Only the very best, gifted, and talented musicians are invited by Kern County's unofficial musical ambassador, Rick Kreiser, to perform here in Bakersfield.

It is a joy every year to mark the return of the Advent organ recitals at First Presbyterian Church.

The Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. David Newby will perform a holiday concert on Dec. 9.

Usually, the name Mariachi Sol de México would bring to mind visions of warm sunshine and drinking margaritas on a veranda somewhere. However, this Dec. 8 at the Fox Theater, Mariachi Sol de México and José Hernández will evoke a different kind of warm festivity with "A Merry-Achi Christmas"…

Traditionally, the night before Thanksgiving has been one of the busiest nights of the year for the local entertainment and service industry. Not only do we get an influx of folks coming home to visit family and friends, many of them revisit their old haunts as well. These returning pilgrims…

If you were to be asked what artist is the best-selling Christmas artist, answers would invariably range from Elvis Presley and Bing Crosby to Mariah Carey, Josh Groban or Kenny G.

The Christmas season will be in full swing next week with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra's annual holiday concert.

Musician Samantha Fish is definitely one to subvert expectations.

Black Jacket Symphony will return to the Fox Theater to bring another classic rock album in its entirety for music fans on Feb. 23.

Although the honky-tonks where the Bakersfield Sound was forged in whiskey and Western swing are long gone, treasured relics of the past remain.

Bakersfield, don't stop "Believin'" that you can see Journey in concert. The 1980s rock band is playing Mechanics Bank Arena on April 22.

Country artist Walker Hayes' latest release, "Country Stuff the Album," the follow-up to last year's EP "Country Stuff," basically works as a Rorschach test for country music fans and works, for the most part, by enthusiastically embracing its own humor and frailty.

Enjoy the big-band sounds of Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, and Count Basie on Monday for the Bakersfield College Jazz Studies program's fall concert.

Latin Grammy nominee Jose Hernandez and his world-renowned Mariachi Sol De Mexico return to the Fox Theater on Dec. 8.

The Bakersfield Symphony returns for its latest concert on Saturday with award-winning pianist Fei-Fei Dong as guest artist

Blues singer Sugaray Rayford returns to Bakersfield this week, again playing at World Records.

Andrew Duhon, who is coming to the Bakersfield Museum of Art on Thursday, has been compared to John Prine and a younger version of Van Morrison.

Get back to nature this Halloween weekend with an evening by the river.

Southern Californian pianist Jason Stoll will join the Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra for its fall concert on Sunday.

While traveling through Germany for one of the final shows before The Dangerous Summer returned to the United States for its current fall tour, the band's bus broke down, causing a bit of chaos and necessitating a trip by train to Hannover for that evening's gig.

For its fall choral concert, Bakersfield College's Performing Arts Department took inspiration from the words of Bruce Lee, who was as much a philosopher as a legendary martial artist.

Listening to Karla Bonoff's music, I was struck by an immediate realization: "These songs are really good." Pretty soon, another realization occurred: "Wait, I've heard this song before."

On Sunday, Meridian Voices will hold the concert "Guakia baba: The Music of Raymond Torres-Santos."

From punk to a pandemic project, John Doe's music runs the gamut. Check out his latest endeavor, the John Doe Folk Trio, when it plays Pyrenees Cafe on Tuesday.

While David Caploe is not in any danger of losing his main gig as the front person for the opulently moody local band Hate Drugs, he's also not one to limit his artistic expression to one outlet either.

On Saturday, the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra will open its 91st season with a night of beautiful music with world-class talent.

Hoping the worst of the year's heat is behind us, Bakersfield is ready to enjoy outdoor performances again.

As someone born in the fall, October to be precise, I look forward to entering this time of year. Temperatures cool off and the colors in nature change into shades that reflect the season's subtle melancholy.

It will be an afternoon of joy this Sunday as Banshee in the Kitchen kicks off the 16th season of the Dukes Memorial Concert Series.

Enjoy tunes from some of your favorite film's soundtracks with the "Hooray for Hollywood" concert on Sunday.

Bakersfield is lucky to be home to many talented musicians who share their expertise with those still learning.

The Bakersfield Californian

With a string of massive hits in a career spanning over 40 years, British band UB40 is arguably reggae music's greatest global ambassador this side of Bob Marley.

Revisit the rise of the Los Angeles punk rock scene with a special screening on Saturday.

Those headed out to The Marketplace to enjoy the latest in the Concerts by the Fountain series should note a change in schedule.

When word got out in 2020 that Koe Wetzel had signed a major label deal with Columbia Records, he heard it from some of his fans who were worried that this would spell the end of Koe Wetzel as they knew him.

A longtime hit maker, Buck Owens' most prolific period was undoubtedly the 1960s, when he accumulated numerous Top 10 hits with 19 of them reaching the No. 1 spot on the charts.

This Thursday's Lost 80s Live concert (now in its 20th year) is catnip for a Gen X 1980s music lover like me. I mean, this is the music of my youth, including Musical Youth who is scheduled to perform.

August is ramping up with live events, the result of building enthusiasm over the last two years from folks genuinely grateful to be able to step out and enjoy themselves.

Hard work is paying off for students of Bakersfield College's Jazz and Commercial Music Academy with the release of an album of their work.

Big girls don't cry but Frankie Valli fans might with the news that his concert, set for Aug. 21 at Mechanics Bank Theater, has been canceled.

ModernDayRome's latest EP, "LOVE, MODERN," is a bold, smoldering release that highlights his evolution as a songwriter and musician from his earlier releases. It does what any true artistic statement of purpose should do: Give the listener a glimpse as to what's going on in the artist's hear…

The New York City-based trio doesn't stay on stage much longer than a half-hour, which on the current tour is enough time to play some of "Dog Whistle," the band's current full-length album, last year's three-song EP "Survive," the new single "Loose Talk," plus a couple of older tunes.

Fans of the Bakersfield Sound are in for a treat this week. Rising star band The Soda Crackers is partnering with three living legends of Bakersfield’s rich musical legacy for a benefit concert.

When guitarists/singers Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald started Slightly Stoopid in 1994, they were out front of a second generation of bands that wanted to build on the reggae-rock sound starting to take hold thanks to the success of groups like Sublime, 311 and, to a lesser extent, No Doubt.

That's what you get for, Bakersfield, for being such a big fan of Paramore. The rock band just announced it will kick off a small fall tour Oct. 2 at Mechanics Bank Theater.

Some of the best events come about through the passions of their organizers. That is certainly the case with the Bakersfield International Music Festival, which began its third season on Monday at Cal State Bakersfield.

Sacramento-based local musician NineFingers, aka David Tetz, recently released "XLove," an EP that was engineered and recorded by Kyle Appleton at his home studio, NashWest Productions, which has been on a good run lately.

On July 22, Bakersfield College will host Resound, a drum and bugle competition bringing together some of the country’s best corps.