Thunder Valley Casino Resort will host Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson this Friday night, September 16 at 8 p.m. The event will take place in Thunder Valley’s Outdoor Amphitheater, an excellent venue for a fun night of country music. The country duo of John Rich and Big Kenny will perform this weekend as part of their Xtreme Musik tour. The show will be one of just a couple of shows in California before the tour heads north. Grammy, CMA, ACM and AMA award winner Gretchen Wilson is paired with Big & Rich for the evening. Wilson has been co-headlining the tour since it began in mid-June. The pairing is ideal considering the numerous collaborations among the three of them. “Fake I.D.” is one

No, Murder by Death is not a screamo or metalcore band. But the band does explore some dark themes, like revenge, the devil and drinking away your troubles with whiskey. Taking their name from the 1976 Robert Moore/Neil Simon film of the same name, the four-piece rock band from Bloomington, Ind., takes their listeners on a ride through a "country gothic" soundscape, led by the powerful Johnny Cash-meets-Nick Cave baritone of frontman Adam Turla. Armed with galloping punk-country, somber themes and interesting concepts — their 2003 "Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?" is an album about the devil being shot in a small, Western town and the aftermath that follows — this show ha

Country music fans came out in droves on Sunday night to see superstar duo The Judds perform at Arco Arena. The iconic mother and daughter team of Naomi and Wynonna Judd drew approximately 6,500 predominantly female fans to Arco, selling out the seating layout for this particular performance. It has been more than 10 years since the The Judds toured last, and this current outing – “The Judds: The Last Encore" – is being billed as their final reunion. The pair opened with “Had a Dream” and followed with Judds classics “Girls' Night Out” and “Love Is Alive.” Here are some photos from the show:     Naomi Judd greets a fan in the front row. Wynonna Judd Naomi Judd Photos by Steven C

PHOTO REVIEW ONLY Alan Jackson headlined tonight (November 4, 2010) at Arco Arena with opening acts Chris Young and The Band Perry.   Photos by Marc McLaughlin   Marc McLaughlin is a Contributing Writer and Photographer with Sacramento Press  

It's hard to write about Chris Isaak without making at least one Elvis Presley reference. After seeing him at Thunder Valley Casino and Resorts outdoor stage it is obvious that he doesn’t do anything to discourage these references; especially with a look and swagger like Elvis, voice similar to Elvis and an uncanny ability to work the audience the way Elvis did. Chris is not Elvis, but his persona and performance surely have benefitted from the Kings popularity. It was the late 1980s when Chris Isaak first gained fame with his hit, ‘Wicked Game.’ However, it was his fifth album ‘Forever Blue’ that made Chris the star he is today – the album was credited with an amazing sound track that

Capital Public Radio’s Annual Used Record & CD Sale will be held Saturday and Sunday June 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year’s sale will once again take place at the Howe ‘Bout Arden shopping center, 2100 Arden Way, Suite 172 in Sacramento. The Annual Used Record & CD Sale offers music and movies for hugely discounted prices. Last year, approximately 1,000 people took advantage of the great deals on vinyl records, DVDs, audio books, videogames, and more. There are diverse formats of audio and other entertainment to choose from in a variety of genres. From LPs to CDs, video games, and VHS to Blue Ray DVDs, all types of media have been collected over the past months All musical gen

The Crest Theatre is a sit-down venue. The Avett Brothers are a stand-up-and-stomp-your-feet band. It came as no surprise that halfway through the final song of their set list on Tuesday night, many in attendance exploded from their seats and rushed the stage, raucously dancing out the remainder of the song as well as the encore that followed. I noticed upon entering the Crest that the sold-out crowd spanned several generations, a testament to the band’s blend of styles and a validation of my choice to bring my parents to the show (which saved me some serious money). After the opening act, Truth and Salvage Co. – not a bad band, but not particularly noteworthy -- my mom and I shared a gl

For those who enjoy blues, country, jazz and a little unconventional flavor in their music, two men, who’ve had a longstanding reputation of providing just that, are in town. This Friday at 7 p.m., Harlows Restaurant and Nightclub of downtown Sacramento is featuring the acoustic duet Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of the renowned and well-traveled band, “Little Feat.” Local singer songwriter Kate Gaffney will open the show. The group’s frontman Barerre, considered by many to be the heart and soul of the band, joined “Little Feat” three years after it was formed in 1969. And from there, the Hollywood native joined a cast of guys who, 38 years later, find themselves still living the dream.

Local Americana musicians Richard March and Tyler Ragle are not afraid to get political. Their new song "Gold Star Café" includes a café conversation about politics, praises for President Obama and criticism of the public for not being involved enough in politics. "Thank God this young man got the vote/But he alone won't save this boat/Gonna take 'all hands' to get her right/So we can sleep at night," March writes. Saturday at Javalounge, the local country-influenced folk duo will play a CD-release concert for their five-song EP Kings and Thieves, their first release as a duo. Davis-based singer-songwriter Nat Lefkoff will open the show. March lived in the Bay Area until age 30, when h

It was a combination of a songwriting workshop and heartbreak over a girl that jump-started Americana singer Elliot Randall's career. "I think that every songwriter gets into songwriting because of a girl," he said. "Songwriters can write about heartbreak all day long if (they) experience it." Heartbreak or not, Randall has made a name for himself in a relatively short time. Since his debut album, Take the Fall, came out in 2007, he's had the chance to open for some of his childhood heroes: Creedence Clearwater Revisited and the Steve Miller Band. On Friday night, at the Fox and Goose Pub, Randall and his four-piece band will play the first concert of a California tour that he is co-hea

Country singer Wanda Jackson first picked up rock and roll when she was barely out of high school and on tour with Elvis Presley, when the soon-to-be King of Rock and Roll convinced her to try the brand new style. And although she scored more than 30 country hits between 1954 and 1973 — as well as a number of Top 40 hits like rockabilly tune, "Let's Have a Party" — Elvis's advice to her has had lingering impact. On April 4, Roseanne Cash inducted Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and on Wednesday, April 15, the so-called "First Lady of Rock 'n' Roll," now a seasoned 71, is returning to Sacramento to rock the house at Old Ironsides. The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15.

Thanks to my 14 year old son Patrick's pleading & my passion to partake in live music, he my wife & I headed down to San Francisco last Saturday (2/28) to take in a show featuring Hank III (The grandson of the late great Hank Williams), along with openers "Those Poor Bastards".  What a great evening of fun, family & live music!  The show was held at a new venue to me;  the Regency Grand Ballroom, which is a wonderful spot near the Civic Center area, on Van Ness Avenue.  The hall is one of those old school S.F treasures, a beautiful room, wood floors, high onamental ceilings & walls,  chandeliers & a warm feeling that is hard to explain, but immediatly understood.  There is a perimeter bal

  "Girl meets girl. Girl becomes boy. Girl and boy become a band," and this Wednesday, that band will play in Sacramento, at Marilyn's on K street. Sacramento native Joe Stevens and his partner Ingrid Elizabeth are two halves of the folk/routes duo Coyote Grace. Stevens and Elizabeth formed Coyote Grace after spending several years playing music together in Seattle, where Stevens attended Cornish College of the Arts. They released their first album, Boxes and Bags, in 2006, and soon after embarked on an 11-month, 37-state tour to promote it.   The pair traveled in a 1978 Chevy RV, affectionately named "Harvey the RV," playing music wherever they could and living the lives of modern-day