Rock Band

"Rock 'n' roll will never die," sang Neil Young in 1979. Lately, though, it seems to be in a coma. How else to describe the sad state of rock? The Billboard charts are filled with pop acts, rappers and country singers. Even sugary boy-bands have re-emerged. But search for a rock band - the kind that peels the paint off garage walls and leaves ears ringing - and you won't find many. One of the only exceptions is the Black Keys, the blues-rock duo of Ohio natives Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals)

Looking for St. Paddy's day plans? Gov. Martin O'Malley's Irish rock band, O'Malleys March, has already sold out the early show for Saturday night in Baltimore, and by Thursday they'd sold three-fourths of the 200-person floor space in the Creative Alliance for the late show, the venue said. Earlier in the day, his political action committee O'Say Can You See sent out an invitation to the St. Patrick's Day show, which costs $25 a head.  Proceeds benefit the Creative Alliance, which advertised the show as " some Celtic fury.

Ed Roland doesn't have much patience for people who only look before they leap to conclusions about Collective Soul.Because his band hails from Stockbridge, Ga., and boasts not one, not two, but three guitar players, many people in the music press have therefore deduced that Collective Soul is a Southern rock band. Therefore, the music Collective Soul plays is very much in the mold of such multi-guitar outfits as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band.Guess again, says Roland."I think a lot of those people weren't listening to the records," says the singer and guitarist, over the phone from a tour stop in New York City.

About six years ago, the Baltimore rock band Arbouretum played at a club in Chicago for an audience of almost no one. You could count the members of the crowd on one hand, singer/guitarist David Heumann recalled, but one of them happened to be Bettina Richards, the founder of indie record label Thrill Jockey. She liked what she heard. "There literally was nobody there but me," Richards said. "It was great. I totally was hooked. " Richards signed Arbouretum to Thrill Jockey.

Musically speaking, Anne Arundel County is a very small pond, amply stocked with some pretty big fish.Three of the larger fish -- jazz singer Sue Matthews, the rock band Edge City and the traditional folk trio known as Ceoltoiri (pronounced "kyultory") have released new albums that are wonderful examples of the top-notch, widely varied music available in the area.The Edge City album is called "Great Expectations," an indicationthat the band still hopes for the Break after years of plugging awayin the region's bars and clubs.

For months now, Guns N' Roses has seemed like nothing less than a rock-and-roll freak show, a traveling carnival of gossip and hype, rumor and recrimination.Their faces have been everywhere, from MTV and Rolling Stone to Newsweek and CNN, and their exploits -- the riot in St. Louis, the tantrum in New York, the ongoing feuds with everyone from the singer in Motley Crue to the publisher of Spin -- have become the stuff of "Tonight Show" monologues. So completely has this band become consumed by its bad-boy role that many have forgotten what made it matter in the first place.

The rock band Motley Crue is joining efforts to find Tracey Gardner-Tetso, a 32-year-old Baltimore County woman who has been missing since March 6 when she failed to meet friends for the group's concert in Washington. The heavy metal band will match an earlier reward of up to $10,000 to increase publicity about the woman's disappearance, said Katie McNeil of 10th Street Entertainment, Motley Crue's management company. "We hope our involvement helps bring more attention to this case, and anyone with information will step forward," Nikki Sixx, the group's bass player, said in a statement.

First Night, the explosion of the arts that has redefined the New Year's Eve party for so many of us, is known for its diverse programming.This year, First Nighters will be able to enjoy avant-garde theater, visual art, rock music, jazz, puppetry, Indian rhythms, Irish whistles, classical piano and zany comedy at the same time without leaving Key Auditorium.Annapolis, say hello to Squonk Opera.On the simplest level, Squonk Opera is a musical quintet that consists of keyboards, Irish woodwinds, electric bass, drums and a vocalist.

The title of Van Halen's 1988 hit, "Finish What Ya Started," could double as the header for a breach-of-contract lawsuit the rock band has filed against the Baltimore Orioles. Van Halen contends in a suit recently filed in federal court in Los Angeles that the baseball team sought to have it perform the first-ever concert inside Camden Yards next month and then backed out of the deal. The band's touring company is suing the team for "at least" $2 million in damages, saying it rearranged its schedule and lost other opportunities to perform in Baltimore.

In the media blitz preceding the release of their hotly anticipated new album, X&Y, the guys of Coldplay have made their mission quite clear: They want to be the best and biggest rock band in the world. And, for better or worse, the British quartet (Chris Martin on vocals and piano, Jonny Buckland on guitar, Will Champion on drums and Guy Berryman on bass) may be well on its way to realizing that goal. In only two albums, the highly acclaimed Parachutes (2000) and A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Recently reunited band Planes Mistaken for Stars played Red Palace in Washignton on Saturday night. Intern Jake Fewster had this report: For some, the idea of a reunion show conjures up images of a geriatric, arena rock band way past their prime. This was not at all the case on Saturday night when Planes Mistaken For Stars took the stage at the Red Palace in Washington D.C. Far from geriatric and even further from arena rock, Planes performed a masterful set that left my ears ringing, in the best way possible, late into Sunday night.

For Towson rock musician Mike Ruocco, there's only one thing to do when your next list of upcoming tour dates is announced: You see when you're coming home. "When you tour as extensively as I've done over the past 10 or so years, and you see the particular tour you're jumping on stops in Baltimore, everyone gets super excited," said Ruocco, 29. "There's nothing better than getting to come home, see your friends and family, and play a show for the community that's supported you from the very beginning.

The city's three-day Artscape festival came to a close Sunday as the rain held off and the biggest crowds of the weekend jammed streets transformed into galleries, performance space and picnic areas. After a slower-than-usual, rainy Saturday, "All of our fair-weather friends came out today," said Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which produces the event. "We're at capacity. " Artscape, which bills itself as America's largest free arts festival, featured roughly 145 artists and vendors and was expected to have attracted about 350,000 people.

It's the second night of the live quarterfinals in New York. Twelve acts will perform tonight, but only four will move on to the next round. We'll find out who advances in tomorrow's results show. Tonight, we just sit back and enjoy the show -- or not. We're already off to a rough start with the first act, LionDanceMe, a martial arts line dance studio. Basically, a bunch of guys jump around on pegs of varying heights, under traditional multi-person Chinese dragon costumes.

John Waters could have been starring in a John Waters movie today when he was picked up hitchhiking in Ohio by members of an indie rock band. It's so weird, it can only be true. The website DCist had the amazing details. The band Here We Go Magic was motoring in a van through eastern Ohio, close to the Pennsylvania border, when they pass a dude on the side of the road holding up a sign. They pick the dude up, who turns out to be Baltimore's own quirky filmmaker Waters.

"Rock 'n' roll will never die," sang Neil Young in 1979. Lately, though, it seems to be in a coma. How else to describe the sad state of rock? The Billboard charts are filled with pop acts, rappers and country singers. Even sugary boy-bands have re-emerged. But search for a rock band - the kind that peels the paint off garage walls and leaves ears ringing - and you won't find many. One of the only exceptions is the Black Keys, the blues-rock duo of Ohio natives Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals)

Kid-tested and parent-approved, Milkshake is no ordinary tasty treat. It is, in fact, a popular kids rock band, born out of Baltimore and evolved from the indie-rock band Love Riot. Singer Lisa Mathews and guitarist Mikel Gehl, both members of Love Riot, formed the kids rock band about five years ago after having children. The band, which plays a concert at Beth Tfiloh Congregation on Sunday, has just enough kid appeal and rock 'n' roll spunk to please everyone. Songs, often about child-and-parent love or about life from a kid's-eye-view, are delivered with a rocking, spirited and fun edge.

Steven C. Benderoth, a musician and composer of advertising jingles, died March 16 of kidney failure at his New York City home. He was 60. Born in Baltimore and raised on Liberty Road in Randallstown, he was a 1964 graduate of Milford Mill High School, where he appeared in plays. He also played keyboard in a teen rock band and studied at the Freitag School of Music. "He was a natural singer and performed at old Cadoa Hall in something called the Boogie- Woogie Blues," said a childhood friend, Kathy Jewell, who lives in New York.

For most aspiring musicians, the guitar is the symbol of cool. And for most angst-ridden teenagers all over the world, learning how to play the rock' n' roll catalyst is not always a simple task. That is why many Harford County residents have chosen longtime rock band frontman and guitarist-turned-teacher, Jim Bowley, as their teacher. Raised by a single mother who worked as a banker, Bowley, 45, graduated from Archbishop Curley High School, an all-boy school in Baltimore, in 1984 and then received a Bachelor of Science degree from Towson University in music education in 1988.

Susan Elizabeth "Susie" Mudd, the former publisher, editor and owner of the free magazine Music Monthly, which for nearly three decades reported on Mid-Atlantic rock bands and musicians as well as other music, died April 5 of cancer at Sinai Hospital. The longtime Lauraville and Lutherville resident was 56. "Whether Susie realized it or not, she had made her mark on the Mid-Atlantic music scene," said Paul Manna, who worked for Ms. Mudd as a columnist and later in advertising sales.