A.J. Croce celebrates dad Jim Croce’s legacy with new tour

Photo by Jim Shea

A.J. Croce is currently touring with a very special show. The Croce Plays Croce 50th Anniversary Tour has him honoring the legacy of his late father, the legendary Jim Croce, performing his dad’s classics along with his own music.

A.J. tells ABC Audio he was hesitant to perform his dad’s songs for almost 25 years of his career, but his perspective eventually changed.

“You know, I started off feeling like there was no integrity in just recording his music or riding his coattails,” he explains. “But as I got older, I saw that there was this, recognized always, there was this love of his music.” He says he realized fans missed and treasured the music.

At A.J.’s shows, fans will hear classics like “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle,” but A.J. says he’s not a cover band, so he puts his own touch on his dad’s music.

“I felt like the only way this would be really fun was to make the connections between his music, my music and a lot of music that connected us,” he shares.

As for why Jim Croce fans still love his music so much, A.J. says, “I think they’re great songs. I think that they’re pretty timeless.”

“I think that there’s a lot of songs that have humor in them, and he makes heroes out of everyday people,” A.J adds. “And then I think that the more sensitive songs were written by a person who, like a lot of us, has a hard time saying those things in real life but feels them, and had a way to communicate them in lyrics and in his music.”

Croce Plays Croce 50thAnniversary Tour hits Cincinnati on November 9. A complete list of dates can be found at ajcrocemusic.com.