The Mojo is Workin' for RON YAROSZ and the Vehicle
By Jenna Croyle

This week’s featured Band of the Week is Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle, one of Erie’s foremost funky blues bands, and the only band in Erie that boasts a 565-pound Hammond B3 organ.

As the front man of this high energy band, Ron Yarosz shows off his many talents playing both the electric harmonica and the Hammond B3 organ, not to mention being the lead singer.

The Vehicle covers a wide range of Straight ahead blues to sometimes-psychedelic Improvisational jams. They specialize in doing modern versions of blues standards, always putting their own spin on the song.

The Vehicle has released three CDs over the years that include "The Vehicle" in 2003, "What It Is" in 2007, and a very special release that was recorded during an actual show at Nelson’s Tavern called "Live at Nelson's" in 2010. That year The Vehicle performed regularly at Nelson’s Tavern, which was established by Bob Nelson the original founder of the Docksider Tavern. Much like his original creation, Nelson’s Tavern quickly became known for the best music and the best times on State Street. The Vehicle also is featured on the sound track of the locally produce film, Hunting Camp.

Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle have played the Pittsburgh Blues Festival three times and is the two-time winner of the Pittsburgh Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania's Blues Challenge first in 2006 and again in 2010. By winning the local contest, they qualified for a spot in the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge which was held February of 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee.

In August of 2010, The Vehicle had the unique honor of opening for Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue at the Erie Art Museum’s Blues and Jazz Festival.

Sugar Blue recorded his Grammy-winning Hidden Charms album in 1989, has performed on festival stages with classic artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Art Blakey and Lionel Hampton. Sugar Blue sat in with Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and Jerry Lee Lewis for the Cinemax special, Fats Domino and Friends, and has appeared on screen and in the musical score of Alan Parker's acclaimed 1987 thriller Angel Heart, starring Robert De Niro.

Blue has played and recorded with musicians ranging from Willie Dixon to Stan Getz to Frank Zappa to Johnny Shines to Bob Dylan and is perhaps best known for his signature riff and solo on the Rolling Stones' hit Miss You from their Some Girls album.

As no stranger to fame himself, in 2008 Ron Yarosz was a finalist in Guitar Player Magazine's Guitar Superstar Competition. In October of 2010, Ron Yarosz was proclaimed a “Harmonica and B3 maestro” by Beale Street Caravan, which is the most widely, distributed Blues radio program in the world that attracts more than 2.4 million listeners each week.

The band takes much of it musical influences from many artists such as Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Carlos Santana, Led Zepplin, "T-Bone" Walker, Jerry Garcia along with the immortal band the Grateful Dead and the legendary B.B. King to name only a few.

The band members include Ralph Reitinger on bass, on drums is Ron Sutton and on guitar is one of the most electrifying young guitar players to hit an Erie stage in years, Eric Brewer. One of the amazing accomplishments of this 26-year-old musician was being a finalist of Guitar Player Magazine’s Superstar competition in 2008.

If you are interest in checking out Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle please visit the bands website www.thevehicleband.com for show details.

In Memoriam: Ronnie James Dio

One of the truly signature voices of hard rock and heavy metal was silenced May 16, when the inimitable Ronnie James Dio passed away from stomach cancer. His enormous voice, which had near perfect pitch and could growl, howl, and moan as well as croon and roar above a band playing at full throttle, was instantly recognizable no matter who he played with. Born in New Hampshire, in 1942, and raised in New York, Dio literally spent his life in rock & roll. He began performing in rock & roll and doo wop groups in the 50s. The recorded evidence is on the single “Lover”/”Conquest,” by Ronnie and the Redcaps issued in 1958! Dio was a multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, guitar, piano, drums, and even trumpet. In 1967 he and his cousin formed the Electric Elves, who later transformed themselves into the hard boogieing party band Elf, in which Dio sang and played bass. The band was discovered by Roger Glover and Ian Paice, who took them on the road to open for Deep Purple. When Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975 to form Rainbow, Elf became his backing band, but shortly thereafter only Dio remained. It was a stormy but creative partnership. Rainbow stormed the charts with tracks that bore Dio’s signature vocal, including the immortal “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Stargazer.” Dio wrote or co-wrote many of the band’s songs and served as its chief arranger.

Dio left Rainbow in 1978 to front Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osborne left. He recorded two studio albums with the legendary unit, including Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. Unsatisfied with the band’s direction, Dio left to form his own self-monikered group with Vinny Appice (drums), Jimmy Bain (bass), Vivian Campbell (guitar), and Claude Schnell (keyboards). He wrote, arranged, and sang, and held complete creative control over the band. Given the time period — 1982 — the dawn of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and MTV’s newfound power in breaking acts, the arrival of Dio couldn’t have been better timed. The original band issued four classic albums and a slew of singles, including “Holy Diver” “Sunset Superman,” “All the Fool Sailed Away,” “The Last in Line,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” and others; they sold literally millions of records. The videos for “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children,” “Holy Diver,” and “The Last in Line” helped to define ’80s metal as a prime video medium.

Dio rejoined a new version of Black Sabbath for 1992’s Dehumanizer and left again to perform on his own with a revolving cast of musicians — including Yngwie Malmsteen. Dio reunited with original Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler (drummer Bill Ward dropped out early due to “musical differences” and was replaced by Vinny Appice). The band renamed itself Heaven and Hell and recorded the stellar Live from Radio City Music Hall. Released in 2007, it received universal acclaim and sold well. In April of 2009 the band released its lone studio album The Devil You Know. After returning from a long tour, Dio was diagnosed with cancer in November. He aggressively fought it with multiple chemotherapy rounds and other aggressive treatments. His health appeared to be improving at the beginning of the year and Heaven and Hell planned on returning to the stage for a spring and summer tour. Dio’s health took a turn for the worse in the early spring and Heaven and Hell canceled their touring plans just after releasing a split single with Metallica for Record Store Day in April of 2010.

Dio was a true rock & roll icon; his enormous talent as a vocalist and songwriter seemed to refute age rather than be dissipated by it. He will be missed by not only fans of hard rock, but also by those whose respect he gained from over 50 years in the trenches.

Paul Simon Finds Renewal and Redemption at the Fillmore in San Francisco

Paul Simon surprised many of his fans when he decided to tour intimate theaters this spring. But when he announced a series of club dates around those shows, well, he surprised just about everyone.

Fittingly, then, when he took to the small but storied stage of the Fillmore in San Francisco on Wednesday night, he had a number of surprises in store. But they didn't come in the form of the setlist -- at least, for the most part. With the exception of 'Proof' and a few switch-ups, it was pretty much the same show he's been touring since April 15. The surprises came within the songs themselves -- from old classics like 'The Obvious Child' to brand new cuts like 'Rewrite,' Simon tweaked the arrangements just enough to defy expectation. 'Hearts and Bones' had new flamenco flourishes, '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' knocked on the door of the house of smooth jazz, 'Slip Sliding Away' settled into some kind of new shuffle, even the brand-new title track 'So Beautiful or So What' (which he introduced with a shout-out to his wife, Edie Brickell, who watched from the balcony) packed a different punch than the one delivered on the album. He had a way of making old songs sound new, and new songs sound familiar.

The one constant? Between the lyrics and the melody and the rhythms -- oh the rhythms! -- Simon and his band were just so good.

The San Franciscan audience showed their appreciation by being uncharacteristically quiet during the songs and, then, uncharacteristically loud during the applause. Of course, during key moments such as a cover of Jimmy Cliff's 'Vietnam' or the Beatles' 'Here Comes the Sun' -- or even during his own 'Late in the Evening' -- there was visibly more pot smoke in the air than has probably been in seen at a Paul Simon concert since the 1970s. But, then again, he doesn't play the Hangout Music Festival for another few weeks, so we'll see if that record keeps.

All told, Simon didn't say much, except to introduce the songs, the band, say thanks and not much more. But he didn't need to. He's one of the rare legends that doesn't have to turn to nostalgia to make 30-year-old classics sound as fresh as his brand new ones...and his brand new ones as relevant as his 30-year-old classics. If Simon has been, lyrically, looking for redemption as of late, well, musically, he found it at the Fillmore on Wednesday.

Shirelles and Dionne Warwick Sue New Broadway Show

The producers of a new Broadway musical about the 1960s girl group The Shirelles have been hit with a lawsuit charging them of pilfering the names and likenesses of the original members.

Singer Dionne Warwick, who is also portrayed in the show "Baby It's You", joined the legal action which was filed in New York Supreme Court a day before Wednesday's opening night.

Three of the four women -- surviving member Beverly Lee, who owns the trademark to "The Shirelles" name and the estates of Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris McFadden -- filed their lawsuit on Tuesday.

"Baby It's You!" is the story of Florence Greenberg, a suburban housewife from New Jersey who discovered the all-girl group and created Scepter Records. It has been running in preview at New York's Broadhurst Theater for several weeks.

The Shirelles had hits in the 1960s with records like "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Soldier Boy." They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Oren Warshavsky, an attorney for the four, said that like many other recording artists in the 1960s, his clients were not treated well even as they were growing in popularity.

"It's unfortunate that they have to live through it again and watch their stories be told, again without their consent," he said.

The lawsuit accuses Warner Bros. Theater Ventures Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Broadway Baby LLC, of "cashing in on plaintiffs' stories and successes, while using plaintiffs' names, likenesses and biographical information without their consent and in violation of the law."

Paul McGuire, a Warner Bros. spokesman, declined comment.

Warshavsky said the timing of the suit on the eve of opening night was a coincidence. The plaintiffs had been in discussions with Warner Bros., but they could not resolve their differences and took legal action, he said.

Pop Music Evolves to be More About the Beats
By Mackenzie Bronk

As many pop music consumers such as myself know, Britney Spears’ new album, Femme Fatale, came out a few weeks ago. This caused me to reflect on how far she has come, or at least how much she has changed over the past decade. The evolution in her music, from bubbly lovestruck pop hits like “Sometimes” and “Oops!…I Did it Again,” to club hits such as “Gimme More” and “Hold It Against Me,” are mirrored in pop music as a whole. Whereas pop music is used to refer simply to “popular music,” the genre has been redefined over the past 20 years and has developed into a category all its own. Although not all artists have ascribed to this change, some of the more notable pop artists from the past two decades definitely have, which not only affects other artists but our taste in pop music as well. There has been a significant shift over time focusing less on the lyrics and more on the beats, which both contributes and influences our current era of dance music.

The last two decades have really changed pop music into a global phenomenon, especially with the interconnectivity of Internet. This shift has caused more unique styles of music to be explored, leading to the new beats and sounds that we currently hear on the airwaves. With new technology, there is an increased interest in creating new sounds, which is ultimately what has given us many of the chart-toppers we know and love today.

1990: Madonna ruled both the 80s and the early 90s, defining the era that saw other legendary pop artists like Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson emerge. The release of Madonna’s greatest hits collection, The Immaculate Collection, in 1990 showed how pop music came to the forefront as a genre and established a base for pop music on which artists like Lady Gaga would build upon. Madonna’s music both echoed 80s beats while adding more modern and hybrid sounds.

1993: Mariah Carey’s “Hero” brought on the age of the slow pop ballad that immediately induces the phrase “That’s so 90s.” This category would later include such songs as Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose” and Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.”

1996: Hanson weasels its way into the pop world with “MMMBop,” pretty much setting a standard for bubbly teen pop hits. It also showed us that more and more pop music consumers began to care less about lyrics and more about the sound.

1997: It’s an understatement to say that Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” was a chart-topper. Personally, when I think of 90s pop, my mind goes straight to her belting this out at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. Hate it or love it, you still probably know all the words. It was popularized both nationally and globally through Titanic, the highest-grossing film worldwide up to that point, and showed once again how small the world had become when it came to popular culture.

1997: With *NSYNC’s first album and the Backstreet Boys’ self-titled debut sweeping the charts, the trend of 90s pop would be boy bands was solidified. Although these boy bands were targeted toward teenagers, they still dominated the charts during this time, rendering pop music as a whole a little bit more juvenile. In addition to *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, the list of boy bands that most of us remember with love and nostalgia also included 98 Degrees, O-Town, Hanson, BBMak and Boyz II Men.

1999: Teenage females begin to dominate the charts as well with Britney Spears’ and Christina Aguilera’s debut albums dropping in the same year. Over the years, many pop music divas would arise, usually combining bubbly pop songs with striking ballads. The rise of these power women shows how much pop music is based on image just as well as it is based on music.

2001: Spears’ album Britney emerges, showing her yearning to grow up with much sexier songs like “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Although this change in her music can be attributed to her growing older, it is clear that the shift in music was mirrored by others around her as well, with artists such as Aguilera coming out with the single “Dirrty.”

2002: After leaving *NSYNC, Justin Timberlake comes out with Justified, his first solo album. This album’s enormous success solidified him as an artist that would come to change the face of pop music. He also moved pop music out of the era of boy bands and into a new era. His vocals were reminiscent of 90s pop music, but the use of hip-hop beats in many of his songs shows how hybridization became the new norm.

2003: Black Eyed Peas release their hit “Where is the Love?” which has never really gotten old, unlike some of their later music. The song had an amazing combination of rock beats with pop vocals that is so different from the techno beats that they are known for today. With the exception of the chorus, all of the song is rapped, once again showing how easy it became to combine the different genres of pop and hip-hop. The Black Eyed Peas specifically have cruised through almost every genre imaginable in their journey to the top of the charts.

2006: This year marked one of the major moments in the evolution of pop music with the release of two songs, Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous”. “SexyBack” was one of the first widely popular songs that seemed made to be bumped in a club as opposed to played casually in the car. “Promiscuous,” while not specifically a club hit, marked a stark contrast from Nelly Furtado’s previous work and showed how all different kinds of artists were changing their music to respond to new trends in the genre. Her previous work, most notably “I’m Like a Bird,” was youthful and innocent, a stark contrast from the increasing sexualization of artists like Spears and Aguilera. However, in order to catapult herself into this new era, she chose to remake her image. Also, both of these works featured Timbaland, who as a producer, helped mesh together the fields of pop music with electronic and hip-hop beats.

2007: Spears says “Gimme More” and the world cannot stop giving her everything she wants, through good times and crazy times. This marked her introduction into the new pop music world with an album that catered more to dancing than to listening. She latched onto her niche of being known as more of a dancer, and made a decided change towards making dance hits, leaving the pop princess of the 90s behind.

2008: Lady Gaga absolutely explodes all over the pop music world. Her music became almost instantly ubiquitous, both drawn from the pop music of the past while at the same time almost re-inventing the genre in its entirety. Lady Gaga’s music focused on sound just as much as it did on lyrics. The trajectory that we have previously seen with artists starting off innocently and becoming increasingly sexualized, suddenly did not apply to pop music’s biggest artist. She never made any effort to be youthful and instead jumped right into the pop music scene that was increasingly focused on image.

2009: “I Gotta Feeling” that this song will play every five seconds. The Black Eyed Peas have clearly strayed from their original unique sound towards a more generic and much more upbeat sound that was influenced heavily by techno music.

2010: This year saw not only a solidification in this pop music evolution but also the popularization of techno and house artists like David Guetta and Deadmau5. This kind of music shows just how much lyrics have become almost unnecessary in pop music. The combination of techno music and pop music was solidified in the song “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by the Black Eyed Peas, which, like so many techno songs, is a bricolage of previous songs and current techno beats.

2011: Spears’ Femme Fatale is released. Instead of bubbly, slow pop beats, her music is infused with intense club backgrounds showing how much techno has melded together with pop music to completely remake the genre into what it is today. Her notable use of dubstep in the bridge of “Hold it Against Me” further shows the hybridization of music today. This change is mirrored in other pop artists such Jennifer Lopez, who also returned to club music with single “On the Floor,” and Ke$ha, who the most recent poster girl for Auto-Tune, another product of the increased technology in the 21st century.

Learning to Play Music as a Child Boosts Brain as a Pensioner
By Richard Alleyne

Hours spent practicing the piano as a child could pay off in more ways than one, scientists have found.

Not only will it lead to you mastering the instrument, it will also provide a boost to your brain decades later, it is claimed.

Even if you no longer play into adulthood, it will help keep the mind sharper as you enter old age.

The researchers found that pensioners who had piano, flute, clarinet or other lessons as a youngster, did better on intelligence tests than others.

"Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of ageing," said lead researcher Dr Brenda Hanna-Pladdy at the University of Kansas Medical Center

"Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older."

The study published by the American Psychological Association recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience.

The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music.

The research findings were published in the journal Neuropsychology.

While much research has been done on the cognitive benefits of musical activity by children, this is the first study to examine whether those benefits can extend across a lifetime, said Dr Hanna-Pladdy, who conducted the study with her colleague Alicia MacKay.

The three groups of study participants included individuals with no musical training; with one to nine years of musical study; or with at least 10 years of musical training.

All of the participants had similar levels of education and fitness and did not show any evidence of Alzheimer's disease.

All of the musicians were amateurs who began playing an instrument at about 10 years of age.

More than half played the piano while approximately a quarter had studied woodwind instruments such as the flute or clarinet.

Smaller numbers performed with stringed instruments, percussion or brass instruments.

The high-level musicians who had studied the longest performed the best on the cognitive tests, followed by the low-level musicians and non-musicians, revealing a trend relating to years of musical practice.

The high-level musicians had statistically significant higher scores than the non-musicians on cognitive tests relating to visuospatial memory, naming objects and cognitive flexibility, or the brain's ability to adapt to new information.

The brain functions measured by the tests typically decline as the body ages and more dramatically deteriorate in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

The results "suggest a strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the lifespan on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age," the study stated.

Half of the high-level musicians still played an instrument at the time of the study, but they didn't perform better on the cognitive tests than the other advanced musicians who had stopped playing years earlier.

This suggests that the duration of musical study was more important than whether musicians continued playing at an advanced age, Dr Hanna-Pladdy said.

"Based on previous research and our study results, we believe that both the years of musical participation and the age of acquisition are critical," Dr Hanna-Pladdy said.

"There are crucial periods in brain plasticity that enhance learning, which may make it easier to learn a musical instrument."

Nigeria's Femi Kuti Lauded as Best World Music Artist
* Nigeria's Femi Kuti takes aim at Africa
* Indian Raghu Dixit best newcomer in music awards
By Angus MacSwan

Nigerian singer Femi Kuti was named Best Artist in Songlines magazine's annual world music awards, winning praise for dynamic songs that railed against corruption and repression in Africa.

Kuti had stepped out of the shadow of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti, with his album "Africa for Africa", Songlines said.

"Songs like "Politics in Africa", "Can't Buy Me" and "Bad Government" all serve to underline his utter disdain for the corrupt politicians of his native Nigeria and other African nations -- a theme that continues to be pertinent today with events happening across North Africa and Ivory Coast," it said.

English folk band Bellowhead was named as Best Group, AfroCubism as Best Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and Indian singer Raghu Dixit as Best Newcomer.

Bellowhead, whose current album is called "Hedonism", is known for rambunctious live shows in which the 11 members swap instruments and perform in various combinations.

"Their live shows have been sensational," Songlines publisher Simon Broughton told Reuters.

AfroCubism brought together musicians from Cuba and Mali in a long-delayed project. They had orginally planned to record in Havana 14 years ago but the Malians didn't make it and the Cubans went on to record the enormously successful "Buena Vista Social Club".

The collaboration was finally realised when they met in Madrid in 2009 and they have been touring since then with their fusion of music from both sides of the Atlantic.

Raghu Dixit hails from the south Indian state of Karnataka. and is already a big star back home.

"The music is Indian folk-rock -- very accessible to a Western audience," Broughton said.

The nominees are selected Songlines readers, with the final decision made by the magazine's editors.

Broughton said the world music scene was thriving even though it faced problems common across the music industry such as the closing of independent record shops and the downloading of music for free.

"The live scene is driving it," he said. "Every week in London there are big name artists from all around the world playing. People have the opportunity to see the big names and the new names."

He also said the role of musicians in recent popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt showed their relevance beyond just entertainment.

Speaking of Femi Kuti, he said: "This album is very angry and it really sounds like Lagos -- quite rough at the edges. And the message is Africa has to look after itself."

Brewerie at Union Station

Workout Music: Top 10 Running Songs of all Time
By Carrie Williams,

Many people start running to stay in shape and then discover how much they love the time to themselves. Time to think, time to just breath, time to push themselves.

I run because I love the feeling of freedom; nothing but myself and my endurance. No job, no pressure, no being anything I'm not. Nothing but absolute animal instinct to push forward. Running shoes, water, and my Ipod. Music is a big part of my life and I love it when I run. My top 10 songs help me clear my mind, push myself beyond what I thought I could do, and take me to that runners high.

Song 1. Rancid, Fall Back Down or Lock Step and Gone. Classic Punk music is here to stay. This song is not only uplifting, it's hyper and great to either start with or finish with; especially when you don't think you can go much longer. Check it out and get ready to move.

Song 2. Johnny Lang, Lie to Me. Take out all of your aggression or hurt about past relationships through your running. I love this song. He wrote it when he was 18. It reminds me to push on through and never give up.

Song 3. Rusted Root, Martyr. OK, honestly just listen to it if you aren't familiar. Wait for the bongos. If this song doesn't make you happy and want to move then someone needs to check your pulse.

Song 4. Feeling timeless? A little Mick Jagger, God Gave Me Everything is amazing. It gives you the feeling of being unstoppable and being connected to everything. Honestly, that's what running is all about if you really love it.

Song 5. The Beautiful Girls, On a Clear Day. I love this song when I run in the morning. It's very relaxing but it make me want to keep going to see what's around the corner.

Song 6. Anyone been to Bonnaroo or Wakarusa? You'll appreciate a little Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Try listening to Broken Hearted Savior and not wanting to hit the pavement. It's almost impossible.

Song 7. I can't help it, Rob Zombie, Dragula. It's the best workout song of all time. Maybe not everyone's favorite but you can't help but get pumped. It makes you feel tough and hey, sometimes we all need that.

Song 8. Call me a dork. I don't care at all. The Grateful Dead, I Need a Miracle might be the best song in the world to start your day to. It puts you in an automatic good mood and if you combine that with the high you get from running; you're good to go for the rest of the day. What a positive note to start the day with.

Song 9. Chopin, Moonlight Sonata is for the deeper part of all of us. The part that runs for the sunrise, the wind, and the challenge. You'll run just to be able to close your eyes and feel it.

Song 10. Jack Johnson, Upside Down. Hey, it's what we all want to do and don't know how. When you run and listen to this song you get the feeling you might just be capable. That's a great feeling.

Gustav Mahler’s Anniversaries

May 18, 2011 marks the centennial of Gustav Mahler’s death, closely following the sesquicentennial of his birth, which was celebrated on July 7, 2010. With so much attention being paid to this singular composer — particularly through concerts, new recordings, special box sets, and reissues of historic performances — the adulation may appear a bit excessive to people who aren’t already Mahler devotees.

Beyond the expected coverage due any great artist, does Mahler deserve all the extra attention during these anniversaries? On one level, his music can be viewed as crucially important for being widely influential, notably in shaping the language of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Shostakovich, and Britten, among many others, while being a summation of Romanticism. On another, his symphonies are sometimes discounted for being overly long, histrionic, cryptic, and grandiose, representing perhaps the worst aspects of Romantic egotism since the time of Beethoven. Yet one fact is obvious: Mahler is here to stay.

In 2010, critic Norman Lebrecht published Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World (Pantheon) as his homage to the composer, and offered a strongly opinionated and outlandish interpretation of his place in modern culture. It is not enough for Lebrecht that Mahler was probably the most innovative composer of the post-Romantic period, or that his once obscure symphonies spurred one of the most exciting revivals of the 20th century. Beyond these facts, Lebrecht exaggerates the significance of Mahler to a point bordering nearly on the supernatural, and dares to suggest that many significant historical events and later musical developments were anticipated in his works. Furthermore, he speculates on Mahler’s inner life in ways no serious biographer could tolerate, and no reader should trust. All this was intended, apparently, to make Mahler relevant and interesting to a new audience in this ten-month period of musical celebration and commercial promotion.

Reception of Lebrecht’s views has been largely dismissive, and some reviewers complain that his own fanciful and contentious personality gets in the way of his subject. (Philip Kennicott’s review for The New Republic is one of the most thorough and thoughtful critiques.) Yet the title of Lebrecht’s book suggests a defensive posture, perhaps felt in the face of a challenge or an imagined slight, as if at this late date, Mahler requires special pleading.

Far from it. Mahler certainly doesn’t need fantasies concocted about his life to make him more interesting or to win converts to his music. Since the 1960s, the Mahler revival has solidified its gains, and the ten symphonies have become as secure in the repertoire as Beethoven’s cycle and exceed his in popularity in some quarters. Any fan of the symphonies knows that the music is fun and fascinating enough in its own right to bear repeated, even obsessive, listening. Furthermore, the scope of Mahler’s best music, in the symphonies and the song cycles, is wide enough to encompass a variety of tastes, so there are many ways to gain entry. What doesn’t seem to help is the lavish mythologizing and inflation of Mahler’s place in music history. Mahler’s music is approachable without hype.

If you’re a newcomer to Mahler’s symphonies and need a few friendly tips to begin appreciating them, consider taking a somewhat circuitous route in listening, rather than strictly following the numerical order. Some people have started at the beginning and successfully worked their way through all ten, but that’s not really required to appreciate Mahler’s symphonic language. In fact, by listening to the symphonies somewhat out of sequence, but according to accessibility, it’s possible to become familiar with Mahler’s most approachable music first, which certainly comes in handy when tackling the larger and harder symphonies.

The best place to begin is with Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major, easily the lightest, the shortest (even at an average performance time of 55 minutes!), and the most user-friendly of all the symphonies. This cheerful piece is buoyant in mood, and the orchestra Mahler used is the leanest in sound, as it is scaled down from the big post-Romantic ensemble he normally used, to a group that is almost Classical in size. Learning the Fourth will acquaint you with Mahler’s humor and lyricism, both in ample supply, as well as his childlike wonderment, so warmly communicated in the serene finale for soprano and orchestra.

Moving on to the next most accessible of the symphonies, explore the Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan,” which originally started out as a tone poem. Mahler’s earliest version of the piece is seldom played, and most performances of the symphony are the revised version in four movements; though some conductors occasionally insert the sentimental movement entitled “Blumine,” which Mahler ultimately rejected. Putting to one side the merits or problems associated with performing the different versions, this symphony is only a little longer than the Fourth, and has a similar approachability. Note the sardonic use of “Frére Jacques” in the third movement.

Having considered these two works as suitable introductions to Mahler’s colorful style, the next works on our list demand a little more patience for their greater length, increasing complexity, and increasingly enigmatic moods. The middle three symphonies — the Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor, the Symphony No. 6 in A minor, “Tragic,” and the Symphony No. 7 in B minor, nicknamed “The Song of the Night” — are purely instrumental works with extreme mood swings and dramatic contrasts; they are cast in the most varied and expansive symphonic forms since the symphonies of Brahmsand Bruckner. In these three symphonies, which some regard as a trilogy, Mahler gives us interesting insights into his life: each of these works provides a view of the composer that borders on the autobiographical. Understood in the broadest way, the Fifth portrays Mahler’s journey from heroic suffering in solitude to his discovery of love with his new wife, Alma; the Sixth serves as a premonition of tragedies to come in his life (oddly enough, as foreseen during one of Mahler’s happiest periods); and the Seventh captures the composer facing his future with a strange mixture of puzzlement and optimism.

The two massively scored choral symphonies are extroverted and focused on humanity and salvation; both could be considered Mahler’s great theological statements. The Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection” and the Symphony No. 8 in E flat major, unofficially dubbed “Symphony of a Thousand” are structured quite differently, though many listeners will find the two works similarly uplifting and inspirational. Oddly enough, the extraordinarily long Symphony No. 3 in D minor — at approximately an hour and 40 minutes, it is a Guinness record holder as the longest regularly programmed symphony — is easier to appreciate after hearing the Second and the Eighth, because it is much less ponderous in its implications and less crushing in its grandeur. Yes, there is singing in this symphony, too, but it is on a much smaller scale, but Mahler’s approach is altogether lighter than in the mystical Second, and more down-to-earth and humanistic than in the heaven-storming Eighth.

The unnumbered vocal symphony Das Lied von der Erde, the Symphony No. 9 in D major, and the unfinished Symphony No. 10 in F sharp major should be heard last of all, not merely because they come towards the end of the composer’s life and are often regarded as farewells, but mostly because they represent a sudden change in Mahler’s musical language. These last three masterpieces are as close to modernism as Mahler ever got: his late style is strikingly expressionistic in the edginess of his angular melodies, the brittleness of his orchestral sonorities, and the occasional harshness of his dissonances.

Not to be overlooked are the song cycles and collections, which contain some of Mahler’s most original ideas. So fertile were Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Das Knaben Wunderhorn that Mahler incorporated some of their material into the first four symphonies. Beyond this, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder has clear affinities with the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.

A closing word of advice: When learning these impressive works, don’t expect the music to give up all its secrets on the first, second, or even third hearings. Mahler’s symphonies are incredibly deep and complex, and can be daunting to beginners because they contain so much. But they become easier to follow and more enjoyable over time, and are endlessly rewarding on repeated listening. So relax with each of these works, relish them, and let them become the soundtrack of your life: you will find that each of these masterworks pays equally great dividends.

Will Apple's Music Cloud be Free?
By Lydia Leavitt

Apple could allow users to access certain aspects of its cloud music streaming service for free - at least initially.

Such a move would likely help Cupertino secure its place as the number one cloud music player, while Google enters the marketplace and existing competitors like Amazon gain popularity.

Apple's cloud service - when launched - will offer users the ability to store music and access it from any computer, smartphone or tablet. It makes for a seamless transition between home, work, and on-the-go without having to store music on a particular MP3 player. Users may also be able to "rent" endless tunes and access specific songs or albums for a flat rate.

Billboard writer Ed Christman reported last September that Google planned to charge $25 a year for a subscription to its cloud music service.

Similar reports have surfaced that Apple will charge around $20, but no one knows for sure exactly how much the services will indeed cost.

Amazon is currently offering a cloud-based music storage system where users can store existing music and download new tunes from Amazon.com in the cloud.

The Seattle-based company is the first major industry player to release a cloud music service, giving it a competitive advantage over Google and Apple. If rumors of $20 or $25 for a year of service on Google or Apple where users can rent and store music are true, Amazon won’t have that competitive advantage for very long.

Google and Apple have also been in discussions with four of the largest recording companies about licensing music, something which Amazon has chosen to ignore, which may cause them problems down the line. But then again, Amazon isn’t streaming music the user didn't specifically purchase or upload.

Skeptics wonder if consumers will indeed pay for cloud music offerings, considering subscriptions services have yet to attract any significant share in the digital music scene. It seems like users prefer to purchase their own tunes rather than renting them.

The idea of cloud-based music rental programs takes the new movie approach where instead of specific ownership of a DVD or movie, multiple people can access the flick at the same time for a low subscription fee. Cloud music takes more of Netflix-style approach to music rental rather than a purchase plan.

Apple currently has a deal with Warner Music Group but Google has hit a brick wall in its negotiations with the four top labels. No doubt it’s only a matter of time until both companies come out with their own cloud-based music platforms.

Hazel Dickens Dies at 75; Bluegrass Pioneer and Social Activist
By Keith Thursby

Hazel Dickens, raised in poverty in the West Virginia coal country, formed a popular singing duo with Alice Gerrard before continuing as a solo artist. She was a lifelong advocate for miners, the poor and women, causes that infused her music.

Hazel Dickens, a singer, songwriter and musician from West Virginia who was a pioneering force in bluegrass music and a strong and eloquent voice for coal miners, the poor and women, has died. She was 75.

Dickens died Friday at a Washington, D.C., hospice of complications from pneumonia, said Ken Irwin, a founder of Rounder Records, her longtime label.

"She wrote about migrant workers, women being wronged, whatever hit her … that needed to be addressed," Irwin said. "She was largely the social conscience of the bluegrass world."

Dickens became a fixture on the bluegrass circuit in the 1960s and 1970s with her musical partner, Alice Gerrard, and continued as a solo artist. She also was highly respected as a folk and country musician.

"She is one of the absolutely finest and authentic singers we have," Charles Wolfe, music historian and author of the 2001 book "Classic Country: Legends of Country Music," told the Washington Post in 2001. "Her singing has not only that 'high lonesome sound' but you can hear the pain and anguish and anger in it. It is absolutely heartfelt and sincere."

Hazel Jane Dickens was born June 1, 1935, in Montcalm, W.Va., and raised in poverty, the eighth of 11 children. Her father delivered timber to coal mines and was a Primitive Baptist minister. Musical instruments were not allowed inside the church.

"You learn to listen to the lyrics and to the melody," she told the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette in 1996. "I never thought about it until I got away from home. I used to feel instruments got in the way of listening to the melody and the lyrics. I think it's very beautiful to hear that many voices, untrained, singing from the heart and soul."

She moved to Baltimore as a teenager. "We really didn't have anything at all" growing up in West Virginia, she told the Washington Post in 1981. "When you got big enough, you got out and supported yourself or you stayed and had nothing."

In the 1950s Dickens met and started performing with Mike Seeger, the half brother of folk singer Pete Seeger. Her association with Mike Seeger led to her teaming with Gerrard. Dickens continued as a solo artist after she and Gerrard dissolved their partnership in the mid-1970s.

Dickens "was writing country songs about women's concerns long before anyone else in Nashville was doing it," country music historian Bill Malone told the Washington Post in 2001. Irwin said Dickens was "concerned for social justice for all. Some people tried to classify her as a feminist, but she always thought she was a humanist."

Her music was featured in "Harlan County, USA," Barbara Kopple's 1976 Oscar-winning documentary about Kentucky coal miners. She also appeared and sang in "Matewan," John Sayles' 1987 film about labor organizing in a mining town.

"I've never lost my sympathy for working people," she told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2002. "I've always said that if I have a religion, it's the working-class experience and what I feel for working-class people."

Her many honors included a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. A tribute album is being prepared with artists such as Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and the Judds performing Dickens' songs. And a new album by Dickens is close to being released.

She was divorced, and a brother was her only immediate survivor.

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Alice Cooper to Perform Entire Concert as a Hologram

Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper is set to reprise his role as a hologram, performing an entire ghostly gig in London while the man behind the curtain actually pulls the strings from Hollywood, California. And his entire band is gonna join him.

Touted as the "U.K.'s first holographic 4D rock gig," this will actually be Cooper's second time breaking a record in holographic form -- in 1973, avant-garde artist Salvadore Dali turned Cooper's likeness into the world's first 3D holographic sculpture. If you're wondering, no, R2-D2 didn't do a similar thing with Princess Leia until four years later. And that one took place in a galaxy far, far away.

The concert, billed as the Jagermeister Ice Cold Event, is timed in conjunction with Cooper's new box set, 'Old School: 1964 - 1974,' and to celebrate, Cooper even put his old band back together. It'll be the first time that band appears -- in the flesh or otherwise -- live in the U.K. since 1972. The event takes place on May 11 at Battersea Power Station.

"We couldn't resist this," says Cooper in a statement appearing on his official website. "Working with Jagermeister to appear as holograms on the other side of the Atlantic is the ultimate experience, a cutting-edge conjuring trick that celebrates the future and our history. We can't wait to see the results."

We can only assumed that by "see," he's speaking metaphorically.

Blake Shelton's New Album Will Reflect His 'Manhood Cut'

Blake Shelton has recorded songs about a variety of subjects, such as two coon dogs in love ('Ol Red'), hard partying ('All About Tonight'), heartache ('She Wouldn't Be Gone'), a 'Hillbilly Bone,' and of course, love ('Who Are You When I'm Not Looking'). Fans can anticipate many of the same topics from his new album, but the singer says there are more songs about one particular subject, reflecting what's taking place in his life at this moment, including his upcoming wedding to Miranda Lambert on May 14.

"There's a handful of things that people would expect from me about in-breeding and drinking and dogs stuck together and stuff like that," Blake tells The Boot. "But there will be plenty of positive, fun love songs, because that's where I'm at right now. I mean, I'm getting married in a month and about to have my manhood cut, but I'm happy about it for a change. I'm ready for that part of my life."

With a July 12 release date and his single 'Honey Bee' already sitting within the Top 20 on the country charts, Blake is back in the studio this week with producer Scott Hendricks rushing to put the finishing touches on the yet-to-be-titled project.

Catch Blake on NBC's new talent show, 'The Voice,' which premiered last night (April 26). The next episode, which airs May 3 at 9:00 PM ET/PT, will feature more blind auditions as the coaches choose the rest of their team of singers.

Grand Ole Opry To Mark Anniversary Of Nashville Flood With Benefit Show
Paisley, Bentley, Bryan, Daniels Among Those Set To Perform
By Phyllis Stark

It’s been nearly a year since floods severely damaged much of Nashville, including the Grand Ole Opry house (pictured), which was shut down for six months last year for post-flood restoration after its famous stage was engulfed by four feet of water. Now, the Opry will mark the one year anniversary of the May 1-2, 2010 floods with a May 3 show, titled “Play On, Nashville!,” and headlined by numerous Opry cast members and other stars. Among those set to appear are Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, and the Charlie Daniels Band.

Following the floods, the Opry was displaced from its regular home throughout last summer, but performances continued on during that time at several other venues around town.
 

Local charitable organizations including Hands On Nashville, the American Red Cross, and United Way of Metropolitan Nashville will provide promotion codes to their supporters for next month’s benefit show, ensuring that $10 from every ticket purchased using the codes will be returned to the corresponding charity. Additionally, proceeds from Play On, Nashville! commemorative prints available exclusively at the Opry House that night will go to Hands On Nashville, the volunteer resource center responsible for connecting more than125,000 volunteers to flood-related projects.

Nashvillians are being asked to submit photos of their flood relief efforts to be shown in the Opry’s signature barn backdrop during the show. The photos will also be used in the commemorative print from the night.

Can You Solve Pete Carroll's NFL Draft Music Mystery?
By Andrew Sharp

Pete Carroll's just the best.

All that enthusiasm, and not an ounce of shame. He did it last year, and now again in 2011, he's offering Seattle fans #SeahawksDraftClues, using songs to hint at who Seattle's interested in leading up to the NFL Draft. And aside from that Black Eyed Peas classic, there's also an MC Hammer song, and of course, a little John Denver. So, can you read between lines?

One thing's for sure: Pete Carroll listens to some terrible, terrible music. But like I said, not an ounce of shame. That's why we love him.