## Bobby Mason 

## John Waite 

_"Songs, and songwriting keeps me inspired, moving forward. I tend to scribble down notes, lyrics or just random thoughts on pieces of paper, backs of cigarette packs, sometimes on my shirt cuff. Rock n’ roll is closest thing I’ve got to a spiritual power. It’s been the higher voice in my life and it’s never let me down."_

So says legendary singer-songwriter John Waite, whose career as a solo artist and fronting the iconic bands The Babys and Bad English has spanned nearly four decades. Waite recently released a new career retrospective, BEST. The album features 18 handpicked songs that reflect a remarkable body of work, including eleven studio hits -- three of which were recently re-recorded -- five live songs, and two unplugged tracks.

Waite has been successfully writing, recording and performing some of the most listenable, enduring and appreciated popular music for more than 35 years. He rose to fame as bassist and lead vocalist for The Babys, who rocketed to Top 20 chart positions with a pair of infections hits - “Isn’t it Time” from the band’s 1977 sophomore LP, Broken Heart and the monster ballad, “Every Time I Think of You” off 1978’s Head First.

After the breakup of The Babys--prompted by a serious injury to Waite in 1980 when he was pulled from the stage by an overzealous fan during an encore--Waite began an abundant and prodigious solo career, ignited by the well-received 1982 release, Ignition, which featured the hit single, “Change.” John’s next solo effort, 1984’s No Brakes, did exactly what the title inferred, barreling at runaway train speed to international acclaim and U.S. platinum success thanks to the smash hit, “Missing You,” which did not stop until it reached Number 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles, Album Rock Tracks and Adult Contemporary charts. The following up single, “Tears” was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.

In 1988, a reunion with former Baby’s band mates, Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips –along with uber-guitarist Neal Schon from Journey and drummer Deen Castronovo –resulted in the John Waite fronted supergroup, Bad English. And in 1989, the group’s ballad, “When I See You Smile,” – penned by Grammy-winning songwriter, Diane Warren – went to Number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and was certified Gold. The album reached Top Five and sold more than two million units in the U.S. alone. Bad English released two albums before breaking up in 1992.

Since returning to the recording studio and concert trek as a solo artist in 1995, John has produced a string of solid, existentially eccentric, courageously eclectic and blisteringly electric rock n’ roll records, including 1995’s Temple Bar, 1997’s When You Were Mine, 2001’s Figure in a Landscape, 2004’s The Hard Way, 2006’s Downtown: Journey of a Heart, 2010’s In Real Time and 2011's Rough and Tumble, the title track of which earned Waite a Grammy nomination.

## Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real 

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real is an American rock group based out of California and Hawaii. The band consists of Lukas Nelson (vocals/guitar), Anthony Logerfo (drums), Corey McCormick (bass), and Tato Melgar (percussion). Lukas is the son of Willie Nelson.

The band played their first shows in the fall of 2008, creating “Live Beginnings” from tracks recorded off the soundboard at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, California.

## Glyn Johns

Glyn Johns

**From the book's website:**

Born just outside London in 1942, Glyn Johns was sixteen years old at the dawn of rock and roll. His big break as a producer came on the Steve Miller Band’s debut album,  _Children of the Future_ , and he went on to engineer or produce iconic albums for the best in the business:  _Abbey Road_ with the Beatles, Led Zeppelin’s and the Eagles’ debuts,  _Who’s Next_ by the Who, and many others. Even more impressive, Johns was perhaps the only person on a given day in the studio who was entirely sober, and so he is one of the most reliable and clear-eyed insiders to tell these stories today.

## John Doe of X 

From John Doe’s website:

John Doe was born in 1977 when he arrived in Los Angeles. His previous life in Tennessee, Wisconsin & Baltimore was a great & fertile time but new music and social changes led him to events that created a life in art. He graduated from Antioch College in Baltimore in 1975, worked as a roofer, aluminum siding mechanic, and ran a poetry reading series. Ms. Meyers was his landlord in the rural black community of Simpsonville , MD.

## Band of Heathens 

The Band of Heathens is an Austin, Texas ensemble that has built a fierce fan base due to musical and lyrical depth coupled with outstanding songcraft.

On this episode of "Check 1, 2", host Daniel Shaw catches up with Band of Heathens at the PAC3 in Carbondale. You’ll hear both live and studio tracks from the band’s latest outing, “Sunday Morning Record”, as well as covers from the group’s sound check.

## Los Lobos

Forty years ago, Louie Perez and David Hidalgo, friends at East LA’s Garfield High School, hooked up with two other musicians, bassist Conrad Lozano and singer/guitar player Cesar Rosas, and Los Lobos came to be. Sax player Steve Berlin came over from legendary rockabilly band The Blasters a few years later, and the band has never stopped making incredibly original, timeless, irresistible music and has never stopped touring. Hard-hitting young drummer Enrique “Bugs” Gonzalez joined the band a few years back and gave them a new jolt of energy. Their recording debut all those years ago may have been called “Just Another Band from East LA,” but they still prove night in and night out that they’re not just another band—from anywhere.

Louie Perez has been the band’s chief lyricist over the years and was the drummer for a long spell before returning to guitar duties (though he still gets behind the kit for a few songs each night). He’s found time over the years to work on several side projects, including The Latin Playboys, and has carved out another career as a painter. He’s also written a play recently based on the band’s song “Evangeline,” that had several runs in California.

## Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers

Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers made a needle’s-eye leap onto the national music circuit in 2012, bringing with them a refreshing sound, spirited stage show and wellspring of good vibes, along with a turntable and milk crates stocked with their favorite vintage vinyl for backstage sustenance.

Now, the San Francisco-based band and its striking front woman with a girl-next-door demeanor step out with Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, a luminous, heartfelt patchwork of California folk-rock, brisk Americana and show-stopping soul, punctuated with fresh four-part harmonies, crisp rock guitar and Nicki’s soaring, nuanced vocals that some critics say remind them of Linda Ronstadt. The first record under the banner of the full band, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers is very much a family album, featuring 11 new songs penned by the band members, arranged and produced by Nicki’s husband and the band’s musical director, Tim Bluhm, and recorded at the Bluhm’s Mission Bells studio in San Francisco.

The lead single “Little Too Late” kicks off the proceedings with a fun and funky punch of soulful rock and an anthemic quality to the lyrics that quickly made the song a fan favorite at live shows in the months prior to the album’s release. Also released in advance of the album, “Ravenous” marks a departure for the band as Nicki flirts with her dark side, urged on by haunting echoes of classic Fleetwood Mac. Tim and Nicki’s great love of country music and Americana storytelling takes center stage in the sparkling “Till I’m Blue”, an enchanting ode to lasting love, as well as in “Deep Water”, Nicki’s endearing telling of life lessons learned. Bluhm family friend Steve Poltz, best known for his collaborations with the singer Jewel, contributed the coaxing soul waltz “Check Your Head”.

There is an evergreen quality to the band’s music that resonates with music lovers across ages and time zones, fans who are touched by the band’s natural, bright-eyed charm and timeless expression of life and love. “We make music that generations of friends and families can share,” Nicki offers with a quiet confidence. “For me, there is a tenderness, a humanness. It’s about getting down to the basic level of bringing joy. We’re a fun, honest group of people who love traveling and seeing the country. I’m with my husband and my best friends, we’re so lucky to be doing this, and we’re so grateful for those coming out to visit with us.”

With such an earnest appreciation for every moment of the grueling work and endless hours required for touring “uncharted waters,” as she puts it, one can imagine Nicki almost pinching herself to prove that this really is her life -- and rightfully so. She never saw any of this coming.

Tim and Nicki’s paths first crossed at a house party, when someone passed a guitar to Nicki. Though she’d never before sung in front of a crowd, she took a chance and belted out an impromptu blues number, immediately catching Tim’s ear. It was a spark-plug moment that evolved into the two playing music together, followed by Tim mentoring Nicki as she developed into a career singer/songwriter. As love blossomed and marriage ensued, the couple created and released Nicki’s debut solo album, Toby’s Song (2008).

The formation of Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers happened in similar organic fashion, when Nicki recruited her childhood friend, Deren Ney, to play lead guitar in her new band. Dave Mulligan accepted an invitation from Nicki to join the Gramblers on guitar and vocals while out hiking with the Bluhms one day. Bass player Steve Adams and drummer Mike Curry each got the call from the Bluhms and agreed to double-time it with their existing musical commitments. When not working with his own band, the Mother Hips, Tim takes his place on guitar, keyboard and vocals. Nicki’s second album, Driftwood (2011), earned numerous positive reviews and put Nicki and the Gramblers in front of a wider swath of show goers across the western U.S.

It was during this time that the band’s “Van Sessions” video for Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That” went viral and introduced Nicki and band to the world of their endearing, stripped down versions of classic songs as well as to an existing catalog of original tracks from Nicki’s two previous solo albums. They went back on the road and quickly developed into a tight knit, six-piece headlining act, logging over 200 dates in 2012. In 2013, Nicki and the Gramblers’ touring schedule has included auspicious sets at Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Hangout Music Festival and Mountain Jam, as well as being featured on network television by veteran journalist Anthony Mason for “CBS This Morning”.

## Drew Holcomb

From the artist's facebook page:

Some artists are able to articulate a vision at the very beginning of their career, while others hone their craft over time, growing into their vision as they mature.

## Jon Anderson 

When Jon Anderson and some of his fellow Brits formed Yes some 45 years ago, they helped launch the genre of music that would become known as progressive rock. King Crimson, Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rush, and others would soon follow, and all of these bands helped raise the level of musicianship in rock across the board. Yes went on to sell tens of millions of records—elaborate works filled with Anderson’s epic lyrical tales of mysterious worlds and forces, all backed by complex yet often melodic arrangements that the rock world had never before experienced. From 1969 to 1979 Yes released an incredible string of 11 albums, and Anderson fronted the band until 2008.

As a solo artist, Anderson has found the time and energy to release 13 albums over the years. Jon’s solo music is quieter and more spiritual than his work with Yes but no less powerful in its own way. He’ll be playing plenty of both at the Wheeler Opera House on Friday night.