Decades after forming Prince cover band, CAPA alumni lead tribute concert at Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Once up a time nearly four decades ago, Dwayne Fulton of Pittsburgh and his Creative and Performing Arts High School classmates Brian Edwards and Stan Howard started a band with the lofty goal of covering music by funk and R&B legend Prince. In the 1980s, Howard changed his first name...
New York jazz trio’s newest songs named for Pennsylvania disaster townsVideo
To call Moppa Elliott’s approach to music composition “loose” might be an understatement. The Pennsylvania native is a music teacher at Information Technology High School in Long Island City, N.Y., and the bassist for jazz collective Mostly Other People Do the Killing, which will perform in Pittsburgh on Feb. 23...
Boom in vinyl records goes bust for bands facing delays in manufacturing
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s favorite recording artists are starting to pay for the resurgence of vinyl. That includes the Cactus Blossoms, who released a new album last week and are anxiously returning to the road to promote it after two years of tour postponements from covid. One more problem, though: Vinyl...
Halftime Review: Dre, Snoop and friends deliver epic showVideo
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Dr. Dre & Co. took the weight of the hip-hop culture on the Super Bowl stage, shouldered the pressure from skeptics and delivered a strong halftime show to prove that edgy rap can work at the world’s biggest sporting events. All it took was hip-hop’s most controversial...
Eddie Vedder blasts off with new solo tour and album, ‘Earthling,’ while gearing up for Pearl Jam reboot
Can anyone top Eddie Vedder when it comes to fostering unlikely musical convergences that span generations, let alone being a key link between The Beatles and Ramones? That is — to invoke the title of an obscure 1997 Pearl Jam song — hard to imagine. In 2002, Vedder inducted the...
Pittsburgh Opera season promises something for every taste, budget
There’s a misconception that opera is only for those with rarefied musical tastes and deep pockets. Pittsburgh Opera will prove otherwise with offerings in its 2022-23 season, according to general director Christopher Hahn. “We’re continuing the philosophy and mission of Pittsburgh Opera to provide as wide a range of operatic...
Pittsburgh funk music icon Betty Davis remembered: ‘She was bold’
Family members, friends and fans are remembering the public and private sides of pioneering funk musician Betty Davis of Homestead. The cult figure and subject of a 2017 documentary, “Betty — They Say I’m Different,” died Wednesday at 77. To her niece, Cheana Mabry of Carrick, she was the quiet...
Chris Young leads Academy of Country Music nominations
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country star Chris Young combined his skills as an artist and a producer to earn seven nominations at the Academy of Country Music Awards, including album of the year and single of the year. The show’s co-hosts Jimmie Allen and Munhall native Gabby Barrett announced the nominations...
Singer Jimmy Mowery from ‘The Voice’ to perform at The Mall at Robinson
Music is a lot more than notes and harmonies to singer Jimmy Mowery. It’s a way to honor his late father who was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day when Mowery was 11 years old. He turned to music to heal, a career his father gave up to get a...
River City Brass wraps 40th-anniversary season with spring programs
River City Brass will wrap up its 40th-anniversary season with a series of spring concerts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. “This will be the end of a season post-pandemic with all concerts live and in-person,” said artistic and general director James Gourlay, who also conducts the ensemble. March will mark...
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre postpones ‘Aqualung’ show at The Palace
Martin Barre, the longtime guitarist for progressive rock band Jethro Tull, has postponed his upcoming concert at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre: “Aqualung” 50th Anniversary Tour, originally set for 8 p.m. Thursday, has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. March 23. All tickets for the original performance...
Billie Eilish, her mom donate plant-based meals to Pittsburgh nonprofit
Billie Eilish’ s “Happier Than Ever” world tour isn’t just about feeding each city with good music. It’s about nourishing the people there. too. Before Eilish’s Tuesday performance at PPG Paints Arena, the singer supplied food to 412 Food Rescue, a Pittsburgh-based organization that prevents food from going to waste...
Greensburg Civic Theatre stages multi-award-winner ‘Rent’
Edward Bostedo loves “Rent” so much that he has a lyric from the musical tattooed on his leg. When Greensburg Civic Theatre needed a director for its upcoming production of the multiple award-winner, he applied right away and was accepted. Though the Delmont resident has been directing community theater for...
Spotify CEO says canceling Joe Rogan isn’t ‘the answer’
Joe Rogan has put Spotify in a tough spot, but the streaming giant is not ready to part ways with the popular podcast host despite intense criticism over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and use of racial slurs. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also said in a message to employees Sunday that...
Joe Rogan’s use of racial slurs adds to pressure on SpotifyVideo
NEW YORK — Joe Rogan’s mouth has put Spotify in a tough spot. Anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and racial slurs on some episodes of his popular podcast are forcing the streaming service to weigh difficult choices. Spotify must decide where it stands on race relations and vaccine misinformation in a society...
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre revisiting ‘Aqualung’ album at Palace Theatre
Martin Barre, the longtime Jethro Tull guitarist, was skeptical when it was suggested he do a 50th anniversary tour for the band’s iconic “Aqualung” album. “I rejected (the idea) immediately,” he said. “Bands go out and say they’re gonna do an entire album, and essentially most albums don’t suit being...
Juneteenth celebration will expand to Market Square, feature voting-rights forum
War is coming to Pittsburgh this summer. But it’s not the kind with tanks and guns — it’s the kind with guitars and drums. Legendary funk-soul band War will headline the 2022 Western Pennsylvania Juneteenth Homecoming Celebration, announced this week for June 17-19. And while last year’s Juneteenth celebration at...
Natrona Heights native Jimmer Podrasky releases 1st Rave-Ups album in 3 decadesVideo
Having left the Alle-Kiski Valley behind in the early 1980s, Natrona Heights, Harrison, native Jimmer Podrasky doesn’t miss the weather headed Pittsburgh’s way this weekend. “It’s been 40 years since I’ve driven in that kind of weather, and it still haunts me,” said Podrasky, 64, now a Los Angeles resident....
Dolly Parton to host Academy of Country Music Awards
Country music icon Dolly Parton will be hosting this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, bringing her star power to the show’s new streaming home on Prime Video. Parton, along with soon to be announced co-hosts, will emcee the new format for the awards show, which will...
Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie among Rock Hall nominees
NEW YORK — Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran and A Tribe Called Quest are among this year’s first-time nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Cleveland-based institution announced 17 artists and groups being considered for Rock Hall induction, including Rage Against the Machine,...
On hold with Excela? A Pittsburgh man wrote that songVideo
Most telephone callers waiting on hold with the Excela health system are likely preoccupied with something other than the music they hear. Even so, they may find themselves lightly tapping their feet to the plaintive acoustic guitar and plucky overtones of “Excela Theme,” a song written specifically for the Westmoreland-based...
Why more musicians haven’t joined Neil Young’s Spotify boycott over Joe Rogan
For those following certain parts of Twitter during the last week, it would have been easy to come away with the impression that Spotify was facing a mass exodus of artists protesting covid-19 vaccine misinformation on Joe Rogan’s immensely popular podcast. When Neil Young pulled his music from the Swedish...
Rihanna is pregnant, debuts bump on stroll with A$ap Rocky
NEW YORK — Rihanna and A$ap Rocky took an epic stroll over the weekend in snowy New York to reveal she’s pregnant with her first child. Despite the frigid temperatures, the 33-year-old “Diamonds” singer and fashion mogul showed off her bump in a long open pink coat and jeans as...
Joe Rogan vows to ‘balance things out’ after Spotify misinformation controversy
Popular Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan on Sunday night responded to allegations of misinformation on his audio program, pledging to do a better job of balancing different perspectives and putting more time into researching topics. “I’m going to do my best, but my point of doing this is always just to...
Greensburg band to provide Groundhog Day music in Gobbler’s Knob
Greensburg’s Derek Woods Band will provide the musical backdrop for this year’s Groundhog Day festivities Feb. 2 at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney. And if the past is any indication, Woods and his band members had better start layering their clothes now. “The sets we played were limited to about 10...
