Singer Mavis Staples will accompany Billy Bragg tonight at Royce Hall.
Courtesy of Chris Strong
Hope, love and justice. The three words are often seen plastered on T-shirts with a peace sign behind them, or perhaps placed on a bumper sticker with the silhouette of our president’s face beside them. However, for the past few weeks, gospel and R&B singer Mavis Staples and activist folk singer-songwriter Billy Bragg have teamed up to turn these words into action with the Hope, Love & Justice Tour.
“I think me and Mavis coming together is how it has taken on the name Hope, Love & Justice,” Bragg said. “We’re going to try and spread some of that about and try and combat the cynicism that seems to be everywhere in American politics at the moment.”
Making one of their final stops at UCLA’s Royce Hall at 8 p.m., Bragg is hoping to infuse some positive energy into audience members, especially in light of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“These are difficult times, and the spirit of hope that President Obama was elected on seems to be pretty scarce around at the moment,” Bragg said. “I’m hoping (the audience) will feel that the music that I make … and that Mavis is making are in some ways connected with the reality out there.”
Both Grammy-nominated artists, Staples and Bragg have their respective claims to fame. Staples is a Lifetime Grammy Award winner and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. She was also recognized by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of all time. She has collaborated with countless artists, including indie rock band Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, who produced her last album, “You Are Not Alone.”
“She really kind of blows everybody out of the water,” said Phil Rosenthal, director of marketing & communications at UCLA Live. “Mavis is a gospel singer, so she sings about different kinds of hope, but together (Staples and Bragg) offer up something for everybody. I think it’s going to be incredible.”
Inspired by folk legends like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Bragg has also made an impression on his listeners ““ both in the musical and the political spheres. Annalise Winkle, a high school English teacher from Orange County, is attending tonight’s concert and has listened to Bragg’s music since the age of 14.
“He has a way of making every show feel very personal. He talks a lot about politics, and I think that’s why he was so influential in my life,” Winkle said. “He really walks the walk of a lot of the stuff he’s talking about.”
According to Rosenthal, tonight’s performance in Royce Hall will fuse together two well-recognized talents, politically as well as soulfully rich.
“It’s taking a classic gospel artist and combining it with … really strong and rich folk music,” Rosenthal said. “(Bragg) kind of does the solo thing, just his voice and his guitar are incredibly powerful. And then when we get to Mavis, it’s a full band and her new material, which is just stellar.”
Bragg said that in the context of one of the most politically charged weeks of the year, he hopes that the Hope, Love & Justice Tour will make audience members think twice about their roles in society.
“I believe, ultimately, that only the audience can change the world, not the artist. The artist’s job is to reflect the world, to ask the right questions,” Bragg said. “But it’s up to the audience to come up with the actions and the answers. So I’m hoping to inspire people to go away with that kind of feeling.”