Before Wilmington concert, Josh Groban offers his take on classic songs from Elvis, others

One of the best voices in the world singing some of the best songs ever written.

It will almost certainly prove a winning combo when singer Josh Groban performs in Wilmington for the first time on Friday, July 15, at Live Oak Bank Pavilion. Groban will sing songs from his 2020 "Harmony" album, which features his renditions of such timeless classics as Roberta Flack's pop hit "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and musical theater standard "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha."

Also on the bill is an illustrious team of supporting acts that include the New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, violinist-singer Lucia Micarelli and singer-songwriter Eleri Ward.

Groban, of course, has been known for bringing a classically trained flair to all manner of styles, from pop to folk to musical theater, since he first came to public notice in the early 2000s. His platinum-selling albums, a mix of originals and covers, have earned both popular appeal and critical acclaim.

I caught up with Groban during a phone interview last week. The interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

Related: Josh Groban on becoming famous so young: 'I should have had a shrink then'

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StarNews: So, I've been asking this same question to most every artist I interview: What was the pandemic like for you? 

Josh Groban: I mean, there were certainly days when it was just nothing but pajamas and Netflix. And then there were days when you wake up in the morning and you decide to have a cup of coffee and be useful. And I think that, ultimately, it taught me some valuable lessons creatively.

I think one thing that probably was similar for everybody who's artistic is that it just took it back down to the simplest form of doing it when nobody's watching, nobody's listening. You're just doing it for you. And some of that was just therapeutic, and some of it turned into songs. So it was productive.

And now you're back out there, performing these songs from "Harmony" to audiences for the first time. 

Everything about it has been (great) for me and my band. The nerves have just gone out the window. All of the stresses have gone out the window. We're just going out there having a good time playing with each other.

Is there a quality these songs share other than, you know, you wanting to sing them? Is there something they all have in common?

I had a stack of songs that I wanted to sing based on fan requests, and things I wanted to sing, and things, you know, musicians and producers and parents and friends (wanted). As a singer, you accumulate a lot of songs. But then all of a sudden, when the world just completely turns upside down, the relevance of certain songs starts to change and all of a sudden there's a classic song that might have meant something very, very different in the '70s that (now has) fresh ears.

'It's Now or Never' definitely has a different ring to it since the pandemic. 

"Now or Never." "Both Sides Now." "The Impossible Dream." There are songs that, you know, all of a sudden you're singing them through the lens of what this change has been. And they do what great songs often do: They continue to have new meaning and new relevance in the world we're living in.

Just to talk about a couple of them more specifically, we mentioned "It's Now or Never." Obviously, Elvis Presley is famous for singing that one, but you bring your own take to it.

The interesting thing about how that song came about was, it was a tribute song (for NBC's "Elvis All-Star Tribute" in 2019). We all got assigned different songs to sing, and that was the song they gave me.

When I was talking to the producer and director of that show, we were discussing the fact that Elvis actually liked that song because it had classical roots, because it was based on (19th-century Italian song) "O Sole Mio," and Elvis actually really liked classical singing. And in a lot of the songs that he sings, but especially on that one, he really opens up, he's more operatic. And so we really leaned into that.

But yeah, I love singing it because it does represent I think how much crossing over there actually is in popular music.

You also mentioned Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," which, I mean, it's hard to not turn into a puddle at the end of that one. On the album, you sing it as a duet with Sara Bareilles. Why was that one included?

That's a song I've had great respect for my whole career. You have to live long enough to kind of be able to experience those things and see what those shifts in perspective feel like. (The song is) about having idealism. At the end of the day, it's about allowing the experiences of your life and the beauty of those experiences to just be. And so, this has been a cold splash of water in the last couple of years, right? If there was ever a time when that song was relevant, it's right now.

You have a couple of your own songs, 'Your Face' and 'The Fullest,' on the album as well. When you write, is it the kind of thing where you sit down and say, 'OK, I need to write a song today'? Or is it something that hits you and, 'I gotta stop everything and do it now'?

So, these were two songs that weren't supposed to be on the album and weren't supposed to be written at all. They just kind of represented a little bit of how I was feeling in that moment.

Those were songs, I was writing every day, not because I had to but because I wanted to. That's, I think, a really healthy place to go. Sometimes you write because you have to. Great things come just from sitting down and just doing the work.

Waking up in the morning (during the pandemic), "Is it just going to be another day that just passes by?" And we all are enjoying stepping back into the world now, but for many, many, many weeks and months that was that was our reality — where we wake up and all of a sudden we have to make a decision: Am I going to be useful today? Or am I going to be, you know, just on the couch again? For me writing was a way of staying useful, and I was grateful that I was able to have that.

Thank you so much for your time. We're excited to have you in Wilmington.

I'm really, really excited for it. Thank you.

In other news: Looking back at The Barn, a bygone Wilmington jazz club where the greats came to play

Read this: Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon to make movie directorial debut in Wilmington

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com. 

WANT TO GO?

Who: Josh Groban, with the New Orleans Preservation Hall Band, violinist/singer Lucia Micarelli and singer-songwriter Eleri War

When: 7 p.m. Friday, July 15

Where: Live Oak Bank Pavilion, 10 Harnett St., Wilmington

Info: Tickets range from $24-$175 and up, plus taxes and fees.

Details: LiveNation.com

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Josh Groban talks classic songs, Elvis before concert in Wilmington