Mumford & Sons To Get Steinbeck Award At Bing Concert: Stanford

PALO ALTO, CA — Stanford Live and the Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University are honoring popular folk-rock band Mumford & Sons as the 2019 recipient of the John Steinbeck Award.

The award ceremony features a conversation with the band members as well as an acoustic performance at Bing Concert Hall on Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale on Aug. 9.

Every year, San Jose State's Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies presents the John Steinbeck Award, celebrating writers, thinkers, artists and activists who embody the empathetic spirit and values of John Steinbeck, a literary legend.

Mumford & Sons demonstrates this commitment to social engagement through Gentlemen of the Road, the fund the band founded in 2006 that supports global and local charities fighting for social justice.

"Mumford & Sons can also be linked to John Steinbeck through their music, especially songs such as ‘Timshel,’ ‘Dust Bowl Dance,’ and ‘Rose of Sharon,’ and through their advocacy of Steinbeck's writings,” said Ted Cady, chair of the Steinbeck Award committee.

With its banjo folk style, the British rock band has cranked out major billboard hits such as "I Will Wait" and "Little Lion Man."

In 2012, the band performed in the heart of Steinbeck Country at “Mumford & Sons in Monterey: A Salute to John Steinbeck.” Now the band will again honor Steinbeck in a performance that marks the centennial of his enrollment at Stanford University and the 80th anniversary of the publication of his novel "The Grapes of Wrath."

Though Steinbeck deepened his fiction craft at Stanford, this is the first time the Steinbeck Award has been presented at the university. Past awardees include notable musicians Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne and Joan Baez, who performed at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater in 1969.

"We are thrilled to be hosting this year’s Steinbeck Award at the Bing,” Stanford Live Executive Director Chris Lorway said. “Given the author’s historic connection to Stanford and the nature of Mumford & Sons’ music, we think the hall will be an ideal place to celebrate this moment.

More information about the John Steinbeck Award and the award ceremony at Bing Concert Hall may be obtained by visiting steinbeckaward.com and live.stanford.edu.