Eileen Ivers. Photo: Luke Ratray

FRIDAY
Eileen Ivers
She’s probably best known as the violinist from “Riverdance,” but all-Ireland fiddle champion Ivers’ recording credits include more than 100 albums and many movie scores. She’ll bring along an ensemble of 13 musicians and dancers for a multi-media performance called “Beyond the Bog Road.”
8 p.m. March 12. $20-$42. Ferst Center for the Arts, 349 Ferst Drive N.W., Atlanta. 404-894-2787.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Drive-By Truckers, David Barbe
These Athens rockers have released album after album of music that has given Southern rock a jolt of heart, soul and wisdom: “Southern Rock Opera,” “Decoration Day,” “The Dirty South,” “A Blessing and a Curse,” “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.” It’s an awe-inspiring string of goodness. This gig celebrates another addition to the stellar catalog, “The Big To-Do,” set to be released March 16. Opening the show is one of Athens’ hardest working musicians and …

Continue reading Live music picks, March 12-17 »

Jamie Cullum

Concert preview
Jamie Cullum with Imelda May
8 p.m. Fri.,  March 12. $30.50, $35.50. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 770-916-2800, www.cobbenergycentre.com.

By Lynne Margolis

In concert, Jamie Cullum seems irrepressibly impish — and not just because he’s short and cute. No, it’s because he’s a whirl of energy, banging away at his piano (or any other surface), jumping on his instrument, cracking jokes, dancing. … The guy oozes so much personality, you can’t help but fall in love with him.

But of course, none of that would matter if he didn’t have chops; he’s a piano dynamo who also has a great voice and a winning way of mixing jazz and pop. His appreciation for the classics and ability to write witty originals simply clinches the deal.

The London resident has recently released an album (“The Pursuit”) and built his own studio, named Terrified Studios — so called because, he says, he’s so technophobic, …

Continue reading Jamie Cullum at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre »

British guitar legend Eric Clapton rocked the sold out Arena at Gwinnett Center Tuesday night, March 9, 2010, with Roger Daltrey, vocalist for The Who, opening the show.

And while we weren’t there to cover it, Robb Cohen was handy with his camera. Click here for a full photo gallery from the concert. If you made the show, tell us about what you saw. How did it compare to other Eric Clapton concerts?

(Photo Credit: Robb Cohen/ www.robbsphotos.com)  For other concert photography linked to Access Atlanta, please visit for Atlanta Concert Photography Galleries. by Atlanta Photographer Robb Cohen www.RobbsPhotos.com.

Continue reading Guitar Legend Eric Clapton Sells Out Gwinnett Arena »

LN = Live Nation, 1-877-598-8698, www.livenation.com
TM = Ticketmaster, 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com
TA = Ticketalternative, 1-877-725-8849, www.ticketalternative.com

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are coming to Philips Arena on Aug. 11. Photo: Jason DeCrow / Associated Press

ON SALE MARCH 10
Trance Atlanta. 8 p.m. March 25. Masquerade. $8 advance. TM.

ON SALE MARCH 12
Green River Ordinance with Vedera and Angel Taylor. 8:30 p.m. April 8. Vinyl. $12; $10 advance. TA.
Junior Brown. 8:30 p.m. April 9. Variety Playhouse. $20; $17.50 advance. TM.
Carolina Chocolate Drops. 8 p.m. April 17. Variety Playhouse. $17; $15 advance. TM.
Ingram Hill. 8 p.m. April 21. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $12 advance. TA.
Bullet for My Valentine with Chiodos, The Airborne Toxic Event and Arcanium. 6:30 p.m. May 4. The Tabernacle. $24. LN.
Zac Brown Band. 8 p.m. May 8. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park. $25-$49. TM.
The Dirty Guv’nahs. 9 p.m. May 15. Smith’s Olde Bar …

Continue reading Hot tickets, March 9 »

Gordon Lightfoot. Photo: John Russell / AP

TODAY
Gordon Lightfoot
It’s easy to forget just how memorable some of this Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter’s work is until you put a few of his gems together in a row: “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,”  “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” each one a Top 10 hit.
8 p.m. March 5. $38-$75. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org.

TODAY
Fresh Fest Old School Reunion Tour
Take a trip back to a time when rap was young and a bit more carefree. The lineup for this night of nostalgia includes Salt-N-Pepa, Biz Markie, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick.
8 p.m. March 5. $42.50-$74. Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, 395 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta. 404-523-6275, www.atlantaciviccenter.com.

TODAY
Noot d’ Noot
Noot d’ Noot blends psychedelia and R&B as if they were natural bedfellows, and frankly, they are (just ask …

Continue reading Live music picks, March 5-10 »

The Soulphonics photo by: John-Robert Ward II

Concert Preview
The Soulphonics & Ruby Velle with Lee Fields
9 p.m. Sat., Mar. 6. $10. The EARL, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. S.E., Atlanta, 404-522-3950, www.badearl.com

By Bob Townsend

The Soulphonics & Ruby Velle are giving a new voice to the sounds of ’60s and ’70s soul.

Taking after contemporary rhythm and blues revival artists, such as Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse and Back Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, the young, eight-member band mixes classics covers with original music that conjures the heyday of James Brown and Aretha Franklin.

On Saturday at The EARL in East Atlanta, The Soulphonics & Ruby Velle will release a new single, “Feet On The Ground,” and make the evening even more special by playing a set with legendary ’70s soul singer Lee Fields.

Recently, the Soulphonics founding members — keyboardist Spencer Garn, guitarist Scott Clayton and singer Ruby Velle — sat down at George’s Bar & Restaurant in …

Continue reading The Soulphonics & Ruby Velle with Lee Fields at The EARL »

Event preview
Savannah Music Festival. March 18-April 3. Some events are already sold out. www.savannahmusicfestival.org.

By Pierre Ruhe

Eight years ago, after he’d served as founding director of New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rob Gibson had experienced a rift with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the organization’s imposing main attraction.
What Wynton wants, Wynton gets.
So Gibson, a Georgia native, migrated south to the Savannah Music Festival, which was then small in budget and staff, with a nagging debt and happily narrow ambitions.
But a springtime music jamboree in the impossibly lovely port city on Georgia’s coast? A festival aimed at an eclectic, upscale audience and backed by the local chamber of commerce and tourism? It seemed like an untapped gold mine. As promised when he took the job, Gibson has used his music-business connections and diverse musical tastes to elevate the festival to international recognition.
The 2010 edition of the festival opens …

Continue reading Savannah Music Festival »

LN = Live Nation, 1-877-598-8698, www.livenation.com
TM = Ticketmaster, 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com
TA = Ticketalternative, 1-877-725-8849, www.ticketalternative.com

Ben Harper will perform at DAVE-FM’s Earth Day Birthday show April 25 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park. Photo: Stephen Chernin / Associated Press

ON SALE MARCH 5
Cool Cat a Go-Go featuring the Retro Jazz Kats with Gwen Hughes and Garrison Elliot. 7 p.m. March 27. Variety Playhouse. $30. TM.
David Garza. 8 p.m. April 4. Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta Room. $15 advance. TA.
Webb Wilder. 6 p.m. April 4. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15 advance. TA.
Shawn Fisher. 8 p.m. April 9. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $12 advance. TA.
CD Release — Autumnattics. 8 p.m. April 16. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 advance. TA.
The Bridge. 8 p.m. April 23. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 advance. TA.
Big Mamma’s Jam for a Cure. 6 p.m. April 25. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music …

Continue reading Hot tickets, March 2 »

A mix of acts who had their heyday mostly in the 70s and 80s populate Chastain’s Series A lineup, which goes on sale Sunday at 10 a.m.

Classic rock fans will have a bulk of the choices, including Jethro Tull (June 6), Jeff Beck (June 11) the Doobie Brothers and Chicago (July 12), REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar (July 1), Sting (June 28), Styx, Foreigner & Kansas (June 7) and ZZ Top (May 8).

Dance lovers can boogie to KC & the Sunshine Band and MC Hammer (June 13). Pop fans will enjoy the numerous hits of Hall & Oates (April 24). Women in their late 20s and 30s will get to sing “I Want It That Way” again with the Backstreet Boys. (June 3). Lovers of standards can take in Harry Connick Jr. (June 19) while flamenco afficionados will dance to the Gipsy Kings (May 1).

Continue reading Chastain Series A schedule now up: ZZ Top, Backstreet Boys, Jethro Tull, Harry Connick Jr., Sting »