West Deer’s John Vento uses music as force for goodVideo
For a guy who admits that he had a late start in taking original music seriously, John Vento certainly is making up for lost time. In the past 20 years, the West Deer singer-songwriter, who grew up in Penn Hills, has recorded three albums with his John Vento Band, five...
Mandy Moore says she’s ready to return to music
Actress and singer Mandy Moore said that she be making new music soon. “I’ll be recording music during the hiatus,” Moore told reporters at Paramount Studios last week, according to People.com. She said that she will be making music with new husband, musician Taylor Goldsmith. “Yes! With...
Country star Miranda Lambert reveals secret marriage
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country star Miranda Lambert celebrated Valentine’s Day weekend with the announcement that she secretly got married. A representative for the singer confirmed the marriage after Lambert posted photos on social media Saturday showing her in a white lace gown with her new husband, Brendan Mcloughlin. She wrote...
21 Savage ‘wasn’t hiding’ being British, feared deportation
ATLANTA — The Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage said in an interview aired Friday that he didn’t talk about his British citizenship before because he didn’t want to get deported. The Grammy-nominated artist, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested Feb. 3. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement called it...
Review: Brickman delivers a musical valentine to Pittsburgh
Sometimes, in life, certain things just seem so right: • Snow on Christmas Day • The first robin of spring • Fireworks on the Fourth of July • Jim Brickman playing a concert on Valentine’s Day. Pittsburgh fans were treated to the latter last night as the pianist’s schedule brought...
Avenatti says he has new video evidence against R. Kelly
CHICAGO — Attorney Michael Avenatti said Thursday that he has given Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of R&B star R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl. Avenatti said the video is not the same evidence used in Kelly’s 2008 trial, when he was acquitted on child pornography charges. CNN,...
50 years on, America looks back at freeze-frame moments of fameVideo
When Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley of America look back on half a century of freeze-frame moments, the highlights begin right out of the gate. “We have been very fortunate to be able to start our career with such success. Our very first album (‘America’) and single (‘Horse with No...
Violinist joins Westmoreland Symphony for Valentine’s concert
Smart concert programming always takes the audience into account. That’s what Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Meyer did when planning the special nature of the ensemble’s next concert. “We wanted a program that is immediately accessible, straight up the middle, because we know we get a lot of first-time...
Tommy James still draggin’ his line of hits, 53 years laterVideo
Tommy James was born in Ohio, raised in Michigan, now lives in New Jersey, recruited his band in Greensburg and calls Pittsburgh his second home. “I love coming back to Pittsburgh, where it all started for me,” he says. “I owe Pittsburgh a great deal, I truly do. It began...
Love is in the air thanks to Cupid’s Harp by Chatham Baroque
Cupid, the Roman child god of love, is older than Valentine’s Day. He’s a renamed and modified version of a Greek god – Eros. His mother was Venus and his father was either Mercury or Mars (the god of war) according to different accounts. Although we think of Cupid’s arrows...
Report: 7 women claim singer Ryan Adams was inappropriate
NEW YORK — A New York Times report says seven women have claimed singer-songwriter Ryan Adams offered to help them with their music careers but then turned things sexual, and he sometimes became emotional and verbally abusive. In the story published Wednesday, a 20-year-old female musician said Adams, 44, had...
40 Pittsburgh artists join free Carnegie Library music service
A curated selection of Pittsburgh area music will be available for free streaming and downloading with just a library card. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is launching their STACKS digital music service Friday. A library card is all it takes to gain streaming and downloading access to the music. Your...
Requiem for rice plantation slaves debuts tonight in Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon University will host the orchestral debut of “Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice,” a classical music piece focusing on Africans who were enslaved on Lowcountry South Carolina and Georgia rice plantations, at 7 p.m. today in the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. The requiem is “a modern and...
21 Savage released from ICE detention
Hip-hop star 21 Savage has been released from ICE detention nine days after he was taken into custody. The British-born rapper — real name She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph — was arrested Feb. 3 for allegedly being in the United States after his visa expired. “Today, 21 Savage was granted a release...
Saint Vincent College Concert Series to host the Argus Quartet
The award-winning Argus Quartet will perform Feb. 23 as part of the 47th season of the Saint Vincent College Concert Series. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica in Unity. Comprised of violinists Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, cellist Joann Whang and violist Dana Kelley,...
The Chainsmokers’ ‘World War Joy’ tour coming to PPG Paints ArenaVideo
Grammy Award-winning DJ/producer duo The Chainsmokers will play PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11 as part of their “World War Joy” North American fall arena tour. Multi-platinum Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer, featured on The Chainsmokers’ latest single “Who Do You Love,” will be joining...
‘Let My People Go’ brings story of Underground Railroad to Hill DistrictVideo
The venue for this production had to be more than just a building. When Matthew Mehaffey, professor of music at the University of Minnesota and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh’s Robert Page music director, was searching for the site to hold an upcoming performance he wanted to find the right location....
Vocalist, pianist, perform at University of Pittsburgh concert series
Internationally renowned soprano Shana Mashego will present a concert featuring Negro spirituals, Christian hymns and art songs during her Feb. 15 performance for the Joan Chambers Concert Series at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Nationally recognized pianist Jee Sook Cha, a long-time Mashego collaborator, will accompany her during the...
Heart brings summer ‘Love Alive’ tour to PittsburghVideo
Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, better known as the musical duo Heart, will be “comin’ straight on to you,” when their summer tour “Love Alive” makes a stop at KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown on Aug. 1. The two have entertained listeners for decades, beginning with the 1976 release of “Dreamboat...
Jim Brickman to play up the love on Valentine’s Day in PittsburghVideo
Does it get any better than this for Jim Brickman fans? “America’s New Romantic Piano Sensation” (the facetious nickname the popular national pianist/songwriter/radio host jokingly bestowed on himself) performs in Pittsburgh on – wait for this! – Valentine’s Day. The Cleveland resident sends this message to local residents: “I love...
Country musician Luke Bryan announces June tour date at KeyBank PavilionVideo
Country music artist Luke Bryan will visit the Pittsburgh area on June 7, according to a concert announcement Monday. The musician will make a stop at KeyBank Pavilion near Burgettstown for a performance on his Sunset Repeat Tour. The tour will begin May 31 in Philadelphia and end in October...
Dan + Shay win Grammy for ‘Tequila’Video
Hometown fav Dan + Shay, the country music duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, picked up some more hardware for the hit song “Tequila.” The song earned the pair the Grammy for best country duo/group performance. They performed the award-winning song during last night’s show. Smyers is a Pittsburgh-area...
Rap artists, women take center stage at Grammys
LOS ANGELES — Rap artists and women have felt shunned by the Grammy Awards in recent years. But this year, they both took center stage. Childish Gambino’s disturbing look at race relations, “This is America,” won record and song of the year on Sunday’s telecast. It was the first time...
Grammys: Kacey Musgraves wins album of the year; Childish Gambino makes history
LOS ANGELES — Women returned at the Grammys on Sunday as female acts won album of the year and best new artist, while rap also triumphed, with Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” becoming the first rap-based song to win record and song of the year. Kacey Musgraves’ “Golden Hour” picked...
Ariana Grande releases new album, leaves fans speculating about meaning of lyrics
Fans won’t see Ariana Grande at the Grammys this weekend, but they’ve got plenty of new music from the pop star to fill the void. Grande released her latest album “thank u, next” at midnight on Friday, and people are already speculating about the meaning of some of her fresh...
