After a very busy holiday season, Northern Ohio’s favorite live music venues have some good shows lined up to get fans through the winter.
One of the highlights of winter each year is the Tri-C Rock Off at the House of Blues, taking place most weekends until the finals on Sat 2/12. Local favorite Paul Fareweather is doing a show at the House of Blues on Fri 2/4 and blues guitarist Robert Cray and his band appear Tue 2/15. Check out more info at http://HOB.com/cleveland.
February is filled with great shows at the Kent Stage including Max Weinberg’s Big Band on Wed 2/2; Leon Redbone on Fri 2/4; Columbus country rock legends McGuffey Lane on the Sat 2/26; and singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell on Sat 3/5. For more information go to http://KentStage.org.
The Winchester will be holding the fort down on the west side with shows featuring Commander Cody and his Band on Fri 2/11; a CD release party and comedy show featuring Mike Polk and Last Call Cleveland on Sat 2/12; and an encore performance of Jonah Koslen and Stage Pass Now on Fri 3/4. Go to http://TheWinchester.net for their complete schedule.
The Beachland Ballroom will be busy all winter, with shows leading up to their 11th Anniversary in March. Thu 2/3 is Shelby Lynne; Sat 2/5 is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings; Fri 2/18 is Martin Sexton. The club’s anniversary weekend of Fri 3/4 – Sun 3/6 includes a Friday double header with Paul Thorn and his Band in the Ballroom and Wayne “The Train” Hancock in the Tavern, and another double dip on Saturday with the Spampinato Brothers (from NRBG) in the Tavern and Jonathon Richmond in the Ballroom. Go to http://BeachlandBallroom.com for more information.
Jazz fans at Nighttown won’t be left out in the cold either. Amongst their many shows this winter are: Sun 2/13 – Concord Recording Artist and Grammy Winning vocalist Kurt Elling doing two shows at 6 & 8PM; Thu 2/17 – The Good Lovelies [pictured], a Juno-winning trio from Toronto playing Folk-Roots and Western Swing; Fri 2/18 – Violinist from the Cleveland Orchestra Lev Polyakin and his jazz group Russian Blue; and Sat 2/19 – rising alto saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio and his Quartet. Check out http://NighttownCleveland.com for the complete schedule and starting times.
Greg Cielec is a local writer who covers mostly music and sports for a variety of publications and websites. He is also a full time English and creative writing teacher at Streetsboro High School; an adjunct professor at BGSU Firelands College and Lakeland Community College; and a football coach at John Carroll University. He has published two books of fiction, My Cleveland Story (1998) and Home and Away Games (2006), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michael Heaton has called him “the Mark Twain of Cleveland.” Check out his website and blog at http://www.GregCielec.com.