Salem-News.com Music articles

The Rat Pack is Back...in Eugene!

Get to the Hult this weekend, because Broadway is being escorted in by the Rat Pack.

(EUGENE, Ore.) - A spirited tribute to the Rat Pack is part of the Broadway in Eugene 2009-2010 Season, coming to The Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Friday and Saturday evenings, October 16-17, 2009.

The Rat Pack Is Back recreates one of the famous "Summit At The Sands" hotel shows when the swingin', ring-a-ding group known as the "Rat Pack" was creating hipster legend with a free-wheeling, no-holds-barred nightclub act starring Vegas' four favorite sons: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop.

Not Too Old for Rock and Roll

Maybe the music has changed, but I don’t think growing up is any different today.

(SAN FRANCISCO) - I just returned from one of the best three-day trip of my parenting life. My son, Will, not yet 16, and two of his female friends and I drove to San Francisco to attend the Outside Lands Music Festival.

It’s an all-day late-into-the-night, music festival on the Polo Fields at Golden Gate Park. There are multiple acts performing simultaneously on several stages throughout the festival grounds.

Kenny Wayne Gunner Rocks at Portland Hempstalk

Kenny Wayne's guitar talents rocketed him to local celebrity status after completing a 4-year stint in downtown Seattle. He's sold over 95,000 CDs, earning the nickname -"Guitarman!"

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Kenny Wayne Gunner was born in Seattle, Washington, and bought his first guitar at age eight at a swap meet for $5.00 & has been playing ever since.

He says music is in his blood, he comes from a superb history of musicians. His grandfather played the steel guitar in Harvey Thomas’ band (creator of the Iron Cross guitar- Thomas Guitar).

2009 Oregon State Fair Opens Today!

Fair opens Friday and runs through September 7th.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The Big Tomato has returned from his adventures around Oregon to his fairground home in Salem, which only means one thing: opening day of the Oregon State Day is here!

Today at 10:00 a.m., the Tomato will join his oversized, inflated friends the chickens, watermelon and crab in welcoming everyone to the 146th Oregon State Fair!

Critically-Acclaimed Lithuanian-Born Pianist Rudolph Budginas Comes to Salem

Pianist’s repertoire combines Liszt, Gershwin and Johnny Cash, along with a sense of humor, he visits the Elsinore September 14th.

(LOS ANGELES) - Salem, Oregon will be one stop for Lithuanian-born concert pianist Rudolf Budginas, formally trained at the Moscow Conservatory, as he embarks on an 82-city, 32-state U.S. tour.

Budginas incorporates his classical training, his own jazz arrangements, knowledge of music and sense of humor into his performances to connect with his audience.

`Cool Country Benefit Concert` to Support Local Families At-Risk for Abuse

Concert leads efforts to reopen Child Abuse Prevention Center in downtown Salem.

(SALEM, Ore.) - A little bit of Nashville, TN will be coming to the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The “Cool Country Benefit Concert,” benefiting the Salem/Keizer based charity ESCAPE, will take place at the L.B. Day Amphitheater on Friday, August 14th starting at 6:30 p.m.

Headlining this benefit concert is award-winning singer/songwriter Hal Ketchum with local country artist and rising star Alexis Ebert as the opening performance.

Longtime Friend Pete Bennett Bids Farewell to Michael Jackson, King of Pop (VIDEO)

Final installment in Tim King's interview on Michael Jackson with world's top rock promoter, Pete Bennett.

(MONTREAL) - In this final installment of Tim King's interview with Rock Promoter Pete Bennett, we learn about a Michael Jackson who, like Pete's longtime client John Lennon, who balled up with pressure over a non-stop busy life fraught with all kinds of issues and problems that ultra stars deal with.

Pete talks candidly about his longtime friend who probably had no plans to check out of this life early.

Michael Jackson`s Friend & Former Promoter Remembers Their Last Conversation (VIDEO)

Life wasn't roses all of the time for Michael Jackson, but he performed in a way that none of us will soon, if ever forget. This is part-3 in our special 4-part series.

(MONTREAL) - Pete Bennett granted what ended up being an extremely candid interview about his long-term relationship with the later entertainer Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop."

Michael Jackson walked a long, hard road to stardom with major pressure from his father and also his brothers, who pushed for the highest level and achieved it, but with a cost that would ultimately claim the band itself.

Promoter for Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and the Stones Discusses Star Performer`s Recent Death (VIDEO)

Part 2 in our special Series interview with top Rock Promoter in the World Pete Bennett: a lifelong friend of the late Michael Jackson.

(MONTREAL) - The recent death of Michael Jackson was certainly the end of an era. Rock Promoter Pete Bennett who Billboard Magazine called "The #1 Promotion Man in the World", knew Michael Jackson from the time he was very young. He saw the moments that were amazing and he was a friend to Michael Jackson during the hardest times.

Pete spent forty-minutes talking to me this week about the "King of Pop" and we begin by talking about who and what Michael Jackson's inspirations were.

Michael Jackson`s Promoter Pete Bennett Talks Openly About Late Star (VIDEO)

Pete signed the Jackson 5 with Epic Records in 1976. This is Part-1 of a special 4-Part Series.

(MONTREAL) - When rock band promoter Pete Bennett was named "World's #1 Promotion Man" by Billboard Magazine, it forever locked in history the lifetime of the man who managed and promoted the best musicians the world has ever heard of.

From Elvis Presley to Aerosmith and many names in between, Pete Bennett is a living legend and a person who can speak at length about a close friend of his named Michael Jackson.