Rock n Roll

Did you know that the Howard County Parks and Recreation Department have been sponsoring summer concerts? I didn't or, if I heard about it, I promptly forgot about it. My wife, Jennie, and I, along with her mom, Jennie Thompson, went to one of the concerts back on Aug. 6.  

Darius Rucker may be one of the few people who turned to country music and only then decided to stop wearing a cowboy hat. "I wore a cowboy hat with Hootie for the last six years we played," Rucker said, referring to his first band, Hootie and the Blowfish. "But coming over to country, I consciously decided not to do that over here."

I wore a cowboy hat with Hootie for the last six years we played   -Darius Rucker

 

When the last decade began, Levon Helm was voiceless and nearly homeless. The Band's drummer, whose treasured drawl gave soul to rock 'n' roll classics such as "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," was fighting several battles. Throat cancer had taken his voice.

You got to pick one -- pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can't do both, and I'm no different   -Levon Helm

 

With the Van Halen song Jump reverberating over the loudspeakers, a speedboat pulls three daredevil "Ramp Masters" at 35 miles per hour. Clearing an incline, they fly through the air — one performing a front flip, one a gainer (back flip) and the third doing a "heli" or twirl in the air. "The ramp is only 14 feet wide and 51/2 feet tall," says the emcee Peter Fernandez, in a rolling DJ voice.  

Lincoln. Kennedy. King. They're only the tip of the iceberg of figures who had the potential to change everything -- and yet were cut down before they could finish what they started.  

He is the face and lips of the Great American Rock 'n' Roll band, but as dynamic as he can appear onstage with Aerosmith , Steven Tyler is a terrible choice for a new judge on " American Idol ." Why? He's too damn old.  

Fans of Friday Night Live know what's in store as the series closes out its season this weekend with Motown Night. Horizon is an annual favorite, drawing one of PRIDE's biggest crowds as it revisits The Four Tops, The Temptations and other favorites. "I had been touring with the Former Ladies of the Supremes, and working with everyone from Dennis Edwards and Mary Wilson and Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin — so many different people — when I decided to put together my own tribute group in 2002," ...  

It probably wouldn't surprise anyone to know that growing up, Rob Zombie dug the imagery and music of the 1970s darker rock acts. What might surprise folks is that Zombie says he was just as influenced by some of the less sinister sounds that were popular during his formative years. "It was the whole scene of the music when I was coming up [that influenced me]," he tells Spinner.

It was the whole scene of the music when I was coming up [that influenced me]   -Rob Zombie

 

In their wildest dreams Nikolas James and brothers Chuck and Tony Casella never imagined they would ever share a stage with the "greatest rock 'n' roll band that ever existed." But the three MetroWest musicians who make up the band Tester will open today for their idols, KISS, the legendary rockers with painted faces at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. James, the band's bassist, said, "I can't explain how awesome it feels." "I can't believe it. I've been to at least a hundred KISS concerts. ...