For the first time ever, the Mauch Chunk Opera House will host multi-instrumentalist A.J. Croce, son of the famed singer/songwriter Jim Croce, at 8 p.m. on Aug. 16.

Throughout his nine albums and with undertones of several genres including roots, blues, folk, pop and jazz, the 47-year-old Croce has 19 Top 20 hits, some of which are featured on his most recently released album, “Just Like Medicine,” which came out in 2017.

“I’m going to be playing the last 26 years of my recordings and whatever I feel like throwing in” including possible covers or some of his father’s music, he said. “Every night I get to play is really a gift to me, I really have fun doing what I do and I’m really grateful that this is a profession I’ve been able to have for my whole career.

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever done. I started playing professionally at a really young age, I’ve been really fortunate that people seem to dig it.”

Influences

Although a portion of his influence is derived from his father’s legacy, Croce has a unique sound and talent entirely of his own.

At age 2, Croce lost his father to a plane crash when he was just 30 years old and at the peak of his career.

Considering the brief time Croce knew his father, he said he was more heavily influenced by his father’s record collection than him himself, although he loves his writing and his songs.

“My career’s been much longer than my father’s,” he said. “He essentially played professionally for 18 months, it wasn’t until he was signed, that his career really got started and he was playing professionally. I started touring when I was 15 or 16. I’ve had a lot more time.”

Croce said that a lot of the music he listened to growing up was from an array of genres including soul and rock ’n’ roll. Throughout his career, he was even able to open for some of soul’s biggest legends including Ray Charles and James Brown.

“My influences are so diverse, from blues and jazz to country and folk to rock ’n’ roll, I’ve been influenced by a lot of stuff,” he said. “I’m a record collector and I love listening to all kinds of music. I find it gives you new ideas and new ways to approach it.”

From this, he derived his inspiration for a lot of his work but also found solace and comfort in it.

Comfort in the music

At a very young age, Croce lost his sight in both eyes only to gradually gain his sight back in one eye.

“(Music has) always been there since I was a kid. It was a great emotional release, it was cathartic. I think as a kid who didn’t see, it was my strong suit,” he said. “(During) those formative years, the music I was listening to made a huge impact.”

In “Just Like Medicine,” Croce explores his amazing talent and range but also touches upon some of his soulful roots by debuting an unreleased song by his father titled “The Name of the Game.” “The Name of the Game” is the only known completed song written for Jim’s last album and it was the last song he ever wrote.

Croce also released a new version of his father’s “I Got a Name” in August 2018, which was originally written by Charles Fox and Normal Gimbel.

When asked how it feels to preserve his father’s legacy through his own talent, Croce said, “I love it (although) I avoided it for most of my career because I wanted my own identity.”

He also mentioned that he and his father, although different and unique from one another in many ways, share one strong similarity: a love for storytelling.

“We both tell stories to let the audience know where the songs came from, just sort of talk about our lives,” he said. “I think he did it both in his songs and in the introductions to his songs and I do that as well.”

Remembering his wife

Croce also recently released a video for his hit “Cures Like Medicine” in honor of his late wife, Marlo, who he lost in 2018 to a rare and sudden heart virus.

As is the video, the description to the music video on YouTube is dedicated to his wife:

“For 28 years, I had a muse in my life. She was always honest about my work and never hesitated to say that she loved or didn’t love something I wrote. She was a musical encyclopedia and understood references that only the most educated of critics could catch. This was the last song I wrote for ‘Just Like Medicine’ and like so many songs before, it was a love letter to my best friend. When she passed away suddenly of a rare illness, I felt lost. It’s taken time for me to be able to feel creative again. I felt that I needed to send her a posthumous love letter in gratitude for the life we shared. So, this video is just that, a thank-you note to my muse.”

Croce, who was originally born in Bryn Mawr, lives with his daughter, Camille, and son, Elijah, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tickets for the event are on sale now online, by calling the box office at 570-325-0249 or Soundcheck Records in Jim Thorpe at 570-325-4009; by stopping by Soundcheck during business hours or can be purchased at the box office the night of the show.