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Art
Michael Minick
5-9 p.m. Thursday, May 13
When he knew he was dying of cancer, ceramicist Michael Minick said this to his wife Janie about the work he would leave behind: “You do whatever yo...
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National Acts
Day Trips
From a grand hotel to plenty of indoor, outdoor activities
The first time I walked into the Oakwood Resort in Syracuse years ago, I expected to be so inspired by an antique portrait of a woman resembling a you...
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Destinations
2021 Summer Camps
Plenty of opportunities have opened up this year
One of the benefits of being a kid growing up in Fort Wayne these days is proximity to Sweetwater’s Rock Camp.
Rock Camp isn’t for kids who want ...
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Destinations
Himalayan Salts & Scents
Columnist is ‘shaken’ by perceived health benefits
My doctor had just told me to cut back on salt. And here I was about to wallow in it.
But I am nothing if not a daredevil. Which is to say, I am noth...
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National Acts
The Allman Betts Band
Southern country rock satisfies its fan base
Devon Allman was on the road a year or so ago with the Allman Betts Band when everything changed.
From the vantage point of a tour bus, the COVID-19 ...
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Local Musicians
Controller
Controller’s new music getting video treatment
Roughly a year ago, Controller were on the verge of releasing a new EP. The band had big plans for promoting the release.
As it turned out, even a ba...
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Local Musicians
Sankofa
Sankofa still releasing fresh rhymes, albums
Sankofa isn’t really Stephen Eric Bryden’s alter ego, although it may seem that way at times.
“There is no alter ego, just a guy who enjoys bei...
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Festivals & Events
St. Paddy’s Day
Look over the four-leaf happenings in the Fort
A year ago, Saint Patrick’s Day was ostensibly canceled in Fort Wayne.
It was canceled pretty much everywhere, but its absence may have been felt m...
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Local Musicians
Down the Line 15
Annual concert brings local talent to its stage
The Embassy Theatre’s annual Down the Line concerts, in which local bands pay tribute to national ones, grew out of a similar series that happened a...
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Art
Utesch
Utesch is also known for local band Metavari
Who can forget The Beatles’ crosswalk, the Velvet Underground’s banana, the Rolling Stones’ zipper, Judas Priest’s razor blade, Pink Floyd’s...
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Local Musicians
Sweetwater All Stars
Sweetwater All Stars to perform at Club Room
The Sweetwater All Stars have been around for a few years now, but from the very beginning, their goal has been clear.
“Ultimately,” said guitari...
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Local Musicians
Megan Mullins Band
Columbia City native returns to Club Room
The pandemic forced Megan Mullins to do something she hadn’t done since she was a toddler. Stop touring.“I don’t think I have ever had such...
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Local Musicians
Carolyn Martin
Martin highly respected western swing player
When Carolyn Martin was 16, she sat alone in a restaurant booth in Abilene, Texas, crying over a breakup.“I had a crush on some boy, and he had brok...
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Destinations
First Person
Grab a bat or golf club, work off some steam
If you walked into my basement office right now, you would naturally assume that someone had ransacked the place. You might even peg me as the so...
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Local Musicians
Kaitlyn Schmit and The Move
Schmit’s group to bring its ’90s country sound
It would be hard to overemphasize the success of the Club Room’s themed music nights.Out of the gate, the weeknights devoted to regional blues and j...
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Dining Out
Restaurant Safety During COVID
Protocols from cleaning to social distancing
Jason Smith, the marketing director for Club Soda, said the cleanliness regimens that are a vital part of making patrons feel safe under COVID-19 are ...
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Destinations
First Person
Our columnist tries his hands at axe throwing
After I scheduled my session at the axe-throwing emporium called Deadeye Dick’s, I went around my home imitating Gimli, the axe-wielder from The Lor...
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Destinations
The Oyster Bar
Oyster Bar has been in business since 1888
The Oyster Bar has been open continuously since 1888.
It hasn’t always been called the Oyster Bar, but it has always served food and drink, even du...
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Stage & Dance
A Christmas Carol
It’s another pivot after a COVID cancellation
When Fort Wayne Youtheatre was forced to cancel its production of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe because of COVID-19, the company’s director ...
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Art
Art Gone Wild
Trubble exhibit raises support for Black Pine
With COVID-19 in high dudgeon and events that were scaled back a month ago being canceled outright, there isn’t a lot to look forward to these days....
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Destinations
First Person
First Person is a new monthly column by Whatzup writer Steve Penhollow who will try out some of the more unusual pastimes in the region.
If you have watched a lot of science fiction movies, then you might recognize the whole-body cryotherapy chamber at iCRYO.
Does hypersleep ring a bell...
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Festivals & Events
Christmas on Broadway
Social distancing won’t detract from festivities
With so many of our traditional Christmas ceremonies and commemorations cancelled or curtailed into unrecognizability, it’s nice to know that one ev...
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National Acts
On Broadway
Four Broadway actors bring talents to city
Northeast Indiana residents who love musical theater have found the pickings slim since COVID-19 gave most local and national performers “the hook....
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Destinations
First Person
Electronic getaways for kids and adults alike
First Person is a new monthly column by Whatzup writer Steve Penhollow who will try out some of the more unusual pasttimes in the region.
As I type t...
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Stage & Dance
Annie
Production gets a twist worthy of a pandemic performance
Fort Wayne Civic Theatre’s production of Annie needed a second chance when COVID-19 drove the musical out of its established home at the A...
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Destinations
Bird + Cleaver
Bird + Cleaver inventive with eclectic menu
One of Bird Cleaver’s most popular items is a cheese fondue that has no cheese in it.
The history of vegan cuisine is littered with failed attemp...
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Festivals & Events
Hobnobben Film Festival
Embassy Theatre opens its doors for Cinema Center’s annual festival
In recent years, the Embassy Theatre has become known mostly as a place to see world-renowned musical acts and Broadway shows on tour.
But for much o...
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Festivals & Events
Michiana Wine Festival
Festival is still on, but now with protocols
Nichole Thomas may have come up with an entirely new COVID-19 safety protocol.
“We are going to perfect the sipping-in-line-while-wearing-a-mask m...
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Local Musicians
Sum Morz
Challenging listeners part of band’s appeal
Sum Morz began when Crystal “C-Note” Clouse went to her longtime friend, bassist Maurice “Mo” Turner, and said, “Let’s form a band!”
An...
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Stage & Dance
How you can help
Embassy faces big challenges during its COVID-19 shutdown
Bob Nickerson recalls his father telling him stories about the 1918 influenza pandemic and its effects on daily life in Fort Wayne.
“He was eight ...
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Movie Reviews
RiverDrums 2020
Dance, music, and poetry featured at Monday event
RiverDrums began four years ago on the Wells Street Bridge. This showcase of dance, rhythm, music, poetry, and Fort Wayne’s Native American heritage...
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National Acts
Magic Bus
1967’s ‘Summer of Love’ inspires tribute band
The phrase “magic bus” refers either to the 1968 song by the rock group The Who (it’s about a guy who haggles to buy a city bus so he can see hi...
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Destinations
Umi Fort Wayne
Southwest Fort Wayne fine dining since 2017
When people pull up stakes and leave a town, one of the things that they miss about their former stomping ground is one or more of its restaurants.
I...
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National Acts
Lee Brice
Brice brings his music to Wabash drive-in
Members of the so-called Silent Generation used to tell stories about the impact of seeing Elvis Presley perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.Kids ...
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National Acts
Hairball
Live show sets Hairball apart from also-rans
Mike “Happy” Schneider’s nickname came from not seeming all that happy.
“It’s a ‘jumbo shrimp’ sort of thing,” the guitarist for the...
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Movie Reviews
Huntington Twin Drive-in
Landmark purchased out of bankruptcy
When the Goodrich Quality Theatre chain declared bankruptcy in February, it wasn’t just Huntington residents who were upset.
Goodrich’s Huntingto...
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Stage & Dance
Always...Patsy Cline
Wagon Wheel to honor Patsy Cline’s influence
The summer of 2020 has been challenging for everybody, but especially for people who sing for a living.If you have COVID-19, singing seems to be a gre...
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Local Musicians
Andy Music Fest
Venerable Buck Lake Ranch Stage the Locale
The Andy Music Fest grew out of annual camping trips that the members of the band Sum Morz used to take together.They were musical camping trips, to b...
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Stage & Dance
Legally Blonde the musical
Live theater used to be big part of Foellinger
As the Civic Theatre’s 2020-2021 season approached, the Civic Theatre staff and board of directors had a big decision to make.
Across the country,...
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Festivals & Events
Harvester Homecoming
2nd annual gathering set at proving grounds
Ryan DuVall’s love affair with the International Harvester Scout begin when his dad made an automotive bet with a young Camaro owner that ended in b...
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Destinations
Club Room & Crescendo Coffee
Crescendo Coffee joins the popular location
The eventual importance of the Club Room was not fully appreciated when it opened in March of last year.Yes, it was designed to sell freshly prepared ...
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Local Musicians
Nick D’Virgilio
D'Virgilio records his prog rock solo album
Roughly six years ago, drummer Nicholas D’Virgilio had a tough decision to make. He was weighing two career options: a chance to go on the road...
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National Acts
For King & Country
For King & Country to play live in Wabash
This may be the first summer in Indiana’s history when people who want to hear live music must go on a quest to find some. While it is true tha...
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Festivals & Events
GearFest 2020
Including Parsons, Rundgren, Rodgers
Here are just some of the performers and presenters who are scheduled to participate in this year’s GearFest. Alan Parsons His band, The A...
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Festivals & Events
GearFest 2020
Same excitement, but everything is streaming
In the summer of COVID-19, there are three strategies for dealing with the pandemic’s effect on long-planned events: reschedule them, cancel them, o...
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Festivals & Events
GearFest 2020
Meeting the challenge took preparation and testing
The process of moving GearFest online involved setting up a temporary video production and broadcast studio in the Performance Theatre.It was accompli...
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Destinations
The Year of the Drive-In Theater
Area locations try to serve their new fans
If someone predicted a year ago that 2020 would be “The Year of the Drive-In Theater,” you would have called them crazy.
In 2019, drive-in theat...
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Local Musicians
Musician Livestreams
Full-timers bridge the income gap with shows and benefit concerts
It isn’t easy to make a full-time living as a musician.
It’s hard enough in a city like Los Angeles. But it’s exponentially harder in a small t...
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National Acts
Phil Vassar
Top country musician plays Wagon Wheel
Phil Vassar is the Billy Joel of country music. But not just because he plays the piano.
Vassar is also an ace songwriter, one of country music’s f...
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National Acts
Mucca Pazza
Accordionist originally from Fort Wayne
Mucca Pazza is an Italian phrase meaning “Revenge of the Nerds.”
Actually, that’s a lie. Mucca Pazza means “Mad Cow.” That’s what an ecce...
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National Acts
Guitar Prasanna Band
Prasanna, band perform at PFW
When Indian guitarist R. Prasanna was still a mere boy, he figured out how to adapt one of his country’s vocal traditions to electric guitar.
It ha...
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National Acts
Crystal Gayle
The landmark venue in Wabash reopens after $18 million renovation
Growing up in Wabash, Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb) was a frequent visitor to the Eagles Theatre, which started as a vaudeville showplace in t...
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National Acts
Mandy Harvey
Harvey in town for GiveHear benefit show
Singer Mandy Harvey’s new album, Nice to Meet You, has a literary antecedent: Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
To be more precise, Harvey was ...
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National Acts
Eric Johnson
Johnson brings top-notch playing to The Clyde
Eric Johnson is one of the last of the Guitar Gods, a class of musician that lost steam in the 21st century.
Great new guitarists continue to material...
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National Acts
Jim Brickman and Melissa Manchester
Brickman, Manchester visit Van Wert Feb. 23
In 1989, Cleveland ad man Jim Brickman moved to Los Angeles to follow his muse and seek his fortune.
Like a lot of people who move to southern Califo...
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National Acts
Colin Mochrie and Asad Mecci
Wagon Wheel hosts two shows on Feb. 15
After he decided to shift careers from therapist to entertainer, hypnotist Asad Mecci took a course in improvisational comedy at Toronto’s famed Sec...
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National Acts
Allman Betts Band
Allman Betts Band performs at The Clyde
The guitarist who convinced Devon Allman to pick up the guitar was not his late father, Gregg Allman.
It was Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick.
“I never w...
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National Acts
Umphrey’s McGee
Their fans get to see them live at The Clyde
The fans of Umphrey’s McGee expect the band to screw up.
When Beyoncé screws up on stage, footage of the gaffe always goes viral and the accompanyi...
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National Acts
Darci Lynne Farmer
Darci Lynne to headline show at the Embassy
Darci Lynne Farmer is the new Edgar Bergen.
That sentence probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to some people. But if you have any interest in ventrilo...
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National Acts
Hannah Cohen
Cohen brings her first headlining tour to Rail
Three days after Hannah Cohen graduated high school, she moved from the west coast to the east. What brought Cohen to New York City was modeling. ...
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National Acts
Blue Öyster Cult
Classic band coming to The Clyde on Dec. 27
Buck Dharma sounds like the name of a chopper-riding, soap opera bad boy.
In real life, it describes a longtime guitarist and songwriter for Blue Öy...
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National Acts
Pauly Shore
Shore to bring his show to Freemasons Hall
People don’t choose comedy as a vocation. Comedy chooses comedians, according to Pauly Shore, who will perform at Freemason’s Hall on Dec. 30.
Of ...
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National Acts
Lonestar
Lonestar and Phil Vassar visit Van Wert’s Niswonger
Lonestar’s lead singer Ritchie McDonald grew up in a musical family. Just not a country music family.
His grandfather was a member of the Dallas Sym...
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Stage & Dance
Christmas Songs and Stories
The holiday season that runs roughly from Halloween to New Year’s Day is more stressful than joyous for many people, even when they have the best of...
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National Acts
The Oak Ridge Boys
Classic quartet brings holidays to Honeywell
The Oak Ridge Boys might be the most widely known group in country music history.
Everyone (regardless of their feelings about country music) knows t...
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Local Musicians
Holiday Pops
The Fort Wayne Phil presents Holiday Pops
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s esteemed Holiday Pops series is an essential feature of many Hoosiers’ holiday celebrations.
Planning and steering ...
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Local Musicians
A C2G Christmas
Smooth Edge 2 ready for traditional C2G show
There is an in-joke involved in the name of the Fort Wayne a cappella group Smooth Edge 2. After I tell you about it, you will be in on it, too.
When ...
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National Acts
DyLan LeBlanc
Hear exquisite songcraft at The Brass Rail show
Dylan LeBlanc spent part of his childhood in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with his musician father.
As a boy, he’d listened to the music other kids were ...
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Festivals & Events
Holiday Fest ft. Night of Lights
This year’s event rekindles traditions
The big news about Night of Lights this year has to do with the return of Wee Willie Wand.
It may not be common knowledge among Hoosiers born after 19...
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Stage & Dance
The Hobbit
Adaptation is being staged at Canterbury
There are several stage adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but only one that was approved by the author himself.
It was published in 1967 ...
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Stage & Dance
Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical
Playwright and composer Meredith Willson created four musicals in his lifetime.
Two were hits (The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown), one wasn...
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National Acts
Jackie Evancho
Evancho's sterling voice at the Honeywell
Singer Jackie Evancho grew up in the spotlight, so it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that she has developed a highly polished media persona and a w...
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National Acts
Chris Young
Chris Young tour visits the coliseum Nov. 21
Winners and finalists in TV singing contests are not guaranteed success in the music business. In fact, most contestants have a rough time capitalizin...
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National Acts
Dirty Heads
Dirty Heads longs for longevity in career
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 Suns...
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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
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
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
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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Festivals & Events
Fright Night
Organizers hope the centerpiece of Fright Night shuffles along
Almost one year ago, the unthinkable happened.
Fright Night’s Zombie Walk was canceled because of high winds and related weather.
“We battled wind...
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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
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
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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Stage & Dance
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Some people are resistant to Sondheim’s musical about a vengeful barber because of its subject matter.
Serial murder and cannibalism can come as qui...
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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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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
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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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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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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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
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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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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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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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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Art
Ron Campbell
In 1964, Australian animator Ron Campbell received a call in the middle of the night from TV producer Al Brodax.
Brodax wondered if Campbell wanted to...
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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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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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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
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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Festivals & Events
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Last month, American society was stymied by a quandary that required the mobilization of one of our nation’s top scientists.
Astrophysicist Neil deG...
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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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Stage & Dance
Mamma Mia!
To love a jukebox musical, you have to love what’s on that particular jukebox. In the case of Mamma Mia, currently being presented at the Civic Thea...
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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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Festivals & Events
Sol Fest
CANCELED ON ACCOUNT OF FLOODING
In 2017, Sol Fest was cancelled due to flooding on Fox Island.
The catastrophic emotional effect of this on devotees o...
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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
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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Festivals & Events
Jeff Corwin
I interviewed Jeff Corwin in 2001 when he was experiencing his first wave of fame, thanks to the Animal Planet program, The Jeff Corwin Experience. In...
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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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Festivals & Events
Fort Wayne TinCaps
One of the surprising things about all the activity in the front office of the Fort Wayne TinCaps is that most of it doesn’t have much to do with ba...
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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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Stage & Dance
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike was last presented here in 2015 at Arena Dinner Theatre. In that excellent production, Nanc...
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Festivals & Events
Under the Big Top
After years of black-tie fundraisers, the Community Harvest Food Bank decided to try something different in 2018.
The organization hosted “Boots an...
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Festivals & Events
Plan your St. Paddy's celebration
In 2017, Fort Wayne came in at number 26 on WalletHub’s list of the best places to spend St. Patrick’s Day.
It ranked ahead of such cities as Den...
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Festivals & Events
Spring Forward Fest
It was a festival whose time had come.
In fact, it’s a festival that was long overdue.
Sure, the first day of spring is three weeks away. But that m...
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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
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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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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Festivals & Events
John Cusack plus High Fidelity
Last year, the notoriously insular actor John Cusack was offered the chance to preside over public screenings of some of his most popular films.
Cusac...
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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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Stage & Dance
Swan Lake
It isn’t often that a 209-year-old ballet company comes to town. The Odessa National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of southern Ukraine is jus...
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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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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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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
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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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
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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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
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
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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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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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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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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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
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
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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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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Whatzup Picks
whatzup Pick
Frogapalooza may be the best “-palooza” ever devised.
It is the annual Eagle Marsh fundraiser: A celebration and subsidization of the wetland pres...
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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
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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Festivals & Events
Brewed IN the Fort
Mad Anthony’s first craft beer festival happened 20 years ago under a tent in a parking lot behind what used to be known as Munchie Emporium.
Unlik...
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Whatzup Picks
whatzup Pick
Ask a popular music experts to name the most successful tribute acts in history, and they are likely to cite the Dark Star Orchestra (which has channe...
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Whatzup Picks
whatzup Pick
In August and September, Headwaters Park seems to be a place where inaugural festivals that aim to become summer stalwarts get their auditions.
On Au...
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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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Whatzup Picks
whatzup Pick
When B.B. King died in 2015 at the age of 89, his musical immortality was assured thanks to dozens of albums and hours of video.
No one expected his b...
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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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Stage & Dance
Curtain Call
With “Newsies,” Disney (which has proved it can do almost anything) turned a failed film into a hit Broadway musical.
What’s more, “Newsies”...
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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
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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Whatzup Picks
whatzup Pick
Neil Hamburger is the most famous anti-comedian since Andy Kaufmann.
In stand-up comedy, the aim of anti-comedy or anti-humor is to get the audience t...
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Festivals & Events
Three Rivers Festival
This year’s Three Rivers Festival is the 50th annual edition, but executive director Jack Hammer has had to do the math over the phone with people ...
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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
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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Festivals & Events
Buskerfest
There's at least one thing that makes busking more difficult than any other kind of performing.
With busking, the "tickets" are purchased after the ...
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Festivals & Events
Gearfest
Sweetwater Sound’s Gearfest is not only unusual among music industry trade shows.
It is unusual among trade shows in general.
Most trade shows a...
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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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Movie Reviews
Solo: A Star Wars Story
While watching "Solo: A Star Wars Story," I kept thinking of a 1979 movie called "Butch and Sundance: The Early Years."
"Butch and Sundance: The Ear...
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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
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
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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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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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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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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Festivals & Events
Fort Wayne Pride
If you traveled back in time about two decades and told people that an LGBT pride festival in Fort Wayne would one day draw more than 10,000 attendee...
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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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Festivals & Events
GearFest
There may not be another event in the world quite like Sweetwater Sound's GearFest.
Most showcases of musical equipment, accessories and software a...
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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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Festivals & Events
Buskerfest
Launching an event called Buskerfest was a brave thing to do in Fort Wayne in 2009.
Busking, both the word and the practice, was virtually unknown ...
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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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Destinations
Sweetwater Sound
When renowned producer, engineer and music industry guru Mark Hornsby came to Sweetwater Sound more than four years ago to be its director of music p...
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Stage & Dance
Hal Holbrook
Actor Hal Holbrook, 91, has assayed the role of author Mark Twain on stage for more than 60 years.
He is, at present, 17 years older than Twain was...
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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
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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Festivals & Events
Hysterium
By the time that local haunted attraction impresario Brett Molitor acquired the Haunted Cave in 2013, it had largely abandoned its cave theme.
Molit...
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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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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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Festivals & Events
Brewed IN the Fort Craft Beer Fest
duction and letting the music seek its own path. He says "check this out." If you like it, great. If you don't that's fine too.
"We all grew up on hi...
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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
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
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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Festivals & Events
Fort Wayne Pride
When the Fort Wayne Pride festival debuted modestly in Freimann Square in the mid 90s, the Summit City was not widely perceived as a place where acce...
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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
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
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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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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Destinations
Piere's
It's hard to imagine Fort Wayne without Piere's Entertainment Center.
That doesn't mean that some local residents haven't inclined their imaginatio...
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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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Festivals & Events
Cherry Blossom Festival
The Cherry Blossom Festival, now in it's 11th year, has its roots in a neglected garden.
The Japanese Friendship Garden, at 303 E. Main Street, was ...
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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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Festivals & Events
Michiana Wine Festival
Nichole Thomas, Cristal Reader and Lisa Beber are three wine-loving friends who are willing to travel to indulge their passion for the fermented grap...
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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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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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Festivals & Events
8th Annual Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival
By Steve Penhollow
The Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival, in its eighth year, happens all day Saturday, March 18, at the Civic Theatre.
The fest...
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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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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
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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Writers & Books
Mark R. Hunter
In his teens, Mark R. Hunter dreamed of becoming a full-time firefighter and a bestselling author.
"By the time I was a sophomore in high school, ...
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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
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
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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