[photo credit: Lineage Performing Arts Center]
The performance at Lineage Performing Arts Center will feature more than a dozen Pierce originals paired with contemporary choreography by Lineage dancers. Pierce and Lineage founder Hilary Thomas first collaborated in 2007 after meeting at a benefit concert for those affected by cancer. Their first joint performance supported Pasadena’s Living Beauty Cancer Foundation.
“Working with Lineage has always felt like a conversation without words,” Pierce said in a statement. “There’s a deep trust and shared understanding there — about how art can hold pain, joy, and healing all at once.”
Since that 2007 meeting, the collaboration has produced “Defining Moments,” an original work that premiered in 2010, along with pandemic-era Zoom performances, backyard concerts, and drive-in shows staged from parking-structure rooftops. Last February, Pierce and Lineage reunited for a benefit concert supporting those affected by the Eaton Fire.
Pierce, born and raised in Pasadena, has built a career that extends well beyond his hometown. His co-written song “We Can Always Come Back to This” was featured in three episodes of NBC’s “This Is Us” and topped the Billboard Blues Chart. In 2023, Neil Young handpicked Pierce as the special guest opener for his Coastal Tour. PopMatters named Pierce’s 2021 album “American Silence” the best folk album of that year.
“My longstanding collaboration with Lineage has been a wonderful journey,” Pierce said in an interview last year. “For me, it’s kept me connected to the community where I was born and raised and has given me a chance to share my original songs and ideas with the community.”
Thomas, who founded Lineage in 1999, grew up in Pasadena and trained with the Pasadena Dance Theatre before earning degrees in dance and psychology from Santa Clara University. She launched Lineage as a contemporary dance company dedicated to raising funds for nonprofits.
“I dance to his voice,” Thomas said of Pierce in a 2010 interview about their collaboration.
Lineage Performing Arts Center, a nonprofit black-box theater, produces seven to eight original productions annually and operates the Dance for Joy program, which offers free classes for people with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions.
“Some of the most memorable shows that I’ve ever done have been with Lineage,” Pierce said. “It’s a beautiful blend of song and dance and a powerful way of processing pain, sharing joy, and facilitating connection with others.”
The concert takes place at 7 p.m. on February 7 at Lineage Performing Arts Center, 920 E. Mountain Street, Pasadena. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors. Free parking is available in the CVS parking lot adjacent to the venue. Seating is limited.
