PNC Park fans love Billy Joel just the way he isVideo
It had been six years since Billy Joel last played a concert at PNC Park when he showed up at Pittsburgh’s baseball palace Thursday night. But Joel hadn’t forgotten what his fans wanted from him and did he ever give it to them. “Good evening Pittsburgh. Long time no see,”...
Westmoreland community-band members combine for patriotic concerts
Musicians representing five Westmoreland County community bands will perform patriotic concerts at the Flight 93 Memorial and in Gettysburg this month. “Sitting beside people you don’t know, pulling out a sheet of music and giving a beautiful performance is the thing I love most,” said Patti Marco, an Allegheny Township...
3 major concerts, 4 nights — Pittsburgh readies to rock
Pittsburgh baseball fans may not be satisfied with the amount of pyrotechnics provided by the Pirates at PNC Park this season, but Steel City rock and roll fans will surely be satisfied with the musical fireworks the ballpark has in store over the next week. The coming days feature the...
Smokey Robinson surging at 82, with biopic and 2 new albums pending: ‘Retirement doesn’t work for me!’
There is a very sound reason Motown music legend Smokey Robinson doesn’t perform “The Impossible Dream,” the classic song of hope and self-affirmation from the 1965 Broadway musical, “Man of La Mancha.” “Being able to have a musical career was my impossible dream. I always wanted a musical career, but...
Blairsville band joins Beasts of the Burgh rock show at Mr. SmallsVideo
There’s a reason why Nashville is called “Music City USA.” As the center of the country music industry, and with one of the nation’s most vibrant, competitive music scenes, it can create an intimidating situation for a band making its first trip to Tennessee’s capital. Don’t tell that to Mike...
North Huntingdon-based pop-punk band On Your Nerves anticipates release of new album
Caleb Andrykovitch has been singing ever since he could talk, and over the years, music has “always been present” in his life. Now, as lead vocalist for the North Huntingdon-based band On Your Nerves, Andrykovitch, 19, and his bandmates are looking forward to the release of their new album, “Brace...
Latrobe Art Center offers WQED’s new creative music program for kids
Children from kindergarten through grade 4 can explore music in creative ways through a new program from WQED Education. “Lead With Music” will be held 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Aug. 12 at the Latrobe Art Center, 819 Ligonier St. Participants will listen to and learn about different styles...
Dolly Parton among Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy winners
NEW YORK — Country superstar Dolly Parton, who made a big donation to help fund coronavirus vaccine research in 2020, is among this year’s Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients. Also being honored are Dallas entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, from the Oklahoma investment...
Violent Femmes coming to Mr. Smalls in Millvale
If you’re one of those music fans who enjoys singing along to “Blister in the Sun” then you’ll likely be happy to know that Milwaukee’s Violent Femmes are coming to the Pittsburgh area in October. The folk punk band will play Mr. Smalls Theater in Millvale on Oct. 6 at...
Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ is a landmark expression of Black joy (and you can dance to it)Video
LOS ANGELES — Consider the wiggle released. When Beyoncé told fans about her seventh solo studio album, “Renaissance” — and let’s just say right here that as far as seventh albums go, this one feels like as big a swing as “Born in the U.S.A.” or “Ray of Light” or...
Sting coming to Pittsburgh with PSO
Grammy Award winner and Kennedy Center honoree Sting will perform his greatest hits with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January, the PSO has announced. Music fans know Sting – born Gordon Sumner — as the front man for the ’80s new wave band The Police from 1977 to 1984 before...
Judy Collins brings 1st all-original album to Pittsburgh’s Byham TheaterVideo
At 82, Judy Collins attained a career milestone. Her latest album, “Spellbound,” released Feb. 25, is her first collection of all-original songs. She’ll perform selections from the album — along with favorites and deep cuts from a catalog spanning 60-plus years — during “An Evening With Judy Collins,” at 7...
North Huntingdon’s Aubrey Burchell wows ‘America’s Got Talent’ judges in teaser videoVideo
North Huntingdon singer Aubrey Burchell has been teasing fans about her upcoming appearance before the judges on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Now the date is set — she’ll debut on the Season 17 episode airing at 8 p.m. Tuesday. NBC just released a YouTube video that shows the 21-year-old wowing...
Pittsburgh punk rockers Anti-Flag release new video ahead of 2023 albumVideo
Punk rockers Anti-Flag announced their new album, “Lies They Tell Our Children,” will be released next year. The veteran band from Pittsburgh also debuted their new single and video for “LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE.” on Friday. The song features singer Shane Told from Silverstein. ”The album itself is the first...
How does Bonnie Raitt ease the pain in fraught times? By singing songs and watching animal videos
MINNEAPOLIS — The pain in Bonnie Raitt’s voice was palpable over the phone. Not the I-Can’t-Make-You-Love-Me agony, but the life-as-we-know-it-is-getting-so-hard suffering. The reversal of Roe v. Wade for women’s rights, the war in Ukraine, voting rights restrictions, the murder of George Floyd, climate change and the surge in gun violence,...
Former ‘American Idol’ winner Scotty McCreery put in the hard work to make it as a country singerVideo
Winning “American Idol” at 17 was a good thing for country singer Scotty McCreery, but it didn’t mean he had it made. “I think it also made you have to prove a little bit more to the doubters — like you weren’t just a karaoke singer, you’ve got something to...
Elton John, Britney Spears to drop new version of ‘Tiny Dancer’
Hold ’em closer. “Tiny Dancer” is getting an audio makeover thanks to a reported collaboration between its original singer and co-writer Elton John and Britney Spears, a source in the industry told People. Lovers of the 1972 hit — featured prominently in one of the most memorable “Almost Famous” scenes...
How queer indie-pop trio Muna made the most of a 2nd chance
LOS ANGELES — Ask any music or fashion aficionado: Between low-rise jeans, thundering nu-metal bass lines and the renaissance of Britney Spears, Y2K nostalgia is taking off. Yet not all Y2K throwbacks need reviving, say the members of Los Angeles indie-pop trio Muna. Between the ubiquity of rape jokes in...
Joe Grushecky set to rock out at Allegheny RiverTrail Park
Legendary Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky will hit the stage Friday in Aspinwall for an evening of blues and soul sure to get audiences movin’ in their seats. The concert is part of the Rock the River series, the park’s annual summer shows, aimed at bringing stellar musical performances to the...
Cyndi Lauper says ‘Kinky Boots’ offers hope for a new time
NEW YORK — Three years after it closed on Broadway, the musical “Kinky Boots” returns to New York City. The show may not have changed, but the country has. The Cyndi Lauper- and Harvey Fierstein-created musical landed on Broadway in 2013 in the middle of the Obama administration, a big...
The Shins’ mastermind James Mercer, 51, reflects on his band’s 2001 debut album: ‘I get the chills’
You can take the young American out of England. But, even after four decades, you can’t take England out of the now not-so-young American. That is very specifically the case for James Mercer, the mastermind and sole original member of indie-rock favorite The Shins. He is now leading the latest...
Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow top MTV VMA nominees
LOS ANGELES — Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow are top contenders with seven nominations at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. MTV announced Tuesday that Lil Nas X and Harlow earned multiple nominations for their collaborative hit “Industry Baby,” which is nominated for video of the year....
Free JamBrewzle music festival set at Latrobe brewery
Playing at various festivals over the years, musician Derek Woods of Hempfield had a vision for creating one of his own. “I always wanted to start a festival that had a semi-circus theme to it,” said the front man for the Derek Woods Band. The dream became a reality when...
Westmoreland Symphony’s chamber music series returns to Unity Chapel
Following outdoor dates during the pandemic in Hempfield Park, Westmoreland Symphony’s Summer Chamber Music Series returns to its longtime home in Unity Chapel for two performances. The series opens at 7:30 p.m. July 28 Thursday with the Pittsburgh-based Beo String Quartet, familiar to WSO audiences from previous appearances. The quartet...
Greensburg music studio strives for an inclusive, welcoming vibe
The Greensburg-based Practice Makes Perfect Music Studio offers an array of classes, from piano and strings, to reeds and brass, to voice and percussion — including the boomwhacker, a hollow plastic tube tuned to a specific musical pitch by its length. “The only thing we don’t have — and we’re...
