Seven local musicians are getting together at Old Ironsides this Friday to not only pay tribute to music legend Sam Cooke but also help with the Haiti earthquake relief effort. "Havin' a Party: A Tribute to Sam Cooke" was originally going to be just a show about Sam Cooke until concert organizer Jerry Perry saw the destruction in Haiti from the Jan. 12 earthquake. Perry decided to put on a benefit show to help. "When things like this happen, we like to try to put together relief shows," said Perry, who also organized relief benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11. "Whatever money we can raise through the door, we're going to take and give it to the Red Cross," he said. The

Since the advent of radio, MTV and the iPod, personalized playlists and hit singles have taken precedence over the once popular trend of listening to an album as a whole. A recent trend, however, seems to suggest that the album as an art form is coming back. Last month, Steely Dan played a different classic album each night during three back-to-back concerts in San Francisco. This month, Sacramento music fans will be able to hear three classic albums in their entirety: Wednesday, Todd Rundgren will play his 1973 album, A Wizard, A True Star at the Crest Theatre; Saturday, a handful of Sacramento bands will play The Clash's 1979 album London Calling at Old Ironsides; Saturday, Dec. 12, Th

Promoter Jerry Perry confirmed with The Sacramento Press Wednesday that the remaining three shows scheduled for End of Summer Fest have been canceled. According to Perry, the first two shows did not draw nearly enough people, resulting in a loss of money. In fact, the shows were about 2000 people short for the event to even break even, Perry said. "Attendance was about half of what I call 'break even,'" he said. "[During Concerts in the Park] there were times when we had over three times as many people." As a last ditch effort, Perry tried to relocate Friday's show featuring The Secretions to Old Ironsides, but the band declined the offer. The Secretions, a Sammie Lifetime Achievement Aw

"Country" music means different things to different people. To Rowdy Kate lead singer Keri Carr, it means feeling at home. She recalled that during her childhood, her father was a cowboy who rode horses and bulls and listened to country music. After her parents divorced, Carr and her mother moved away, distancing her from her father. "I missed him a lot when I was growing up," she explained. "It feels like home to me when I sing country music." Friday night, Rowdy Kate will bring the "back home" country spirit to Concerts in the Park. The band will headline a show that also includes Hellbound Glory and Flounder (click links for MySpace). Hellbound Glory members describe themselves as, a

The Brodys bring more than musical instruments to their Concerts in the Park shows: They also bring props. They like to up the entertainment value of their shows by bringing a little something extra. One year, they brought a fake 30-foot shark to go with a beach theme. Another year they brought in a Brodys cover band who played the band's instruments while the group listened from the beer garden. Once, they brought the entire Cal Aggie Marching Band to play a song with them. "Every year we raise the bar for ourselves; we can't just go back to showing up and playing," said The Brodys' lead singer Tony Brusca. "People coming out will get good music and chuckles, too." This year they will

 The season of free Friday evening concerts in Cesar Chavez Plaza at 10th and J streets in downtown Sacramento, a summer tradition, just got a bit longer. Promoter Jerry Perry, who has been arranging the multi-act shows, all featuring local musicians, since 1997, just got permission from the city to extend the concerts another five weeks. And this time, Perry will be in charge of the whole event, over the five-week series. Called “End of Summer Fest,” it will begin when the current series of concerts ends on Aug. 14. “I’ve always felt that the season ends too soon,” he said by phone Tuesday. “But I was never completely in charge before.” The shows are generally sponsored by the Downtow

 “These guys are nuts. I really hope no one throws up. Care for some hamburger with your water?” I thought to myself as I watched eight men sitting in a row, stuffing Jim-Denny’s half-pound hamburgers down their throats, one of who proceeded to dip his half-eaten burger and patty into a cup of water between bites.   On the stage behind them stood the emcee, Sacramento's local music guru Jerry Perry, with a mic in hand, watching with everyone else to see who would clean his plate first.   Pedro Alarcon won the Jim-Denny’s superburger-eating contest at 3 minutes and 41 seconds. Perry handed him a T-shirt for his accomplishment and suggested the rest of the men take their leftovers home.

The first scheduled concert of Sacramento's 'Concerts in the Park' series may or may not occur tonight depending on the rain, according to concert organizer Jerry Perry.   The bands Sol Peligro, Retrograde Revolution and La Noche Oskura are scheduled tonight to play the first of 15 series lined up for this summer's concerts, held every Friday evening at Cesar Chavez Plaza. If it rains, Perry said the series will begin next Friday, and an extra concert will be scheduled Friday, August 14, to make up for tomorrow’s cancellation.   This is the 18th year that the Downtown Sacramento Partnership has hosted the concerts, which are free and open to all ages. The plaza is located at 10th and J