio on Thursday, Jan. 26, a one-night-only introduction and celebration.
Nick Binkley has been performing and writing songs since he was a young singer, guitarist and songwriter growing up in Pasadena. His key influences were Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and the Kingston Trio. While studying International Relations at college in France, he toured France, including the famed Papagayo Club in St. Tropez, and performed folk songs on French television and radio.
His first album release, Pin Stripe Brain (1995), with songs penned about his life as a banking executive leading a double life as a singer and songwriter, was widely reviewed and scored him appearances around Los Angeles’ popular clubs, including the Palomino Club. His second album release, Let the Boy Jam in 1999, included “Novi Mir,” co-written and performed with Russian superstar Vyacheslav Malezhik, while becoming a popular East-West Peace Anthem.
With the record’s release in Russia, Binkley and his band, the Street Dogs, made up of ex-Soviet rock stars, generated three tours of Russia, including national radio and television appearances and a concert at the prestigious 6000 seat theater at the Kremlin Palace.
Binkley’s third album, 100 Parts of Heart, which delved into the depths and sorrows of love lost with the passing of his wife, was released in 2014. Helped by strong reviews, it reached the Top 20 of the U.S. Americana Charts. He has been compared to Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Harry Chapin, and “like Jim Croce with an edge.” During this period, he began performing regularly at San Diego’s Belly Up Club.
In 2017, Binkley co-produced the PBS-TV documentary film “Free to Rock,” a 10-year research and filming journey examining how rock music from the West became a major contributing factor in the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the communist empire of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. When the film was released in Europe, he performed at several screenings in Europe that were sponsored by U.S. State Department.
Tickets to the Coffee Gallery Backstage on Thursday are $20.
For more information, call (626) 798-6236 or visit www.coffeegallery.com/blog/01-26-23-nick-binkley.html.
