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Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Even eight albums later, country crooner is still exploring musical styles and challenging himself
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
POSTED: 03:06 p.m. EST, Nov 18, 2009
Tonight, the Akron Civic Theatre will play host to hunky country singer/songwriter Gary Allan and his band, as their Get off on the Pain tour will be in town.
Allan may not be a multiplatinum-selling crossover star like some of the folks for whom he's opened, including Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban, but since his 1996 debut, Used Heart for Sale, Allan's career has been on a steady climb with a string of hits, such as Right Where I Need to Be, Smoke Rings in the Dark, Best I Ever Had and the No. 1 you-should've-treated-her-better single, Man to Man.
The native Californian got his start as a Bakersfield country-inspired, neo-honky-tonker who can wrap his unvarnished, raspy tenor around a ballad with the best of them.
Allan's current tour finds him in that awkward place where many artists who are hard-core road dogs find themselves — playing music from his two-year-old album, Living Hard, with a new album, Get off on the Pain, recorded, ready and waiting for release.
So far in concert, Allan has only played the album's title cut and the lead single, Today — a big string-laden ballad that finds Allan again lamenting the wedding day of a lover he let go. For Allan, waiting until the album's scheduled February 2010 release to play its other songs is a constant battle.
''We have the same conversation every year in rehearsal,'' Allan said by telephone from Nashville. ''We learn a whole bunch of them and then I say, 'We can't go out there and play a bunch of songs that people don't know and can't buy when they're here to hear the hits.' ''
Though he's eight albums into his career, Allan said he tries to expand his sound and challenge himself musically. On Get off on the Pain, fans will find a more reflective side of the singer and will hear his inner rocker unleashed.
''I always want to go someplace new and do something that I haven't done and stretch myself,'' he said. ''That's my goal. I think you have to keep changing or else you won't stay. Otherwise, it gets boring.''
To that end, Allan said fans can expect a bit more of a ''rock edge'' on his next album, due in part to the energy and infusion of youth in his audiences. Allan also said he has been trying to step up his songwriting and has co-written about half of the tunes on the album.
While he's a hard-working performer, when it comes to songwriting, he admits to a bit of laziness.
''It's just forcing myself to [write songs]. There were a lot of times when I just didn't do it, so I sort of grabbed some of my favorite co-writers and booked a bunch of time to sort of force myself to do it. Otherwise, I'll just sit around and smoke pot all day and get nothing done,'' he said, laughing.
While his career has been growing, Allan experienced great tragedy when his third wife Angela, whom he wed in 2000, committed suicide in 2004 after suffering from migraines and untreated depression.
Allan poured his grief into his music in songs such as I Just Got Back From Hell and We Touched the Sun.
Allan, father of three daughters from his first marriage, has also been a favorite of female country fans. He was named one of country's sexiest men in a 1998 People magazine list and was voted country's second sexiest man in Country Weekly's 2008 poll. But his apparent magnetism was a bit too much for a stalker who vandalized his home and was issued a restraining order.
''You know I've never been good at talking about stuff like that, but oddly enough, I've been thankful for stuff like that because I remember when [his first record label] Decca Records folded, I was in People magazine as one of the sexiest men and that's all I had to talk about for two years until I could get another record deal up and going,'' he said.
''But, yeah, those things usually make me uncomfortable and, God, I could live without the stalker thing. That was one of the creepiest things I've ever been a part of. . . . Growing pains of fame, I guess.''
Jazz up your night
OK, jazz fans. You never know how long these opportunities last, so if you're looking for some live jazz, you may want to gather all your jazz-loving buddies and head to Kari's, 1099 E. Tallmadge Ave. in Akron, at 9 tonight, when local jazz saxophonist Carson Barnes and his quartet will be performing and hosting an open jam session.
Barnes recently returned from an extended stay in Europe, where he jammed with musicians in Paris and Enshede (that's in Holland) and recorded a double CD of toe-tapping hard bop called The Jassman Cometh.
Recorded with pickup groups, it includes beloved jazz standards such as Sonny Rollins' Oleo, Wayne Shorter's Footprints, two versions of Miles Davis' Four and a couple of Barnes' originals.
While the Carson Barnes Quartet is the anchor of the evening, all jazz musicians are invited to sit in and jam with the band throughout the night.
Hard-core bowling
So you've been wondering how to mix your two favorite things, bowling and punk-infused rockabilly?
Well, Magic City Lanes bowling alley in Barberton and RumbleDaddy have done it for you.
Starting at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve, the trio will be performing its ''hits,'' including Truckstop Pornoshop and Pukin' in the Parking Lot, at the bowling alley.
It seems like a pretty good match, as the band members seem to favor matching bowling shirts, and their revved-up ''Psychobilly'' sound should inspire folks to hurl those balls down the lane with considerable force.
Super Bowl plays it safe
So, you probably know by now that the Who will perform at the Super Bowl, further dwindling the list of safe classic rockers suitable for a garish half-time show.
As much as I don't miss some of the curious combo platters the NFL served up in the '90s and early '00s (''Blues Brothers,'' ZZ Top and James Brown, anyone?), those shows were at least always an adventure. The NFL's current commitment to safe and suitable classic rock sure is getting pretty boring.
Who's next? (No pun intended.) Crosby, Stills, Nash & (maybe) Young? The Eagles? Grand Funk Railroad?
Here's my prediction of the Who's set list: Who Are You, Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again.
Zzzzzzz.
Who knew Janet Jackson's bejeweled nipple had enough power to completely change the way the NFL books its halftime show five years later?
Good thing Jackson's malfunctioning wardrobe didn't expose more, or we'd probably be watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Rock-A-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham at halftime.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Details
• What: Gary Allan
• When: 7:30 tonight
• Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St.
• Tickets: $28, $38
• Information: 330-945-9400, http://www.akroncivic.com, http://http//www.ticketmaster.com
• What: Carson Barnes Quartet
• When: 9 to midnight tonight
• Where: Kari's, 1099 E. Tallmadge Ave.
• Tickets: $5
• Information: 330-283-2972
• What: RumbleDaddy
• When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: Magic City Lanes Bowling Alley, 193 Wooster Road N., Barberton
• Information: 330-753-6910
Tonight, the Akron Civic Theatre will play host to hunky country singer/songwriter Gary Allan and his band, as their Get off on the Pain tour will be in town.
Allan may not be a multiplatinum-selling crossover star like some of the folks for whom he's opened, including Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban, but since his 1996 debut, Used Heart for Sale, Allan's career has been on a steady climb with a string of hits, such as Right Where I Need to Be, Smoke Rings in the Dark, Best I Ever Had and the No. 1 you-should've-treated-her-better single, Man to Man.
The native Californian got his start as a Bakersfield country-inspired, neo-honky-tonker who can wrap his unvarnished, raspy tenor around a ballad with the best of them.
Allan's current tour finds him in that awkward place where many artists who are hard-core road dogs find themselves — playing music from his two-year-old album, Living Hard, with a new album, Get off on the Pain, recorded, ready and waiting for release.
So far in concert, Allan has only played the album's title cut and the lead single, Today — a big string-laden ballad that finds Allan again lamenting the wedding day of a lover he let go. For Allan, waiting until the album's scheduled February 2010 release to play its other songs is a constant battle.
''We have the same conversation every year in rehearsal,'' Allan said by telephone from Nashville. ''We learn a whole bunch of them and then I say, 'We can't go out there and play a bunch of songs that people don't know and can't buy when they're here to hear the hits.' ''
Though he's eight albums into his career, Allan said he tries to expand his sound and challenge himself musically. On Get off on the Pain, fans will find a more reflective side of the singer and will hear his inner rocker unleashed.
''I always want to go someplace new and do something that I haven't done and stretch myself,'' he said. ''That's my goal. I think you have to keep changing or else you won't stay. Otherwise, it gets boring.''
To that end, Allan said fans can expect a bit more of a ''rock edge'' on his next album, due in part to the energy and infusion of youth in his audiences. Allan also said he has been trying to step up his songwriting and has co-written about half of the tunes on the album.
While he's a hard-working performer, when it comes to songwriting, he admits to a bit of laziness.
''It's just forcing myself to [write songs]. There were a lot of times when I just didn't do it, so I sort of grabbed some of my favorite co-writers and booked a bunch of time to sort of force myself to do it. Otherwise, I'll just sit around and smoke pot all day and get nothing done,'' he said, laughing.
While his career has been growing, Allan experienced great tragedy when his third wife Angela, whom he wed in 2000, committed suicide in 2004 after suffering from migraines and untreated depression.
Allan poured his grief into his music in songs such as I Just Got Back From Hell and We Touched the Sun.
Allan, father of three daughters from his first marriage, has also been a favorite of female country fans. He was named one of country's sexiest men in a 1998 People magazine list and was voted country's second sexiest man in Country Weekly's 2008 poll. But his apparent magnetism was a bit too much for a stalker who vandalized his home and was issued a restraining order.
''You know I've never been good at talking about stuff like that, but oddly enough, I've been thankful for stuff like that because I remember when [his first record label] Decca Records folded, I was in People magazine as one of the sexiest men and that's all I had to talk about for two years until I could get another record deal up and going,'' he said.
''But, yeah, those things usually make me uncomfortable and, God, I could live without the stalker thing. That was one of the creepiest things I've ever been a part of. . . . Growing pains of fame, I guess.''
Jazz up your night
OK, jazz fans. You never know how long these opportunities last, so if you're looking for some live jazz, you may want to gather all your jazz-loving buddies and head to Kari's, 1099 E. Tallmadge Ave. in Akron, at 9 tonight, when local jazz saxophonist Carson Barnes and his quartet will be performing and hosting an open jam session.
Barnes recently returned from an extended stay in Europe, where he jammed with musicians in Paris and Enshede (that's in Holland) and recorded a double CD of toe-tapping hard bop called The Jassman Cometh.
Recorded with pickup groups, it includes beloved jazz standards such as Sonny Rollins' Oleo, Wayne Shorter's Footprints, two versions of Miles Davis' Four and a couple of Barnes' originals.
While the Carson Barnes Quartet is the anchor of the evening, all jazz musicians are invited to sit in and jam with the band throughout the night.
Hard-core bowling
So you've been wondering how to mix your two favorite things, bowling and punk-infused rockabilly?
Well, Magic City Lanes bowling alley in Barberton and RumbleDaddy have done it for you.
Starting at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve, the trio will be performing its ''hits,'' including Truckstop Pornoshop and Pukin' in the Parking Lot, at the bowling alley.
It seems like a pretty good match, as the band members seem to favor matching bowling shirts, and their revved-up ''Psychobilly'' sound should inspire folks to hurl those balls down the lane with considerable force.
Super Bowl plays it safe
So, you probably know by now that the Who will perform at the Super Bowl, further dwindling the list of safe classic rockers suitable for a garish half-time show.
As much as I don't miss some of the curious combo platters the NFL served up in the '90s and early '00s (''Blues Brothers,'' ZZ Top and James Brown, anyone?), those shows were at least always an adventure. The NFL's current commitment to safe and suitable classic rock sure is getting pretty boring.
Who's next? (No pun intended.) Crosby, Stills, Nash & (maybe) Young? The Eagles? Grand Funk Railroad?
Here's my prediction of the Who's set list: Who Are You, Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again.
Zzzzzzz.
Who knew Janet Jackson's bejeweled nipple had enough power to completely change the way the NFL books its halftime show five years later?
Good thing Jackson's malfunctioning wardrobe didn't expose more, or we'd probably be watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Rock-A-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham at halftime.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Details
• What: Gary Allan
• When: 7:30 tonight
• Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St.
• Tickets: $28, $38
• Information: 330-945-9400, http://www.akroncivic.com, http://http//www.ticketmaster.com
• What: Carson Barnes Quartet
• When: 9 to midnight tonight
• Where: Kari's, 1099 E. Tallmadge Ave.
• Tickets: $5
• Information: 330-283-2972
• What: RumbleDaddy
• When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: Magic City Lanes Bowling Alley, 193 Wooster Road N., Barberton
• Information: 330-753-6910
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