Irwin Finger
As Roaming the Arts followers may have already guessed, I support artists both known and overlooked. RTA especially supports artists seen or known from personal connections. Irwin Finger has delighted folk audiences for over fifty years. Most recently he has performed a “live song” every morning for all of us cranky shut-ins.
Along that line and the recent passing of John Prine check out his sweet rendition of “Hello in There.”
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Why Classic Rock Bands Will Never Go Away
In the early years of classic rock, the fears rotated around whether it will last into mortality. Would people get tired of listening to Zeppelin, the Stones, Skynyrd, and Aerosmith? But over the years, it hasn’t happened. In fact, the music continues to be very strong. As any researcher on the radio about how classic rock will continue to score in perceptual studies. To this day, it’s still popular. Roaming the Arts helps you find classic rock bands all across the US.
Classic Rock Bands
Classic rock still goes on through being in movies, TV, and soundtracks. The overexposure caused worry in the media, if it would detract from the music appeal. In fact, the iconic songs are now all over popular films and television shows for new generations to enjoy. The selection of anthems in TV has helped make brands what they are today. For example, Cadillac resuscitated themselves with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” as their background music.
The legendary bands have continued to tour among the new music leaders every year for box revenue. Markets big and small throughout the US, classic rock continues to tour, and delighting millions of fans, original and many news ones.
What happens then when classic rock fans mourn the passing of icons like David Bowie, Prince, and Glenn Frey? And down the road, when key members of great bands pass on?
Surprisingly, nothing.
Through the passing and mourning of band members, the music continues to go on a successful tour with different members of drums or bassists.
Journey has survived the loss of it’s singer, Steve Perry, and with several other replacements. Music doesn’t just die with the musician, it keeps going. In this case, Journey has kept going and done fine without him.
So when Glenn Frey passed away, dark thoughts about the end of the Eagles came to fruition about who would replace him during the summer festival? The revival would be saved by Vince Gill, the country legend who performed for an Eagles tribute album.
It’s also safe to assume that the long-time Eagles manager Irving Azoff will find ways to keep the band in the forefront, having negotiated and navigated crises over the decades. This also keeps the classic rock alive in one of the classic bands.
Classic Rock Will Won’t Die
Roaming the Art is a comprehensive index of books and authors, bands and musicians, and a selection of visual art. We help you find your favorite classic rock bands in the US. We also have rock to folk, americana to blues, and artists both new and storied careers.
Each new post is a gateway to follow your favorite artists, some you have heard of, some you have not, or some known but forgotten. We have constant videos, links, and websites to create a true Arts browser.
We are constantly evolving with features of new music and connections and discoveries focused on Indie, Roots, Americana, Blues, and Alternative music. Check out our website to find artists and classic rock bands.
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Chris Smither
Chris Smither
William Christopher Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers. Wikipedia
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Jon Cleary
Jon Cleary’s love and affinity for New Orleans music goes back to the rural British village of Cranbrook, Kent, where he was raised in a musical family. Cleary’s maternal grandparents performed in London in the 1940s, under the respective stage names Sweet Dolly Daydream and Frank Neville, The Little Fellow With The Educated Feet – she as a singer, and he as a crooner and tap dancer.
As a teen Cleary grew increasingly interested in funk-infused music and discovered that three such songs that he particularly admired – LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” Robert Palmer’s version of “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” and Frankie Miller’s rendition of “Brickyard Blues” – were attributed to Allen Toussaint as either the songwriter, the producer, or both. Cleary’s knowledge of Toussaint’s work expanded significantly when his uncle returned home to the U.K., after a two-year sojourn in New Orleans, with a copy of a Toussaint LP and two suitcases full of New Orleans R&B 45s.
In 1981 Cleary flew to New Orleans for an initial pilgrimage and took a cab straight from the airport to the Maple Leaf Bar, a storied venue which then featured such great blues-rooted eclectic pianists as Roosevelt Sykes and James Booker. Cleary first worked at the Maple Leaf as a painter, but soon graduated to playing piano there – even though his first instrument was the guitar, which he still plays and has recently reintroduced into his live performances.
As word of Cleary’s burgeoning talent began to spread around town, he was hired by such New Orleans R&B legends as Snooks Eaglin, Earl “Trick Bag” King, Johnny Adams, and Jessie “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” Hill, while also gaining the respect of the great Crescent City pianists Dr. John and the late Allen Toussaint. Years later, in 2012, Cleary recorded a critically acclaimed album of all-Toussaint songs entitled Occapella.
Today, Cleary’s work pays obvious homage to the classic Crescent City keyboard repertoire created by such icons as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Art Neville, Dr. John, and James Booker – while also using it as a launching pad for a style that incorporates such other diverse influences as ’70s soul and R&B, gospel music, funk, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Cuban rhythms, and much more.Deciding to stay in New Orleans, Cleary recorded his first album of nine, to date, in 1989. His ever-elevating profile led to global touring work in the bands of Taj Mahal, John Scofield, Dr. John, and Bonnie Raitt. Cleary has led his own group, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, for over two decades now, but he still collaborates frequently with these old friends. At the 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, for instance, Cleary performed alongside Raitt in a heartfelt tribute to Fats Domino.
