July 11, 2008Podcasts with mmw's Chris Wood, and Rev. Billy C. WirtzSaturday is big for blues and jazz lovers. Medeski Martin & Wood play Jefferson Center, and the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz opens for Jimmy Thackery at the Sedalia/James River Blues Society Festival. Stories and podcasts: Chris Wood | Wirtz July 2, 2008Lynchburg musicians helping cancer-stricken colleagueFrom Sid Hagan, of the Purveyors: "Robbie Wells is a very well known musician in Lynchburg and throughout Central Virginia including the Roanoke Valley. Robbie was diagnosed with prostate cancer 7 weeks ago and like so many other full time artists has no health insurance." Here's a news release Hagan sent me: >Lynchburg Music Center and the Lynchburg Music Center Performance Venue is pleased to announce the first of three benefit concerts to help popular local musician Robbie Wells in his fight with Cancer. Continue reading "Lynchburg musicians helping cancer-stricken colleague" » July 1, 2008Sierra Hull & Highway 111 show at SML is canceledRhythm and Views Lakefront series show Aug. 10 was set to feature Hull and her band, along with Lovell Sisters Band, The Dixie Bee-Liners, the Farewell Drifters. It has just been canceled, according to DLP Concerts. This is not to be confused with the Mariners Landing Summer Concert Series. June 18, 2008Indie rock on Sunday at Martin's Downtown, RoanokeLocal favorites The Wading Girl are playing a double-bill Sunday night with two bands -- Junior Revolution, from Cincinnati, and Iowa City's The Western Front. The Wading Girl's Billy Wallace sent me an e-mail about it today, extolling the virtues of Martin's as a Sunday night hangout for people who like to hear good, original music. "Martin's has really been doing a great job of giving underground touring acts a place to play in Roanoke, but I don't think that a lot of people realize it yet," Wallace wrote. "The shows are always free, too, so that's a big bonus. If you haven't seen The Wading Girl live, check out some performances on the MusicCast. Showtime is 9 p.m. Ages 21 and older. June 13, 2008B.B. King to play Roanoke -- tickets go on sale in a weekfrom Roanoke Civic Center: Blues Legend B.B. King in Concert at Show is Tuesday, July 29, 2008 June 12, 2008Sara Evans, Styx, Grand Funk Railroad, Blake Shelton live at Smith Mountain LakeMariners Landing Summer Concert Series schedule is set. Sweetwater Productions, which is building an amphitheatre near Smith Mountain Lake, is promoting the series of shows in August. Also on the list are Lonestar, TobyMac and Diamond Rio. http://www.smlconcerts.com/ Darrin Snyder, who with his wife, Holly Sweet, own Sweetwater Productions and the Moneta property where the amphitheater will go, said recently that the August series is a test run for what he hopes to do at his own venue, when it opens sometime next year. He also said that one of the main draws of the SML area for bands and their crews is the recreational opportunities the can find during their down time. Here's an educated guess: By the time Roanoke decides whether its own large, outdoor venue is feasible, and the opposing sides get done fighting about it, Sweetwater Amphitheater and its 7,000-seat capacity will be well established and drawing good acts (here's hoping the dinosaur rock ratio goes down at least a little). Read more here -- http://www.roanoke.com/smithmountainlake/inbusiness/wb/165582 June 5, 2008Benefit shows this weekendOn Sunday night at Fork in the Alley, a bunch of local musicians are gathering to do a fundraiser for the Downtown Music Lab. Performers include Charlie Hamill, Cyrus Pace, Mike Maycock (by the way, those are three of the hottest guitar players around), and the trio of Deet Reed, Joe Crawford and Don Lopez. Music Lab students will be performing, too. I-Funk, Bingham Byrd and Rakes, and The Deposit are on the bill. The show is from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. There is no cover charge, but the music lab encourages donations, said Hamill, the lab's director. Call 342-7625 for more information. Next up is a case of police helping police. Sol Revolt has members of the Roanoke police in their ranks, and they're coming through for their fellow officer, Brian Lawrence, on Monday night at Blue 5 Restaurant. Lawrence is the man who was paralyzed in an attack while responding to a call about an assault, in which the victim later died. Lawrence was off-duty at the time. Cover charge is $5, and that money will go to Lawrence and his family, who have financial issues to deal with during his recovery. Sol Revolt | Blue 5 Restaurant == June 3, 2008Jeff Center shows and The Wood Brothers "Loaded"From Jeff Center and DLP Concerts: - Medeski Martin and Wood on 7/12 For those of you who don't know, I am a Derek Trucks Band *freak*. I'm a total fanboy. I love it so much that I might not be qualified to review that show. As for Medeski Martin and Wood -- I like that band a lot, as a trio or with John Scofield. But today, I'm most excited about my mail -- MMW bassist Chris Wood's project with his brother, Oliver, came to me today. I'm listening to The Wood Brothers "Loaded" right now, and digging it. I'm saying to myself, "that's my boy Oliver!!" He's singing great and playing really nice guitar. Continue reading "Jeff Center shows and The Wood Brothers "Loaded"" » May 27, 2008Southern Culture on the Skids coming back to RoanokeThanks to Ron Bailey at http://ronbailey.us/blog/ for beating me to the punch on this one. >Southern Culture on the Skids will play Awful Arthurs (Towers Mall) on July 25… you’ll probably want to wear your dress overalls and your new ball cap for this one. >Bring yer dancin’ shoes - and a bucket of fried chicken, too. I searched the Web over -- pollstar.com, scots.com (Southern Culture's Web site), Awful Arthurs myspace page. Finally, I found the date listed at Yep Roc Records online. Yep Roc is SCOTS' label, so I reckon they know when the act is going to play. Not clear yet whether the show is at Towers Shopping Center. That's usually where they play. I'll update when I know. UPDATE: Here's the link to Awful's confirmation. It's at Towers, on a Friday. Anyway, you all know that drummer Dave Hartman and bassist/singer Mary Huff are from Roanoke. Here are a couple of podcasts I've done with them: Full band, from 2006 | With Hartman, from 2007 May 19, 2008Martin's Downtown to host FloydFest Emerging Artist Series, July 23-25There'll be a lot of action at FloydFest in late July -- so much that festival organizers are exporting a series of shows to Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill, in Roanoke. The Emerging Artists Series is new for FloydFest -- even though it has presented plenty of up-and-comers over the years. Martin's will host a parcel of the acts over three days. The full list is here -- scroll two-thirds of the way down that page to get there. We'll let you know whether other Roanoke clubs will host shows as we get that information. Meanwhile, check out the schedule at Martin's ... UPDATE: Martin's is it. But onetime Radford resident Stephanie Rooker, who is on the FloydFest bill, will be performing that weekend at 202 Market. By the way, she's real good. Continue reading "Martin's Downtown to host FloydFest Emerging Artist Series, July 23-25" » May 12, 2008Robert Plant and Alison Krau$$One of my co-workers e-mailed to say she and her husband were looking forward to the June 2 Plant-Krauss concert at the Roanoke Civic Center -- that is, until she got a look at the ticket prices. Tickets are going for $49 to $70. "I hope you won't take Roanokers to task when this probably great show gets a tiny turnout," my co-worker wrote. "This is outrageous." Roanoke has seen its share of $50-plus shows the past seven or eight years. Cher, Elton John and Rod Stewart have all commanded top dollar. But will music fans part with three and a half sawbucks to see a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (who's doing some Zeppelin on this tour, I've heard) and a bluegrass ingenue? We'll know in three weeks. May 8, 2008Modest Mouse coming to Charlottesville PavilionMaybe some day we'll have a decent-sized amphitheater in town or nearby, and we won't have to drive to Charlottesville to see bands like Modest Mouse. Till then ... http://www.livenation.com/event/getEvent/eventId/328046/?c=dm-473355&p=Test Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. April 30, 2008Benevento-Russo Duo show at Blue 5 is canceled... due to scheduling conflict, according to Blue 5's Kerry Hurley, who added that he is in talks with B-R's booking agent to reschedule -- so keep your eyes open. April 18, 2008Road trip alert: Dixie Bee-Liners CD release shindigHear a really good band, pretty new to Abingdon, celebrating the release of first its Pinecastle Records disc, "Ripe." By the way, bandleaders Brandi Hart and Buddy Woodward seem to be excellent human beings. Go to Top Tickets for sound samples, and more show info for Roanoke (switching to outer-space TV show announcer voice) *and beyoooooooooond." Details: 7 p.m. Monday. Barter Theatre Stage II, 127 West Main St., Abingdon. $10. (276) 628-3991, bartertheatre.com, dixiebeeliners.com. Continue reading "Road trip alert: Dixie Bee-Liners CD release shindig" » April 14, 2008Homegirl comes back to rock Roanoke College
From roanoke.com's So Salem blog: RC Alumna and Salem native Corynne Wilder to rock Alumni Weekend Get more details Thursday, in Inside Out's Top Tickets. April 8, 2008Lupe Fiasco plays Ferrum on WednesdayFerrum College is getting a huge dose of “The Cool” for its Spring Fling celebration. Rapper and Kanye West associate Lupe Fiasco headlines a concert tonight at the college’s fitness center. Roanoke-based soul-hop group Duality opens the 8 p.m. show. April 3, 2008Ticket alert: Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon in Virginia BeachPearl Jam, with Kings Of Leon, at Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. April 2, 2008FloydFest: Amos Lee, Rusted Root, Oliver Mtukudzi added to lineupThe FloydFest folks keep pumping up the entertainment. Go to the fest's Web site for more. From a news release: > Floyd Fest's 7th Edition (July 24-27) "A Family Affair" would like to announce the following additions to the line-up: > The 2008 FloydFest artist roster now includes world rock sensations Rusted Root, Zimbabwean master Oliver Mtukudzi , and Blue Note recording artist Amos Lee! >Other additions include Klezmer-punk sensation Golem , Beck's old buddy Paleface , and legendary NE fiddler John Specker. Continue reading "FloydFest: Amos Lee, Rusted Root, Oliver Mtukudzi added to lineup" » March 28, 2008The Eagles to play CharlottesvilleMay 21 at John Paul Jones Arena. Tix go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, April 4. March 25, 2008Ex-Beatle Pete Best coming to RoanokeHe was the Beatles' drummer before Ringo Starr. And after all these years, he's still slapping the drums around. And you can catch Pete Best at Awful Arthur's, Towers Shopping Center, on May 28. We'll get you more details as they come to us, and I'll be working on getting an interview with Best. But we may never get an answer to the big question -- why was he booted from the Beatles? According to the bio on his Web site, "Unfortunately, in circumstances still clouded in mystery March 20, 2008Outdoor music comes to C'villeWhile Roanoke's power brokers debate where, when and how to build an outdoor amphitheatre, the Charlottesville Pavilion keeps bringing great acts to Who-ville. Check out this year's warm-weather Budweiser Concert Series lineup: March 17, 2008Phil Vassar to play Va. Tech's Burruss AuditoriumCourtesy Blacksburg Alert, a public notification service of the Town of Blacksburg: >Phil Vassar in concert >March 31, 7:00 p.m., Burruss Auditorium, Virginia Tech Campus. >Sponsored by the Student Government Association and Virginia Tech Union. >Tickets are on sale now. > For ticket information, click here or visit the SGA website at www.sga.vt.edu. March 13, 2008Webb Wilder coming to the Coffee PotRoots rock fans have a show coming. Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks are hitting the Coffee Pot on March 28-29. Coffee Pot owner Carroll Bell says that Wilder plans an acoustic set each night. "He saves it for special occasions," Bell said. Stay tuned for cover charge info, including a special price for those who come both nights. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member to play 202 MarketIf you're a fan of the Byrds or the Flying Burrito Brothers, or both, mark April 4 on your calendar. Chris Hillman, who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Byrds, and Herb Pedersen will be playing at 202 Market. Pedersen -- who has recorded with Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Sonny Landreth, Linda Ronstadt and just about everyone else who plays music -- joined Hillman with the Desert Rose Band in 1985 Get a sneak preview here of the Hillman and Pedersen show here. As for 202, that's not all the joint has booked ... Continue reading "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member to play 202 Market" » March 7, 2008Free all-ages show with the Situationist, Sabotage ManualEvery now and then, I miss one. There's no way to get everything cool and/or interesting in Top Tickets. Not that I worry too much, but when I come across something I've missed, now I have this blog. So, tonight, go catch the Situationist with Sabotage Manual (who are in Top Tickets this week anyway). Continue reading "Free all-ages show with the Situationist, Sabotage Manual" » February 28, 2008Van Halen show rescheduled!Well, the boys have fought through whatever it was that forced them to postpone their Feb. 22 Charlottesville concert. Van Halen will perform at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday, March 11. LiveNation says that tickets and parking passes for the Feb. 22 show will be honored. If you need a refund, get it from the place you bought your tickets. February 25, 2008The Wading Girl plays benefit tonightI picked up this bulletin from myspace today, for what looks like a worthy show. The music world is unpredictable, and you can be surprised at the people who are around to help you in the middle of nowhere, when you have next to nothing. The Wading Girl, Illbotz and Jesse Ray Carter Trio are playing tonight to help out one of those people. February 22, 2008Emily Brass gig canceledThe Emily Brass show scheduled for Saturday at Awful Arthur's (Towers) has been canceled due to a death in the family. February 21, 2008All Good Festival announces artistsConfirmed Performances Include Widespread Panic, Phil Lesh & Friends, Further proof that Lesh is, indeed, alive! February 20, 2008Robert Plant and Alison Krauss coming to RoanokeThey just won a Grammy, and now they're coming to Roanoke. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are scheduled for June 2 at the Roanoke Civic Center. Tickets go on sale March 3. Tickets are $70, $60 and $49.50, civic center spokeswoman Robyn Schon said in an e-mail. Prices include fees, but not credit card charges, she wrote. The raw feed of the news release is below. I wish I had time to write more about this one. Busy afternoon. Continue reading "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss coming to Roanoke" » Steve Earle and Allison Moorer come to the Jeff CenterThis is the quality. Steve Earle, a multiple Grammy-winner, is one of the great contemporary songwriters. Allison Moorer is an amazing singer, whose sister is Shelby Lynne. Steve Earle w/ Allison Moorer Tickets go on sale Monday, according to show promoter DLP Concerts. Gold $32, Silver $28, Bronze $22 Continue reading "Steve Earle and Allison Moorer come to the Jeff Center" » Paleface at 202Indie music fans who listened to WUVT back in the early 1990s (before there was even the phrase "indie music") might remember Paleface, whose minimalist "antifolk" music was ready-made for college radio. I hadn't thought about Paleface in years, so I was shocked -- shocked, I say! -- to see his name in print recently. I thought, "Could that be the same Paleface who sang 'Burn and Rob'?" February 7, 2008Waddup at FloydFest?The folks at FloydFest are constantly updating the lineup for each year's shindig, it seems. I thought now would be a good time to see what's up as of today. January 30, 2008ExtraCast brings the musicLots of music in town this week. roanoke.com's ExtraCast previews a good bit of it. Hip-hop ambassador Toni Blackmon comes to the Jeff Center. Rockabilly wrecker Wrenn Mangum is at Martin's. Kusun Emsemble brings the African dance and music to the Jeff. And swamp-soul man Eric Lindell plays 202 Market. See video and hear audio on the ExtraCast. Bonus: Host Lindsey Nair shows you how to set up a Super Bowl food bar for your own place. Chevelle coming to Cattle Annie'sRoad trip alert: If you're into the hard rock, check out Chevelle at Cattle Annie's, Lynchburg, on March 12. The band has spent the past couple of years five years running up and down Billboard's modern rock chart. It's latest single, "I Get It," peaked at No. 4. That cut comes from the band's April 2007 release, Vena Sera. January 25, 2008More info on Kid Rock, Rev. Run showWe published news of this concert a few weeks back. Today, the Roanoke Civic Center has confirmed the 7:30 p.m. March 18 show. Tickets are $45 and $25, and go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 1 Ex-Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts is on the bill, too. He and Rev. Run, formerly of Run-DMC, will not be opening acts, but instead will join Kid Rock onstage during what his publicists are calling Rock's "most ambitious tour to date." Does that mean three cage dancers, instead of two? I kid the Kid. I saw his show in Roanoke a few years back, and really got into it. He's one of those guys with a big, flashy, explosion-laden stage show, which mixes correctly with his bombastic rap-rock. January 24, 2008Bill Frisell show is postponedThe freakishly good and oddly tasteful jazz guitarist has had to postpone his Jeff Center show, due to a family emergency. The Jeff's Dylan Locke said there will be a new date, and that all tickets will be honored -- if you can't make the new date, you can get a refund. He was the leadoff of this week's Top Tickets, which is still a very exciting week of shows: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/music/wb/xp-148123. January 22, 2008Jamband alert!Just got this news release today from the Mix One6. Perpetual Groove is coming to the Mix on Feb. 9. Other shows in February are: |
