The Chameleon Club has always cast a wide net when it comes to snagging musical talent for the small stage tucked inside a nondescript building in downtown Lancaster. Over the years, the club has hosted hundreds of bands — veterans acts and up-and-comers, soft-spoken folkies and scream......

Anyone who listens to, loves and appreciates the art of rock 'n' roll owes a debt of gratitude to Les Paul. Upon his death Thursday at age 94, news outlets issued obituaries — one appeared on the front page of the New York Times — crediting him with changing the course of......

For the first time in years, Marcy Playground is booked solid. More than a decade removed from the band's initial success — a self-titled debut album yielding the contagious, slacker-pop anthem "Sex and Candy," which ......

Standing (and playing) in the Gap: Cancer Aid concert to benefit 4 families OK, it's time to Rock & Roll with Rios & Roberts, the two guys who do their best to keep you up to date on the local music scene. Good music for a good cause. The ninth annual Cancer Aid concert and be......

FRIDAY-SUNDAY: Just how into music are you? If today's pop music has you constantly switching radio stations, you might want head to Camden, N.J. this weekend for WXPN's annual XPoNential Music Festival. WXPN is a non-commercial station out of the University of Pa. that's dedicated to di...

Times are tough. But music soothes the soul. So Efrem Yates wants you to "forget your troubles and get happy" at the second annual Musser Park Music Fest from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 27. "Life's not that bad," said Yates, 49, of Lancaster. "Come o......

All Mark Mullins wants is a little respect for his instrument — the trombone. Tired of hearing lame jokes about the horn and its distinctive slide, Mullins and his band mate, Craig Klein, set out to raise the trombone's hipness quotient. Those who show up Sunday at Long's ......

It's Feb. 2, 1959, a chilly night in Clear Lake, Iowa. But inside the Surf Ballroom, the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens are heating up the place with their hits, "Chantilly Lace," "That'll Be the Day," and "La Bamba," among many others. The Winter Dance Party was about half-......

Coldplay signaled the seriousness of its intent when it enlisted Brian Eno to produce its fourth album. Rock bands don't hire Eno if all they're interested in doing is staying the course and not upsetting the commercial apple cart. Bands hire Eno if they want to take some chances and......

OK, here's what's happening on the local music scene. -Lancaster's newest musical act got a chance to perform on Lancaster's newest musical venue last Friday. Chrisie Santoni and Craig Smith — aka The Billies — moved to Lancaster last Friday from Point Pleasant, N.J., only to f......

The six-member "organic" rock band, Ripe, celebrates its growth at Bube's Brewery this weekend, when the mixed bag of musicians returns to host their second CD release party, less than a year and a half after releasing their first one. The CD, "Red Fox Reunion," was born......

Joe Cocker remembers getting stoned in Italy — literally. Cocker made the mistake of skipping one of his signature songs during a concert. "People get a bit upset when I don't do their favorites," Cocker says during an interview from his home in Colorado, where he......

BY JON FERGUSON Staff Writer Deryck Whibley believes injury sabotaged Sum 41's last album. The Canadian pop-punk band was adjusting to life as a threesome when it released "Underclass Hero" in 2007. Guitarist Dave Baksh had left the band the previous year and the rema......

For a couple of guys with first-level geek credentials, Jim Eno and Britt Daniel of Spoon make surprisingly cool music. Drummer Eno used to make his living as an electrical engineer. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Daniel worked as an a......

Even before the first LAUNCH Music Conference closes Sunday, organizers are planning for the event to become a permanent fixture in Lancaster."We're taking registrations for LAUNCH 2010 already," organizer Jeremy Weiss said. "We've also been working with Downtown Inv......

Hotel Brunswick will be the hub of central Pennsylvania's music scene beginning April 16 when LAUNCH Music Conference kicks off four days of instructional seminars and live entertainment at several downtown venues.Organizers Jeremy Weiss and Rick Gadd said LAUNCH (Logical Advice & ......

Looking back over his 30-year career, singer Eddie Money is realistic: The great adventure, he said, was a mixed bag. "The truth is, being a rock star almost killed me," Money said in a telephone interview from a pizza parlor in Plainedge, N.Y. "I mean, I got to play Madison Square Garden......

Ask singer and AC/DC megafan Tony Charles about his favorite album from the Australian heavy-metal pioneers and he'll sidestep the question: Choosing just one album, he says, is impossible. "People don't realize ... when you're......

To the radio-listening public, Steve Winwood is best remembered as that guy who had a string of sleek pop hits in the mid-1980s: "Back in the High Life Again," "Roll With It," "Valerie," "Higher Love."......

This year's Top 10 stretches across genres and generations: from rap to jazz, from old, established groups that sound new, to new groups that sound old. Here are my picks, with honorable mentions to follow.

10 "Accelerate&quo......

It happens every time the Sharks get together to rehearse for a reunion show. "We have the best time," says lead guitarist and vocalist Steve Wettig, known as Steve Zero during the heyday of the Sharks back in the 1980s. "We'll talk about how we should go back on tour and ......

On a rainy night in December of 2005, Lancaster roots-rock band Slimfit played its final show at the Chameleon. This week, they play there again. It seems this was one breakup that didn't stick. In a roundabout way of celebrating the third anniversary of their final show the group shares th......

Rob Eaton was a Deadhead in good standing. "I probably saw about 400 shows. I didn't necessarily want to go to them all, but I didn't want to miss the one where it all came together," says the rhythm guitarist. "Everyone was there for the same reason. The music wasn......

CONCERT REVIEW

It's a joke that's been around at least as long as classic rock groups from the '60s and '70s have been reuniting. When the singer says "here's a song from our new album," he or she might as well say "everybody go and get ......

Didactic Art
Works of the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design faculty, including this photograph by Scott McMahon, will be on display Monday, Nov. 24, through Jan. 9 during the Faculty Biennial exhibit. The show features artwork of more than two dozen instructors. For m......

THURSDAY: As bands go, rock/alternative country band Everclear is no exception. The longer its history, the more its configurations. Everclear's current lineup — founding member Art Alexakis (lead vocals, guitar), Davey French (guitar), Sam Hudson (bass), Josh Crawley (......

The North Museum is probably not a place you'd expect to hear U2, Pink Floyd, The Beatles or Shania Twain. But they will be blasting through the planetarium during Laserpalooza, running Friday through June 1. No, it's not a huge rock concert camping out at the museum. It's a se......

The first time Gregg Barley saw a live concert, the tickets were free, the band was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and the venue was The Chameleon Club. The show was "a blast" and Barley, then 21, started visiting the Chameleon so often, "I don't think I cared who was playing, ......

If you plan to catch the High Court at the Chameleon next week, be prepared to hang out. This emerging band is all about getting its music out to new audiences one friend at a time. "After a show, we always encourage people to come to the merch table and hang out, whether they want to buy ......

Few bands have been better named than the Mavericks. The band stormed out of Florida in the early 1990s and found a home in Nashville, where it became one of the most successful acts of that time. The Mavericks, led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Raul Malo, whose tenor is one of the best v......