The lights dim, and a familiar face fills the screen behind the stage: iconic blues/folk singer Jim Croce. “Well, let’s bring him out!” Jim says in the vintage footage. Suddenly, the lights flare, and AJ Croce bounds onto the stage, heading straight to his piano. Without missing a beat, he launches into the unmistakable riff from “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” prompting the excited crowd to leap to their feet. We all knew one thing: AJ wasn’t messing around.

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This month, I had the pleasure of seeing AJ Croce, son of the legendary Jim Croce, live at Revolution Hall in Portland! His show, titled “Croce Plays Croce,” was exactly that—and more. AJ performed a blend of his father’s beloved discography alongside his own original songs, each resonating with echoes of his father’s influence.

For those unfamiliar with the story, in September of 1973, Jim Croce was at the height of his career and about to release his fifth album when he was killed in a tragic plane crash. AJ was just 2 years old. Following his death, Jim’s wife Ingrid continued to write and record music, and by age 12, AJ followed in his parents’ footsteps and began to write and perform his own music. 

“In my show, I have a list of songs from my 26 years of recording. If I want to play an old Fats Waller song, I will. Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, it doesn’t matter. It’s really free and energetic. Croce Plays Croce is really a tribute to the connection between my father and I and our influences.” – AJ Croce (via ListenIowa)

Since his father’s passing, AJ has been no stranger to grief. At four years old, he was temporarily blinded as a result of abuse from his mother’s boyfriend. He was hospitalized for six months and was totally blind in both eyes for six years. Although he eventually gained some back, he still experiences partial blindness today, and while on stage he mostly performed with his eyes closed. When AJ was 15, his childhood home burned down. In 2018, AJ’s wife Marlo passed away from a sudden illness, leaving AJ and their two children behind. 

AJ has often turned to music when processing grief – his 2017 song “Cures Just Like Medicine,” is a love note to his wife and best friend of 28 years. He’s shared that he embraced music as a positive outlet, one that helps to remind him of the good things in life, even after heartbreak. Music tethers us to one another, and as AJ performed on stage, it was clear how deeply he felt his connection to his father, who vanished from his world too soon.

AJ, like his dad, loves to tell stories. In between each song, his fingers flew across the piano keys while he chatted with the crowd. “Some people think that talking in between songs like this is a way of stalling, or that it has no point,” he said with a smile. “But my dad did this too, back in the day. It’s a tradition that I’m proud to carry on.” While AJ spoke, he made sure to pay homage to the artists that inspired him. He credits his love of music not just to his dad, but to his dad’s record collection – from a young age, AJ loved listening to his dad’s favorite blues/soul music. Right before launching into his dad’s most popular track, “Operator,” AJ rattled off a list of these artists that shaped him, including Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Sam Cooke. Whoops erupted from the crowd as he recounted the surreal experience of eventually touring with artists like Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Earth, Wind & Fire, and B.B. King.

Hearing “Operator” live was extremely special. My sweet mama, who passed away in 2022, often sang this to my sister and I when we were little girls. A hush fell over the crowd when AJ began – clearly, this was a special song to others in the crowd as well. While he sang, vintage footage of women operators directing phone calls in the early 20th century played on the screen. 

My favorite moment of the show was the encore. After the applause, a montage of home videos filled the screen alongside Jim Croce’s voice singing “Time In A Bottle” blended with “I’ll Have to Say I Love You In a Song.” As the music began to fade, AJ joined in, singing while videos of him as a toddler on his dad’s shoulders danced across the screen. Video below!

Overall, this show was a nostalgic stroll through discography that meant, and still means, a lot to my family. I remember as a little girl listening to my mom’s cassette tape of Photographs & Memories under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping. (“One Less Set Of Footsteps” was a fave.) It felt like a full circle moment to be hearing those songs live at Revolution Hall, 18 years later, performed by his son.

-Sophie