Buck Owens was Buck Owens and nobody else was ever going to be Buck Owens. But after the country music legend died in 2006, the people running his legacy club, the Crystal Palace, needed someone capable of owning that stage the way Owens did.
Almost exactly a year ago, the vocal ensemble known as Meridian Voices and chamber group known as Synergy Chamber Players made their debut with an acclaimed performance of music by Norwegian composers Edvard Grieg and Ola Gjeilo, including the spectacular “Sunrise Mass,” a modern work that i…
Ever since "Riverdance," "Stomp" and Taiko drum acts first took to the road, stage productions featuring exotic music, dance and costumery have been a staple on the touring concert circuit. African Children’s Choir concerts share those same creative components, but in a more intimate, authen…
As the new year is now upon us, it appears everything old is new again. Three upcoming tribute shows will give truth to that axiom, offering local music fans a chance to experience the music of acts that will never — well, maybe never — perform again.
The Great 48 Jam, Bakersfield’s annual bluegrass jam and live music festival put on by the California Bluegrass Association, will open its doors at the Marriott Hotel downtown Thursday through Sunday. It’ll be a weekend full of pickers, pluckers, fiddlers and strummers roaming the hotel hall…
When the current Styx album, “The Mission,” arrived last June, it ended a 14-year run without an album of new original material from the veteran band.
In music, as in love, one plus one can add up to … not two but a new and greater one.
Musicians can be found in the strangest of places so it's no surprise that country music guitar icon Eugene Moles checked in from a special destination on Wednesday.
Take note: The Randy Rogers Band is prepared for anything.
This year, our live music contingent worked its hardest competing against shortening attention spans and people's “fear of missing out.” It’s tough to get people out of their homes and into a venue to have them catch a live show, and it’s even tougher to keep that attention once they get the…
Fiercely independent artists continued making strides in 2018, with a series of digital and vinyl singles, EPs, music videos and live shows, each produced with complete creative control.
What's in a name? Would an acoustic rock band by any other name sound as folksy? That's the question for Glitterfox, the acoustic rock duo of multi-instrumentalists Andrea Walker, 36, and Bakersfield native Solange Igoa, 27, formerly known as Bearcoon.
With all of his international acclaim and success, singer Gregory Porter could rightfully say all the world is his stage. But with the his upcoming benefit performance on Dec. 16 at the Fox Theater, he’s made a point to give back to the community he considers home.
When some of the world’s best studio and touring musicians have a little time on their hands during Christmas break, interesting things are bound to happen. What better way to celebrate the 65th edition of Guitar Masters than to feature “Christmas with The Cranktones,” on Dec. 13, at Buck Ow…
Hip-hop music and art collide in the heart of downtown Saturday for a one-night only clash of creativity at “Queendom: An Event Dedicated to Women, Hip Hop, Soul & Funk” at Sandrini’s.
Promising a Feliz Navidad unlike any Bakersfield has ever experienced, acclaimed group Mariachi Sol de Mexico will bring its popular "A Merry-Achi Christmas" show to the Fox Theater on Dec. 6.
One of the perks of covering local events is the kick I get in finding the odd ones that merit attention; the ones that deserve to be noticed but may have slipped through the cracks. One such show is happening at Cal State Bakersfield's Doré Theatre on Dec. 8 featuring Steam Powered Giraffe.…
Come sail away to the Fox Theater when Styx comes to town in January.
Looking for a Christmas gift for your favorite country music fan? Then act quick and snap up some of the remaining tickets to the Dwight Yoakam concert this Sunday at the Fox Theater.
Music is essential to the Advent and Christmas seasons, and it looks like as many Kern County performing organizations as possible are doing their best to give you every opportunity to enjoy some.
He was the first person to play the new World Records stage, and now Elvin Bishop and his Big Fun Trio return there Saturday in support of their latest album, “Something Smells Funky ‘Round Here.” For Bishop, Bakersfield, and the World Records venue itself, hold a special place for him.
Every semester Cal State Bakersfield puts on what amounts to a miniature music festival, presenting a lot of students performing the work they’ve been working on all term. It’s a great opportunity to see how talented local student musicians are.
It’s been a sweet decade of life, friendships and music for Dub Seeds.
Bakersfield Winds president Scott Smith said it’s good to be back home, and the all-wind music ensemble will celebrate that with the first concert of their 2018-19 season Monday at Valley Baptist Church's Olive Drive campus.
The Fox Theater is gearing up for some sweet Southern rock with the announcement that Needtobreathe will perform on April 10.
Otep Shamaya had never been shy about expressing her opinions in songs she wrote for Otep over the course of her band’s previous seven albums.
Brothers Osborne has a busy holiday season coming up, with the Grammy-nominated country duo hitting tour stops in Scotland, England and Wales before returning to the States in the new year. Among the recently added dates to the tour is a performance April 2 at the Fox Theater.
The Bakersfield Master Chorale will celebrate Veterans Day with a free concert honoring service men and women throughout American history Friday evening.
Aaron Lewis encountered his share of naysayers when he first dipped his toes into country music with his 2011 EP, “Town Line.” As the lead singer of Staind, Lewis was a star on the metal scene, and plenty of people dismissed his foray into country as a vanity project.
In 2017, Dustin Lynch had a career-making hit with “Small Town Boy,” a platinum-selling single that sat atop the country charts for a month. That song followed another chart-topping single, “Seein’ Red,” which was released in advance of his third album, “Current Mood.”
The student musicians of the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra have a really big year ahead of them.
The tracks are mixed, mastered and ready to roll, but for Liberty Roche there’s only one thing left to do: throw a party.
Explore the many facets of love this Friday with the Bakersfield College choirs, which will perform with internationally acclaimed soprano Hila Plitmann.
The grande dame of pipe organs in Bakersfield needs some TLC.
On Oct. 27, the African American Network of Kern County is taking jazz all the way to the top — the 12th floor, that is, by way of the Petroleum Club of Bakersfield in the Stockdale Tower building.
The Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. David Newby, will perform Oct. 28 with a concert of classic and contemporary works.
Venturing frequently from their home bases of Santa Barbara and Bakersfield, alt-rock trio Arlington understands the power (and sacrifice) of commuting. Formed out of the ashes of their former outfits — False Puppet and Hello Friday — members Tyler Benko (lead vocals, guitar), Channing Peake…
Audiences delight when world-renowned finger-style guitarist Richard Smith cuts loose. Having witnessed one of his live performances, fellow musicians and music lovers alike sing hymns of praise about Smith’s fretboard fireworks that will melt your heartstrings, start your toes tapping, and …
If you want to be entertained and challenged at the same time, plan on attending this season’s concerts by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra.
Blues music lovers will take over the sleepy city of Kernville this weekend when the eighth annual Kern River Rock ‘n’ Blues Fest rolls back for three days of music, camping and partying out of bounds.
Over the course of a career that includes 16 years fronting the David Crowder Band and now two albums as a solo artist (released under the name Crowder), David Crowder has gained a reputation as one of the more musically adventurous artists within the Christian music scene.
Dave Mason and Steve Cropper are two undisputed titans in the worlds of rock and soul. Both are members of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame (Cropper was inducted in 1992 as a member of Booker T. and & M.G.’s and Mason in 2004 as a founding member of Traffic), both were prolific sidemen, pr…
Bakersfield College music students participating in this weekend's Panorama Creative Music Summit are hoping to learn new things.
The tributes to Blaine Hodge, the man who saved a woman from a Sept. 9 machete attack at a Bakersfield Starbucks cafe, continue to come in.
If not permanently closed, longtime Bakersfield watering hole and music venue B Ryder’s is currently not open for business.
It's only fitting that emerging artists John and James Abrams kick off the 2018-19 season of Live @ The Harvey, the revamped Bakersfield Community Concerts series, which begins Sunday.
This weekend will no doubt be overshadowed by the towering goliath known as Village Fest. Our annual bacchanal where, for one night only, the city’s denizens are allowed to indulge themselves silly — but within reason — in all manner of food and drink for four hours.
To celebrate the one-year release of her California country mini-opus, “The Winner,” Celeigh Chapman has a special gift for fans to commemorate the occasion.
If you're in the market for residential property once owned by a Bakersfield country music legend but you found Merle Haggard's 3,600-square-foot abode just a tad too cozy, consider this option.
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