IN THE NEWS:
Photos of Cyndi Lauper live in concert on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at the House of Blues in Boston during her "From Memphis to Mardi Gras Tour."
Photo highlights from all three days of the 11th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Friday - Sunday, September 30 - October 2 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The event's lineup featured such names as Chris Isaak, John Prine, Dr. John, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Kris Kristofferson & Merle Haggard, Gillian Welch, Broken Social Scene, Blind Boys of Alabama, Bob Mould, Bright Eyes, M. Ward, Fitz and the Tantrums, and even Buckethead among others.
Beloved indie folk singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco and her band are in the home stretch of a tour that began last fall. The tour has covered a lot of ground, having kicked things off on the East Coast, followed by a U.K. trek after the holiday season, and then back to North America with a run of dates along the West Coast.
The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held Monday night (3/14) at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, switched it up a bit this year. Rather than mix musical performances in with the induction ceremony, the awards were presented first followed by a concert featuring honorees, presenters and others.
SoundSpike's Song of the Day for Tuesday (1/18) is "Just Another Rider" off "Low Country Blues"(Rounder), Gregg Allman's first solo album in 14 years.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame officially announced the class of 2011 inductees Wednesday (12/15) -- Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love -- adding Leon Russell in the sideman category and Specialty Records' Art Rupe and Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman under the heading of non-performers.
Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love will be inducted as the class of 2011 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to the industry website Hitsdailydouble.com.
For a man who says he can't remember yesterday, Dr. John has a considerable handle on the history of pop music, starting at the end of the 19th century with Jelly Roll Morton and continuing through Tin Pan Alley, the early days of rock 'n' roll, and up through the modern definition of funk.
