Music Notes:
Upcoming Shows
by Benjy Eisen
On Friday, 10/26, Nick’s Café will be the backdrop for the Western swing
revival of Hot Club of Cowtown. Hailing from Austin, Texas,
Cowtown has three albums on Hightone Records and has gained a certain
amount of critical success over the past few years, along with comparisons
to retro-swing acts like The Texas Playboys and bluegrass pickers like
Donna The Buffalo…He’s a soul man: Ray Charles, largely
accredited with defining modern soul music, comes to Franklin and Marshall
College on Saturday 10/27. Charles’ most historical career accomplishments
came early on, in the 1950s and ’60s, when he started combining
sophistication and grittiness to more traditional R&B sounds. After
writing classics like “Hit The Road Jack” and “Unchain My Heart,” Charles
started leaning towards pop music in the ’80s…The Kelly Bell Band
has been a hallmark of the Baltimore blues scene and sound for the past
however many years, and stops in Central Pennsylvania have always been
kind to them. This month, they come to the Blue Star in Lancaster on
10/28…Who is that man with the banjo in his hand? Why it’s Bela
Fleck of course — who else? The Grammy Award winner and longtime
area favorite returns yet again to the mid-state, this time with favored
bluegrass bassist Edgar Meyer, for a performance at Whitaker
Center on 10/30. The duo are touring in support of Bela’s latest release,
the aptly titled Perpetual Motion. …Two other area favorites, Tower
Of Power and Average White Band return for two
consecutive shows, one on 10/30 at the Strand-Capital Theatre in York and
the next night, Halloween, 10/31, at Whitaker Center. Suzanne Vega’s
at the Whitaker on 11/1. You know Suzanne Vega for her hits “Luka” and
“Tom’s Diner”…Although they first assaulted heavy metal fans as Crawlspace
on the Mortal Combat: More Combat CD, when they come to the Chameleon in
Lancaster on 11/2, they’ll be better known as Sevendust. The
area club gig is in advance of an arena tour opening up for hometown boys
Fuel…Also in Lancaster, Philly’s rising groove rockers K-Floor
are at the Blue Star on 11/1…He’s been around for a thousand years and
he’s coming ’round again: Singer-songwriter Richard Thompson
was known for his work in the late ’60s with Fairport Convention, before
pairing off creatively with his wife Linda Thompson, whom he recorded and
toured with until their divorce in the early ’80s. Since then, Richard has
maintained a successful solo career which has included periodic
appearances in the area, dating back to the days of the Wire. He has made
Whitaker his mid-state home since the Center opened, and he returns there
on 11/3. Jane Siberry opens...For those keeping score, that
will be four nights of music in five days at Whitaker Center, thereby
securing their Sunoco Theater as Harrisburg’s premier live venue (now if
only they’d make use of Stage Two!)…Another area venue known for
excellence in live music, The Strand Capital in York, hosts the
Robert Cray Band on 11/9. As was music noted back in August, Cray
helped kick-start a resurgence in contemporary blues around the time of
the late ’80s and early ’90s when the genre was on the endangered list,
and earned two Grammy Awards in the process.
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