The Colonial Theatre Presents: Rickie Lee Jones

Named as one of the 30 greatest women in rock, Rickie Lee Jones has been hard to classify ever since she came on the scene with the instant classic “Chuck E.’s in Love” in 1979. Jones began her career in the pop realm, but in her 15 albums, she has experimented fearlessly with her sound and persona. She’s performed straight jazz, blues, synth pop, new wave rock, pop covers, trip-hop, gospel, ambitious singer-songwriter music, and more, putting her unique spin on each style. Each new round of music-making activity by Rickie Lee Jones is different. Her live concerts have almost without exception been unforgettable experiences over her more than 30 years of performing. Her artistry is brilliantly underlined with her latest album KICKS which spans two decades (50s–70s) of pop, rock and jazz, presenting her unique and sophisticated interpretations of songs that were pivotal to her musical journey.

Lonestar is Featured Entertainment at Lancaster Fair

The Lancaster Fair proudly presents Lonestar — the featured entertainment on Saturday night, September 5, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10.

For more than 20 years Lonestar has logged countless miles touring throughout the world, released several Platinum-selling albums and ten No. 1 singles, earned ACM and CMA awards and inspired rave reviews as far away as London, where The Guardian proclaimed them exemplars of “country’s greatest strength: picture-painting, story-based, tear-your-heart-out lyrics that are the most direct and lucid in popular music.”

Yet all roads lead back to Nashville, where lead singer/guitarist Richie McDonald, lead guitarist/singer Michael Britt, keyboardist/guitarist/singer Dean Sams and drummer Keech Rainwater wrote and rehearsed songs for their tenth album, Never Enders, each one crafted impeccably yet as raw and soulful as all four members’ Texas honky-tonk roots.

Known for merging their country roots with strong melodies and rich vocals, Lonestar has amassed RIAA-certified sales in excess of ten million album units since their national launch in 1995, and achieved ten #1 country hits including “No News,” “Come Crying To Me,” and their crossover smash “Amazed” (which was also #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first record since 1983’s “Islands in the Stream”, to top both charts). The band’s awards include a 1999 ACM Single of The Year for “Amazed” (the song also won the Song of the Year award), and the 2001 CMA Vocal Group of the Year. With over a 100 dates worldwide per year, they are celebrating over 20 years together. Lonestar’s highly anticipated CD, Never Enders, features ten new original Lonestar songs that bring the band’s trademark sound into the contemporary arena.

Rising Appalachia in Concert at The Colonial Theatre

Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. Whether playing at Red Rocks or in rail cars, at Italian street fairs or to Bulgarian herbalists, this fiercely independent band has blazed a unique and colorful path across the globe. 11 years into their movement, Rising Appalachia believes that the roots of all these old songs are vital to our ever evolving soundscape.

Led by the collective voice of sisters Leah and Chloe, and joined by their beloved band – percussionist Biko Casini and bassist/guitarist David Brown – Rising Appalachia is a melting pot of folk music simplicity, textured songwriting, and those bloodline harmonies that only siblings can pull off. Listen for a tapestry of song, clawhammer banjo tunes, fiddle, double bass, acoustic guitar, djembe, barra, bodhran, spoken word, and a wealth of musical layering that will leave you called to action and lulled into rhythmic dance simultaneously. It is both genre bending and familiar at the same time. Proudly born and raised in the concrete jungle of Atlanta, Georgia, sharpening their instincts in the mountains of Appalachia, and fine tuning their soul on the streets of New Orleans they have crafted a 6-album career from the dusts of their passion.

The Colonial Theatre Presents: Rickie Lee Jones

RESCHEDULED TO SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Named as one of the 30 greatest women in rock, Rickie Lee Jones has been hard to classify ever since she came on the scene with the instant classic “Chuck E.’s in Love” in 1979. Jones began her career in the pop realm, but in her 15 albums, she has experimented fearlessly with her sound and persona. She’s performed straight jazz, blues, synth pop, new wave rock, pop covers, trip-hop, gospel, ambitious singer-songwriter music, and more, putting her unique spin on each style. Each new round of music-making activity by Rickie Lee Jones is different. Her live concerts have almost without exception been unforgettable experiences over her more than 30 years of performing. Her artistry is brilliantly underlined with her latest album KICKS which spans two decades (50s–70s) of pop, rock and jazz, presenting her unique and sophisticated interpretations of songs that were pivotal to her musical journey.

POSTPONED — AMC Trail Town Designation Celebration

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED ‘TIL LATE SUMMER.

Gorham has been designated an Appalachian Trail Community. Join us at 6 p.mn. on Friday, MaRch 27 for the Trail Town Designation Celebration, with a presentation beginning at 6:30 by Jeffrey H. Ryan, the Maine author of Blazing Ahead: Benton MacKaye, Myron Avery and the Rivalry that Built the Appalachian Trail. A Q&A will follow.

CANCELLED – Annual Maple Season Dinner at The Rocks

THE ANNUAL MAPLE DINNER HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS.

The Rocks will once again celebrate the transition from a long winter to a welcome spring with its annual Maple Dinner on March 27 at 5:30 p.m. This year’s dinner will be held at Chef Joe’s in Franconia following the loss to fire of the program center at The Rocks. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit The Rocks. Programs at The Rocks offer opportunities to learn about maple sugaring, growing Christmas trees and sustainably managing forests and wildlife habitat. The 1,400-acre property has trails open to the public that wind through fields and forest with stunning views of the Presidential Range. For more information please visit www.therocks.org.

Folk Duo-Hungrytown in Concert at Tillotson Center

After more than 15 years of world-wide touring and three album releases, Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson — otherwise known as the folk duo Hungrytown — have earned a reputation for the quality and authenticity of their songwriting. “It’s great to hear an act eschew sentimentality in favor of honesty and to prove that you don’t have to go raiding the memory of others to find the stuff that really good songs are made of,” writes Jedd Beaudoin of Popmatters.

Admission $10/Students $5.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Auction at St. Kieran Arts

Get your Irish on and join St. Kieran Arts  as it presents its St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Auction. Doors open at 5 p.m., with remarks from the Executive Director at 5:30, followed by dinner at 6 p.m.

Tickets: $30 all seats. Advance tickets only.

Randy & Brad at St. Kieran Arts

Randy & Brad played their first show together when they were 11 years old and in the 5th grade Talent Show. They played “5 Foot Two” and “Bye Bye Blackbird” with Randy on Sax and Brad on Snare Drum. They won the Talent Show and have been playing in bands together ever since. From the first “horn band” in NH in 1967 called “Train,” then on to the nationally recognized recording act “Oak,” to today’s current “The Voice,” together since 1989.

Now Randy & Brad have chosen to also perform as a Duo playing a wide variety of songs from artists as varied as Elton John, Supertramp, Doobie Brothers, Billy Joel, and Jethro Tull to dance hits by Michael Jackson, Wild Cherry, Earth, Wind and Fire, and the O’Jays to current hits by Bruno Mars and Walking the Moon to real oldies from the 60’s by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Rasberries, Badfinger, The Foundations, Moody Blues and going even further back to Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong. Rock, Oldies, Disco, Soul, Contemporary and Country. Randy & Brad can do it all.

Tickets: $15 all seats

Irish Music at the Colebrook Country Club

Get ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Colebrook Country Club beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, as the region’s Celtic ensemble gathers in town to celebrate the music of the Emerald Isle.

Islay Mist Ceilidh come to Colebrook bringing in a host of Irish tunes — and then some — with a successive blast of jigs, reels, airs and some familiar tunes to sing along with. The will be hosting this lively St. Patrick’s Day gathering.

Islay Mist Ceilidh includes fiddlers, guitarists, bodhrans, flutes and penny whistle. It brings together musicians from all over northern New Hampshire who at first started out playing Celtic music together for fun. That fun has grown to include numerous gigs at various venues and events; the band plays several times a year at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center Inn in Crawford Notch, at the Lancaster Fair, and for the past three years has been among the headliners at the annual First Night North New Year’s Eve celebration in St. Johnsbury, Vt. The group  recently played at the First Day celebration on New Year’s Day in Colebrook helping launch the town’s 250th anniversary celebration.

Come along and join the fun and don’t forget to wear your green  — and join in the singing to some old Irish favorites, including “Danny Boy,” “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and more. Whether you’re of Irish heritage or just Irish for the day, you will have a great time — and that’s no blarney.

Admission is $15 at the door for adults and $5 for children 12 or younger. You can secure advance tickets online at www.gnwca.org.