Former Congressman John Hall, a one-time front man for the rock group Orleans, will be returning to the stage this weekend for a show at The Town Crier Cafe in Pawling.
Hall was defeated by Nan Hayworth in 2010. This Sunday’s show marks his first live performance since leaving Congress.
“It’s good therapy for me,” Hall said in a brief phone interview. “Hopefully it will also be a good way to put food back on the table.”
Hall said that this weekend’s solo show will kick off a number of related musical acts, including some concerts with Orleans over the summer and others with Gulf Stream Night, his post-Orleans act.
When Hall was exploring a run for Congress in 2006, he was advised by his campaign team to play down his musical career, but later he ended up leaning on his friends from his years on the road, including Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne to help raise money.
He said that a return to music did not mean that he was giving up politics. Democrats in the area have been asking him to challenge Hayworth in 2012. Hall said that no decision has been made.
“I haven’t made up my mind. Nobody even knows what the district is going to look like,” he said. “I am going to think long and hard about it. I have spent ten years of my life as an elected official. Ten years of anybody’s life is a long time.”
