Vincent D'Onofrio presents The George Gerkie Cowboy Experience

...featuring Laura Cantrell, Joe Vinciguerra & special guest Sam Bisbee

On October 27 at Joe’s Pub in the East Village, Vincent D’Onofrio hosts the spoofish "George Gerkie Cowboy Experience."

Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette St
NYC
October 27 |7:00 PM | Price: $15

Show Description
Stars are not made. They are born. The star that is George Geronimo Gerkie was born on Christmas Day, 1957. From his first single "If I Could Do It All Again" to his first #1 smash hit "Kaleidoscopic Hero" to his groundbreaking work with the Agnes Scott College marching band, there has not been a star in the music universe that has burned brighter. Famed music critic Serge Lubbock once said that "George Gerkie doesn't so much sing to you, he opens his gossamer wings and takes you on a ride." And what a ride it's been. Often called the "great white whale" of country music, Triple G has recorded over 130 hits on the country music charts. But his popularity transcends genre. George Gerkie has recorded over 55 hit duets with music acts as diverse as ABBA, Ace Freeley, Africa Bambaatta, Al Jarreu, Alex Chilton and Astrud Gilberto…and that's just the A's!

Like all stratospheric stars, everything that George Gerkie touches seems to turn to gold. He made his Broadway debut in "Man From La Mancha" in 1984, playing the quixotic hero with, according to Pauline Kael "the aplomb of Olivier, the lungs of Caruso and the lips of Don Juan." George's most decorated film role was the lead in Roman Polanski's trenchant "Piccolo Abner," for which he was awarded the Guldbagge Award in Sweden and the Nippon Akademi-sho in Japan. But he is most famous for a role he turned down; police chief Martin Brody in "Jaws" (eventually played by Roy Scheider) because, according to a Rolling Stone interview, "I like sharks." The "George Gerkie Does the World" tour in 1985 sold over 60,000,000 tickets in forty countries on 365 consecutive nights and remains the single best-selling live tour of all time. In 1986 George Gerkie capitalized on his fame by launching "Gerkie Jerkie" and later "Gerkie Gherkins" which remain the only beef jerky and pickled gherkins respectively served on Air Force One. His popularity was so immense in 1987 that he won a term as governor of Mississippi on a write-in ballot. Eight days into his term, the State Board of Regents overturned the election on a technicality.

Throughout his long career, George Gerkie has made headlines as much for his record breaking music as his tempestuous personal life. From 1982 to 1990 alone he was married eight times and was named People Magazine's Most Eligible Bachelor eight years running. Mickey Rourke cited Gerkie's four day marriage to Billy Jean King as the inspiration for his role in the movie "9 1/2 Weeks." In 1986 his international drivers license was revoked during the "Herkie Gerkie" tour after he was arrested for driving through the 18 mile Zhohgnanshan tunnel in China on the outside of a car. While serving a two month prison term at the Heilongjiang Work Camp, he recorded six consecutive number one hits on Chinese National Radio, a record that stands until this day. Cameron Crowe has referred to Gerkie's hit "The Girl From Jilin City," a collaboration with Paul Simon, as one of the seminal love songs of the modern era. After a 1990 fall from a step stool, George became addicted to pain killers, a struggle that has been well documented, most notably in his unauthorized autobiography "Finger Lickin."

So whether you've come for the music or just to wrap yourself in George Gerkie's warm blanket, sit back and enjoy the ride. In the immortal words of the man himself; "I'm just an entertainer and life is just a show. G for George, G for Gerkie. Why ask why when you can just say gee."

. . . . .

Vincent D'Onofrio is known as an "actor's actor". The wide variety of roles he has played and the quality of his work have earned him a reputation as a versatile talent. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American Stanislavski Theatre. His debut on stage was in 1984 in the Broadway play "Open Admissions", followed by work in numerous other stage plays. As a film actor, D'Onofrio's career break came when he played a mentally unbalanced recruit in Full Metal Jacket (1987), directed by the renowned Stanley Kubrick. For this role D'Onofrio gained nearly 70 pounds. He had a major role in Dying Young (1991), and appeared prominently in the box-office smashMen in Black (1997) as the bad guy (Edgar "The Bug").

More info at Joe's Pub

Thanks Linda!

**Vinciguerra and Bisbee previously worked with Vincent D'Onofrio on the slasher musical "Don't Go in the Woods".