Billy Joel and Sting<\/b>
\nThe \u201cOne Night \u2013 One Stage\u201d Tour features a rare pairing of two of popular music\u2019s biggest stars. Billy Joel came to fame in the early 1970s; his mix of piano balladry and pop has helped make the NYC native both a critical and commercial success, with six Grammy awards and countless other honors. His 1985 Greatest Hits<\/i> collection is the second best-selling album by a solo artist in the history of recorded music. Merely one indicator of his superstar status, Joel has played Madison Square Garden more than 150 times. He\u2019ll appear with Sting. British musician Sting came to the public\u2019s notice as bassist and lead singer of The Police, one of the \u201880s biggest acts. Drawing from reggae and jazz, the group remained together from 1977 to 1984 (not counting occasional reunions), earning five Grammys and selling over 75 million records. When Sting went solo, he drew from an even wider set of influences, earning a dozen more Grammys along the way. (And yes, I know the tour has been canceled.)<\/p>\n
Lord Huron<\/b>
\nLos Angeles-based Lord Huron is an American indie folk band founded in 2010 by Ben Schneider. The group\u2019s sweeping sound provides the perfect backdrop for its cinematic storytelling. Originally Schneider\u2019s solo project, the group eventually coalesced around the lineup including Mark Barry, Miguel Brise\u00f1o, and Tom Renaud. The group gained early attention with a trio of extended-play releases, 2010\u2019s Into the Sun and Mighty, and Time to Run<\/i> in 2012. Lord Huron\u2019s full-length debut, Lonesome Dreams (2012) showcased the group’s signature blend of folk, rock and high-desert Western textures. 2015\u2019s Strange Trails (2015) was a commercial breakthrough, going Platinum (1 million units sold) and spawning a hit single in \u201cThe Night We Met,\u201d a track also featured on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why<\/i>. With the release of 2018\u2019s Vide Noir (2018), the band expanded its stylistic range to take in psychedelic flavors; while critics were impressed, sales dropped precipitously. Yet the group determinedly followed its muse: 2021\u2019s Long Lost took a quasi-conceptual directions, framing the album as a (fictional) radio show. Lord Huron\u2019s adventurous spirit looks to continue with the band\u2019s fifth and upcoming album, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1<\/i>, set for release in July.<\/p>\n
Revisiting Creedence<\/b>
\nOne of the most celebrated bands of the rock era, Creedence Clearwater Revvial was one of the great American singles groups. Though they never landed a #1 single, they came close, placing more than a dozen songs in the Top Ten. A major influence on roots rock, CCR released seven albums during their 1968-72 run; all but one earned Platinum status. The group split in acrimony, and for many years thereafter, leader and primary songwriter John Fogerty refused to play CCR songs in his solo concerts. Taking up the mantle of Creedence\u2019s beloved catalog, the band\u2019s rhythm section \u2013 lifelong friends Stu Cook (bass) and Doug \u201cCosmo\u201d Clifford on drums \u2013 launched a sort-of tribute\/legacy project, Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995. That group toured and released albums over a 25-year period, playing to enthusiastic and nostalgic audiences on five continents. When Cook and Clifford retired the group in 2020, guitarists Dan McGuinness and Kurt Griffey continued as Revisiting Creedence. With nearly three dozen live engagements already booked for this year, Revisiting Creedence is a testament to the enduring appeal of CCR\u2019s music.<\/p>\n
They Might Be Giants<\/b>
\nThey Might Be Giants are often funny; their songs are droll and clever. But it would be a mistake not to take them seriously. Starting in 1982 as the duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, TMBG scored with their quirky, literate approach. Tunes like 1987\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Let\u2019s Start,\u201d 1990\u2019s \u201cBirdhouse in Your Soul\u201d and their cover of the 1953 novelty song \u201cIstanbul (Not Constantinople)\u201d showcased a unique worldview, one that had a rock sensibility but often made use of non-rock elements. Today, nearly 40 years after their recorded debut, They Might Be Giants are still going strong. The group expanded to a full band several years ago, and in recent years has added a tight horn section (the current lineup is brilliantly showcased on their latest album, the live Beast of Horns<\/i>). With a deep catalog \u2013 nearly two dozen studio albums, half a dozen live albums that avoid serving up the same material again and again \u2013 TMBG is also notable for successfully taking the indie route before it was fashionable (or financially feasible) to do so. While most long-running bands tend to coast on past glories, TMBG is still making music that stands up against its very best work.<\/p>\n
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue<\/b>
\nGenre mashups \u2013 say, rap and metal \u2013 have long been a recipe for making fascinating music; the practice is now fairly commonplace. But what remains rare is the artist whose work effortlessly transcends genres, the artist who creates original music that draws liberally from various styles while avoiding any hint of dilettantism. At the front of that rather small pack is Grammy winning artist Trombone Shorty. Born Troy Andrews, the New Orleans-based artist got his musical start in his Trem\u00e9 neighborhood, where he was deeply immersed in the Crescent City\u2019s rich and deep musical culture. While his primary instrument is trombone \u2013 a horn primarily associated with jazz \u2013 Trombone Shorty\u2019s music explores blues, rock, pop, funk and hip hop as well. His body of work features more than a dozen albums under his own name plus extensive contributions to the work of others (LeAnn Rimes, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, CeeLo Green, Dierks Bentley, Maceo Parker, Rod Stewart, Galactic, etc.). At its core, Shorty\u2019s career celebrates American music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billy Joel and Sting The \u201cOne Night \u2013 One Stage\u201d Tour features a rare pairing of two of popular music\u2019s biggest stars. Billy Joel came to fame in the early […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29461,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29460\/revisions\/29461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}