After more than 35 years in existence, Kansas carries on. The band, best known for classic rock hits such as “Carry On Wayward Son,” “Dust in the Wind” and “Point of Know Return,” brings its time-tested brand of heartland prog-rock to Artpark on Tuesday.....more>>
Motley Crue’s new album, “Saints Of Los Angeles,” is justifiably being lauded as a return to the group’s classic rowdy hard rock form. There are probably those who would guess that Motley Crue consciously wanted to make an album that recalled such career-defining albums as “Shout At The Devil” (1983), “Girls, Girls, Girls” (1987) and “Dr. Feelgood” (1989). The reality, according to bassist Nikki Sixx, couldn’t be much different.
Martin Sexton is in a harmonious place. Sexton, who started his career as a Boston street musician, has gone from independent artist to major-label musician and back again. The Syracuse native performs tonight at Buffalo’s Thursday at the Square. Sexton recently spoke to Night & Day in a phone interview from his cabin in the Adirondacks. He talked of painting and enjoying nature, generally sounding like a man who’s comfortable with his current lot in life.
James McMurtry never wrote political songs because he didn’t like listening to them much. His exception was the music of fellow Texas native Steve Earle. When Earle released “The Revolution Starts Now” in the midst of the 2004 presidential campaign, it inspired McMurtry to pick up his pen. The result was “We Can’t Make it Here,” a sneering, searing indictment of the Bush administration released online just before George W. Bush won a second term. He invited fans to make their own videos, making it a YouTube hit viewed more than 150,000 times and the best-known song of a 20-year musical career.
Three Dog Night, best known for hits such as “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” “Joy to the World” and “An Old-Fashioned Love Song,” will take over Artpark on Tuesday. The band, which released 12 consecutive gold albums and 11 top 10 singles between 1969 and 1975, still plays about 80 to 100 concerts a year, according to lead vocalist Cory Wells, a Buffalo native who spoke to Night & Day on the phone from Seattle.
Ask Jason Aldean if he’s paid his dues to become a country music star, and he’ll probably brush the question off with his ever-so-humble Southern drawl. But in reality, it has been 10 long years since the Macon, Ga., native decided he’d try to make it in country music. While he’s had his bumps along the way, he never seems to stop working hard. Aldean makes his way Friday to the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center as the opener for Tim McGraw.
It’s called the Tonawanda Folk Festival, but the title is a bit of a misnomer. The free festival returns this weekend in City of Tonawanda’s Niawanda Park, and though there may be little traditional folk music, there will be plenty of acoustic music and dancing.
Diddley, one of the founding fathers of rock ’n’ roll, died Monday at 79 of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
