The 2011-2012 concert season in South Florida could conceivably signal that classic rock is dead as we once knew it.
Unlike the past two seasons, which collectively featured ’60s- and ’70s-launched brand names like the Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Eagles, Roger Waters, Rush, and Earth, Wind & Fire, the next eight months look comparatively modern. None of these acts are scheduled to appear in the area this season at presstime, nor are stars like Bruce Springsteen, U2, the Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, the Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, or Neil Young.
There are likely a few different reasons. Artists like these usually command three-figure concert ticket prices, which can challenge the budgets of even their Baby Boomer fans in this economy. Health issues are also a factor for these acts of a certain age — Gregg Allman had to cancel late-summer solo tour dates because of respiratory problems, and Springsteen lost his longtime saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, to complications from a stroke in June.
And perhaps, in a music industry that’s transitioned from the recording label to Internet era, it’s finally time for classic rock to expire — even here in one of its favorite stomping grounds (and as some wonder how it took so long). Popular next -wave bands that formed in the ’80s and ’90s with 2011 releases (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters) and reunited lineups (Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine) are also bypassing our cylindrical state, but don’t be surprised if things change later in the season. Some stars could trim their ticket prices and still sell out most area venues quickly, and classic rock has long seemed less likely to burn out than fade away.
Soulive might be a jazz or blues-approved Hammond organ trio with no bassist, but the group is actually, and deliciously, more steeped in the funk legacy of James Brown. Formed in the late 1990s in Woodstock, N.Y., the instrumental group’s nucleus has always been brothers Neal Evans (organ) and Alan Evans (drums) with guitarist Eric Krasno. The trio’s best releases range from the powerful live 2003 CD Soulive to the 2010 studio Beatles tribute Rubber Soulive, but the grooving core also plays well with others. Its 2011 DVD Bowlive, recorded live at the Brooklyn Bowl, features stellar interplay with guest vocalist Susan Tedeschi, keyboardist Ivan Neville (of the Neville Brothers), guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes and bassist Oteil Burbridge (all members of the Allman Brothers Band), and drummer Questlove (of The Roots). See Soulive as part of the 2011 Festival Miami on October 6 at the University of Miami’s Gusman Concert Hall (8 p.m., $20-40).
Hailed as “the best singer of her generation” by no less an authority than legendary vocalist (and frequent touring partner) Tony Bennett, Canada native k.d. lang emerged as an ahead-of-her-time alt-country artist in the late 1980s. Her 1987 major-label debut Angel With a Lariat was produced by Rockpile guitarist and roots music veteran Dave Edmunds, and it propelled her toward multiple Grammy Awards during the ’90s as she added jazz, adult contemporary and Brazilian nuances. Since recording on Bennett’s 2002 duets CD Wonderful World, Lang has appeared often with the ageless crooner, usually in orchestral settings. Her latest CD, Sing It Loud, features her Siss Boom Bang band with multi-instrumentalists Joe Pisapia, Daniel Clarke, Fred Eltringham, Josh Grange and Lex Price. See Lang & the Siss Boom Bang on Oct. 8 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Dreyfoos Concert Hall in West Palm Beach (8 p.m., $25 and up).
Tim Reynolds may be best-known for his work with the Dave Matthews Band (for which he’s lead guitarist) and his duets with its leader, but the sonic innovator actually formed his electric TR3 power trio in the ’80s before hooking up with Matthews. After touring often from his Virginia home base, Reynolds put the trio on hold when he met Matthews, concentrating on acoustic guitar in their duo and as a solo artist while he relocated to New Mexico. Since moving back eastward to North Carolina, he’s re-formed TR3 with bassist Mick Vaughn and drummer Dan Martier. All three members sing on Reynolds’ far-reaching jazz/fusion originals, plus covers that venture into the funk catalogs of James Brown and Prince. Their new live CD, From Space and Beyond, features guest saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Dave Matthews Band) and is the next-best thing to being there. Reynolds & TR3 perform on October 13 at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth (8:30 p.m., $25).
Despite not coming from a non-musical family, nor having the kind of hourglass figure usually featured on TV networks like VH1, British singer Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is now on a first-name basis with much of the world. The London-born vocalis’s 2008 blue-eyed soul debut 19, named for her age as she recorded it, entered the British pop charts at No. 1. But that CD proved to be a mere appetizer. Her similarly age-dropping 2011 follow-up, 21, also debuted at No. 1 and featured the hit single Rolling in the Deep — likely this year’s most-heard song as it wafted everywhere from radio airwaves to airport elevators. Also a multi-instrumentalist, and fluent in roots music and country dialects, it remains to be seen whether Adele’s dexterity will keep her as England’s biggest chart-topper since The Beatles or render her another of the country’s temporary musical trends. See Adele on Oct. 14 at American Airlines Arena’s Waterfront Theatre in Miami (8 p.m., $45.50-102.35).
Dolly Parton has proven ahead of her time for the majority of her 55-year career. Born into poverty among 12 siblings in 1946, and despite the fact that few female country singer/songwriters succeeded in the late 1950s, the Tennessee native was performing on TV in Knoxville by age 12. The next year, the singing guitarist started her recording career and was appearing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. After becoming a TV star on The Porter Wagoner Show in the late ’60s, Parton became the dominant country artist of the ’70s, with eight No. 1 hits and her own Dolly TV series. She then became a movie star in the 1980s in films like Rhinestone and 9 to 5, the title song of which garnered her another No. 1 hit. She’s since opened her Dollywood theme park in Tennessee, penned the autobiography My Life and Other Unfinished Business, and released her 41st album, 2011’s Better Day. See Parton on Oct. 18 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood (8 p.m., $44-104).
Based in Florida, but in the Panhandle beach town of Destin, reggae band Heritage can tour several other states without building up frequent driver miles like a South Florida act. The sextet is a modern, 21st -century reggae band, with influences that include the rock and pop sounds of Ben Harper and Sublime as well as reggae icons Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. With diverse backgrounds ranging from Florida and Texas to California and Hawaii, the lineup features vocalists Tony Verecchia and Eric Yra, ukulele player Damien Kealoha, guitarist Hunter Dawson, bassist Matt Moore, drummer R.J. Hernandez and percussionist Dave Posey. The band debuted its rootsy, hybrid island sound on CD with its 2009 release Natural High. And Heritage doesn’t mind a long drive south from the Gulf Coast — which it makes again on Oct. 19 — when it involves playing at the open-air tropical waterfront restaurant Guanabanas in Jupiter (9 p.m., free).
“Roots music” may be the best description for the music of 58-year-old, Louisiana-born singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, yet even that wide stylistic swath doesn’t do her justice. She’s incorporated elements of folk, blues and country into her compositions over a 35-year career, along with a healthy infusion of rock, both in style and an intermittent devil-may-care attitude. Williams’ career started slowly, as her first two albums received little attention upon being released in 1979 and 1980. She waited until 1988 to release her self-titled third effort, which ironically featured a tune (Passionate Kisses) that won her a Grammy for Best Country Song after Mary Chapin Carpenter covered it five years later. Williams has since offered subtle, smoldering gems like Essence (2001), World Without Tears (2003) and her 2011 release Blessed, and she plays Oct. 20 at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale (8 p.m., $37.50).
With rockabilly instrumentation, a punk ethic and bluesy Texas roots, Jim Heath has transformed himself into the Reverend Horton Heat to lead his hard-to-categorize trio since 1985. The singer/guitarist’s Dallas-based act features the same instrumentation (electric guitar, upright bass and drums) as popular 1980s rockabilly trio the Stray Cats, but with far more attitude and rhythmic firepower. Bassist/vocalist Jimbo Wallace has been part of the reverend’s choir since the late 1980s, and Paul Simmons is the latest in a series of drummers adept at driving the band with a propulsive, metallic intensity. Songs from the trio’s latest CD, 2009’s Laughin’ & Cryin’ With the Reverend Horton Heat, range from Heath’s countrified soliloquy about an overweight loser (Beer Holder) to the self-explaining burner Death Metal Guys. See the Reverend Horton Heat on Oct. 20 at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale (7:30 p.m., $23.70).
Singing guitarist Bobby Lee Rodgers started venturing south from his Savannah home base two years ago, creating a regional touring route that’s become South Florida’s gain. His unique pop songwriting. quirky, nasal vocal delivery and inimitable guitar sound (the result of playing a 1949 Gibson through a vintage Fender amplifier and a whirling Leslie cabinet, usually associated with Hammond organs) first gained Rodgers cult status with the Codetalkers. That Georgia band peaked with the 2006 release Now as he co-led it through the 2000s with Col. Bruce Hampton. Rodgers will play compositions from that quartet’s catalog, plus solo releases like Overdrive (2010), but his versatility also extends to jazz. A former instructor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Rodgers is currently in the midst of a monthly series of salutes to traditional jazz masters with his trio at the Green Room in Fort Lauderdale. See Rodgers on Oct. 21 at Guanabanas (9 p.m., free).
Jackson Browne became one of the definitive pop songwriters of the past 40 years by helping to define the California sound that permeated American music in the 1970s. Born in Germany, but a Southern California resident for most of his life, the 62-year-old singer/songwriter’s classics include Doctor My Eyes, These Days, Late For the Sky, Running On Empty and Take It Easy — a tune co-written with Glenn Frey of The Eagles that became that band’s first hit single. A 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Browne released Solo Acoustic CD volumes in 2005 and 2008, and he performs in that setting later this month to benefit the University of Miami’s Creative American Music Program. His special guest will be 56-year-old keyboardist Bruce Hornsby, the school’s Grammy-winning, genre-surfing graduate who instituted that program at UM. Browne performs Oct. 26 as part of the 2011 Festival Miami at Gusman Concert Hall (8 p.m., $30-70).
New indie rock clubs have popped up through Palm Beach County in 2011, including the Snooze Theatre in Lake Park and the Speakeasy Lounge, which hosts a multi-national trio of acts later this month. Memory House is the Toronto duo of guitarist Evan Abeele and vocalist Denise Nouvion, and its evocative, online-only 2010 Sub Pop Records EP The Years was recently reissued for the first time on CD and vinyl. Another duo, Orlando-based The Band in Heaven, features the vocals and droning, distorted instrumental sounds of guitarist Ates Isildak and keyboardist Lauren Dwyer. Invisible Music will place more musicians on stage than the other two acts combined. Led by Lake Worth-based singer, guitarist and keyboardist John Ralston, the eight-piece group features members of both his touring band and Lantana roots-rockers Black Finger. See Memory House, the Band in Heaven, and Invisible Music on Oct. 28 at the Speakeasy Lounge in Lake Worth (8 p.m., $5-10).
Very few bands have existed for 30 years with as many personnel changes, and as much drama, as California act Social Distortion. The constant has been singer/guitarist Mike Ness. He formed the group with a high school friend, guitarist Dennis Danell, who died of a brain aneurysm in 2000 and left the leader as the only original member. Social Distortion’s punk aesthetic was established on its first album, 1983’s Mommy’s Little Monster, and it’s bookended by this year’s Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. Now showcasing Ness’ matured songwriting through additional rockabilly and outlaw country elements, the never-say-die lineup includes longtime guitarist Jonny Wickersham, bassist Brent Harding, and new drummer David Hidalgo Jr., whose father is a founding member of Los Lobos. See Social Distortion on Nov. 4 at the Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami (8 p.m., $44.50).
The Think Pink Rocks benefit makes most other area seasonal concerts seem self-indulgent by comparison. Proceeds will go toward research for an eventual cure to breast cancer, a disease that has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. Think Pink Rocks is a Boca Raton-based nonprofit organization dedicated to early detection and awareness of breast cancer, and its beneficiaries have included the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Its fourth annual benefit concert features the Sunshine State’s favorite hip-hop son, Miami-Dade County-born Tramar Dillard (better-known as Flo-Rida); Ray J, singer and VH1 reality TV star of For the Love of Ray J, popular vocalists Melanie Fiona and Shontelle, turntable master DJ-Cassidy, and 2011 American Idol semifinalist Brett Lowenstern. Think Pink Rocks takes place Nov. 5 at the Count de Hoernle Ampitheater at the Centre for the Arts in Boca Raton (7 p.m., $45, children 10 and under $20).
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s music and story are both unique in rock history, and the architect for both was singer and guitarist John Fogerty. His high-pitched, howled tales of swamps and voodoo (Born on the Bayou, Bad Moon Rising) gave the impression that his California band was actually from Louisiana. These and a parade of other hit singles between 1968 and 1972 also bankrolled the quartet’s otherwise jazz label, Fantasy. Brother/guitarist Tom Fogerty’s departure from CCR in 1971 hastened the band’s demise, and the original rhythm section of bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford carries the tribute torch through their band Creedence Clearwater Revisited, but they can only do that by playing Fogerty’s songs. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee in 1993, Fogerty is likely to perform several CCR chestnuts, plus subsequent solo hits like The Old Man Down the Road and Centerfield. Fogerty plays Nov. 10 at Hard Rock Live (8 p.m., $49-89).
The artist formerly known as Gordon Matthew Sumner had already taken on the stage name Sting when he formed The Police, his otherworldly pop group with guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland. The trio handed the unofficial “Band of the ’80s” title to U2 when Sting went solo in the mid-80s, yet his subsequent career has yielded gems from the 1985 debut Dream of the Blue Turtles to 1995’s Ten Summoner’s Tales to 2009’s If On a Winter’s Night… Sting stuck to vocals and guitar for the 2010 orchestral CD Symphonicities, but he straps on his original instrument for the Back to Bass Tour. Having turned 60 on Oct. 2, and recently released his solo boxed set Sting: 25 Years, the singing bassist appears with the stellar band of guitarists Dominic Miller and Rufus Miller, violinist Peter Tickell, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and vocalist Jo Lawry. See Sting on Nov. 12 at the Fillmore (8 p.m., $60-147).
For star power, it’s hard to top the forthcoming pairing of hip-hop moguls Jay-Z and Kanye West. Brooklyn-born rapper Shawn Corey Carter became Jay-Z for his 1996 debut CD Reasonable Doubt, and proved that he intended to be more than just a recording artist. He’d already taken the risk of forming a label for the disc, Rock-a-Fella Records, and he featured guest spots by Mary J. Blige, Foxy Brown and the since-deceased Notorious B.I.G. Jay-Z has since become president of heralded hip-hop label Def Jam, and the star associations continue on his latest release, a new duo CD with West called Watch the Throne. Chicago native West’s production work for Jay-Z served as a springboard toward his 2004 debut CD The College Dropout, which won multiple Grammys. He’s since proven unpredictably mercurial, and the possibility of an appearance by Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce adds to the intrigue. See Jay-Z and West on November 14 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise (6:30 p.m., $92-268.25).
She may be the second-best-known member of the Jackson family, but vocalist Janet Jackson has outlasted her star-crossed late brother Michael by not falling prey to the trappings of fame. And though her older brother was indeed the King of Pop, the 45-year-old Jackson’s Number Ones: Up Close and Personal 2011 World Tour does celebrate an impressive 35 No. 1 singles. The youngest of the Jackson children, she launched her performing career on the family’s variety TV series The Jacksons in the mid-1970s. Her recording career started as a teenager with a self-titled 1982 debut, but a star was born, and elevated, through career highlights like Control (1986), Rhythm Nation (1989), The Velvet Rope (1997) and Discipline (2008). Expect a parade of her chart-toppers including What Have You Done for Me Lately, Nasty, Control and Rhythm Nation. Jackson performs on Dec. 5 at the Fillmore (8 p.m., $69.50-225).
A few South Florida roots music bands have lasted longer than 20-year-old trio The Dillengers, but there are multitudes that haven’t. Led throughout by singing guitarist Rick Rossano, the band has released three albums (At Large, Live at Elwood’s and Instro-Mania) that rank among the best ever by South Florida artists. The live CD was recorded during a raucous 1996 St. Patrick’s Day show in the midst of the group’s 1994-2001 house gig at Elwood’s, and Rossano’s playing on it prompted his inclusion as one of “America’s 10 Best Unknown Guitarists” in a 2000 story in Guitar One magazine. The following year, his instructional book and CD combo, Roots-Style Rhythm Tracks, was published by Mel Bay. Rounded out by bassist/vocalist Bill Rabon and drummer/vocalist Mike Vullo, The Dillengers perform Dec. 9 at the downtown Christmas Tree Lighting Party in Delray Beach (7:30 p.m., free).
Keb Mo’ is the hip-hop-like stage name for Los Angeles-born Kevin Moore, but the Grammy-winning singer, guitarist and songwriter is actually at once a blues throwback and futurist. His stately hat-and-suspenders look on the covers of his first two mid-1990s CD releases was straight out of 1920s Mississippi, yet his sound was a modern gumbo of blues, folk, country and New Orleans elements. Set to turn 60 on Oct. 3, Moore wears his years well, and he showed a sense of pop history on the 2004 release Peace: Back By Popular Demand, a set of covers of protest-based hit songs by the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye and John Lennon. On his new CD The Reflection, Moore further stirs the gumbo with guest appearances by entrancing R&B vocalist India Arie, country star Vince Gill, and veteran jazz artists Marcus Miller (bass) and Dave Koz (saxophone). See Keb Mo’ on Feb. 2 at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart (6 and 8:30 p.m., $45).
Appropriately taking place during Black History Month, the Jazz Roots presentation Blues & Soul features 58-year-old singing guitarist Robert Cray and 32-year-old vocalist Shemekia Copeland. The Georgia-born Cray is a five-time Grammy winner whose latest release, This Time, was buoyed by the return of a departed bandmate. Bassist Richard Cousins started playing with Cray in 1974, and appeared on Grammy-winners like 1986’s Strong Persuader and 1988’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark before departing in 1991. The old friends are joined onstage by longtime keyboardist Jim Pugh and drummer Tony Braunagle to welcome the Harlem-born Copeland. Performing selections from her latest CD, Never Going Back, the impassioned vocalist is the daughter of late Texas blues singer and guitarist Johnny Clyde Copeland, an influence on Cray. See Blues & Soul on Feb. 17 in the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami (8 p.m., $25 and up).
Being the younger brother of pop icon James Taylor could’ve created a stylistic wake for another singer/songwriter to follow in, but 60-year-old Livingston Taylor resisted the urge. The Boston-born artist’s first three albums during his 40-year recording career were released from 1970-1973 on Capricorn, also the label of the Allman Brothers Band. Radio airplay of his tunes I Will Be in Love With You and I’ll Come Running, from the 1978 LP Three-Way Mirror, then took his career to another level. Taylor has shared his creativity since 1989 as a full professor at the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston, where his Stage Performance courses are among the school’s most popular. They spawned his instructional book of the same name, and his recent material has included heady string and horn arrangements. James may, in fact, have learned a thing or two from his kid brother. Taylor plays two shows March 11 at the Lyric Theatre (4 and 7 p.m., $35).