Steinway and Yamaha find A.J.'s talent great enough to sponsor with free gear! |
Croce's first paying gig was at the age of 12, when he
was paid the princely sum of $20 to perform at a
Bat-Mitzvah party. By the age of 16, A.J. was performing
regularly at San Diego nightclubs, as a sideman
and band leader as an opening act for such diverse
artists as Santana, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin,
Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, James Brown, Ben Harper,
Dave Matthews, and his earliest musical influence,
Ray Charles. Ron Goldstein and Peter Bauman of Private
Music signed A.J. to his first record deal at age
19. Considered "one of our greatest young songwriters" says David Wild of Rolling Stone, Croce has performed on such national venues
as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show
with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
The Today Show, Good Morning America,
& Austin City Limits.
A.J. will be releasing his new album, Cage of Muses, in Spring '08. His band includes Brian MacLeod/ drummer and songwriter (Madonna, John Hiatt, Ziggy Marley, Chris Isaak, Tears for Fears, Christina Aguilera), Greg Leisz/ lap and pedal steel, guitar, mandolin, and bass (Tiger Army, Dave Alvin, Beck, Peter Case, Bad Religion, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss), Davey Faragher/ bass (Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Sheryl Crow, and David Crosby), and Michael Bizar/ guitar (Phil Lesh, Jon Popper, Mike Gordon, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, and Jon Fishman)
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