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National Acts
Dirty Heads
8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12
Dirty Heads have been described as “the torchbearers of SoCal rock” and the band’s members came by their torches honestly.
“I was born in Sunset Beach, Calif. … Born right on the water,” the band’s co-founder Jared “Dirty J” Watson ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Fans of the local Americana indie act Rosalind & The Way will be excited to hear last year’s stellar release Legend or Myth is now available on viny...
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National Acts
Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood
Mochrie and Sherwood ready for Honeywell
Not only can anyone learn how be an improv comic, everyone should learn to be an improv comic.
This advice comes from one of the best-known improv co...
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National Acts
Big Head Todd and The Monsters
Big Head Todd serves its fans with Clyde show
Big Head Todd and the Monsters have been in existence for more than three decades. During that time, the band has built a considerable and career-sust...
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National Acts
Bert Kreischer
Kreischer plays packed house at the Embassy
It all started with a Rolling Stone article.
In 1997, a reporter from the magazine set out to find the top partier at what Princeton Review had design...
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National Acts
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live!
Show creator Hodgson says this is his final appearance
One of the joys of repeated viewings of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (aka MST3K) is delayed comprehension of jokes.
The show’s writers have never s...
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National Acts
TobyMac
“Yesterday I missed you, Yesterday I played your song,” Christian hip-hop recording artist TobyMac sings in his song “Scars.”
As noted on Toby...
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Local Musicians
Violins of Hope
An extraordinary collaborative effort among many Fort Wayne businesses and organizations, Violins of Hope finally arrives in town in the weeks ahead, ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Grammy award-winning heavyweights Korn and multi-platinum hard rockers Breaking Benjamin have announced a 24-city tour which includes a stop right her...
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National Acts
Little River Band
Clyde Theatre welcomes Little River Band
As the 1970s were winding down, Little River Band had already graced the charts numerous times with songs that are indelibly imprinted into our mass c...
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National Acts
Tony Bennett
Embassy Theatre hosts the legendary singer
In concert, Tony Bennett performs the Gordon Jenkins song, “This Is All I Ask,” which he recorded twice: in 1960, when he was 34, and in 2011, whe...
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National Acts
Michael Ray
Michael Ray will grace Clyde Theatre stage
When Michael Ray takes the stage at the Clyde Theatre on Nov. 2, he does so as a newlywed. Married on Oct. 6 to fellow country music star Carly Pearce...
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National Acts
Mystic India
Dance & music take audience on a journey
Indian films are more popular in the United States than ever. It is a rare week that at least one new Indian blockbuster isn’t playing at a local m...
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National Acts
Theory of a Deadman
Theory of a Deadman’s style tweaked on new album
When Theory of a Deadman announced their current fall tour back in May, the band also announced they would be pulling double duty for the rest of the ...
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National Acts
The Music of Cream
Tribute is loaded with relatives of originals
With the recent passing of Ginger Baker, there has been a lot of talk about the enduring legacy of Cream and the timelessness of their music. Having f...
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Out & About
Out and About
Philadelphia progressive rockers Circa Survive recently announced they are hitting the road next year aboard the Blue Sky Noise 10 Year Anniversary to...
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National Acts
UFO
When 2019 comes to a close, the skies will have one less high-flying object for us to see and hear as UFO are making one last trip across the U.S. in ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Earlier this year, Middle Waves organizers made the announcement that after a three-year run they were taking the year off. There were mixed feelings ...
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National Acts
Black Violin
Black Violin comes to The Embassy Theatre
During the day, Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste were classically trained violin players.
At night, they were aspiring hip-hop producers.
Somehow...
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National Acts
Choir Boy
Genesis Outreach CEO produces stageplay
As an active participant in Fort Wayne’s busy theater community, Albert Brownlee occasionally treats himself to a trip to New York to catch a Broadw...
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National Acts
Heather Headley
Headley visits The Clyde to help local charity
When Heather Headley’s brother Iric Jr. called to ask if she’d do a benefit concert for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne, she had a simple a...
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National Acts
George Winston
‘New Age’ Winston to grace Sweetwater stage
Pianist George Winston was one of the earliest and most successful practitioners of New Age music. But you really can’t blame him for how terrible t...
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National Acts
Ben Folds
Unlike many established musicians, Ben Folds doesn’t mind admitting that he sometimes gets sick of playing his most beloved songs.
“I might have s...
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National Acts
38 Special
Niswonger welcomes 38 Special to Van Wert
Listening to Don Barnes’ salad days stories, one gets the feeling that it is sort of miraculous that the band he fronts, 38 Special, became the powe...
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Out & About
Out and About
It’s hard to fathom that it’s been nearly twenty years since Heavy Step released their debut, The Long Shot. Once known as Skavossas, the local sk...
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National Acts
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night comes with joy to the Clyde
For longtime fans of Three Dog Night, the band that took the 1970s by storm with numerous chart-topping hits, the three men who came to define the sou...
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National Acts
Toto
Toto visits the Honeywell on its possible last tour
Toto is one band that came out of the gates as a supergroup. Comprised of session musicians who had played on some of the greatest tracks in music his...
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Out & About
Out and About
Adam Baker and the Heartache are one of the many bands playing at The Muse on Main during its grand opening weekend.
The old Recovery Room building at 1332 W. Main St. was recently purchased with plans for a new entertainment venue in the already eclectic neighborhoo...
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National Acts
Whose Live Anyway?
Embassy Theatre hosts the comedy quartet
If you’ve seen Jeff B. Davis on Whose Line Is It Anyway? you know him as a dapper lad with a quick wit and a perpetual twinkle in his eye.
In his s...
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National Acts
Branford Marsalis
Jazz saxophonist gets serious at The Clyde
In the mid-1990s, jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis tried to record the John Coltrane song, “Resolution,” from the monumental album, A Love Supre...
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National Acts
Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group
Lyle Lovett is known for his "Large Band." You can hardly say "Lyle Lovett" without adding "and his Large Band."
When Lyle Lovett comes to the Clyde T...
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National Acts
Al Di Meola
Di Meola values intellect and heart in his music
When jazz guitarist Al Di Meola was 19, he received an unexpected call.
It was from jazz pianist Chick Corea asking him to join the jazz fusion group ...
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National Acts
Amy Grant
Grant brings her iconic voice to the Honeywell
With a career that has spanned four decades and made her a beloved entertainer for fans of Christian, pop, and country music, Amy Grant has done it al...
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Out & About
Out and About
On Sunday, Oct. 13, there will be a benefit for Steve “Tiny” Michaels at the Mizpah Shrine Center, 1015 Memorial Way, from noon until 8 p.m.
Mich...
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Local Musicians
Fort Wayne Philharmonic & Rudy in Concert
Appealing to all, from Masterworks to movies
As it celebrates its 75th birthday this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic is bringing a wealth of orchestral entertainment to Fort Wayne.
While faith...
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National Acts
Switchfoot
Secular-Christian divide challenges band and fans
For much of its two-decade existence, Switchfoot has courted two not-always-complementary camps.
Switchfoot’s music has always appealed to both the ...
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National Acts
Chase Rice
‘Bro-country’ persona taking back seat for Rice
Country music artist Chase Rice had huge hits in 2014 and 2015 with “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna Wanna Tonight.”
When he had another hit earlie...
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National Acts
Bill Engvall
Blue-collar comedian will unpack his act at Embassy
When comedian Bill Engvall takes the stage for a show, he doesn’t just hope the audience finds him to be funny. He hopes people find him to be relat...
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Out & About
Out and About
A collection of 19 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, two Emmy Awards, and a Kennedy Center Honor — we must be talking a...
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Local Musicians
Addison Agen
NeighborLink connects local volunteers, those needing help
Neighbors helping neighbors. It sounds simple, almost quaint, but given the mobility of homeowners — not to mention how often busy schedules leads t...
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National Acts
We Are The Monks
Meeting the challenges of raising a family on the road
Trent Monk had already pursued and abandoned a career in music by the time he met his future wife Shellie. Then, he didn’t imagine that this budding...
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National Acts
NF
Feuerstein, who goes by NF, strives to make music for all
In August, an album by Chance the Rapper was beaten out at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s album chart by an album from Nathan Feuerstein the Rapper.
...
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National Acts
Micah Tyler
From sausage truck driver to touring musician
The story of contemporary Christian music artist Micah Tyler’s rise from sausage truck driver to nationally recognized musician is an unlikely one, ...
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National Acts
Citizens
Christian message the centerpiece at HeBrews
When HeBrews in Leo first opened in 2008, it had more than selling coffee beverages in mind. Seeking to bring a Christian mission to its venue, Matt H...
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Local Musicians
Whatzup Picks
It’s always fun to catch a band on the way up because when they get huge, you’ll always have that story of “I saw them before they were big.” ...
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National Acts
Eric Gales
Gales to rock C2G Music Hall
Eric Gales grew up in a Memphis household full of left-handed guitarists who’d taught themselves to play right-handed guitars.
So he did the only th...
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Out & About
Out and About
If you recall, The Allman Betts Band were scheduled to perform last month at the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion until the show was suddenly postponed...
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National Acts
The Chi-Lites
Classic sound still thrills audiences
Like many of the vocal groups popular in the 1960s or ’70s, the Chi-Lites have had a rocky road to the 21st century.
With only one of its original ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Trippin’ Billies are coming to The Clyde on Oct. 5.
No matter if it’s Zoso, The Four Horseman, Dark Star Orchestra, or Who’s Bad, the tribute acts appear to be a huge hit for the Clyde Theatre. If y...
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National Acts
U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble
Free concert in Wabash
The Air Force recruits more than pilots.
This will be apparent for the Honeywell Center audience when they hear a talented crew of musicians, the U.S....
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National Acts
Wynonna & The Big Noise
Wynonna gets ‘raw’ with The Big Noise
Once heralded by Rolling Stone as “the greatest female country singer since Patsy Cline,” Wynonna is an American treasure who has sold more than 3...
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National Acts
Hairball
Crowd-pleasing band measures success with audience response
For fans of rock n’ roll, the Clyde Theater will be the site of Hairball, a rock band that covers classic hits from KISS to Journey, all while provi...
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National Acts
Ron White
White brings 33 years of experience to Embassy
Comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White is bringing his humor, cigar, and tequila back for the fifth time to the Embassy Theatre on Sept. 13.
White’s c...
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National Acts
Jefferson Starship
Nothing’s gonna stop Jefferson Starship from show at Clyde Theatre
David Freiberg grew up in Cincinnati, in a household where Reform Judaism was practiced. Reform Judaism is a progressive form of its namesake.
“My ...
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National Acts
Dave Koz and Friends
Dave Koz and Friends excited to visit town
Dave Koz & Friends has been tremendously popular and successful during their time together performing.
For nearly a decade, the group has collaborate...
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Out & About
Out and About
Nashville pop-rock outfit *repeat repeat will join indie folk band The Bergamot and local rockers James and the Drifters for a night of music at The Philmore on Broadway at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13.
Have you seen the lineup for the upcoming Night at the Philmore event on Friday, Sep. 13? Well, let’s just say it’s a good one.
Taking the Philmo...
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National Acts
Foreigner
Foreigner prepared to rock the Honeywell
Imagine if you will being a teenager in Rochester, N.Y., in the late 1970s. There’s not much to recommend it to the average person, particularly if ...
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National Acts
Josh Garrels
Garrels shines spotlight on faith in new music
Following the release of his newest album, Chrysaline, singer/songwriter Josh Garrels returns to his home state of Indiana to perform a free concert a...
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National Acts
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Toad the Wet Sprocket to bring classic, new songs to Clyde Theatre
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from a Monty Python skit.
“I once wrote a sketch about rock musicians,” Monty Python co-founder Eric ...
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Local Musicians
Zep Fest
Final Rock the Plaza show of the year
Closing out another rousing season of Rock the Plaza is Zep Fest, the traditional end of the line when it comes to the plaza series.
With Beatles Fes...
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Out & About
Out and About
Local rockers Wolfbearhawk have landed themselves the opening slot for the upcoming MC50 show at the Clyde Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 31. A call from t...
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National Acts
Pat Metheny Side Eye
Metheny bends genres at Pavilion concert
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has never been one to play it safe or rest on his laurels.
He came to prominence in the late ’70s with lush, stirring moo...
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Local Musicians
Rogues & Bandits
Band from Huntington soft rocks its originals
Creating a sense of family and community isn’t an easy thing to do among just four people. But when you make a point to keep traditions alive and be...
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National Acts
MC50
The rebranded MC50 ready to rock The Clyde Theatre
Hailing from Lincoln Park, Michigan, MC5 was an in-your-face combination of sound and fury.
Formed in the early ’60s, the band was the inevitable r...
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National Acts
Vince Gill
Country music legend performs at Foellinger
In a pleasant coincidence in scheduling, country music legend Vince Gill is performing at the Foellinger Theatre just a month before his wife, pop/Chr...
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National Acts
David Crosby and Friends
Crosby cites proximity to youth for his own vitality
David Crosby admits that he wasn’t exactly a prolific songwriter prior to 2014.
Then a dam burst or seemed to from the perspective of his fans. Cro...
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National Acts
The Felice Brothers
Felice Brothers bring show to Brass Rail
Early in the band’s career, The Felice Brothers were often described by music journalists as “Brooklyn-based.”
While it is true that the band fi...
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Out & About
Out and About
In 2012, the high-powered bluegrass punk act Old & Dirty hit our scene. Since then, the group led by Pete Dio has put out some top-notch music and has...
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National Acts
The Bacon Brothers
Michael, Kevin Bacon to rock The Clyde Theatre
Although Kevin Bacon is a well-known name — and famously separated a mere six degrees or less from everyone in film history — his brother Michael,...
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National Acts
Rick Springfield
Springfield to perform his hits at The Clyde
Starring in the soap opera General Hospital and singing the chart-topping hit “Jessie’s Girl” made Rick Springfield one of the biggest stars of ...
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Local Musicians
Tuesday Atlas
Fort Wayne quartet loves to blend styles
Tuesday Atlas’ album cover for their EP Hell Has a Sound could easily be construed as using a metal band’s imagery. But the band actually dabble m...
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National Acts
Hamilton Loomis
Loomis adds a lot more color to the blues
Hamilton Loomis is a big fan of Fort Wayne.
“The people are great there,” Loomis said in an interview with Whatzup. “I’ve probably been playi...
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National Acts
Zion Lion
Zion Lion caters style to audience
The Zion Lion Reggae Band knows people might be turned off by the term “reggae.” So the band considers itself an evangelist of the style.
“We’...
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Out & About
The Music of Cream
There is no denying that Cream’s fusion of rock, blues, and jazz directly influenced a generation of musicians and continue to do so decades later. ...
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National Acts
Jon Anderson
Anderson stays fresh with invigorated music
One night, a man named Michael Franklin called up Jon Anderson, the British vocalist and co-founder of the progressive rock group Yes, and asked him a...
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National Acts
Slash
Slash wants to be a better model for sons
For Slash, the party will never stop, but it has slowed down considerably in recent years.
One of music’s most notable guitarists, Slash was also kn...
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National Acts
JJ Grey & Mofro and Jonny Lang
He brings his band to Sweetwater Pavilion
The South is more, much more, than country music.
Among those in the south who have found a winning hybrid of musical styles is JJ Grey, a Florida nat...
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National Acts
Brian Wilson
The Embassy welcomes legendary Brian Wilson
Calling Brian Wilson “one of rock music’s greatest composers if not its greatest composer” is one of the safest sweeping assertions that you can...
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Out & About
Out and About
Fronting a band takes talent. Just because you belt out Bon Jovi like no other during Wednesday night karaoke doesn’t mean you can do the job.
But ...
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CD Reviews
Schlagenheim
What should rock music sound like in 2019? Its status as a cultural vanguard in music has taken a backseat to other popular genres, but if mainstream ...
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National Acts
Foghat
It has been nearly 20 years since Foghat lost its front man and guitarist “Lonesome” Dave Peverett to cancer, but the current lineup has been goin...
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National Acts
Gin Blossoms
Earlier this year, the Gin Blossoms went out on a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the album that made the band famous: New Miserable Experien...
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Out & About
Out and About
Fans were stunned when the word broke that Here Come the Mummies canceled their performance at this year’s Three Rivers Festival.
The funk act’s ...
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National Acts
Let's Fest
Are you ready to laugh? If you couldn’t take the joke that was the rainy, wet spring of 2019 and are having trouble with the heat of summer, then yo...
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National Acts
Tusk
There are few bands with a more diverse– not to mention dysfunctional — history than Fleetwood Mac.
Fleetwood Mac tribute band Tusk is pretty muc...
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National Acts
Willie Nelson & Family
Willie Nelson wrote the songs “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” and “Night Life” in one week in 1961.
He didn’t quite understand wha...
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Local Musicians
Meat Flowers
Fort Wayne band The Meat Flowers is not your typical rock band, so it is not surprising that their history, album goals, and target audience are delig...
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Local Musicians
Joey O Band
Ever since he was a young boy, Joey Ortega knew all he wanted to do was be in a band. Now, years later, he’s still living that dream with the Joey O...
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Out & About
Out and About
A few of our local acts are set to perform at the Sweetwater Pavilion on July 28 for StoneyFest to benefit the Aaron M. Stone Memorial Fund which supp...
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Local Musicians
Brian Lemert
One reason Fort Wayne’s music community is so strong is that there is very little attrition. Thanks to opportunities for work, often locally for Swe...
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National Acts
Brian McKnight 4
From his Broadway debut in Chicago to stints as radio and television host, musical powerhouse Brian McKnight has shown depth and talent in all aspects...
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National Acts
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Hall of Famer to bring Blackhearts to the Foellinger.
At the recent induction ceremony of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, both Stevie Nicks — the firs...
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National Acts
Night Ranger
Sweetwater Pavilion to host Night Ranger.
Night Ranger are quickly closing in on their 40th anniversary as a band, having released their debut album, ...
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Out & About
Out and About
With the Three Rivers Festival just around the corner (July 12-20), get ready for an array of live music jammed into the nine-day festival, including ...
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National Acts
Marcus King Band
Rising star in the guitar world brings his band to the Pavilion.
You could say that making music is in Marcus King’s blood. At just 23 years old, he...
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National Acts
Clutch
The Clyde lets out the Clutch on July 16.
It seems hard to believe when Clutch guitarist Tim Sult refers to their 27-year history, but in fact Clutch ...
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National Acts
C+C Music Company Feat. Freedom Williams
Back to the '90s night at TRF also features Young M.C. and Rob Base
Rapper Freedom Williams doesn’t have a lot of hits under his belt. But the ones ...
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National Acts
Alice Cooper
On the phone, Alice Cooper comes across like the cliché about the kid in the candy store.
If you didn’t know he made his living portraying a heavy...
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National Acts
Eli Young Band
For fans of country music, the well-known and much beloved Eli Young Band will be performing at the Sweetwater Pavilion in Fort Wayne on July 13.
Eli ...
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Out & About
Out and About
On Tuesday, July 16, singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express will roll through town to perform in the Tiger Room at Welch’s Ale House....
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National Acts
Lloyd Cole
Revisit hits from Lloyd Cole’s brief period as a British pop star in the mid- and late 1980s and you may be shocked at how fresh they still sound.
C...
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CD Reviews
Brian Lemert
Considering that the songs on Brian Lemert’s East of Where You’ve Been are full of nostalgia, regret, relationships gone wrong, and yearning for t...
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National Acts
Static-X
Static-X are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip, this summer with a tour that stops by The Clyde on July 12. ...
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National Acts
Twiceyoung
Bands come together in a variety of ways with some reflecting years of friendship and musical experimentation. But others come together as paths cross...
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National Acts
Collective Soul
Since the release of their album Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid — the album that gave the world the hit single “Shine” — Collective ...
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Out & About
Out and About
You will not have any issues finding the Alicia Pyle Quartet this summer thanks to the recently announced Summer Jazz Sessions at The Club Room at The...
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Local Musicians
Whatzup Staff Report
The mission of Whatzup is to connect everyone in Fort Wayne and beyond with great events, from music to art to stage and dance. But how can local musi...
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CD Reviews
Dan Smyth
Singer/songwriter Dan Smyth is a music machine. Not only does he lend his guitar and vocal skills to Fort Wayne’s The Legendary Trainhoppers, but Sm...
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National Acts
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck recalls being laughed at when he first tried to play the banjo in public.
This wasn’t because he played the instrument badly. It was bec...
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Out & About
Out and about
Bird & Cleaver at 1603 N. Wells St., known for its relaxing ambiance and comfort food classics, has an alluring event in the works for Sunday, June 23...
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National Acts
Trombone shorty and Orleans Avenue
Growing up in New Orleans and not becoming a musical person is a little like growing up on an island and never learning how to swim.
Troy “Trombone ...
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National Acts
Los Lonely Boys
Growing up with a father who was a musician, joining the band came naturally for brothers Henry, Jojo, and Ringo Garza who since 1996 have been Los Lo...
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CD Reviews
James Ellsworth with Clusterfolk
James Ellsworth’s new album is an eclectic confection, an ambitious project that combines traditional arrangements with a whimsical sense of humor a...
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National Acts
David Allan Coe
Sifting through David Allan Coe’s biography, it’s not easy to sort out what’s true and what isn’t.
Coe has been such a polarizing figure thro...
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National Acts
Billy Currington
Even before his professional music career really took off, Billy Currington was always one to make the most of summer. When he was new in Nashville an...
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National Acts
Melissa Etheridge
With the release of her self-titled debut album in 1988, Melissa Etheridge immediately presented the voice and music that was to define her career to ...
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National Acts
International Jugglers Association Festival
Gathering each year for their annual convention and festival, which features workshops, performances, and special events, the International Jugglers A...
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Out & About
Out and About
Pioneer funk and soul star Bootsy Collins will be coming to the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion to funk things up on Saturday, Sept. 14. One thing for...
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National Acts
A Quarter Century of Blues
When he first began his professional career almost three decades ago, Kenny Wayne Shepherd was at an age when most young people are looking ahead to t...
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Local Musicians
Controvert
“Loud like a locomotive but smooth like water.”
This is how Marion-based metalcore band Controvert describe their sound according to vocalist Chri...
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Out & About
Out and About
The local psychedelic groove band The Be Colony is set to release their very first full-length album this month.
The self-titled piece consists of 11...
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National Acts
Hotel California
The Eagles are one of the most successful bands of all time. The group was founded in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner...
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Local Musicians
Exterminate All Rational Thought
Exterminate All Rational Thought have been honing their musical skills for years now in the Fort.
Combining prog metal muscle with melody-driven song...
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National Acts
Hozier
In a recent announcement, Grammy-nominated artist Hozier has confirmed additional performances in North America as he continues his world tour for his...
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National Acts
Criss Angel
In performance, Criss Angel is slightly more Saruman than Gandolf, more Count Dooku than Obi Wan. His dark stage persona is composed of equal parts Ma...
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Out & About
Out and About
The Clyde just added a couple more worthy shows to their ever-growing lineup.
First up, the American jazz saxophonist Dave Koz & Friends will invade ...
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National Acts
Tesla
Making waves for more than 35 years, Tesla continue to grind, keeping current fans happy and impressing new fans at each and every stop along the way....
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National Acts
Paul McCartney
When the Memorial Coliseum announced Paul McCartney’s Fort Wayne concert date last September, the announcement was teased as a “historic” event ...
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CD Reviews
Kyle Haller Band
Kyle Haller Band make music steeped in the tradition of artists like Bob Dylan, The Band, the Grateful Dead, and other artists from the ’60s and ’...
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Out & About
Out and About
Like many bands out of the ’70s and ’80s, Foghat still forges on to this day with a steady road schedule and new music. Best known for the songs ...
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National Acts
Nita Strauss
As a member of Alice Cooper’s band since 2014, Nita Strauss has solidified herself as a bonafide guitar superstar. Honing her skills for years as a ...
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Local Musicians
Louisiana Lot Lizards
“Nightmares. Not enough sleep. Ghosts. Really loud amps. Guitar pedals. Graveyards. Our loved ones. Sickness. Paranoia. Understanding that time isn...
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Out & About
Out and About
Whoa, Man! is one of the latest acts to hit our scene and has a mission to celebrate the women of rock. The group is fronted by three of the area’s ...
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CD Reviews
Heaven's Gateway Drugs
The Fort Wayne psychedelic collective known as Heaven’s Gateway Drugs have been honing their mix of sixties psych pop, ’70s glam, and culty freakd...
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National Acts
Roseanne Barr
When I spoke with Roseanne Barr from her home in Hawaii, she was about to embark on a short stand-up tour. It’s a try-out for what might become a mu...
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National Acts
Jared James Nichols
In a recent tweet, Eddie Trunk called him “one of the best emerging young rock talents out there.” Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry described him in ...
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National Acts
Marcus Scott
He’s just 34 years old, but his voice and style evoke an era of music born before his time.
For the past few years, Marcus Scott has been making a ...
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Out & About
Out and About
One of the most respected singer-songwriters of all time, Brian Wilson, will be making his way to the Embassy Theatre on Aug. 10.
Wilson is one of po...
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CD Reviews
Exterminate All Rational Thought
Fort Wayne’s Exterminate All Rational Thought have been been turning frontal lobes to mush since 2012, ever since the release of their prog-metal de...
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CD Reviews
Lovewar
Lovewar released their debut album Soak Your Brain in 1993. But before it could create waves, public tastes changed from melodic hard rock to grunge, ...
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Local Musicians
Heaven's Gateway Drugs
It’s been almost three years since Heaven’s Gateway Drugs’ last album, 2016’s Rubber Nun. The band is now readying their newest LP titled Slab...
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National Acts
Granger Smith
Granger Smith’s rise up the country music charts led to an unsurprising crossover success given the overall popularity of country music.
Smith’s ...
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National Acts
Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox
In 2009, Scott Bradlee was a jazz pianist working in New York City and thinking that being a pianist working in New York City wasn’t all it was crac...
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National Acts
Hatebreed
It can’t be easy to be, simultaneously, one of the most understood and misunderstood bands on the planet.
Yet, Hatebreed has pulled it off for 25 y...
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National Acts
Fort Wayne Music Festival
Now in its fourth year, the Fort Wayne Music Festival is unofficially the kickoff of the summer festival season, even placed six weeks before summer b...
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National Acts
Kansas
Although Kansas had faced some personnel changes over the years, save a brief departure in the early 1980s, Steve Walsh was always the voice and face ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Last year, the Marcus King Band strolled through the Summit City and put on a show-stopping performance at C2G Music Hall. Those of you lucky enough t...
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CD Reviews
Metavari
Nate Utesch continues to evolve and move the sound of Metavari into new territory.
Starting back in 2008 as a post-rock band with electronic flourish...
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National Acts
Dennis DeYoung
In recent years, many of the top bands of the 1980s have had to forge a path without the recognizable voices that helped launch them to the top.
Jour...
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Local Musicians
Dormant
When a band describes their songs as “no two songs sound the same,” you almost have to roll your eyes. But with a group like Dormant, an intricate...
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National Acts
Classic Deep Purple with Glenn Hughes
He’s played bass and sang on more than 70 albums.
He’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, though he didn’t get to perform at the ceremony.
He’s l...
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National Acts
Buckethead
The man, the mask, the bucket?
For fans of killer guitar solos, robot dance moves, and KFC, the Clyde Theater promises an exciting event on Wednesday,...
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National Acts
Old Dominion
It might be an understatement to say that the past three years have been a whirlwind for members of the country supergroup Old Dominion.
They’ve be...
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Out & About
Out and About
Earlier this month, rock artist Melissa Etheridge released a new album, The Medicine Show, which will see her hitting the road in support. One of her ...
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National Acts
Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson has had no problem settling into the role of country music’s mentor-in-chief. Nearly 30 years after the release of his debut album, he...
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Local Musicians
Monthly Muso Night
Paul Kobylensky admits that he had himself in mind when he got the idea for Monthly Muso Nights at The Ruin. Sure, he wanted to give local musicians a...
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National Acts
MercyMe
MercyMe’s crossover appeal seemed to happen suddenly, with their iconic hit "I Can Only Imagine" striking it big off their major label debut in 2001...
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National Acts
Tim Hawkins
Tim Hawkins decided to pursue comedy as a vocation out of desperation.
“I tried everything else,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t an idiot. I just c...
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National Acts
The League's Blues Bash
When Julie Collins lost her eyesight nearly 27 years ago due to diabetes, she began searching for ways to adapt.
Her search led her to The League for...
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Out & About
Out and About
The Clyde Theatre will send women into a swoon on the evening of Saturday, August 24, when actor Kevin Bacon enters the building. Yes, the guy from Fo...
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National Acts
Buckcherry
A few years back, Buckcherry experienced an upheaval that saw two veteran players depart the band. A revamped version of the band will perform at the ...
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National Acts
Brian Posehn
Brian Posehn is a nerd. He’s a book nerd. He’s a Phantom Menace-hating Star Wars Nerd. He’s a horror movie nerd, a comic book and toy collecting...
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Out & About
Out & About
Local singer-songwriter James Ellsworth (formerly of Clusterfolk), is set to release his third album, Flinging Woo.
“It is a tribute of sorts to th...
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Local Musicians
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Spend any time at all with Caleb Young and it’s obvious that he loves music and loves sharing it with others.
As the associate conductor of the For...
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National Acts
Scotty McCreery
When you win American Idol at the age of 17, you’ve got plenty of time to evolve and still be at the beginning of your career. That’s the situatio...
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National Acts
Zakir Hussain
The name Zakir Hussain does not stir instant recognition in many Americans. But in his native India, Hussain is a musical celebrity on the order of Bo...
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Out & About
Out and About
Just when you thought the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion had a full concert calendar, they slide in a couple more.
On Friday, August 2, the Pavilion...
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Local Musicians
The Kyle Haller Band
Already well-known to fans of Phil’s Family Lizard and Grateful Groove, Kyle Haller has enjoyed success in Fort Wayne’s busy music community. But ...
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Local Musicians
FM
Before moving to Fort Wayne a couple years ago, Joe Savino was living in Las Vegas and had found success with a Journey tribute band. That experience ...
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National Acts
Thunderstruck
The music of AC/DC has spanned decades and generations of fans. But even though the band has not officially disbanded, there isn’t much left of the ...
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Out & About
Out and About
The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion concert lineup continues to grow with the recent announcement of Grammy-nominated contemporary jazz artist Trombon...
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National Acts
Sandi Patty's Salute to America
In a career that has spanned more than four decades, Sandi Patty has become the voice of Christian music around the world.
Patty was born in Oklahoma...
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Local Musicians
Anna Faye
Songwriter, singer, and guitarist Anna Faye Caldwell with her drummer and producer Mark Everetts have created a familiar yet distinct sound in a short...
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National Acts
Jimmy Lee Young
Singer-songwriter Jimmy Lee Young grew up in New Orleans, the so-called “birthplace of jazz” and a natural magnet for the state’s cajun and creo...
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National Acts
Winterjam
With their appearance at the Winter Jam in the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, the Irish Christian folk rock group Rend Collective continue what s...
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Out & About
Out and About
With the ice rink now closed for the season, Headwaters Park focuses its attention on its summer festival calendar. Soon the facility will be chock-fu...
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Out & About
Out and About
The Allman Betts Band have found themselves aboard the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion’s ever-growing summer lineup on the evening of Friday, Aug. 3...
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National Acts
Whitey Morgan
Whitey Morgan might say something about his music “evolving” on his latest album, Hard Times and White Lines, but you get the sense it’s because...
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National Acts
Anita Renfroe
On Thursday, March 14, you may end up with a new friend. Her name is Anita Renfroe and she’ll be doing standup comedy in Wabash, Indiana, on stage i...
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Local Musicians
Fort Wayne Philharmonic
For those old enough to remember, the events of September 11, 2001, are forever etched in our minds, with everyone having their story of how they saw ...
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National Acts
Eliminator
Do a search for “ZZ Top tribute bands” and you will find a number of groups with different degrees of “authenticity.”
Most can play the songs...
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Out & About
Out and About
Guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd is set to return to the Summit City on Friday, June 14, for a performance at the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion. ...
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National Acts
Shinedown
Shinedown stays on top yet flies under the radar.
Shinedown might just be the biggest rock n’ roll secret you don’t know about.
Unless, of cours...
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Local Musicians
Bach Collegium
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind music experience, look no further than the performances of the Bach Collegium. The shows feature baroque music...
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Local Musicians
Adam Baker & The Heartache
With diverse influences like Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Tweedy, and the late, great Tom Petty, it’s not hard to see how Adam Baker & The Heartache auth...
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National Acts
Casting Crowns
As winter comes to a close, three Christian music groups are making their way to Fort Wayne to lift up the community and spread a message of joy and h...
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Out & About
Out and About
It’s time for us to break open our piggy banks. I highly suggest you consider the show the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion is hosting on Sunday, Aug...
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National Acts
Los Lobos
The year was 1982. Steve Berlin was saxophonist for the storied rockabilly revival band, The Blasters. One night at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles...
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National Acts
Leslie Odom Jr.
Leslie Odom Jr. is not an overnight success.
For many years, he was featured on a variety of television series, most notably on procedurals like CSI:...
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Local Musicians
Whatzup Pick
Fort Wayne resident Damon Mitchell will release his debut EP Elise on March 2. To celebrate, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is putt...
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Out & About
Out and About
The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion is adding the power ballad perennials of hair metal and hard rock, Night Ranger, to their summer calendar on Frida...
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National Acts
Blues Brothers Review
Whether from the legendary 1980 film or subsequent reboots, the Blues Brothers of “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues are instantly identifiable in the...
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Local Musicians
Kevin Hambrick
Fort Wayne musician Kevin Hambrick has been making scrappy pop records for the better part of the 21st century, starting in 2001 with Blueberry Hurric...
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National Acts
Umphrey's McGee
Before social media interaction defined what fan service means, the members of Umphrey’s McGee gave their fans atypical access.
“Before we did it...
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Out & About
Out & About
The local surf rock quartet Strange Waters are set to release their new self-titled EP on Saturday, Feb. 9, at The Ruin.
To celebrate the occasion, t...
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Out & About
Out & About
The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion is at it again with the announcement of the modern country act the Eli Young Band on Saturday, July 13, at 7 p.m. ...
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National Acts
John Mellencamp
Indiana has produced a number of famous musicians: Michael Jackson, Crystal Gayle, Axl Rose, and John Hiatt among them.
But John Mellencamp is one of ...
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National Acts
Candlebox
Take a minute to consider the state of rock music in 1993.
Nirvana was a year into its reign as the hottest band in America. In Utero, the band’s t...
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National Acts
Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime
In the ’90s, Sublime were the background music to every party. You couldn’t go anywhere without the sounds of “Santeria” or “What I Got” e...
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National Acts
Davy Knowles
How many of us know the exact moment that our entire life and career was decided?
Davy Knowles remembers that very moment, even if he didn’t quite ...
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Out & About
Out & About
More big news from the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion! The biggest name the outdoor performance venue announced this week was Slash featuring Myles K...
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National Acts
Pop Evil
What’s in a name? In the case of Michigan-born Pop Evil, the band’s name contains an extremely efficient explanation of the music, a slick melding...
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Local Musicians
Old Crown Brass Band
Downbeat is 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, for a free concert by one of Northeast Indiana’s premiere performing ensembles.
The Old Crown Brass Band brass a...
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National Acts
Out & About
Good news! The Sweetwater Pavilion’s first announcement for their summer concert series is Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, featuring Victor Wooten, Ro...
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Local Musicians
James and the Drifters
Like many bands, the lineup for James and the Drifters is much different than it was when first formed almost a decade ago.
The group has steadily bu...
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National Acts
Jefferson Starship
Few rock bands have been as willing to dramatically evolve over the course of decades, while at the same time being totally transparent about the goal...
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Out & About
Out & About
The local surf rock quartet Strange Waters are set to release their new self-titled EP on Saturday, Feb. 9, at The Ruin.
To celebrate the occasion, t...
READ MORE |
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CD Reviews
Kevin Hambrick
My good friend and fellow music writer D.M. Jones once said of Kevin Hambrick, “Psychedelic rockers, guitar-pop nuggets, and poignant acoustic numbe...
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National Acts
Jake Shimabukuro
It was Jake Shimabukuro who proved that the ukulele could be played in virtuoso fashion.
Before Jake came along, the ukulele was mostly associated wit...
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National Acts
Russell Dickerson
Rising country-pop star Russell Dickerson is, if nothing else, adaptable. When it’s come to building his career, he has been willing to try just abo...
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Local Musicians
Motor Folkers
Do you ever come to the weekend and feel like going out to hear some live but familiar music? Something that takes you back to the weekends of your yo...
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Local Musicians
Purdue Fort Wayne School of Music
It’s been a time of tremendous change and growth for the newly minted Purdue University School of Music. When the transition from IPFW to Purdue For...
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Out & About
Out & About
Down the Line 13 returns to the beautiful Embassy Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. It’s the time of year where a handful of the areas elite t...
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National Acts
Anthony Gomes
Fort Wayne is one of the best places to play in the U.S. And that’s according to Anthony Gomes, a veteran of the blues rock scene who has played mor...
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Out & About
Out & About
The generation that grew up in the ’90s is now officially old enough to get out and make a living. It’s hard to believe that these folks that live...
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CD Reviews
My Soul's Revolution
My Soul’s Revolution are a hard band to pin down. A bit of some ’90s alternative, pop hooks, and an almost island-like, reggae-ish undertone perme...
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National Acts
Rayland Baxter
When Rayland Baxter dropped out of college after a knee injury ended his athletic career, his father had some atypical advice for him.
Most dads in th...
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National Acts
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
In October 2017, Bob Seger was forced to postpone a number of live dates on his Runaway Train tour because of a back injury.
Spinal surgery and soul ...
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Local Musicians
Voices of Unity
Anyone who has seen the Voices of Unity choir performances know that there’s something very special about the sound created by that dedicated group ...
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National Acts
Kim Richey
Singer-songwriter Kim Richey took a circuitous route to a musical career. In truth, the peripatetic Richey has always being a big proponent of circuit...
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Local Musicians
Spicoli Culkin
Releasing music since the ’80s, Chris Goldbach has seen and done it all.
Goldbach used to live in Fort Lauderdale where the punk scene in the ’80...
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Out & About
Out & About
The School of Rock is kicking off the new year with a show that will satisfy all the tasteful music lovers out there. On Saturday, Jan. 12, an all-day...
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National Acts
Ann Wilson
Watch videos of Heart performing live in the 1970s and try to appreciate how improbable the band was at that moment in rock history.
It was fronted by...
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National Acts
Whatzup Pick
Sammie Benson, a.k.a. Blac Youngsta, is a rapper in the truest sense of the word. The 27-year-old from Memphis says that when he is recording new tune...
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Out & About
Out & About
An actor from one of the highest-grossing movies of 1980 is coming to town in a few days. To be honest, it’s not a household name, but this actor pl...
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National Acts
Sing! An Irish Christmas
A concert that features banjos, violins, drums, harps, and Celtic dancers is bound to be entertaining, and the musicians who fill the stage hope that ...
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Local Musicians
A C2G Christmas
From the sacred to the secular, there may not be any music which inspires everyone to sing along the way Christmas music does. And the best way to exp...
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National Acts
The Drifters, Cornell Gunter's Coasters & Platters Holiday Show
Since the Drifters formed in 1953, there have been many incarnations of the band, some of them existing simultaneously, but not touring together. It i...
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Out & About
Out and About
Has 2018 been a good year for you? Perhaps it was a year filled with positive vibes or, then again, a year you would like to quickly put behind you.
...
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Local Musicians
Strange Waters
Growing up in the Midwest tended to put a damper on dreams of being a surfer. One way we Midwesterners satisfied the surfer craving was through surf m...
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Local Musicians
Messiah By Candlelight
It might surprise casual fans to learn that Handel’s Messiah was never intended to be a celebration of Christmas. In fact, its world premiere in Dub...
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National Acts
Cece Winans
A few years back, Alvin Love III came to his mother, gospel legend CeCe Winans, with an idea for a new album. Winans’ response was not detailed, but...
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National Acts
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
The year is 1996, and there’s a dance craze sweeping the nation. All the cool kids want to swing. As dance crazes go, this one is more immersive tha...
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Local Musicians
Heartland Sings
Whether it’s walking through a Winter Wonderland or ringing Jingle Bells, it’s easy to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year through music...
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Out & About
Out and About
Don’t look now, but we’re officially in the month of December. Where did the year go? Now in the holiday season, you won’t have any issues findi...
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Local Musicians
Curtain Call
Mary Zimmerman’s The Secret in the Wings marks the second annual Underclassmen Showcase at Purdue University Fort Wayne and provides an opportunity ...
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Local Musicians
Holiday Pops
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s Holiday Pops performances are among the most popular offerings this time of year. Fans of classic and contemporary mus...
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National Acts
Atreyu
Born from the metalcore movement of the 1990s, Atreyu is group of six musicians who value the origins of their hard-rock ways and treat each other and...
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Out & About
Out & About
Hometown rocker Angela Lese, who now resides in Nashville, is coming north on Friday, Dec. 7, to perform at the Brass Rail with her new band, Taco Mou...
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National Acts
Hot Tuna
Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen have been performing at the heart of American music for more than half a century, mining the country’s musical histor...
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National Acts
Michael McDonald
The phrase Yacht Rock encompasses certain soft rock, jazz-rock and blue-eyed soul hits of the 1970s and ’80s.
It is often employed pejoratively, but...
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Local Musicians
whatzup Pick
Alicia Pyle has been making music for over two decades and is known throughout the region as a tremendous live performer. Whether she is part of Alici...
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National Acts
Straight No Chaser
What do you get when you bring together nine guys who each have a pitch-perfect voice, an abundance of stage presence, and a knack for entertaining au...
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National Acts
Here Come the Mummies
There are two ways to interview Here Come the Mummies.
One way involves challenging their subterfuge. The other involves embracing it.
I chose to embr...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
Even if you don’t know if you’ve heard them or not, we can just about guarantee you have. When it comes to Christmas music, Mannheim Steamroller a...
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Local Musicians
whatzup Pick
The holidays are a beloved time for most people, and for good reason. Oh, we know there are some Ebenezer Scrooges out there that may need to visit Ch...
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Out & About
Out & About
It’s been 25 years since the local Christian rock outfit Lovewar flew out to L.A. to record an album with producers John and Dino Elefante at Pakade...
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National Acts
Halestorm
Where guitarists for heavy metal bands are concerned, Halestorm’s Joe Hottinger is atypical.
Most of the heavy metal guitarists that feature writers...
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National Acts
Tech N9ne
Veteran rapper Tech N9ne might not be planning to keep on performing and touring for a lot longer, but that doesn’t mean that he intends to disappea...
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National Acts
Craig Ferguson
When former CBS talk show host Craig Ferguson visits the Honeywell Center in Wabash on November 25, he will come equipped with some Wabash-specific jo...
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Out & About
Out and About
For the past six years, the Ragin’ Cajun food truck has done an outstanding job serving up mouth-watering jambalaya, po’ boys, crawfish, and corn ...
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National Acts
Dweezil Zappa
For a dozen years now, Dweezil Zappa has been recreating his father Frank’s music in concert.
When he visits the Clyde Theatre on November 15, patro...
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Local Musicians
A Big Apple Jazz Club
When Fort Wayne native Trinell Armour takes the stage this weekend at Wunderkammer, it will be in a persona of her own making — The Mad Scatter.
Kn...
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National Acts
Impractical Jokers
They have a knack for embarrassing each other, an “anything goes” attitude, and a penchant for off-the-wall humor.
The four men who started out a...
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Out & About
Out & About
It’s not uncommon to see unfamiliar numbers come across your phone. Most of the time it’s some sort of scammer. But when Warsaw, Ind., musician Ma...
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National Acts
Brothers Osborne
Country music stars love to cast themselves as rebels, but if we’re honest, we know that most of them are anything but rebellious. Conventional wisd...
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National Acts
Big Gigantic
There is no way watching a guy with a laptop on a stage could be exciting, right? Well, at least one band, Boulder, Colorado’s Big Gigantic, hopes t...
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National Acts
Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs knows how blessed he is, even when facing a musical injury.
He won’t be able to play his mandolin because he tore a bicep tendon in Jul...
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Local Musicians
Out and About
The B-Side at One Lucky Guitar continues to book some impressive shows at their downtown design and marketing boutique. These intimate shows provide a...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Leones’ latest recording is a slight departure from their regular output. Holy, the band’s 2016 EP, was saturated in distortion and heavier-hittin...
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National Acts
Joe Bonamassa
It’s not often you get to witness a living legend, even before he is actually considered a living legend. However, Joe Bonamassa is well on his way ...
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National Acts
Gov't Mule
In the 1970s, the Allman Brothers were on the forefront of the Southern Rock movement in the U.S. Twenty-four years later, Gov’t Mule sprouted from ...
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National Acts
David Sanborn Electric Band
Saxophonist David Sanborn is sometimes described as one of the most successful crossover artists in popular music history.
It may be that the phrase ...
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CD Reviews
Local spin
Local live juggernauts Sad Gravity finally release their debut recording in the form of a self-titled album of eight songs. The release launches with ...
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National Acts
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
Bruce Springsteen has spent the last year or so sticking close to his New Jersey home, entertaining his fans from the comfort of a nightly Broadway st...
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National Acts
Machine Head
Machine Head is dead. Long live Machine Head.
When Machine Head was first booked to play The Clyde Theatre on October 26, it looked like a “nice get...
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National Acts
Fort Wayne Philharmonic
If you’re into dramatic comeback stories, you won’t want to miss “The Rach 2,” Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s October 27 concert.
Sergei Rachman...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you’ve been hanging around Fort Wayne over the past twenty years or so, chances are you know the name David Todoran & The Mobile Homewreckers.
T...
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National Acts
Jack Russell's Great White
“Hair metal” fans rejoice! The very first SiriusXM Hair Nation Tour takes place this fall with an October 21 show at The Clyde Theatre. The tour o...
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Local Musicians
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Roger Lewis, longtime baritone saxophonist with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, said his first “horns” were fashioned from newspaper.
“My cousin pla...
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National Acts
Christiana Danielle
Christiana Hicks became known for putting her own soulful spin on songs by well-known artists like Drake, Joe Cocker, Rihanna, and Sia. That was just ...
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National Acts
LeAnn Rimes
Since the release of her first album, Blue, in 1996, LeAnn Rimes has been a tabloid magnet.
Asked what she’d say to the 14-year-old version of herse...
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National Acts
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Chris Robinson became somewhat of a household name as the frontman for the Black Crowes, but the music he’s produced since leaving the band has soli...
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National Acts
Blood, Sweat & Tears
When someone hears that Blood, Sweat & Tears are performing nearby — as they are at the Clyde Theatre next week — it’s easy to picture the band ...
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National Acts
Dark Star Orchestra
When it formed in 1997, Dark Star Orchestra set itself a Herculean task that few cover bands have ever attempted or would ever attempt.
Actually, it ...
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National Acts
Charlie Daniels Band
It’s a good bet that Charlie Daniels doesn’t get asked about time travel very often, so I was happy to be the first reporter (probably) to broach ...
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National Acts
Steely Dan
When Steely Dan performs at the Embassy Theatre on October 4, it will be without the band’s cofounder, Walter Becker.
Becker died a year ago of esop...
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National Acts
Buddy Guy
You should know why it’s important to see blues guitarist Buddy Guy perform at the Clyde Theatre without me having to tell you.
Guy is one of the l...
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National Acts
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is a musical treasure. That was perhaps most evident when the nation watched her powerful performance at the funeral of Senator John Mc...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
Pop punk will never die, and Welsh band Neck Deep are out to prove it. Despite the decline in popularity of the genre in the United States over the la...
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National Acts
Greensky Bluegrass
According to Greensky Bluegrass banjoist Mike Bont, “When you pick to be a musician, you are picking to stay with the same job your entire life.” ...
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National Acts
REO Speedwagon
When REO Speedwagon take the Foellinger stage next week, they bring decades of beloved hits to share. Their performances include the songs that made H...
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Local Musicians
whatzup Pick
Electro-pop and electro-funk duos are all the rage these days.
Nationally and internationally, we have Daft Punk, Chromeo, Evvol, Sacre, OYLS, Tiger M...
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National Acts
Rick Braun and Peter White
When Rick Braun and Peter White take the stage at the Sweetwater Pavilion next weekend, Fort Wayne audiences will be able to see firsthand why each pe...
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National Acts
Modest Mouse
In recent years, the Foellinger has grown more ambitious in its summer programming: booking ever larger rock acts of the sort that never would have pl...
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National Acts
Jim Gaffigan
In 2017, Jim Gaffigan’s wife, Jeannie, underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor and Gaffigan was forced to contemplate a worst-case scenario...
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National Acts
Marty Stuart and Lee Ann Womack
There’s no musical genre in which tradition plays a bigger role than country music, and the latest projects from both Marty Stuart and Lee Ann Womac...
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National Acts
Anderson East
At present, R&B singer Anderson East may be more well known for his personal life than for his music.
East dated country singer Miranda Lambert for t...
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National Acts
Dokken
Being a 13-year-old guitar player in 1986 meant that a good portion of my free time was spent plowing through stacks of cassettes and Guitar World mag...
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Local Musicians
F---ing Panthers
With a name like F---ing Panthers (blame them for the censorship), you can mostly guess what you’re in for: fast punk rock where the shows are overf...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
“They’re living it up at the Hotel California.” No, it’s not Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and company, but it is nearly as good and a lo...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
Fort Wayne tends not to be among Bruce Springsteen’s stops when he’s touring across the United States, leaving fans to travel to Chicago, Detroit,...
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National Acts
Alice Cooper
When you head to see Alice Cooper at the Foellinger on September 1, by all means go to hear the numerous hits and to see the iconic performer who has ...
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National Acts
Flatfoot 56
It’s a unique band name with a unique sound.
Flatfoot 56 is coming to Fort Wayne as part of this summer’s Botanical Roots series at the Botanical...
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CD Reviews
Slug Love
Right off the bat, the new album by Fort Wayne garage punk band Slug Love is hard-hitting and chunky and chugs along at a higher BPM. The first track ...
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Local Musicians
Jordan Plohr
Jordan Plohr wouldn’t exactly describe himself as a “born performer,” but he has been one for almost as long as he can remember. His first role ...
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National Acts
The Guess Who
The title of The Guess Who’s new album, set to drop next month, says it all: The Future Is What It Used to Be
Meaning, this fivesome out of Winnipe...
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National Acts
Blackberry Smoke
Part Lynyrd Skynryd and part The Black Crowes, with a nod to ZZ Top and Waylon Jennings, Blackberry Smoke have quietly put together five solid albums ...
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Out & About
Out and About
Two-EE’s Winery in Huntington has become the go-to destination for delicious wine, socializing with friends, and live music now and again. Those of ...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
There are bands that are good in the studio and there are bands that you have to see live. Night Ranger are both. For more than thirty-five years, Nig...
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National Acts
whatzup Pick
Country singer-songwriter Cole Swindell began his career as many Nashville hopefuls do – by writing songs for other people. Under contract with Sony...
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CD Reviews
Standards of Living
When you grow up in a small town but catch glimpses of what could be from your bedroom window, what does an angsty kid do about it? Some buy a guitar ...
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National Acts
Indika
When the members of Indika get together, it’s a true melting pot of talent.
The band leader and bass player, Courtney Panton, is from Jamaica. Lead ...
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National Acts
Average White Band
Blue-eyed soul – the music genre of rhythm and blues with a dose of funk – has been popularized by white groups since the 1960s. From The Righteou...
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Local Musicians
elle/the Remnant
Hicksville, Ohio, seems an unlikely place for a pair of musicians to have formed a bond, or for that matter, a band.
But that’s where Hilary Armstro...
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Local Musicians
Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound
When Paul Cebar first started making music more than three decades ago, he took his cues from dance bands in New Orleans and Memphis.
“I learned to...
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National Acts
The Flaming Lips
In 2016, Fort Wayne crossed a threshold from “almost cool” to “indisputably cool” when it was announced that The Flaming Lips would perform at...
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Local Musicians
Fort Wayne Area Community Band
How many of us took up a musical instrument in school, invested hours of time in practice, and set it all aside for more adult-oriented activities?
F...
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CD Reviews
elle/the Remnant
When local band elle/the Remnant released Skies I’ve Learned How to Love in January 2018, it must have seemed like a long time coming.
In 2014, the ...
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National Acts
Gangstagrass
If you’ve watched an episode of the Fox drama, Justified, then you’ve heard the unique mash-up of hip hop and bluegrass that is Gangstagrass. The ...
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National Acts
Jonny Lang
Jon Gordon Langseth Jr., alias Jonny Lang, was discovered in the late 1990s as part of a wave of blues guitar prodigies.
In the late 1990s, we loved ...
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Local Musicians
Streetlamps for Spotlights
Fort Wayne has plenty of guys and gals that work behind the scenes to help make the community the thriving, creative space it has become. One of those...
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National Acts
Marshall Tucker Band
Southern rock’s family tree can be traced to the late 1960s and early ’70s with three principal, indisputable roots: The Allman Brothers Band, Lyn...
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National Acts
Herman's Hermits
Of all the UK-based bands that invaded the U.S. in the mid-1960s – think the Kinks, the Animals, and, of course, the Beatles – Herman’s Hermits ...
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National Acts
Kansas
With the exception of a four-year break in the early 1980s, the voice of Kansas — not to mention their iconic hits “Carry On Wayward Son” and ...
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Local Musicians
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Fundraisers have become a common occurrence with many organizations hosting special events to bring in vital money to keep them afloat. But often, the...
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National Acts
Jay Leno
Jay Leno said he hasn’t touched a dime of his Tonight Show earnings.
That’s a lot of dimes.
Leno earned between $20 million and $30 million a ye...
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National Acts
Black Label Society
A phrase repeats several times in the FAQ section of the Black Label Society website. The phrase is simple, direct, and perhaps a little on the scoldi...
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National Acts
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler have gone through three distinct phases since the band formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987: underground jam band, international ro...
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National Acts
Ted Nugent
Political activist. NRA proponent. Hunter. Business entrepreneur. Former reality TV show star. Whatever label you give him, when Ted Nugent speaks, he...
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National Acts
America
No one would deny that the Beatles are at the top of producer George Martin’s legacy. But there was another band which has lasted almost 50 years w...
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Local Musicians
Sad Gravity
With just a year under their belts, local poppy-garage band Sad Gravity have established themselves, at the very least, as a band that can open up fo...
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National Acts
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
In April, George Clinton, aka "the Prime Minister of Funk" and "Dr. Funkenstein," announced that he would be retiring after the current tour.
"This ...
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National Acts
Grand Funk Railroad
One of America's most beloved classic rock bands is about to turn 50, but hey, AARP, hold the membership cards. Grand Funk Railroad, who'll take the ...
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National Acts
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
For the love of all that is holy, when will Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
Of course for many, Pat Bena...
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Local Musicians
Gin Blossoms
It was 1992. Grunge was king, having dethroned hair metal as America's favorite type of rock with a new attitude, new look, and new sound. With every...
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National Acts
Gin Blossoms
It was 1992. Grunge was king, having dethroned hair metal as America's favorite type of rock with a new attitude, new look, and new sound. With every...
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National Acts
Arrival from Sweden
The story goes something like this: one night in 1995, Victoria Norback went to see an ABBA tribute band in her native Sweden. The group was terrible...
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Local Musicians
Jen Fisher & The Foggy Creek Band
During her many years with the popular Fort Wayne band Sugar Shot, Jen Fisher had nursed a seed of inspiration in her head. While happy to continue w...
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National Acts
The Wailers
As the son of Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Wailers multi-instrumentalist Aston Barrett Jr. is part of a musical lineage that goes directly back to Bob...
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Local Musicians
Willie Nelson
The title of Willie Nelson's newest album - his 12th in 10 years - says a lot even if it doesn't say it all. Last Man Standing is a musical ruminatio...
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National Acts
Willie Nelson
The title of Willie Nelson's newest album - his 12th in 10 years - says a lot even if it doesn't say it all. Last Man Standing is a musical ruminatio...
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Local Musicians
Agen Family Trio
Growing up in a small village in Wisconsin, Kristine Agen had no idea that there could be such a thing as a singer-songwriter, which is ironic since ...
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National Acts
Al Di Meola
Like Mozart, New Jersey-born guitarist Al Di Meola has sometimes been criticized for playing too many notes. The criticism is actually a compliment i...
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Local Musicians
Little River Band
On recordings, on the radio and on stage, Little River Band are known for feel-good hits like "Reminiscing" and "Help Is On Its Way."
Behind the sc...
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National Acts
Fitz & The Tantrums
We live in strange times.
Many once-ubiquitous pop acts that had their heydays prior to the year 2000 have trouble getting record deals while young...
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National Acts
Asleep at the Wheel
If you want a robust career in the entertainment business, it helps to be in the right place at the right time.
Of course, there is no way to accura...
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CD Reviews
Third Frame
Grown, the sixth studio album from hip-hop duo Third Frame, is a wild mix of styles, beats and words, thanks in large part to the broad crew of guest...
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National Acts
Guitar Army
Guitar Army are the supergroup's supergroup. The guitarists that form the band's core - John Jorgenson, Lee Roy Parnell and Joe Robinson - aren't onl...
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Local Musicians
Guitar Army
Guitar Army are the supergroup's supergroup. The guitarists that form the band's core - John Jorgenson, Lee Roy Parnell and Joe Robinson - aren't onl...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Grown, the sixth studio album from hip-hop duo Third Frame, is a wild mix of styles, beats and words, thanks in large part to the broad crew of guest...
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National Acts
War
Depending on your age, you first heard the music of War:
(a) Sampled on tracks by The Beastie Boys or The Offspring;
(b) in the movies Boogie Night...
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National Acts
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Last year was a difficult one for guitarist and songwriter Derek Trucks. Not only did he lose his uncle, Butch Trucks, to suicide, but Gregg Allman, ...
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National Acts
Ghost
The message from the clergy has been received and their orders have been executed. There is new blood leading Ghost once again.
In a recent turn of...
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Local Musicians
Eye-C
Going by the monikers That Guy and DJ Fathouse, local space pop act EyE-C create a hip-hop act that's not afraid to release albums with close to 20 s...
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Local Musicians
Web Exclusive
The thing that brought Utopia back together ultimately wasn't a burying of hatchets.
It was a surfeit of significant suitors.
Touring as a band is ...
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Out & About
Out and About
I don’t know too many folks that wouldn’t love to be able to play guitar. After all, it’s probably one of the most effective methods of staying ...
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National Acts
Anthrax
"Playing a show has always been Christmas and birthday and Halloween and everything all wrapped up into one. Every time I get to play a show, that's w...
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CD Reviews
The Sweetwater All Stars
I don't know the cumulative years of studio experience among the lineup of the Sweetwater All Stars, but I'm guessing it's in the centuries. These mu...
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Local Musicians
Christiana Danielle
When NBC's The Voice first aired in 2011, it seemed an obvious attempt to capitalize on the enormous popularity of American Idol for almost a decade b...
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Local Musicians
Sweetwater Drum Circle
Every month, Sweetwater invites members of the community to come together to relieve stress and make new friends through the therapeutic power of per...
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CD Reviews
Girl Colors
There I was, trying to find someone on Craigslist willing to lower their standards enough to play music with me, when I clicked on a link to a local m...
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Local Musicians
FM90
In the last year or two, several cover bands have appeared with a focus on the music of the 1990s.
That wasn't the case 10 years ago when FM90 firs...
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Local Musicians
Marcus King Band
Marcus King is the first to admit he's an introvert. That label doesn't bother him at all. In fact, he embraces it. He's a lot more conflicted, thoug...
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National Acts
Marcus King Band
Marcus King is the first to admit he's an introvert. That label doesn't bother him at all. In fact, he embraces it. He's a lot more conflicted, thoug...
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Out & About
City on the Move
After Mayor Tom Henry and City Councilmen Glynn Hines and Tom Freistroffer proposed the creation of a Public Art Program and Public Art Commission ear...
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Local Musicians
Steve Martin & Martin Short
There are evenings you'll never forget and then there's the night when Steve Martin and Martin Short take over the Embassy Theatre stage, along with ...
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National Acts
Stone Sour
Over two million albums sold, three Grammy nominations collected, a couple of chart-topping singles certified and roughly two decades as a band in th...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
If you like what lead singer Pat Martin describes as "hardcore in your face" metal, you will love this four piece, as-hard-as-your-ears-can-stand met...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Ska is dead.
"That's the buzz," says Justin Maloney, guitarist for Fort Wayne's leading ska outfit known as Heavy Step. Who knew that ska - a sli...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There I was, trying to find someone on Craigslist willing to lower their standards enough to play music with me, when I clicked on a link to a local ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Some bands are born from a group of friends who are looking to play together in some configuration. Others are formed when someone has an idea, a con...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I don’t know the cumulative years of studio experience among the lineup of the Sweetwater All Stars, but I’m guessing it’s in the centuries. Th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Tear a page out of a 1985 yearbook, polish up your vocoder and get pumped with the electro-funk of Love Hustler’s new EP, Take the Stares. The four...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne has had its share of punk bands come, go and remain. Flamingo Nosebleed, for instance, are still kicking and getting even stronger as they...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It’s often said that musicians spend their whole lives working on their debut albums. As a result, first records frequently set a high standard for...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Although Star 69 are a relatively new band, the five men who comprise the group are all veterans of the regional music scene. In fact, the two foundi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
As I’m typing this review, Jared Andrews is probably finishing up yet another musical project. He’s just that kind of musician. No rest for the w...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
March On, Comrade began as a completely different band called Ordinary Van. But when singer and main songwriter Paul Bates quit to move to California...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It’s not unusual for a band to change its name. It happens a lot for a variety of reasons. A name change is often part of the normal series transit...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
A popular oldies band for three decades, Spike and the Bulldogs were a familiar attraction at local festivals around the area for decades, offering t...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Members of Continue the Story, with a new talent on bass, have broken off and churned out a six-song EP that's a perfect fit for the time of year whe...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne is no stranger to punk or alternative bands rising from apparent nothingness. Something about the Midwestern camaraderie brings people tog...
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National Acts
Colt Ford
There are more paths to country stardom than roads that lead to Rome. For singer-songwriter Colt Ford, his journey began when he was a toddler, tradi...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
“It started with a kiss,” sang Aerosmith, Hot Chocolate and The Killers in various songs. Sometimes it starts with a kiss and sometimes it star...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Three Cities take having a good time seriously. It shows in their live shows, their videos, and it shows in their recorded output. Fort Wayne’s Thr...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When it comes to weddings and receptions, one almost universal requirement is music. There are a myriad of options for both, but one local group has ...
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National Acts
Victor Wooten Trio
When you ring up Victor Wooten expecting one thing, you may come away with another.
Wooten is widely acknowledged as one of the finest bassists in ...
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National Acts
Black Violin
To hear the violin/viola duo Black Violin saw their way through a Bach Brandenburg Concerto is to have one's preconceived notions about classical mus...
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National Acts
Acrobats of China
Anyone who has been to the circus knows what it feels like to clench your fists and hold your breath when the acrobats walk the tightrope or fly acro...
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Local Musicians
Addison Agen
On October 2, Fort Wayne's Addison Agen wowed the world (and two judges) with her rendition of Ray LaMontagne's "Jolene" on NBC's singing competition...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Everyone should have a chance to learn an instrument, right? But with school budget cuts often targeting arts programs, it’s not as easy as it used...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Good old-fashioned rock ‘n roll is hard to come by in the local music scene sometimes. It’s usually being deluged with a variety of sounds like p...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Youth can afford a level of optimism that sometimes age and experience sadly don’t allow. There’s an abandon and sheer will that accompanies us w...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When you first hear Belle & The Strange, you hear a lot coming at you. You hear the alt-country tinge of singer Lyndsy Porter’s voice, the beefy gu...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Fort Wayne’s Horizon Arcs seem to be tapping into the alternative 90s on their debut record, Anybody Listening. Within the tracks on this CD is a m...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Omaha, Alaska dropped their debut self-titled LP a mere nine months ago. It was a pop-inflected, singer/songwriter confessional affair about endings ...
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Local Musicians
Rain Kings
Many musicians will tell you that choosing a band name is hard. Among them would be Jerry Albright, singer and leader of Rain Kings. So did they choo...
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National Acts
Gordon Lightfoot
Growing up in the 60s meant a lot of different things for different people. For me, with a father who was a college student, it was a fairly entertai...
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National Acts
Barenaked Ladies
Unlike many bands, Barenaked Ladies actually relishes the moments in concert when things don't go exactly as planned, according to guitarist and lead...
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Local Musicians
Ryan Kerr
Not often do you find yourself standing in front of someone who you can instantly feel would a be good person to know, a "one piece of advice from th...
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National Acts
Brian Howe
British rocker Brian Howe always knew what he wanted to be.
"According to my parents, I was telling people I was going to be a singer from the age o...
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Local Musicians
Night to Remember
For Jon Durnell, music as a vocation came later than it does for some. Focusing on athletics as a kid and playing baseball in college, he knew a spor...
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National Acts
The Music of TRF
While the music lineup has always been an important and highly anticipated feature of the Three Rivers Festival, in the last several years it has als...
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National Acts
Blue Oyster Cult
In what is arguably one of the top 10 skits in Saturday Night Live history, actor Christopher Walken plays a fictional music producer giving advice t...
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National Acts
Tinsley Ellis
Tinsley Ellis' career as a bluesman started in a hotel lobby. A fan of British invasion acts like the Beatles, Cream, the Rolling Stones and the Yard...
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National Acts
The Lettermen
When he was just a young boy, Tony Butala moved from his home in Sharon, Pennsylvania to California, primarily to pursue a career in performing. Now,...
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National Acts
Musicians of GearFest
Terry Bozzio, one of the world's premier rock drummers, first learned about the power of music from an instrument that isn't usually the instigator o...
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National Acts
Musicians of GearFest
It is not uncommon for famous musicians to try to dissuade their kids from getting into the family business.
Frank Zappa went in the other directio...
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National Acts
The Spinners
Although originally from Detroit, there are few groups which better define the Philly soul sound than The Spinners. But it seems almost incredible no...
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Local Musicians
Leones
Two years ago Ozzy Albor and Eric Bernal formed the Fort Wayne-based alternative band Leones. After Bernal messaged Albor and arranged to set up a ja...
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National Acts
Joe Walsh
Most music aficionados who do not play an instrument know Joe Walsh by his nickname, "the clown prince of rock."
They also know him for such funny, ...
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National Acts
Chicago
Before dawn every day, Chicago trumpeter Phil Cohran woke his numerous sons and made them practice their brass instruments.
Eight of those boys grew...
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National Acts
The Accidentals
Watching The Accidentals perform is like hitching a ride on a rocket. Savannah Buist and Katie Larson, along with their drummer Michael Dause, ...
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National Acts
Alexander Wren
How's this for a challenge? We dare you - double, triple, and quadruple dog - to open up the "about" section of singer-songwriter Alexander Wren's we...
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Local Musicians
A C2G Christmas
It is that time of year again, a time of giving and receiving, a time of year that brings with it all kinds of traditions, such as trimming the tree,...
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Local Musicians
Celtic Women
Before Mairead Carlin was a member of Celtic Woman, she was one of the group's biggest fans. The young singer from Derry in northern Ireland admired ...
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National Acts
Tedeschi Trucks Band
If you want to quickly understand why Derek Trucks is widely considered to be one of the best blues guitarists in the world, seek out a YouTube video...
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National Acts
The Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls have been celebrating three decades of existence in 2016 and more besides.
Lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik got sober and...
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National Acts
I Love the 90s Tour
The 1990s were a simpler time.
In those days, people had not yet given up their search for Carmen Sandiego. The success of Madonna's sex book prove...
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National Acts
Rusted Roots
Many know Rusted Root for their trippy joyful mid-90s anthem "Send Me on My Way" off their Platinum-selling When I Woke. What just might come as a su...
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Out & About
Out and About
If you've never attended a chili cook-off competition, you may not know that there are so many different ways to make chili. At a chili cook-off you'...
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National Acts
Steve Vai
As one of the most skilled musicians to emerge from the 1980s - and having been named one of the top ten guitarists by Guitar World magazine - Steve ...
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National Acts
Here Come The Mummies
These days it seems everyone and his undead brother is eager to talk about the upcoming zombie apocalypse - the benefits of canned versus fresh food,...
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National Acts
Johnny Mathis
It's been a year for celebrating milestones for Johnny Mathis. Shortly after turning 80 last fall, Mathis began preparing for an even more remarkable...
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National Acts
Gallagher
Gallagher has had a rough few years: professed insolvency, multiple heart attacks and bad press for some of his jokes.
He has vowed to quit touring...
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National Acts
Get the Led Out
Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who can recall a certain fateful night in January 1970 when Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jo...
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National Acts
Ben Folds
Ben Folds has the appearance of someone you might find spilling off your couch the morning after a rough night. Mussed hair, beard stumbling across h...
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National Acts
The Sweet Water Warblers
What began as a request from a friend and a mutual admiration society is now a bona fide supergroup. Made up of three of the area's most sought after ...
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National Acts
Such a Night
In 2012, Fort Wayne-native and longtime Indianapolis-based musician Bill Mallers sat backstage with some band and stage mates after a show and contem...
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Local Musicians
Kathleen Madigan
The way Kathleen Madigan's stand-up career started sounds like a joke - "One young woman from Missouri walks into a bar ..." - but for the now 50-yea...
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National Acts
George Thorogood
They're staples on rock radio. They're "B-b-b-bad." They're from Delaware. And they've been rocking stages across the country and around the world fo...
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National Acts
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash founding guitarist Andy Powell feels a bit like a blues man most days. That's because rock n' roll as he and his mates knew it back in t...
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National Acts
Miranda Sings
In 2009, a YouTuber calling herself Miranda uploaded a video called "Free Voice Lesson."
In it, a heavily-made up woman in a shabby-looking room sta...
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Local Musicians
An Evening With Doc West
For 37 years, Rick "Doc" West has skillfully welcomed and introduced hundreds of rock bands to dozens of venues around Fort Wayne. As the voice - the...
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National Acts
Charlie Daniel's Band
Charlie Daniels first went on tour around 1971 and he may still be on the very same tour.
That's hyperbole, but the man has always worked hard.
He...
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National Acts
Zion Lion
Regardless of what anyone says, summer isn't over until after Labor Day weekend. The kids may be long back in school and store aisles may be crammed ...
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National Acts
John Primer
Plugged in, raw and immediate, Chicago blues carries on a musical tradition that, arguably more than any other regional blues scene, continues to sta...
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National Acts
Chicago
It was a long time coming, but in April Chicago were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Eligible since 1994, the popular and iconic band had...
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National Acts
Gangstagrass
When you think of bluegrass music, "Brooklyn" and "rap" don't immediately spring to mind. But the more you think about what drives the venerable acou...
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National Acts
Happy Together Tour
When the Happy Together show hit the Foellinger Theatre last summer, it may have been the greatest gathering of hit-making talent to ever take one st...
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National Acts
America
When the British band America debuted stateside in 1972 with the hit single, "A Horse with No Name," a lot of people thought they sounded uncannily (...
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National Acts
Staying Alive
It is not known how many tribute acts there are in the universe, but it is probably safe to say that there is no pressing need in the cosmos for any ...
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National Acts
Roots Rock Society
It's turning out to be a good summer for Stann Champion. On July 1, the Chicago-based musician took home a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th Chi...
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National Acts
Saliva
Sometimes when you're a chart-topping hard rock band, you have to be prepared for your frontman to leave to join the Christian music community. At le...
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National Acts
The Stranger
It seemed like a simple suggestion at the time. Mike Santoro's wife suggested that, since he could play and sing Billy Joel's tunes, he should start ...
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Local Musicians
Big Caddy Daddy
They may not be full-time professional musicians by trade, but you can't tell that judging from their performances. Big Caddy Daddy are a five-piece ...
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National Acts
Peter Frampton
In 1977, three pop stars vied for space on the covers of teen magazines like Tiger Beat and Teen magazine: Leif Garrett, Shawn Cassidy and Peter Fram...
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National Acts
Paul Cebar
Paul Cebar is the kind of artist who's hard to pin down. Is his music R&B laced with blues and jazz? Or does it fall under that large and enticing la...
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National Acts
C.J. Chenier
Many followers of the New Orleans music scene will recognize CJ Chenier's surname immediately. That's because he's the son of Zydeco godfather and le...
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National Acts
Little River Band
Although the Little River Band are still considered an Australian group, understandable since the group was originally formed in Melbourne, the curre...
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National Acts
Rick Wilson
The artist Rick Wilson lives and works in Edinburgh, Indiana, a small town whose central location between Indianapolis and Columbus was ideal for Wil...
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National Acts
Sounds of Touch
The Miracles. The Supremes. The Marvelettes. The Four Tops. The Contours. The Jackson 5. Stevie Wonder. Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Temptations. ...
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National Acts
Jackyl
The hardest working band in rock 'n roll is coming to Brandt's Harley Davidson in Marion for a free concert July 16.
Fans will know immediately who...
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National Acts
The Osmond Brothers
It's something that millions of people can easily and truthfully say. But only if you get to interview an actual Osmond Brother can the words be open...
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National Acts
Weird Al Yankovic
It all began with an accordion.
There aren't many tales of the rich and famous that begin that way. But in the case of Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yan...
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National Acts
Travis Tritt
The details of Travis Tritt's love life read like something straight out of your favorite country song. First, and almost predictably, he marries hi...
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National Acts
Moonshine Bandits
Music that combines country and hip-hop calls to mind that old Reese's commercial where a guy walking down the sidewalk eating a candy bar collided w...
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National Acts
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
Popular local drummer and drumming instructor Todd Harrold said his young students care about exactly two bands that had their heydays in the 1960s a...
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National Acts
Brian Posehn
Brian Posehn - actor, stand-up comedian, writer, recovering Star Wars fan - is a funnyman who's made a career out of being bitter. That might not see...
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National Acts
Styx
When one of the biggest rock bands in history comes to you and asks you to be its new lead vocalist, you say, "Yes."
Without hesitation.
That's the...
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National Acts
The Monkees
I was four years old when The Monkees debuted on network television. I'm pretty sure I wasn't watching that night, but it quickly it made its presen...
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National Acts
Embassy Theatre
The Embassy Theatre is one of Fort Wayne's most beloved and historic treasures. The story of its once-certain demise, it's salvation from the wreckin...
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National Acts
Jason Isbell
These days, it's good to be Jason Isbell.
A talented songwriter blessed with guitar-playing skills to match, the Alabama-born Isbell belts out count...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Rock the Plaza has become one of the most popular events every summer, with a weekly slate of top-notch musical talent taking the stage on the Allen ...
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Local Musicians
Steve Forbert
It takes a special sort of young man to move from Meridian, Mississippi to New York City with little to his name beyond the guitar and harmonica that...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Sweetwater Sound has played a pivotal role in making the Fort Wayne music scene one of the best in the country. Many local and regional musicians hav...
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National Acts
Web Exclusive
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN
If you lived in a progressive town or city in the late '80s, the so-called New Folk Movement had a lot in common with t...
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National Acts
Toronzo Cannon
Toronzo Cannon sounds like the name of some kind of space weapon. It isn't.
Toronzo Cannon is the name of a powerful force, however.
In this case...
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National Acts
Mersey Beatles
For Steven Howard, the Beatles are as relevant today as they were nearly 40 years ago when he learned to love them as a lad growing up in Liverpool. ...
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National Acts
Jersey Boys
Is there life after Jersey Boys? Chris Kale Jones, Michael Cunio, Shonn Wiley and Michael Ingersoll certainly hoped so when their time in the show's ...
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Local Musicians
Curtain Call
It's interesting to note that Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, one of the greatest and most successful songwriting pairs in recent Hollywood h...
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National Acts
Vince Gill
When country music legend Vince Gill was first starting out, his ambitions were fixated on musicianship, not stardom.
"As a young musician, I don't...
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National Acts
The continued popularity of classic pop and rock songs from the 1960s, 70s and 80s can't be simply explained away as mere nostalgia.
It's true that...
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Local Musicians
Hailshot
Metal has been declared dead many times over by various outlets, but a die-hard trio of musicians in a small town in Kosciusko County are proof that ...
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National Acts
Foellinger Summer Concert Series
Two queens, a boy wizard, and an old guy in red socks. Sort of sounds like an odd poker hand. But really it's just one way to describe a small part o...
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National Acts
Art of Anarchy
Anarchy is a good word for it. The history of Art of Anarchy has been turbulent, to say the least, and in the six years that the band has been togeth...
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Local Musicians
Jared Andrews
You may have seen Jared Andrews in a number of places around Fort Wayne. Maybe he took your cover at The Brass Rail. Or perhaps you saw him behind-th...
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Local Musicians
Big Dick & the Penetrators
They're a self-described biker band with a funny name, a name that's known not just by the local following they've built up over the last four years,...
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Local Musicians
BackWater
What do gospel music, high school drummers and a plane crash have in common? BackWater somehow bring all these seemingly isolated oddities together i...
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Local Musicians
Biff & the Cruisers
Introducing 'Biff and The Cruisers' from Fort Wayne, IN. Band members are Rob Pierce on lead guitar and vocals, Dan Ertel on bass guitar and vocals, ...
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Local Musicians
Adam Strack
Solo acoustic guitarist and singer Adam Strack has become a fixture of the local music scene in recent years. A native of Fort Wayne, the musician has...
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Local Musicians
Dan Dickerson
If you've ever seen the " C OOL Bus" with the gnarly paint job on the streets of Fort Wayne and wondered about the story behind it, wonder no more. I...
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National Acts
Andy Kindler
For two decades and counting, Andy Kindler has regularly done one of the scariest and gutsiest things a comedian can do: He delivers an annual State ...
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National Acts
Jerry Seinfeld
After his groundbreaking sitcom ended on a high note, Jerry Seinfeld kept a low profile for a few years.
"I wasn't doing anything," he told the Holl...
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Local Musicians
Love Hustler
There is much that is atypical about Love Hustler.
For one thing, the band practiced and tinkered for more than 10 years before performing its first...
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Local Musicians
Dan Dickerson
To me, the harp seems like a chick instrument. Feminine. You know, sylphs draped in green dresses, flowers in their hair, plucking away, the whole et...
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National Acts
Larry McCray
Guitarist Larry McCray has always said a lot with his blend of blues and rock. But in recent years, thanks to a health scare and the wisdom gained fr...
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Local Musicians
Jon Durnell
The term "working musician" was created to describe guys like Jon Durnell. Having played over 175 shows last year with several different bands and wo...
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National Acts
Anoushka Shankar
Sitar player Anoushka Shankar has spent her life immersed in three cultures. Born in England, she spent her childhood shuttling between London and De...
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National Acts
Marcus King Band
Ask guitarist Marcus King about where he got his love of music and you will hear a story that sounds like it came out of an anthology of Southern lit...
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National Acts
FBC Band
There's plenty of respect for the art community in Fort Wayne now, and plenty of attention to the number of talented musicians who call this city hom...
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National Acts
Texas Tenors
Don't let the black cowboy hats fool you. The Texas Tenors aren't your typical horse-ridin', calf-ropin', tobaccy-chawin' type of cowpoke. Far from i...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When Charles “Chase” Keen and Brett Welch first crossed paths years ago, they couldn’t have had any inkling that down the road they’d be in a...
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National Acts
Pink Martini
When Thomas Lauderdale's parents got divorced in the early 80s, he and his mother moved from Kosciusko County to Fort Wayne.
Lauderdale said his mom...
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National Acts
Gabriel Iglesias
Call him "Fluffy."
Comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias has carved out quite a career for himself telling stories about the people in his life and the...
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Local Musicians
Shade
Ian Skeans and Kiah Gerig are the two members of Shade, a local "grumble rock" band who you can find playing frequently at the Brass Rail, Skeletunes...
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CD Reviews
Joey O Band
In the liner notes for Auburn Sunset, Joey Ortega thanks vocalist Kirk Johnson for convincing him to record the album, but aside from the inspiration...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
In the liner notes for Auburn Sunset, Joey Ortega thanks vocalist Kirk Johnson for convincing him to record the album, but aside from the inspiration...
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Local Musicians
Oferle
As band names go, Oferle is a great one. It evokes the word "offer" but with an enigmatic twist suggesting, perhaps, an offer with unspecified string...
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CD Reviews
Fort Wayne Funk Orchestra
If you want to celebrate some achievement in your life or curse some setback in Irish wake fashion, your best bet would be to get a bunch of friends ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you want to celebrate some achievement in your life or curse some setback in Irish wake fashion, your best bet would be to get a bunch of friends ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Now in their tenth year, Flat Tire Ambulance have been bringing their brand of straight-ahead riff-heavy rock to the Summit City from their hometown ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne, Marion and Lafayette. These are the three cities that comprise Three Cities, a quartet of musicians and friends from different parts of I...
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CD Reviews
Slow Dakota
When I listen to Slow Dakota's The Ascension of Slow Dakota, I imagine some room hidden off in an endless, storied estate. It's a room with hints of ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When I listen to Slow Dakota’s The Ascension of Slow Dakota, I imagine some room hidden off in an endless, storied estate. It’s a room with hints...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The multi-instrumental force of nature known as J. Hubner has been at the music-making game for nearly 15 years now. Goodbyewave’s beautiful indie ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Lovers of traditional Irish music will likely have already discovered Soltré, the four-piece band based in Northern Indiana. For lovers of tradition...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Shelly Dixon’s musical idols are Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks, among many others. “Definitely, I am covetous and envious of...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Sometimes it can take a while to find the exact combination needed to make a great band. Case in point: Void Reunion. Although singer/guitarist Ge...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
None of the five members of the Be Colony is older than 24, and yet they are all talented and creatively confident beyond their years. For confirmati...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Not long ago the most effective way to find musicians with whom to play was to post a piece of scrap paper to a public bulletin board. In the new mil...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
“Contrary to public opinion, you really can have a prog band without a Mellotronm,” said mega-drummer and Sweetwater instructor Nick D’Virgilio...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The idea came to her in the wee hours of the morning. At 6:30 a.m. one day, Jachell Tolbert awoke from her sleep and knew what the name of her band w...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Soulful, funky, in your face. That’s part of JD3’s appeal (they’re also known as The Jondo Trio). There are also definite threads of Southern...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
D Ferren is the quintessential singer/songwriter. He makes gritty tunes that aren’t quite country, aren’t quite folk, but are very much rock n’...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
A clever song title like “The Good in Goodbye” can be taken in a couple of different directions. One way would be to turn the phrase into a kiss-...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
I had barely settled into my chair on the patio of the Venice Restaurant when Paul New Stewart asked me if I had heard of a comedian from the 1950s n...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When you hear about a band called Microwave Miracles what comes to mind? What is the first thing you think of? For me, words like “disposable,” ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The hip-hop and rap world may be concentrated in a few large cities, but Fort Wayne can claim its own hip hop scene, with a number of acts that don...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Chilly Addams is a familiar fixture in the Fort Wayne music scene, having played in a variety of bands and venues over the years. Always looking for...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It’s been two years since Cai Caudill wandered into Canterbury High School cradling a homemade ukulele and changed not only his life but the life o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The sounds of the space age in the intro that kicks off Secret Mezzanine’s Passing Dreams hint at a modernist ambition in the duo’s music, and th...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When Mark Magdich left the successful band Brother, he quickly began to suffer remorse. Not that he necessarily regretted his decision, but he did m...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Bob Bailey has just two rules for his outstanding band, Expanding Man. Rule No.1: no drama. Rule No. 2: no rehearsals.
For some bands, the secon...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It can take awhile for a band to hit on the right formula, the right blend of musicians, and that has certainly been true for Cadillac Ranch, a band ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Funk is in the middle of a resurgence right now, no doubt about it, but funk of the slick, uptown variety is not the kind that Shoeshine Tommy play. ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Don’t be too concerned by the title of Jon Durnell’s new album. Although the album’s songs offer plenty of clarity, there’s very little chaos...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Earlier this year, Mark Allen teased his planned release of a full-length album of original material with a three-song EP of straight-ahead classic r...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Mark Allen has modest goals for his self-released, self-titled EP: he just wants to sell the CDs he’s having produced. Despite the opportunities of...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Guitarist Patrick Brown says that when he thought about starting his own band, he had a vision of incorporating the influence of the Beatles, Led Zep...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The metallurgist forging the sword on the cover to Zephaniah’s second album, Reforged, alludes to the brute force waiting to be unleashed from with...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It is often interesting to learn the history of local bands, particularly those that feature veteran performers who have worked on the stages of Fort...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Though he’s still active in the local music scene both as a solo artist and as bandleader of The Orange Opera, the evergreen Kevin Hambrick has cut...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
With the breadth of musical talent in this city, it isn’t surprising that some of the bands in town have a lot of overlap, with players turning up...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
They have songs about doing the limbo and chicken chimichangas. They’ve got a mobile app. They’ve got a series of TV spots that are poised for ai...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
As much fun as being in a band with your friends is, sometimes you have to make that tough choice to walk away. Whether it’s career, family, lack o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Ryan Kerr makes music that seems to constantly evolve as it’s being played. It moves and slinks effortlessly like the best kind of narrative. Ker...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When Gregg Bender, longtime Journal Gazette illustrator and frontman of his eponymous band, was a teenager growing up in Berne, he and his friend Joh...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The collaboration between rock n’ roll and the symphonic world has been a sort of rite of passage for years. Going back to the late 60s with bands ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Hold your noses ’cause the boys from Columbia City are back with yet another aromatic love offering. That’s right, Catbox are back with another 1...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Roughly a year after the Legendary Trainhoppers performed their last gig, the band’s bassist, Damian Miller, got into trouble with the law. He and ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When 20-year-old singer/songwriter Hannah Beck won the top prize at this summer’s Sonshine Festival tournament, a nationally recognized Christian m...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Mikki White may be known more for her singing than her acting, but she likes a challenge. Fort Wayne audiences have the opportunity to see her challe...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne is loaded with talent, and many folks toil for years without ever getting the attention they deserve. But Chris Worth has put the struggli...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Being a musician boils down to two basic skills: knowing what to play and knowing when to play it. Implicit in the first, of course, is knowing how t...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Kerosec, a four-piece outfit fronted by namesake Tom Kerosec, claim influences like Tool, Deftones, NIN, Radiohead and other 90s lovelies, and you ca...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The Frye Family Band’s bio is something of a suspense story. It kicks off by mentioning that patriarch Tom Frye got a call one day expressing inter...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Things happen fast in rock n’ roll. One minute you’re throwing a band together to help out a friend, and the next you’re opening for a legendar...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Everyone handles grief in their own way. When Joey O lost his younger Start Me Up bandmate Scott Starr last November, he decided to honor him with th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Left Lane Cruiser have been making solidly dirty, crunchy two-man blues for 10 years now. Each time out they upped the ante a bit, adding a little mo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you think life is easy and uncomplicated, you need to listen to Ricky Kemery’s Painted Sky. The singer/songwriter’s second album is an ambitio...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
For the past 15 years, Jon Gillespie has been immersed in a project that could go on forever. A composer and ethnomusicologist by training, Gillesp...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Spencer Kane was just five years old when he recorded his first music video. Now 18, he’s making professional music videos as a pop/R&B recording a...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Jafunkae is quite the name. What is it? What’s it mean? Is it a new drink at Starbucks? Possibly some sort of fashionable scarf all the kids are we...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
If having groupies is a measure of a band’s success, then Triple Play must be doing something right. Okay, maybe the word “groupie” is a bit mi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Kill The Rabbit, or KTR (or Kill Tha Wabbit, for you Looney Toons aficionados) are a five-piece hard rock band out of Van Wert, Ohio that have put d...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Allan Craig Miller’s worldwide release of Between Saturday and Sunday is that it’s a worldwide release. M...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Forever The Fallen rose from the ashes of the short-lived but promising Contender Rising. Bassist Dan Edwards and guitarist Brandon Francis carry on ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Austin Marsh, 19, is the oldest member of the band The Union Project. The other four members are still in high school. But don’t let that fool you....
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Listening to Ordinary Van’s first, self-titled new record is both a great experience and a bittersweet one. Lead singer and main songwriter Paul Bat...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
One of the things that’s fun about the End Times Spasm Band – aside from their simple tendency to have fun, of course – is the band’s ability...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
We all know that the word “serendipity” (which happens to be the title of the first track of the new album from the Alicia Pyle Quartet) refers t...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Red Arrow don’t like to be pigeonholed in terms of the genre of music they play, so I’m not going to do so. But I’m also not going to resort to...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Located a little north of Indianapolis is Carmel. It’s a nice enough town to pass through on your way to Indy. There’s shops and things and a dec...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you blink you’ll miss it, goes the old joke about small towns. The same could be said about Ramidus, a metal band from the small(er) city of G...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
If Old and Dirty were any less dedicated, they probably would have called it quits when the once five-piece band devolved to a duo less than a year a...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
You can imagine the stories that might surround something called a Trichotomous Hippopotamus. “Archaeologists in Uganda recently unearthed the bo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If no one had come up with the genre-binding concept of Americana, we’d be hard pressed to argue that artists like Kacey Musgraves and the Decembri...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Map to the Fire is Sunny Taylor’s first full-length album of new music since 2007’s Lock the Door and Leave, and it’s only her fourth full-leng...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Owen Yonce is Bonfire John, and Bonfire John is Owen Yonce. Somewhere in between there, though, is a band that makes up the live version of Bonfire Jo...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Grey Gordon is a busy man. He’s a manager at a local tattoo shop which in and of itself is a full time job. In addition to that, he has a solo sing...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There’s a lot to be said for progressive metal. It’s not like you can record a progressive metal album over the weekend in the garage with nothin...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Given that none of the members of the band are named James, people always seem to be interested in how James and The Drifters got their name. The s...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Remember when you were young and filled with vitriol and fire? You know, those days where you grabbed the world by its lapels on a daily basis and sh...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
They’re a self-described biker band with a funny name, a name that’s known not just by the local following they’ve built up over the last four ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
So who’s Grey Gordon? Well, he’s this cat who’s covered in tattoos and wears browline glasses. He’s vegan, straight-edge, digs fashion, and h...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
And here I thought cassettes were a dead medium, but that’s what vocalist/guitarist/ukulele player Keith Owen handed to me as the review copy of Bu...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you don’t know much about country music, you might think that it’s an inhospitable place for women. With all the talk of traditional values and...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
To clarify, there is no one named James in James and the Drifters. It’s this group of five guys named Kyle, Brent, Andy, Andrew and Dan, all from F...
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When you hear the slow, heavy riffs of rock legends drifting from the C2G Music Hall, or the soft, soulful vocals of “Summertime” being crooned f...
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CD Reviews
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The first thing you notice as you listen to Streetlamps for Spotlights full-length debut, Sound and Color, is how much these guys love texture. Somet...
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I once attended a Beneath It All show where the energy was so palpable you could see it physically emanating from lead singer Derrick Jackson. It was...
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The music of the 1980s is remarkably distinctive and memorable. For those who loved it and those who derided it, it can never be forgotten. Its statu...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There’s a very compelling story that goes along with this quietly stunning record.
But let’s first shine a light on the music which springs fro...
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It may not always occur to students, busy managing their own academic demands along with family and job pressures, that those who teach them are ofte...
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What happens when you leave home to take a journey that introduces you to the art that will define you ... and then you come back? For local jazz p...
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While Doug Strahm has been making music for as long as he can remember, his recent change in tune has made him an international sensation. Some of St...
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Those who have seen Classic Automatic perform live would probably be surprised to learn that they came from quiet and humble folk origins. The band m...
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CD Reviews
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In some alternate universe singer/songwriter/writer J. Hubner is a mid-level improvisational jazz musician who lives in outer Queens and makes ends m...
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Fernando Tarango has tasted the limelight, lived around the country and even traveled around the world, but he calls Fort Wayne home. He lives in a c...
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CD Reviews
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Always a star-studded affair, the Majic Miracle Music project has been a runaway success since its first release over half a decade ago. Now comes M...
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When we last heard from Taylor Fredricks, just a few months ago actually, his band, also called Taylor Fredricks, had just released its second EP, Th...
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Having established herself with remarkable tributes to Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin, Kansas City native Kat Bowser has electrified audiences with he...
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There’s something brewing over there in otherwise sleepy Warsaw, Indiana. Something musically inventive and experimental from its core, but devoid ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Before I delved into the confrontational world of avant garde music via Captain Beefheart, John Zorn and Nurse with Wound, I would have told you that...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There’s a lot to digest when listening to the seven songs on Elements of Cosmos’ eponymous EP. Recorded at Ball State University in 2012 and rele...
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What do zombies, classical music and Metallica have in common? That’s the question String Shift’s Symphony in Z performance on Friday, October 25...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Joey O’s latest effort, 2013, is a solo album like no other. One of the most talented and accomplished musicians in the Fort Wayne area, Joey O wro...
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Kendallville. Home of the Apple Festival, East Noble High School and former NBA star Brad Miller. A city of just under 10,000 residents, Kendallville...
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You can imagine the stories that might surround something called a Trichotomous Hippopotamus. “Archaeologists in Uganda recently unearthed the bo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I had never listened to Left Lane Cruiser before reviewing this album. I certainly was aware beforehand that they have a devoted cult following in th...
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It sounds like a freak weather occurrence. “There’s a djenetic drift off the coast of Miami that’s causing strong rip tides.” Or, “Be caref...
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“You gotta win to get love. I mean, that’s just life. Look at ... look at Don Shula. Legendary coach. Look at that Asian guy who holds the world ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
After quite a few years off from recording – 2007’s Hard Pill to Swallow was his last album of originals – Bill Lupkin is back with this collec...
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X. The 24th letter of the alphabet was a significant part of the 2013 whatzup/Wooden Nickel Battle of the Bands. It is the Roman numeral for 10. Th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I remember 1998 like it was yesterday, and I remember how I enthusiastic I was back then about the future of Americana. Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheel...
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Back when she first formed the Shelly Dixon Band, Shelly Dixon found herself an instant favorite with whatzup readers, as was evident by her Whammy A...
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Anyone familiar with Kenny Taylor knows that he always has plenty to do and something new to offer to Fort Wayne music fans. A veteran of the local m...
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Every once in a while a band comes along and throws new light on old classic rock tunes. Juke Joint Jive are that band. With a setlist of songs by su...
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Your impression of Megan King might depend on where you’ve seen or heard her. If you’ve seen her play solo, you might consider her to be a folk m...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Point blank, if you’re a fan of bands like P.O.D., Korn, Papa Roach and Three Days Grace and you’re looking for a local band to get into, Downsta...
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They started out as a joke, and now they’re a multi-state touring band. White Trash Blues Revival’s music embodies an aesthetic of both lo-fi ind...
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Spike and the Bulldogs have been one of the area’s most popular and successful bands for several years. The band has won the whatzup Reader’s Pol...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When talking about the future of Fort Wayne music, the conversation has to begin with Taylor Fredricks. Not only has the band been performing in the ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Fort Wayne’s The Remony play a kind of pop/punk/indie rock music that goes well with sunny summer afternoons, brisk fall evenings and even those lo...
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In 1981, The Kinks loudly proclaimed “Give the People What They Want.” Thirty years later, JFX are a band that have taken that credo to heart, wi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
On cards and flyers promoting the debut album by Owl, the band wishes to accommodate potential listeners in any way they can by offering versions of ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
At release number three, Fort Wayne’s Elephants in Mud seem to have found a place just for them. They’ve located a strange little corner of the w...
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Five guys who love hanging out and playing music, and have been doing so for years. That’s what you get with Dr. Suess, a local covers band that ha...
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“Folky, poetic lyrics sung in a slightly jazzy voice, which is easy to listen to. Dancing is encouraged, but optional.” Such is the description o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Fort Wayne’s Miles High are a five-piece band that takes a mix of ska, hip-hop, rock and reggae and churn out a kind of party music that quite ofte...
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Taylor Fredricks has been playing music for more than half his life and has been a part of the local music scene for almost a decade already. Big dea...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
By now, we’ve heard several iterations of Warsaw, Indiana’s reigning basement indie king: the yearning Rundgren-esque pop from Goodbyewave; the s...
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The last few years have been busy for Fort Wayne guitarist and composer Phil Schurger. And the way things are going, the next few are unlikely to offe...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
An artist I’d rather not mention by name recently said that hip-hop is the only popular music genre where artists can still do things that haven’t...
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When you talk to Hope Arthur about her music, it’s clear that music isn’t just a hobby or a once-in-a-while thing; it’s her passion. And while m...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Within the first thirty seconds of Dead Lines’ opening track, “Train Hands,” Fort Wayne rock band Slow Pokes encapsulate the last 45 years of r...
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High schoolers who conjure up dreams of musical stardom are hardly a unique occurrence, nor has it been for years. Whether it be aspirations of the ...
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Here's how it used to work for songwriters: you wrote your songs, polished them up as much as possible, maybe made a simple demo tape, then saved up ...
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Black Cat Mambo are a fast-paced, three-piece, fun-loving rock/ska/reggae band that has been delivering its own brand of live groove to the Fort Wayn...
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We hear it every year. Another damn cover band won the Whammy for Performer of the Year. First, it was Freak Brothers. Then it was Plow’s turn to d...
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There’s a very good chance that if you show up at the American Legion Post 148 on a Saturday night, you’ll hear one of the regulars refer to Todd...
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In this age of information it’s pretty normal to be able to Google a band name and get a list of any number of sites that contain information and/o...
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A band that names itself after an Italian orange that drops in winter can, by virtue of its moniker, claim to be many things: bright, sweet, surprisi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It’s plenty impressive to conjure a compelling album of indie Americana from an island (metaphorically speaking; it’s Indianapolis). It’s quite...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Northern Indiana (depending upon whom you talk to) is either a booming hotbed of just-under-the-surface musical talent or a wasteland punctuated by t...
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Pronouncements of the death of the record industry have been de rigueur since the birth of MP3s and Napster-style filesharing towards the end of the ...
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TIMBER!!!Just one word of warning and three exclamation marks is the calling card for one of the Fort’s up and coming local music acts. And while th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
What if you wanted a band that could play songs by Glen Miller and The Righteous Brothers? What if you also wanted to hear the music of The Doors, Jo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The debut record from Bricktown’s Replacements- and Guided by Voices-inspired new rock band, The Final Hurrahs, is a number of things. First, the 17...
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Back in the mid-naughts there was this thing – this club, really – called The Wing Council. Members of the Fort Wayne hip-hop community would gat...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Plaxton & the Void inhabit a space in the musical spectrum where vulnerable, earnest vocals float along rusty, acoustic strums and distant echoes of ...
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The appropriately named J Taylors – husband and wife Jonathan and Janelle Taylor – are a husband-and-wife vocal duo who perform a variety of popu...
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Forged from the ashes of destruction, Fort Wayne-based prog-rock upstarts Thematic have been making waves this year as the openers for national acts ...
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He’s a piano teacher and an accomplished jazz impresario. He has his own internet radio station that he uses to connect with like-minded jazz afici...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Ten songs, 35 minutes. Fuzzy guitars, eight-track production and everyman vocals. John “J” Hubner, perhaps best known for both his writing as a m...
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Given that none of the members of the band are named James, people always seem to be interested in how James and The Drifters got their name. The s...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Set on 7 are an indie rock band from Fort Wayne comprised of brothers Jon and Dan Benson along with childhood friend John Moore. Their debut album, S...
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If you’re a fan of local country music, odds are you’ve heard of Staci Stork and Scarlett. They’ve grown a following by playing the usual region...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
You’re not likely to find any other band that sounds like The Mimi Burns Band. In fact, I dare you to try. Brave Journey seems to mix traditional I...
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The depth and breadth of musical talent in Fort Wayne has been obvious for years, and among the many bands which play not only on local stages but ac...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The Freak Brothers have been entertaining audiences and winning awards with their unique blend of old school R&B, funk, hip-hop and a touch of ska fo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
House Of Bread have worked for the better part of a year (or more) on a little slice of dream pop heaven called Hypnic Jerk. After much care, mixing,...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
In all honesty, when this album came across my desk, I honestly thought it was an oldies band. James and the Drifters – it has the ring of a band pl...
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When was the last time you heard a bluegrass-ragtime band playing souped-up versions of old gospel tunes? Never? If that sounds like your cup of tea, ...
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A lot can be said for something as simple as a singer and his guitar. Up on stage nothing other than his instrument of choice separates the musician ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When I first got to know the music of Mark Hutchins, it was his first New Pale Swimmers album that did the trick. Short, simple, messy, memorable, od...
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No need to fear the Reverend Boogieman – they’re here to rock you. The Wabash-based cover band that won this year’s Replicon Rivals contest at ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
, the new long player by Fort Wayne’s post punk heroes TIMBER!!! is an explosion of guitar squalls, powerhouse vocals and a one-two punch rhythm se...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Character is defined by how one deals with the Big Stuff: life-altering tragedies, joys and tribulations. Fort Wayne musical spigot and erstwhile Ora...
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“I want to get back up on the stage again before I get too old” said Krystal Childs, bass player and vocalist for the local band Dirty Lixx. It...
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It can be easy to look around your hometown and think you’re living in a vacuum, where culture, arts and common sense can’t find it’s way in. A...
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An early favorite in this year’s whatzup/Wooden Nickel Battle of the Bands was a band that had only been together for a short time when they made it...
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Some might think placing second in a competition makes you just the first loser. Valhalla, the progressive metal band disagree. To the members of the...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Painkillers is a whiskey-soaked, bloodied-lip, kick in the pants of an album. It’s a trip just south of Yazoo City to the crossroads for a midnight...
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CD Reviews
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Humble Wolf is the music project of singer/songwriter Jayson Angove. Along with a couple of musician cohorts, Angove entered a couple of plush studio...
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It can be rough being a singer/songwriter in the Midwest. You’ve got the chops, the songs, the desire to share what’s up in your head and down in ...
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One of the first rules of rock n' roll clearly states that he who owns the basement in which the band rehearses is the undisputed leader of the band...
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Stagecoach play an amalgam of 60s and 70s rock covers with a little bit of country thrown in for good measure. Originally formed in Bluffton in the...
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Urban Legend are into their fifth year of bringing dance music to crowds in and around The Fort. A band that can always “get the party started,” ...
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CD Reviews
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Christian Rock. The two words together bring to mind the sweet, loving melodies of a nice, mellow contemporary artist, or the butt-rock images of Str...
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His coworkers at the nursing home where he works as a maintenance manager may not even know that he’s a musician, that he’s appeared on MTV’s ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Megan King has a voice that at one minute can be dark and sultry and the next light and airy. She comes from a musical space occupied by such female ...
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When you speak about the blues in Fort Wayne, the name G-Money inevitably comes up. A fixture in the Fort music scene for more years than he cares to ...
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Just the mere mention of albums like The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Meddle and Animals brings up frenzied discussions of wh...
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“We’re really fortunate to have a lot of friends here in Fort Wayne that are in the country music scene,” says Hubie Ashcraft, one-half of the ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The first track on False Faces, Fort Wayne R&B master and certified dreamboat Ty Causey’s seventh full-length album, says it all: “Must Be Magic....
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Hidden amongst the cornfields and lakes of northeast Indiana sits a modest home. Inside this secluded home is T. Bush Recording and its owner/propriet...
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Anyone who’s seen Ty Causey work a room with his trademark tenor and sexy, Marvin Gaye-inspired style would never believe that this successful, ind...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The Gods are angry. Mankind has pulled the last straw. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have arrived into the Fort and they go by the name of Auto...
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The guys of the band ButtonHead must think they're Sofa King clever.
That's probably the reason the Summit City rock group buried the title track...
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Their name isn’t a play on the Pearl Jam song “Yellow Lead Better.” Trust me, I asked. Yellow Dead Bettys are something a bit more original tha...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
D Ferren founded the band Hipnoses and Sockmonkey in the 90s and in 2001 released his first solo album, Saint of Life and the Morning After Cavalier....
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Over the years there have been plenty of mainstream artists who have talked and written about their Christian beliefs: Lenny Kravitz, Sufjan Stevens,...
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Tradition is a tricky thing, especially when you try to become part of it. That’s what Darren “Dag” Hunt has discovered as he and his new band,...
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There was a time when in the career of a band, ‘making it’ meant some record company flunkie would come see you play in a dank, rowdy bar or open...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
They’re back and they mean business: body-blow riffs, thunderous drums, killer momentum and hooks big enough to catch marlin. Cry Like a Man is I, ...
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Michael Wayne Spoores Jr, aka Yung Swagstar, wants you to know he has arrived. On his new mixtape, Bombay & Lemonade, he’s heard loud and clear. T...
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Listening to Dag and the Bulleit Boys’ new long player, Bulleit Train, you get the feeling of dust in your hair, blood in your mouth and whiskey in...
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You just might be laboring under the misapprehension that rising star Fatima Washington doesn’t live here anymore. In fact, the young R&B singer is...
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Getting out of Fort Wayne can be tough. Especially when you’re from Ligonier. But against the odds, or perhaps because of them, Jeff Rains and his ...
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CD Reviews
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Churubusco, Indiana’s F***ing Panthers have a penchant for four-letter words, punk rock bravado and metal guitar blasts. They want you to know they...
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CD Reviews
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Hannah Bushong may be a mere 18 years old, but it’s almost as if she was born in 1918. I don’t mean to be insulting to the young lady, but rather ...
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“We are a cover band that is just about to write songs,” says Joel Young of the Joel Young Band. While the rest of his band gathered around a sma...
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A thorough search online for a bit of background on Peter Nite & The All Star Band turned up nothing. No Facebook. Not even a Myspace page. So, I hav...
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When I was asked to review the latest Christmas album by Rick Brown, I thought I knew what I was in for. After all, I knew that Brown was the saxopho...
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You’d never know from his unassuming manner, his day-job-then-home-to-the-wife-and-kids lifestyle or his home base (Warsaw, Indiana) that John Hubn...
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When I first called Sunny Taylor to talk to her about her new EP and her CD release party at C2G Music Hall, she was in the Target dressing room, try...
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There are songs that bring tears to your eyes. Sad songs. Songs about lost love and missed opportunity. Then there are songs that make you cry openly...
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Downstait have been keeping a relatively low profile in the Fort lately. Except for the occasional live show, you’d hardly know members of this loc...
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On paper When Fish Ride Bicycles is the proper debut full length from the Chicago- and Detroit-based duo The Cool Kids. This only because, when their...
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Imagine driving down a less-traveled road in a vintage car, windows down, no particular destination or deadline or agenda to worry about. You see the...
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Paul New Stewart might have gone to college on a baseball scholarship, but it’s been in music where he’s hit his home runs. The 71-year-old music...
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I always thought we were all in it for the same thing – everyone, everywhere, doing whatever it is they do. We’re all in it for the glory and pro...
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There are a few essential elements in country music these days, and if you want to be successful as a country musician you have to be able to serve ...
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To theology majors the name Simon Peter brings to mind the fisherman disciple who cut off the ear of a high priest’s servant and denied Christ thre...
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Don’t let the cover art for Fort Wayne-based Krimsha’s debut full-length album, Make Believe, fool you. Despite the footprints-in-the-sand cover ...
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Right about now I’m wondering what the glue is that holds a band together? Music is so personal, and when you spend night after night trying to tak...
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Do not be alarmed, gentle reader. You may see that Under Indiana Lights is a “family band” and have your head filled with images of Partridge Fam...
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It’s been four and a half years since James Ellsworth & the Dynasorrows released Heart on Sleeve, a collection of songs tracing Ellsworth’s break...
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Two years ago, despite years of releasing top-shelf indie rock hotness, Mark Hutchins (formerly of Vandolah) was a little known artist in his hometow...
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Every once in a while a band comes along and throws new light on old classic rock tunes. Juke Joint Jive are that band. With a setlist of songs by su...
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CD Reviews
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If you’re looking for a CD with lots of catchy hooks and choruses, guitar solos, or other pretty things, Roar by Dromemord, the beast created by a ...
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In the interest of being forthright, I feel it necessary to preface this review by admitting that I’ve thus far only heard the unmixed demos for Jo...
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Making the Most, the debut record from Bonfire John and the Majestic Springs Band, is the first complete offering from Carmel, Indiana songwriter Owe...
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Fort Wayne has a rich and diverse music scene. There are so many talented musicians in this city that it would be hard to name them all. Yes, there a...
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CD Reviews
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After a lot of teasing and much anticipation, Jared Andrews, Lynn Nicholson and Jon Swain, a.k.a. Elephants in Mud, have finally hit the studio and g...
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CD Reviews
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I have a very long and extensive love for metal, so when I first popped in The Hills Are in Bloom, the CD from Indiana University professor John Mint...
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I’m downstairs at Hyde Brothers Booksellers, lost in the endless aisles, on the hunt for a used copy of Francois Truffaut’s Hitchcock book. With ...
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For the better part of the last decade I’ve done my best to ignore the small town whispers concerning this or that artist – the weakling game of ...
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When one encounters an acronymous band name, the first instinct is to decode its meaning. So what might one guess as the meaning for the band name U....
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When I was lucky enough to meet the guys in Flamingo Nosebleed two years ago, frontman Jake Emissions told me that all they really wanted to do was (...
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“We’ve been compared to the Girl Scouts,” said Jana Johnson, through a pierced lower lip, of the all-female band, The Elky Summers, for which s...
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Don’t underestimate Hillbilly Casino’s ability to get under your skin. This rollicking rockabilly wrecking crew has been tearing up stages and ca...
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I must admit that as I drove to the east side of town to meet the members of one of Fort Wayne’s newest and most buzzed about bands, I felt a sligh...
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It takes nerve to not only open your album with a cover, but to open your album with, essentially, a cover of a cover. Case in point: the first tune ...
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Local Spin
From note one of Big Jaw’s Appetite for Construction disc, it’s obvious that this Clint Roth fellow possesses massive recording chops. Not such a...
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Local Musicians
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You might be forgiven for thinking that the members of Black Jet Radio are out-of-towners. They unabashedly pursue a sense of visual style on stage. ...
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Local Musicians
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Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are. This maxim usually serves as inspiration for artists with global ambitions but local restric...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Former Sacred Broncos guitarist Brian Jenkins and his wife Danisha form the core of Black Jet Radio, a new Fort Wayne-based band. Born in December of...
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Local Musicians
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On their website, Sugar Shot describe themselves as “hyper-active country with a shot of rock n’ roll.” They could also add “thoughtful, busi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
By now, Left Lane Cruiser have shed “best kept secret” status and moved into the national indie-garage-blues-rock-hyphenate cult’s embrace.
B...
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Local Spin
I first read of Jan Krist nearly 20 years ago. A review of her album ran alongside an album that has since become a cherished favorite and for some r...
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Local Musicians
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Paulo Coelho once claimed that nothing can substitute for experience. “Be brave,” he said. “Take those risks.” And how about ’ol Ally Einst...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Like it or not, Church Shoes’ eponymous debut record reminds me of Whiskeytown’s Stranger’s Almanac. Not because Shoes necessarily sounds like ...
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Local Musicians
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Each member of local rock act Sum Morz has an important role to play in the creation of what, according to their growing fanbase, is some pretty tast...
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Local Spin
Musical connoisseurs of Fort Wayne, do you know what you have on your hands with Lee Miles? For starters, a dusky, haunting moan of a voice that dema...
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Local Musicians
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In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that my interview with local singer/songwriter Fernando Tarango included the consumption of mind-a...
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Local Musicians
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High schoolers who conjure up dreams of musical stardom are hardly a unique occurrence, nor has it been for years. Whether it be aspirations of the ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It’s been a big year for Kill the Rabbit. The band has been booked solid for most of 2010, playing shows nearly every weekend as local tavern owner...
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Local Musicians
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Before this year, playing for 500 or so rabid hometown fans at Club Dreamers might have struck Fort Wayne’s own Koheleth as a little overwhelming. ...
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Local Musicians
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When a little-known band named Krimsha entered the whatzup Battle of the Bands in 2009, most people barely noticed. The band had played only one gig ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Indianapolis indie rockers Marmoset are the relative you don’t mind having visit for the weekend. They come in softly, warm up the room with fuzzy ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
We can thank Detroit for giving us Carol Lockridge, and now we can thank Carol Lockridge for giving us You Make Me Blue.
This debut, which hit the s...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There be some weird, freaky shtick in the Fort these days. First you’ve got Christians putting on monster masks and singing horror songs and going ...
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Local Musicians
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By Deborah Kennedy No one was more surprised than the members of Exterminate All Rational Thought when they made it to the final rounds of this year...
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Local Musicians
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It’s been six years since the breakup of the Shelly Dixon Band, and fans who’ve waited with bated breath for this velvet-voiced singer to take th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I love hip-hop culture and music first and foremost, and when I popped in Hometown Hooligan’s Unfinished Business I was immediately drawn into thei...
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Local Musicians
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Get lucky enough to wander into an Afro-Disiacs jam session at their rehearsal space in the New Covenant Worship Center on South Calhoun Street and o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Had Fort Wayne-based singer/songwriter Lee Miles been blessed with better physical health I’ve no doubt he’d have moved on to bigger things by no...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Talk to any member of the now defunct B-Sharps and you’ll very likely learn one thing: they don’t like their second album, The “B” Is For Par...
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Local Musicians
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Kill the Rabbit are so beloved by their fans that they have their own chad. Remember those dangling things that caused such a stir during the 2004 Pr...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
At the bar a few nights ago I found myself disoriented. Or, should I say, more disoriented than usual. A song had come on over the jukebox that I lov...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The Facepaint EP is the debut recording from Audio Mimes, a new four-piece band with members born and raised in the Fort. It is a subtle mixture of s...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
October 31, 2009 has a charm that is inescapable, and, except for a stumble at the beginning, the songs are melodic gems. Fernando Tarango has create...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It’s a tricky thing to pull off something that’s fresh and retro without turning into a novelty act. The Bergamot pull that off quite nicely with...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There’s a strange but fitting twang to Black Label Summer frontman Josh Hall, known mostly for his Thunderhawk records and PBR loyalty. Maybe it’...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It sounds like guitarists Omar Afzaal and Bob Haddad, known mostly for their work in All Nite Skate and Castles, are having more fun together – and...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Do I hate this record? Would I play it with windows down and “normal” people within earshot? Is this just the latest in a long line of post-Pitch...
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Local Musicians
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Pronouncements of the death of the record industry have been de rigueur since the birth of MP3s and Napster-style filesharing towards the end of the ...
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Local Musicians
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I’m downstairs at Hyde Brothers Booksellers, lost in the endless aisles, on the hunt for a used copy of Francois Truffaut’s Hitchcock book. With ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Lance Hoeppner is a busy man. Co-founder of the Fort Wayne favorite experimental rock trio-turned-duo Moser Woods, Hoeppner also performs in the Marn...
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Local Musicians
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The heart of rock n’ roll, as Huey Lewis once so sagely put it, is still beating, and we can thank bands like the newly minted Heartbeat City for t...
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Local Musicians
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Guitarist Omar Afzaal is in two (or is it three?) bands, works and goes to school. Bassist Ty Brinneman is a founding member of the Soma art collect...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If Toledo, Ohio makes you think of Spain, Jamie Farr and/or That Place South of Ann Arbor, then you need to add another thought to your list: Cool Mu...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
What do I know about the Yellow Dead Bettys? I know they’re a Fort Wayne band. I know they once got shut down at a certain local bar (to be unnamed)...
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Local Musicians
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In this era of digital photography it’s very likely that many of the young fans who follow local foursome Darkroom aren’t terribly familiar with ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I asked the members of the End Times Spasm Band if they’d ever been accused of imitating the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Songwriter and founder Bjart H...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When the moons aligned and bassist Doug Roush and drummer Keith Roman at long last formed a musical venture, they decided to keep guitars out of the ...
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Local Musicians
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Chances are, if you’ve gone to an End Times Spasm Band show, you’ve tapped your toes or danced a boogie to the idea that humankind could soon be ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I’ll be up-front with you: I’m not a fan of punk. I do, however, appreciate good music in whatever form it may take, analyzing it the way I would...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
For Glory and Empire are a four-piece band that formed in 2007. Though they still call the Fort their home, members have scattered to various parts o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Churubusco, Indiana’s F***ing Panthers have a penchant for four-letter words, punk rock bravado and metal guitar blasts. They want you to know they...
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Local Musicians
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Two years ago, despite years of releasing top-shelf indie rock hotness, Mark Hutchins (formerly of Vandolah) was a little known artist in his hometow...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Yes, I believe the name references a “Simpson’s” episode. And the band’s MySpace page (myspace.com/knifeyspoonie) rocks some Rambo imagery. S...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Last summer A New Definition ripped the roof off of Columbia Street West, walking away with the coveted top prize in the whatzup Battle of the Bands ...
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Local Musicians
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First of a Two-Part Series: Heroes. Drunken genius. Twitter. The Lee Miles Gang collaborations. Down the Line and Fort Wayne-rockers-as-saviors. These...
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Local Musicians
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Earlier this year, Jordan Witzigreuter, a.k.a. The Ready Set, found himself in what you might call an enviable position. “I was kind of trying to p...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Listening to the pop-classical “Days of Slumber,” the first cut off of Goodbyewave’s latest, I picture a Wes Anderson film made 25 years in the...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
The title of Mike Conley’s second album gets right to the heart of the matter: It’s a Conley Christmas. It certainly is, folks. I invite you to t...
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Local Musicians
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When Mike Conley was a kid growing up in Angola, Christmas was a magical time of year. ...
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Local Musicians
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The next big thing in rock n’ roll just might be a Fort Wayne five-piece famous for dominating the local bar scene before any of the members could ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Like Freddy Krueger in every nightmare you’ve ever had, Grave Robber have emerged from the darkest corners of the earth to unleash their new album,...
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Local Musicians
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Just look at these guys. Don’t they look huggable? You might, however, want to resist your impulse to go in for the real thing with the members of ...
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Local Musicians
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Local punk rockers Flamingo Nosebleed are three men with a lot of opinions. Consider the blurb on their MySpace page in which 26-year-old frontman Ja...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you were to ask Thunderhawk singer/songwriter Josh Hall about Powerlifting, the debut record under his Killer Robots From Space moniker, he’d pr...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you haven’t seen Kan-Tis play a live show in the Fort you might be hard-pressed to describe the band after listening to their self-titled CD. Th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I had the honor of reviewing Left Lane Cruiser’s first album four years ago, and it left a definite impression. Out of the literally hundreds of lo...
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Local Musicians
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Maybe it’s just the fact that hundreds of ears are still ringing from last Thursday night’s epic and rib-rattling whatzup Battle of the Bands fi...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It’s amazing what we don’t know about people. That old guy you passed on your way out of the grocery store? He could be a NASA scientist. The you...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When Jethro Easyfields and the Arrowheads hunkered down south of Indianapolis, it only stood to reason that the juxtaposition of country and city wou...
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Local Musicians
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To live and breathe your art, make a living in an industry that survives because of your art and support existing avenues for sharing your art while ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I’ve seen Verge of Submission perform on several occasions. I am always impressed by their energy and ability to connect with their audience, so wh...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
At first listen, Kentucky Nightmare’s Take Her Favor stands out as odd, but odd in the best way possible. It’s a heady blend of dusty antique, mod...
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Local Musicians
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It’s taken almost four years, but ska/reggae rockers Unlikely Alibi are preparing for the release of their first full-length CD, an all-originals d...
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Local Musicians
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I met The Outlaw Cowboys at their semi-stomping grounds, the Rock-n-Horse Saloon, for an evening performance. The guys definitely gave cowboys a good...
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Local Musicians
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It’s no coincidence that local hard rockers Mudbone named their recent release Evolution. After 15 years and innumerable lineup changes, Mudbone ha...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
This local debut puts its best foot forward on the first track. An acoustic guitar strums through the instrumental soundscape along with a winding an...
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Local Musicians
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At first glance you might think George Damron and Buffalo Ridge are a rock n’ roll band pure and simple Most of the guys have rock n’ roll backgr...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Leah C is fresh and unique without being altogether unfamiliar. With her debut, Rush, the Northrop High School junior has created an album strong eno...
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Local Musicians
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Mention a singer named Tasha to my four-year-old, and he will mistake her for one of The Backyardigans, an animated Nick Jr. series about four song- ...
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Local Musicians
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A glance at Good Night Gracie’s typical setlist and it’s easy to see that there’s nothing typical about this fun-loving, local quintet. “We...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Within the dusty boot tracks, alternately funereal and hoedown tempos and clucking country-style electric guitars that populate the latest from Lee Mi...
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Local Musicians
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When I joined local power groove metal act Gradeight for a recent jam session, frontman Sam Meyer was quick to offer me earplugs. "Believe me," he sa...
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Local Musicians
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Rewind to New Year's Day 2007. While most people were busy sleeping it off or nursing hangovers, the three guys behind Still Groove were holding thei...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Kendallville's Forgiven has been knocking around for a good long time, honing their skills to a razor-like precision. Their debut album, 2002's Main t...
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Local Spin
Downstait have been keeping themselves busy as of late by touring regionally with Skid Row and Ra and opening several national concerts at Piere's. D...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
You know when you catch a new song on the radio and you just can't change it until the song is over? Even if you have no idea who is singing? Maybe i...
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Local Musicians
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For Jan Krist, the singer/songwriter hosting the March 30 songwriters workshop at Come2Go Ministries, songwriting workshops, writing groups of all so...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Yellow Dead Bettys are modern rockers from Fort Wayne. Their new album recalls the alternative music of the late 80s and early 90s by creating rock so...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
On his 15 track LP named Back to My Roots, Fort Wayne native Keith Flye combines a bit of backwoods blues and soul music and winds up with an album th...
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CD Reviews
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Eight years. Allow me to repeat that. Eight years, and The B-Sharps have finally made their opening salvo by releasing Cherchez Kahuna. Some releases...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
It's readily apparent that Amanda Dreher has the kind of voice - mellow, smooth, a touch of Nico here, a bit of Beth Orton there - that would make co...
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Local Musicians
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Just when you think you've seen it all in local music you find BootLeg. In theory they're a hodgepodge, motley crew of various genres. In reality th...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Custom Made Smitty (aka Shane Smith) has been a fixture in Fort Wayne's rap scene for quite a few years, mostly honing his craft as a member of the Ho...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Not to toot my horn, but I've heard, seen and even known my share of prolific songwriters, and this J. Hubner fella certainly qualifies as such. It se...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
They say that you can't keep a good man down, and Nod Arvefel is out to prove the point by releasing Guilt Trip, his seventh full-length album of ori...
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Local Musicians
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Just in the last 10 years alone, the music business has changed dramatically. Where bands used to form in the hopes of getting a major label deal and...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
One of the more heartening developments of the democratization of the music industry is the influx of honest singer/songwriters who don’t necessari...
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Local Musicians
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This past summer’s whatzup Battle of the Bands came packed with many surprises, perhaps none more surprising than the ascendance of heavy metal quin...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
On his debut, Scientific Cricket, Indianapolis’ Grampall Jookabox (a.k.a. David “Moose†Adamson) let his freak-folk flag fly high, ...
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Local Musicians
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Bill Lupkin's musical career has ebbed and flowed, hitting incredible peaks before quietly subsiding while life's other joys and challenges moved to ...
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Local Musicians
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It’s hard for anyone paying even a modicum of attention to the Fort Wayne music scene for the past few years not to have heard of Jon Ross. A man k...
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Local Musicians
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In much of the local scene I’ve met groups who had a shelf life of a couple weeks, a couple months and some maybe pushing half a year. That makes S...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I’m not sure what events Indianapolis-based Eisenhower Field Day are competing in but my money is on the 400-yard dash. Take a listen to their thir...
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Local Musicians
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Scott Snyder is a quiet, soft-spoken young man with a deep voice. He’s polite, well versed in a number of topics and experiences and an all-around ...
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Local Musicians
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On Saturday, October 18 a remarkable anniversary will be celebrated. It isn’t often that a band lasts 30 years, and it’s even more unlikely for a...
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Local Musicians
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If someone was to take a survey of random citizens in the area and ask, “What is northeast Indiana’s most dominant musical trend?” there are se...
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Local Musicians
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When I first met the guys from Amarillo, I got a free coffee (very nice touch) and an abbreviated history of a highly interesting group on the local ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Okay, so I'm average. Married my high school sweetheart, produced 2.0 kids. The garage holds one car and one minivan. Assuming the Lipitor does its jo...
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Local Musicians
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On the night of the whatzup Battle of the Bands V finals, a loyal local music fan was heard to comment, “They have the most spiritual energy of any...
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Local Musicians
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A few years ago, Nick Hornby - who wrote the novels High Fidelity and About a Boy and a small library of other things - submitted to McSweeney's Inte...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Show of hands: how many out there remember when Nic Roulette and the Blue Moon Boys used to tear up Fort Wayne stages on a regular basis? Okay, you...
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Local Spin
Don’t go into Constellation, the new release by San Diego’s (late of Northeastern Ohio) Longsleeves, looking for snappy choruses or aren...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
A few years back Cathy Serrano stunned the local populace with a folksy album drenched in Native American flute. This debut album, Share The Wind, was...
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Local Musicians
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The casual observer would be hard-pressed to determine the specific demographic targeted by the band Brother, especially if that informant were limi...
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Local Musicians
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It's been four years since Nic Roulette, best known in Fort Wayne as the energetic front man for the Blue Moon Boys, left for Nashville and the oppo...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
At the risk of sounding outmoded, dated and (proudly) un-Bluetooth-ed, I maintain that MySpace is still a great place to find new bands and get a litt...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Okay — to call this debut by Toledo, Ohio’s Chavar Dontae “local” might be a bit of a stretch (I once caught some flak for classifying the Gl...
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CD Reviews
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We survived the fire / we survived the flood / We survived the waves that tried to swallow us up,†sings Joel Gragg in a weathered, half-whisper...
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Local Spin
It’s been only a matter of months since an energized J. Hubner shared his last goodbyewave release, bright lights, strange nights, with us, and...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Kyle Morris is helping the environment, whether he intends to or not. Self-contained, armed with pretty much just an acoustic guitar and an expressive...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Enigmatic as all get out – with a website to match (www.killandeat.com) – the northern Indiana (they refuse to pinpoint their home base)...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When you think of rural Lima, Ohio, what kind of music comes to mind? Country? Polka? Being smack dab in the Midwest, you might expect a little metal...
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Local Musicians
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If you want to watch Michael Rhoades compose music, don’t look for him at a piano, working through the concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Rho...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you’re only a casual whatzup peruser, you know Kevin Hambrick is no stranger to these here pages, and for good reason. He lands on these pages b...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Okay, no more pussyfooting or playing it safe; with Heathen Blux, folk-footed songwriter Lee Miles has released an album better than any this reviewer...
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Local Musicians
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“I’m an Indiana boy,” declared Fort Wayne rapper Vigilante in a recent interview. “I’ve had offers to go down to Atlanta or Texas, but I’...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There have been several books written about the history of heavy metal and rock music in general, but I can't think of one book that completely encomp...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
When they’re not touring up and down the East Coast, the members of Winona Lake, Indiana’s own Darkroom stay busy writing and recording batches o...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
J.D. Burns
Mystified
...
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Local Musicians
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Every year during the Whammy Awards voting season we at the whatzup office make note of a good number of new bands and artists who are beginning to m...
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Local Musicians
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“She was probably the prettiest female celebrity I’ve ever seen in person,” laughed a candid Larry LaQuin Norwood, known to his friends as Quin...
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CD Reviews
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Consumed By FuryConsumed By Fury
...
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Local Musicians
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For Massakre, it’s all about the journey of life. Although it wasn’t an easy process to complete, it could be said that writing and recording his...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Look up, here comes a ray of sunshine,†goes the opening line of “Ray,†the first song on this impressive release by Indianapolis-ba...
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Local Musicians
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There is a line dividing fans of country music. On one side stands the pop-country enthusiast, fans of so-called - hat acts - churned out by the Nas...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
There's been a welcome influx of great to outstanding original music from the region making its way into the whatzup mailbox of late, prompting me to ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If I burst anybody’s bubble here, I’m sorry. Despite the spooky cover art, album title (Be Afraid) and, uh, the band’s name, Grav...
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CD Reviews
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Sixteen-year-old Natalie Weese, a Fort Wayne native who already has 11 years of dance experience and has had roles in two films, now has launched a m...
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Those familiar with Taylor Fredricks’ prior work in his former eponymous band may be surprised when they hear The Victim, The Witness, Fredricks’...
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Ben LaatschThe Magical Suitcase!
...
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Local Musicians
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The image of rap music has often included violent messages and images – or at least that’s the general stereotype many may have of the genre. In ...
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CD Reviews
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A short primer: Not long after icons like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple birthed the animal once simply known as “hard rock,” it evo...
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Local Spin
The first time I heard All Nite Skate’s debut EP some two years ago I was blown away. Here was a band living in the same city as me that not only p...
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Local Musicians
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I spent much of my time in 2003 alphabetizing CDs, cleaning LPs and 45s, explaining the concept of "phasing out" to fans of the cassette format, sell...
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Local Musicians
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Was Wilco singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy right when he claimed in Sam Jones' documentary, I am Trying to Break Your Heart, that a band needs a single ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Downstait, a young band who have been playing the Fort Wayne area for a few years now, recently released their debut six-song EP, Can You Hear Me Now...
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Local Musicians
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When Mike Conley was a kid growing up in Angola, Christmas was a magical time of year. ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Sometimes, no matter how intelligent an artist is, he or she has to push from another level entirely to really connect with the listener. Some ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Nod Arvefel is back with his fifth full-length album, and he's never sounded better. 4th Man In the Fire contains an assortment of songs (12 to be ex...
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Local Musicians
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The idea came to her in the wee hours of the morning. At 6:30 a.m. one day, Jachell Tolbert awoke from her sleep and knew what the name of her band w...
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Local Musicians
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Get lucky enough to wander into an Afro-Disiacs jam session at their rehearsal space in the New Covenant Worship Center on South Calhoun Street and o...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
To me, the harp seems like a chick instrument. Feminine. You know, sylphs draped in green dresses, flowers in their hair, plucking away, the whole et...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I often stay up late into the night wondering why the 18-year-old version of me thought Ben Harper was some sort of musical god. It's not that t...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Joey O. is a guitarist̥s guitarist. He uses Fender guitars and real Fender amps Рnone of that simulated amp-modeling chicanery. His play...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The French philosopher JacquesMaritain once said, "The only artist who does not deserve respect is theone who works to please the public." Four...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The music business can be a cruel route to possible fame and fortune. For every musician or band that succeeds there are hundreds – more likely tho...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
When I first called Sunny Taylor to talk to her about her new EP and her CD release party at C2G Music Hall, she was in the Target dressing room, try...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
FortWayne-based hip-hop duo Andromeda are no joke, and by that I mean that theyaren't fake, afraid or passive. They're real, and in a genre wi...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne is home to a lot oftalented people. Some make a name for themselves either locally or,occasionally, beyond the city limits. Some remain ob...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
I'm sitting on the floor in Joey O's basement on a Sunday afternoon, my back against a half-sized refrigerator full of bottled water, and watching ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Here's the disadvantage of being a band circa 2007: some say it's all been done, every landmark movement's been bled dry.
But turn that logic on ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
OnMay 18, 2007 a city-wide multi-media Christian worship service was held at the Foellinger Ampitheater. The event was arranged and performed by a gr...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
WhenCarol Lockridge moved to Fort Wayne in 1999 the Summit City became far richer,stealing a great blues vocalist and natural musician away from Det...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Anyone familiar with the work of Fort Wayne photojournalist Ellie Bogue knows she has a good eye. With the release of her first CD, Lay Your Burden...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Say you hail from a typical Midwest small town (Warsaw, Indiana, for instance), soak up influences that aren’t necessarily the “norm,” put...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Want a break from the avalanche of niche-marketed, multimedia “artists” that seem to have emerged whole cloth from some focus-group factory?...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Homeless J, for better or worse, can probably impart that advice more wisely than just about anybody in the region: stuck on the short end of tw...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
If you’re lucky enough to be in the front row at a performance by the Mimi Burns Band, you might just get sprinkled with fairy dust. That’s becau...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
For every songwriter willing to churn their guitar with some chutzpah there are at least 1,000 others with no idea what it means to have guts. O...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
If you’re only a casual whatzup peruser, you know Kevin Hambrick is no stranger to these here pages, and for good reason. He lands on these pages b...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
While driving to meet the members of The Lurking Corpses for an interview I began to consider asking whatzup for additional compensation. I don't r...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Fans of tasty guitar instrumentals rejoice: Bryon Thompson has released Starting Now, his fourth collection of top-notch pop-rock compositions! ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Before this year, playing for 500 or so rabid hometown fans at Club Dreamers might have struck Fort Wayne’s own Koheleth as a little overwhelming. ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Making Waves: A Demonstration of Kymotropic Inventions sat far too long in my stack of albums to review, mostly because I didn’t know how to t...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Many times in my three decades of life in this city, I have heard residents complain about a general lack of variety in our local culture. From ...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Twenty years of history is rare for any rock
band. You see it occasionally among some of the top bands in the world - the
Rolling Stones, Aerosmith,...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Given the state of affairs in the world circa 2007, it's a real tightrope walk for Christian artists to navigate the line between hope, faith an...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It's a cold Thursday night, about 9:00 p.m., when I pull up to Go
Dog Go drummer Mark Winters' house for an impromptu jam session.
After a few m...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Ryan, the frontman and singer for the Warsaw-based punk band Corporate Circus, says he and several of his musician buddies formed the band seven ye...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The band 600 North didn't always go by that name.
In a moment of clarity, while practicing at the Huntington home of drummer
Blaine Sprinkle a numbe...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Churubusco, Indiana’s F***ing Panthers have a penchant for four-letter words, punk rock bravado and metal guitar blasts. They want you to know they...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
They look like any other kids. You know, the ones you see chasing a
ball on the basketball court or staring glassy-eyed at a video game.
They mi...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It's been four years since Nic Roulette, best known in Fort Wayne as the energetic front man for the Blue Moon Boys, left for Nashville and the oppo...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
It was the kind of perfect moment that is normally reserved for fiction. Some friends and I were drinking at the Heorot, Muncie's finest bar, and lis...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Finding the 1947 California
Cupcake Company proved to be just slightly difficult, but only because
Starbucks are multiplying like bunnies across Fort...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
While on my way to meet vocalist Jeremy Wysong and guitarist Bob Haddad of The Poseidon Adventure at a coffee shop on a typically dreary and gre...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
By now the saga of Kevin Hambrick has become well known around the area: longtime local staple, interesting backstory, intense live performer, w...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Surely no pirate tale would be complete without a mention of robbery on the high seas or the like. Taking liberties (if not prisoners) with the expre...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
I don’t know for certain how one acquires a copy of Lee Miles’ covers-only album, Leaves That Are Green, but I consider myself very lucky t...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
I had barely settled into my chair on the patio of the Venice Restaurant when Paul New Stewart asked me if I had heard of a comedian from the 1950s n...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
You're probably already familiar with Indianapolis-based Chris Shaffer's saga – boy pays dues, band gets hit record, band sours on major label...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
I was standing onstage at a Chicago bar called Roby's in front of about 20 semi-interested people. My wife and I had driven to the big city largely ...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
In a time when the bands we once thought were the new kings of progressive and concept metal are putting out records that sound more like Load than M...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Rochester, Indiana's Brent Evans writes clean,
tuneful and satisfying songs that adroitly manage to fill in the gaps between
country, coun...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
There was a time when in the career of a band, ‘making it’ meant some record company flunkie would come see you play in a dank, rowdy bar or open...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
All Nite Skates debut full-length album, Western Shame, begins with an appropriate explosion
before spinning into layer after layer of epic gu...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Fort Wayne seems to embrace blues guitar players. From legends like B.B. King to regional favorite Duke Tumatoe, the Fort can be counted on to pack a...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
Dope hip-hop music in Indiana can be hard to come by, said Nearest Nova producer Gyrid Enock Root Lyon when asked about Sub-Surfaces up...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The Brown Bottle Band, third runners-up in the
whatzup Battle Of The Bands on August
19th, are pretty much perennial favorites at
Columbia Stre...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
     As advertised by the title, A Dozen Distractions, the debut album by the modern folk band, The Distractions, delivers an even dozen or...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
The guys of the band ButtonHead must think they're Sofa King clever.
That's probably the reason the Summit City rock group buried the title track...
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Local Musicians
Featured Musician
"Don't vote for the nunchucks" explained Between
the Rooms drummer Philip Kurut on the topic of his weapons solo during the
band's memorable semif...
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CD Reviews
Local Spin
Hold your noses ’cause the boys from Columbia City are back with yet another aromatic love offering. That’s right, Catbox are back with another 1...
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