Becky Jo Benson is one of those rare performers whose story is as extraordinary as her talent. A natural soprano with an instinct for harmony that defies explanation, Becky Jo has spent a lifetime turning every stage — from a flatbed trailer in a small Gold Country town to the sold-out grandeur of Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, California — into something unforgettable.

Her journey began at Sacramento High School, where she formed a rock band, wrote original songs, taught herself guitar, and booked her first big gig: her own prom. From there, she performed regularly at venues across the Sacramento area and Gold Country, including The Back Door in Old Sacramento and Kallies Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. After winning her first songwriter's contest in 1969, she never stopped writing, never stopped performing, and never stopped believing in the power of live music to connect people.

Her solo show at Sutter Creek Palace — where she performed for over five and a half years through three different owners — became a beloved institution in Amador County. She sang the National Anthem every year at the Sutter Creek 4th of July parade and at Lumberjack Days in West Point. She fronted her own band around California, playing her beloved Stratocaster electric guitar. She performed at the Sacramento Hilton. She did it all.

While working as an entertainer, she also worked with her husband in an eclectic antique shop where they sold a wide variety of items. One day, a man came into their shop — whistling. That man ended up buying things all the time from her husband, and they became great friends, wheeling and dealing and enjoying the process. That man was Randy Sparks, Founder of the Grammy Award-winning The New Christy Minstrels. When her husband found out who Randy actually was, he kept asking Randy to go to The Palace and listen to his wife's act. After a year of avoiding listening to Becky Jo (Randy confessed he was afraid to hear her sing in case she was bad and he'd lose his favorite antique dealer), Randy Sparks finally invited the couple to come to a charity barbecue at Jack Tone Ranch. "Becky Jo can come up on stage and sing a couple of songs," Randy said. She stepped up on stage, picked up her tambourine, plugged in her Stratocaster, and harmonized on the spot with a brand-new song she had never heard — reading Randy's chord hand and making the audience believe she'd rehearsed it for weeks. She looked at Randy and asked if he wanted her to sit down? Randy stopped the show. "Don't sit down," he told her. "It's okay."

That night, he offered her a paid gig. The next year, when an original member had to withdraw from a Great Performances The New Christy Minstrels' reunion tour, Randy called Becky Jo. Her response? "How much do I have to pay?" — and then, when she learned she'd be performing at venues like the Paramount Theatre in Oakland: "I have a banjo. I will learn it." She did. She joined the original lineup — Randy Sparks, Clarence Treat, Art Podell, Barry McGuire, Terry Talbot, and Anne White — on an eleven-concert tour in February 1997.

At the Sacramento concert — sold out, not a seat left — her husband Gene Benson sat in the orchestra pit to watch her perform on the biggest stage of her life in Sacramento. Randy stopped the show mid-set to introduce him, saying that this was the first time that he had seen his wife in a concert of this kind, and Randy gave Becky Jo an unscheduled solo. She sang I Will Always Love You in the full Whitney Houston style. You could have heard a pin drop. Gene said it was the best moment of his life.

Becky Jo went on to tour with The New Christy Minstrels for 22 years. She also served as their recording engineer, learning Pro Tools and recording and mixing the group in hotel rooms on the road. She produced Randy's final CD, Nice Time to Be Alive.

Randy Sparks passed away, and The New Christy Minstrels continues, but Becky Jo wants to sing her own original songs, and have her own show. Now, for the first time, Becky Jo Benson is free to sing her own songs — the original compositions she has been writing her entire life. She is recording, performing, and sharing the music that has always been hers. And she is bringing her audience along for every note — because Becky Jo doesn't just love performing. She loves people. She loves the moment a room full of strangers becomes a room full of friends, all singing together.

Becky Jo Benson and Friends. Come ready to sing along.