On Stage: Steel City legend keeps to his roots
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Joe Grushecky
Joe Grushecky is a veteran rocker who was born and raised in Pittsburgh. He released his first album in 1969 while a young musician in the Steel City. Now, almost a half-century later, he still calls the area home.
Pittsburgh is a blue collar, tell-it-like-it-is town and Grushecky’s music shares the same attributes.
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On Stage: STYX, Joan Jett to rock Hershey
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
STYX
Classic rock comes in many forms and attracts people with a variety of musical tastes. If you’re a classic rock fan and you have a predilection for bands that rock hard and put out a 100 per cent effort every time they step onstage, then you need to make the short drive to Hershey this weekend.
On June 30, the GIANT Center (550 West Hersheypark...
On Stage: Sax and Brown return to Philly roots
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Scot Sax and Suzie Brown
Nashville may be home to Scot Sax and Suzie Brown, but the duo will always have its ties to the Philadelphia area.
Philadelphia is Sax’s hometown, the place where Brown began her music career and the city where the couple met and first fell in love.
On June 28, Sax and Brown return to this area for a show at Bourbon and Branch...
On Stage: Aucoin’s music good, good works even better
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Rich Aucoin
If you took Rich Aucoin’s surname and separated it, you would have gold (AU) and coin – definitely something valuable
Even if you don’t do this, you still have something valuable – a talented musician with a catalog of two albums and three EPs and a history of engaging in charitable projects.
Aucoin is a Haligonian (native of Halifax, Nova...
On Stage: Trevor Hall highlights his spiritual side
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Trevor Hall
Area music fans have a lot of choices for live shows this weekend. They can go on a softer route on June 23 by attending shows by Dustbowl Revival, illumine/Sean & Dave Make Music, or Trevor Hall. Or, they can travel a trail of harder music on June 24 by attending shows by Poison, Hogan’s Goat or Twitching Tongues.
On June 23, Trevor...
On Stage: Uptown celebrates the roots of Doo-Wop
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Soul Harmony
Today’s world of music has an amazing number of genres and sub-genres. Some of the oldest are blues, country and western, rock and rhythm and blues.
The first three are easy for casual music fans to figure out. The fourth is more obscure.
Rhythm and blues, commonly abbreviated as R&B, is a genre of popular music that originated...
Mixed Media: Summer is a fun time to try new things
By Caroline Roosevelt, Columnist, The Times
Orange Slime Mold with Puffballs and Lichen by Patrick Jacobs
Ohhhh! There are so many interesting things happening this month – specifically of the more contemporary persuasion. Summertime can be a bit of a roll of the dice, considering so many art organizations slow down their regularly scheduled programming to accommodate waning summertime crowds....
On Stage: Champions of Magic dazzle at Merriam
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Champions of Magic
Champions of Magic sounds like a grand title for a touring entertainment show but the name hits the nail on the head when it describes the magic show that is visiting Philadelphia this week.
From June 20-24, the Kimmel Center is presenting Champions of Magic at the Merriam Theater (250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-893-1999,...
On Stage; Diamante shining as new rock diva
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Diamante
If there is a pantheon for rock deities, the section for powerful female rock goddesses would surely include artists such as Debbie Harry, Pat Benatar, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Avril Lavigne and PJ Harvey.
There would also be a special section for hard rock lady deities featuring acts such as Joan Jett, The Great Kat, Vixen’s Janet...
On Stage: Just in time for Eternal Summers to the area
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Eternal Summers
Eternal Summers, which is headlining a show on June 14 at Boot and Saddle (1131 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-639-4528, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com), is a young band from Virginia that has been described as a “dream punk” band.
The Roanoke-based trio featuring Nicole Yun, Daniel Cundiff, Jonathan Woods plays jangly pop songs...
