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Jon Anderson performs at The Birchmere on Aug. 5, 2019. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
Getting older, aging, maturing — whatever you’d like to call it — does have its upsides. Like wine or whisky, guitars and violins, aging produces deep tones and a richness that can’t be duplicated any other way. The same can be said for music, the timelessness and appeal that cuts across space and time.
The Association (Photo courtesy Paradise Artists)
For 54 years, The Association has made and played hit pop. Their song “Never My Love” came in second on a 2000 survey of the most played songs on radio, TV, and film after the Beatles’ “Yesterday.” In an appearance at The Birchmere recently, bass player Del Ramos dedicated the song to our troops, veterans, and first responders, and to his 99-year-old mother, whose name, he said, is “Mom.”
Taj Mahal performs at The Birchmere on July 25, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
There is a moment in The Empire Strikes Back when Yoda transforms into a being of incredible, transcendent power. Something very similar happened when the Taj Mahal Quartet picked up their instruments and started to play at The Birchmere recently.
Jon Anderson (Photo courtesy the artist)
Jon Anderson released 1,000 Hands, a new solo album, on March 31. The album features his former Yes bandmates Steve Howe, Alan White, and the late Chris Squire! Jon plays songs from the new record solo at The Birchmere on Monday, Aug. 5.
The Bacon Brothers perform at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, July 19, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss/ aristrauss.com)
While preparing to cover the first night of a three-night Bacon Brothers residency at The Birchmere, I joked with my friends via a Facebook post that they would all become two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, a reference to the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon parlor game which became popular in the 1990s.
The Bacon Brothers (Photo by Jeff Fasano)
The Bacon Brothers — Michael and Kevin — launched their Shaky Ground Tour 2019 earlier this year, and the famous Footloose actor and his brother perform at The Birchmere for three nights *this weekend*! You can catch them on the first night — Friday, July 19 — and the final night — Sunday, July 21 — but Saturday is sold out.
Colbie Caillat performs with her new band Gone West at The Birchmere, July 7, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
Walking through the parking lot at The Birchmere one recent evening after seeing Colbie Caillat perform with her new band, Gone West, I overheard a woman say to her friend, “Wow, that was such a great show; you could tell there was so much love in the room!” I whole-heatedly agree.
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