October Shows

Even though Roomful of Blues’ lineup has changed over the years, the band has always been one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world. Currently an eight-piece unit led by guitarist Chris Vachon, the band has never sounded fresher or stronger. In 2010, singer Phil Pemberton took over the vocal duties, bringing his sweet and soulful vocals and adding another bright new dimension to the jazzy, jump-blues musical roots. Their winning combination of jump, swing, blues, R&B and soul remains their calling card, as does their ability to fill the dance floor. Along with new members, bassist John Turner, trumpeter Doug Woolverton and , longer standing members keyboardist Travis Colby, drummer Ephraim Lowell, baritone and tenor saxophonist Mark Earley, tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille , Roomful keeps on rockin' in 2010. www.roomful.com/

This years event will be hosted by Lynn Hoffman of A&E - Private Sessions and feature the talents of  The SuperGroup 2010 members, including; Leslie West of Mountain on guitar and vocals, Rick Derringer on guitar and vocals, Elliot Easton of The Cars on guitar, Ricky Byrd musical director,  formerly of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Roger Daltrey, along with Barry Goudreau currently with Ernie and the Automatics and formerly original member of the band Boston on guitar, Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Drums, Jeff Kazee of Southside Johnny & Bon Jovi on Keyboard,  James Montgomery on vocals and harp, Kasim Sulton of Meat Loaf & Todd Rundgren and Utopia on bass, Tim Pike of The Soul Band, Richie Supa songwriter, Woody Giessmann of The Del Fuegos on drums.  Rosemary St. George, Hayley Jane and Erin Martin return as The SuperGroup backup singers. www.right-turn.org

Eric Benet is on top of the world these days. The r&b soul singer/songwriter/producer is sounding strong, romantic and full of joy on his aptly titled third solo effort, Love & Life.

They say home is where the heart is, and Eric returned to his Milwaukee, Wisconsin roots to record his Friday/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records CD Love & Life. Collaborating with his longtime production partner Demonte Posey and writer/producer/cousin George Nash, Jr., Eric completely opened his heart and soul with this decidedly organic production, exercising complete creative control over for the first time in his career.

We fell in love with Eric Benet on his 1999 debut "True to Myself" featuring the Grammy nominated "Spend My Life With You" along with hits including "Femininity", "Spiritual Thang" and "Let's Stay Together". We weathered the storm with him on his 2004 album Hurricane. Now, Love & Life reflects the Eric Benet that feels confident and celebratory about his approach toward happy living. www.ericbenet.net/

Crackin' Up: Can't stop laughing; having a mental breakdown; an excuse to get off a mobile phone conversation you don't want to have. Or the new Hoodoo Gurus' blast of summer rock bombast, a song that loudly signals those masters of crunching pop-drenched guitar anthems are back.

It has been five long years since we've heard new tunes from the Gurus, yet the enduring quartet have hardly been idle since their official reformation in 2003.

There have been too many momentous gigs from their debut on the Big Day Out national circus through to kicking butt at Splendour In The Grass, South By Southwest, Glastonbury and every field, pub, theatre, hall or arena stage they graced in Australia and abroad. Their musician peers paid tribute to the band's seminal debut record Stoneage Romeos in 2005 with the Stoneage Cameos, a collection of covers from a generation of bands who cut their garage pop rock teeth on Hoodoo Gurus songs.

You Am I, The Living End, Dallas Crane, Grinspoon and more reminded the faithful just how entrenched songs such as Leilani, I Want You Back, My Girl and Tojo are in the Australian contemporary songbook. And two years later, Dave Faulkner, Brad Shepherd, Rick Grossman and Mark Kingsmill were recognised by the Australian music industry for being one of the most inventive rock'n'roll bands to emerge in the past three decades with their induction to the ARIA Hall Of Fame.

But that's the past and Crackin' Up heralds a band raring to storm your stereos in the future. Hoodoo Gurus are back in the game.

THIS SHOW WAS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010

What could possibly take six studio savvy, experienced musicians over two years of rehearsal to accomplish?

How about creating a faithful, live performance reproduction of one of America’s most sophisticated and durable musical icons?

That was the challenge for this recent entry into the ever-growing world of tribute bands.

They call themselves ‘Show Biz Kids.’ It’s as much a sardonic nod to their 150 collective years of playing experience as it is to the SD song of the same name.

Why would six pro musicians put so much time into someone else’s material?

“Working the Steely Dan book alleviates a bunch of typical band quandaries,” states Doug Kupper, guitar and vocalist of the group. “Most groups agonize over song selection, but with the Dan there are 9 original albums to draw from, 5 solo projects, as well as live concert recordings. You could mine that trove for years. There’s also the advantage of the song’s complexity, instrumentally and vocally, that will keep even the best players challenged.”

In addition to strong jazz and rock instrumental abilities, this group has the benefit of five capable singers to handle the intricate harmonies that are an S.D. trademark.

Entering what F. Scott Fitzgerald might term the third act of an already celebrated career, Max Weinberg presents the Max Weinberg Big Band.  Building upon his seventeen years as the leader of what Tom Shales, famed TV critic of the Washington Post called, “the best band in late night Television,” the Max Weinberg Big Band is a bold, swinging fifteen piece aggregation that continues the traditions established by Max’s musical heroes—among whom, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Doc Severinsen, and Maynard Ferguson lead the pack.  

Weinberg is a past winner of Playboy’s Pop and  Jazz Music Poll as Best Drummer as well as Rolling Stone Magazine’s Critics Poll as Best Drummer.

When your parents popped in a Neil Diamond tape on repeat during long interstate road trips, you reluctantly sang along. Never thought you'd turn out to be a Diamond fan now, right? But singing along to "Sweet Caroline" and "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" is so addictive now, you'd do anything to see Neil on stage. A band out of San Francisco can put a rest to that Diamond thirst. Super Diamond delivers a high-octane Diamond tribute show that rocks!

THIS EVENT WAS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 12, 2010

Carl Palmer is a drummer’s drummer.  A consummate professional, a brilliant technician and a dynamic showman, he has thrilled listeners and audiences alike for nearly four decades with some of music’s most memorable bands including Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Asia and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  Along the way his dazzling speed and mastery of the drums, combined with his infectious stage personality, have secured for him a respected place in history as one of Rock and Roll’s greatest drummers. www.carlpalmer.com

From the hell they came… 30 years ago in a small town in New Jersey called Lodi. It was there, at the dawn of the punk movement in April 1977, that the Misfits were born. Taking for their name the title of Marilyn Monroe's final movie, they set out to make an impression. They wound up making history and creating a legacy which has withstood the test of time. Today, boasting a massive catalog of music old and new, a new lineup and an influence felt around the world, the Misfits are generating more interest than ever before.

Thirty years on, the Misfits have endured hardcore’s heyday as punk rock’s monster squad, a band whose cult following – a pseudo-secret coven known as the Fiend Club – inspired them to continue to write, record and tour. www.myspace.com/themisfits

In Josh Thompson, working-class country has found its most authentic spokesman in a generation. A compelling singer, he is an artist whose songwriting reflects both the gritty realities of blue-collar life and the beer-fueled release of the Friday-night honky-tonk.

That work ethic, the honesty in his writing and the energy in his performances have combined to make Josh a powerful new voice in country music. Thompson’s Columbia Nashville debut, Way Out Here, showcases the man who has lived the music he makes.

Way Out Here, above all, shows Thompson’s personal journey through the landscape of the people whose love and loss, living and dying have fueled the best of country music. At its core are "who I am" songs that define the salt-of-the-earth characters whose concerns Josh knows and relates so well--"Name In This Town" is a look at the place of reputation and identity in a small community; "I've Always Been Me" is a man owning his own good and bad, taking pride in the authenticity he brings to living; "You Ain't Seen Country Yet" waves its allegiance to country life proudly; and "Way Out Here," the album's title cut, takes the listener as far back into backwoods life as it's possible to go. www.joshthompsonofficial.com/

The Tubes were arch satirists of popular culture whose outrageous performance-art concepts -- which swung wildly from soft-core pornography to suit-and-tie conservatism -- frequently eclipsed their elusive musical identity. The beginnings of the group originate in Phoenix, Arizona in the late '60s, where guitarist Bill Spooner, keyboardist Vince Welnick and bassist Rick Anderson formed as the Beans (alternately billing themselves as the Radar Men from Uranus). After moving to San Francisco in 1972, the Beans recruited guitarist Roger Steen and drummer Prairie Prince (from Red, White & Blues), and later became the Tubes with the addition of Michael Cotten on keyboards and former roadie Fee Waybill on lead vocals.

With The Long Way Home, Terri Clark emerges as her own woman. A platinum-selling artist, a hard-charging performer, a CMA Female Vocalist of the Year nominee, the 8-time Canadian Country Music Association Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year assumes true ownership of her music: making an album to her own truth – and the result is a record that captures the tides of adult lives, great passions and the struggles that mark our journey.

“People aren’t getting anything from country music the way I think people should, the way I did,” says the woman who used to tie her guitar to her wrist to take the bus to an afternoon shift playing for tips at Nashville’s storied, but at the time squalid, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. “Poverty, sobriety, drinking, loss, hurt, redemption, fear, desire…

It may be The Long Way Home, but it was absolutely worth the journey. In a world where stars fall from the sky, sizzle substitutes for meaning and people often get so bogged down in the pain, they forget the beauty of living, Terri Clark has come to realize what matters to her. Once she did, she knew how to make music her way: country injected with force, rock, soul, strength, clarity, blues, passion, conviction.