Summer Concert Madness

Starting next month, Ironstone Amphitheater's concert series brings names like Sheryl Crow, Los Lonely Boys, Chris Isaak, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt out of the big city for a night under the stars.

SHERYL CROW WITH SPECIAL GUEST LOS LONELY BOYS

When: June 13

Tickets: $46-$226

Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins a 8 p.m.

Sheryl Crow

Bolder and more free-spirited than ever, Sheryl Crow embarks on paths both deeply personal and grandly global on her album, "Detours." Her newest songs are about having and holding, changing and letting go, about beginnings and endings and the roads in between. "Detours" was inspired by "How I feel things are going in the world and what's happened to me the last couple of years," said Crow, the nine-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter. Crow's lyrical signposts include a failed relationships, the adoption of her son, a public bout with breast cancer, the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina.

Los Lonely boys

The music of Los Lonely Boys melds the freshness of youth with the depth of veteran musicians. This Texas-bred trio of brothers already boasts a decade of professional experience, starting out before they hit their teens.

Los Lonely Boys write, sing and play music drawn from diverse sources. Weaned on Tex-Mex, country, blues, rock pioneers like Richie Valens, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, and such pop music giants as The Beatles, Los Lonely Boys augment those solid basics with guitar playing, percolating rock and Latin rhythms, and solid, tuneful bass lines.

GEORGE THOROGOOD and THE DESTROYERS AND BUDDY GUY WITH CHARLIE MUSSLEWHITE

When: July 27

Tickets: $45-$215

Doors open at 6 p.m., show begins a 7 p.m.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers

George Thorogood and his band the Destroyers have held a gig for more than 30 years, and they are not about to let go. The Destroyers fought their way to the top. They came out of Delaware in the '70s as a jarringly high-energy bunch that has yet to burn out.

Buddy Guy

Any discussion of Buddy Guy invariably involves a recitation of his musical resume and hard-earned accolades. He's a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a chief guitar influence to rock titans like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck and Vaughan, a pioneer of Chicago's fabled West Side sound and a living link to that city's halcyon days of electric blues.

Buddy was all of seven years old, he recalls, when he fashioned his first makeshift "guitar"—a two-string contraption attached to a piece of wood and secured with his mother's hairpins.

Internationally acclaimed, a Grammy winner and now an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guy has cemented a blues legacy that places him squarely in the company of his heroes who came before. "This all reminds me of something my mother used to tell me," Guy says of his current-day status as a music icon. "She said, 'If you got the flowers for me, son, give 'em to me now so I can smell 'em, 'cause I'm not gonna smell 'em when you put 'em on the casket.'

"I'm gettin' to smell a few now."

(Courtesy photo)

CHRIS ISAAK AND BOZ SCAGGS

When: Aug. 2

Tickets: $45-$225

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show begins a 7:30 p.m.

Chris Isaak

In the course of Chris Isaak's career, he has released nine albums, 12 singles, been nominated for two Grammy awards, acted in several films and starred in his own TV series.

His shows with his band Silvertone has entertained for over two decades. Even his hair has its own fan club.

Boz Scaggs

Grammy Award winning artist, Boz Scaggs, has hit the road, performing the best known songs of his career, requests like "Lido Shuffle," "Look What You've Done To Me," "Miss Sun," "Jo Jo," "Heart of Mine," "Lowdown," "Harbor Lights." and "We're All Alone."

Born in Texas and raised with an abiding respect for a wide spectrum of American roots music, Scaggs has combined rock, jazz, R&B and blues to create a trademark sound. With an extensive and distinctive career that has spanned over 30 years and many accolades, Scaggs continues to prove himself as one of music's most creative and original artists.

(Courtesy photo)

WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY WITH SPECIAL GUEST SARA EVANS

When: Sept. 5

Tickets: $45-$215

Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins a 8 p.m.

If ever the words "living legend" would define a music artist, this would be Willie Nelson.

The iconic Texan is behind historical recordings like "Crazy," "Hello Walls," "Red Headed Stranger" and "Stardust." His career has spanned six decades. His catalog boasts more than 200 albums. He's earned every conceivable award and honor to bestowed on a person in his profession. He also amassed reputable credentials as an author, actor and activists.

He has released two new albums, recently embarked on an imaginative tour with a fellow musical icon, again headlined Farm Aid, has established himself as a top television ratings draw, has a recent No. 1 single and a Super Bowl performance under his belt.

Sara Evans

Strength, versatility and a spunky sense of adventure are qualities more often associated with literary heroines than successful country singers. But then there's nothing typical about Sara Evans. Whether dominating country radio airwaves with singles or attracting a new legion of fans with her spirited turn on "Dancing with the Stars," Evans' drive, talent and determination have placed her in a class of artists who transcend musical genres to become a household name.

Evans has won numerous accolades, among them the Academy of Country Music's Female Vocalist of the Year and the Country Music Association's Video of the Year for "Born to Fly."

(Courtesy photo)

STEELY DAN WITH SPECIAL GUEST

When: Aug. 9

Tickets: $45-$230

Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins a 8 p.m.

In 2000, all the world was humming their favorite selections from "Two Against Nature," Steely Dan's first album.

Now, they're newest album, "Everything Must Go," is full of quirky turns of phrase, colorful and elusive names for people and places, and all sorts of musical and lyrical spit-takes of the highest possible sophistication and panache.

STEVE MILLER BAND WITH JOE COCKER

When: Aug. 17

Tickets: $45-$230

Doors open at 6 p.m., show begins a 7 p.m.

The Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band emerged from San Francisco's summer of love with a sound that was distinctively different from its peers. Since then, the band has sold a cumulative 25 million records and is still a mainstay of the summer concert season—as fresh and vibrant as ever, melding rock, blues, jazz and pop in its own inimitable style.

(Courtesy photo)

With albums such as "Children of the Future," "Fly Like an Eagle" and "Abracadabra," the Steve Miller band has attracted a fervent, multi-generational following.

Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker began his music career by singing with The Avengers in pubs around England before forming his own band, Joe Cocker Big Blues. He soon began singing in all the major rock festivals, including Woodstock.

Cocker's first album, "With A Little Help From My Friends" was a major hit in the U.S. and was certified gold. "You Are So Beautiful" became a top 10 hit and the duet with Jennifer Warnes "Up Where We Belong," theme from the 1982 film, "An Officer and a Gentleman" topped the charts.

Cocker's latest release, "Hymn for My Soul," is inspired Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty.

BONNIE RAITT WITH THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA

When: Oct. 4

Tickets: $45-$225

Doors open at 6 p.m., show begins a 7 p.m.

(Courtesy photo)

Bonnie Raitt

More than just a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer, and accomplished songwriter, Bonnie Raitt has become an institution in American music. The release of "Souls Alike," her 18th album, marks yet another step in a legendary body of work.

In the late '60s, restless in Los Angeles, she moved east to Cambridge, Mass. As a Harvard/Radcliffe student majoring in social relations and African studies, she attended classes and immersed herself in the city's turbulent cultural and political activities.

Raitt was already deeply involved with folk music and the blues at that time. Three years after entering college, Bonnie left to commit herself full-time to music. In 1971, she released her debut album, "Bonnie Raitt." All of Raitt's experiences led her to her newest album, "Souls Alike." The album is a collection of songs by lesser-known songwriters with whom Raitt feels a deep affinity and whose work she is eager to champion. Featuring some surprising new directions and, as she describes them, "thorny, adult themes," the ambitious and innovative "Souls Alike" reveals an extraordinary artist who's never been content to rest on her laurels. "You gotta do stuff that stretches you," Bonnie says. "I'd hang up my spurs if I didn't have something new to play."

The Blind Boys of Alabama

Since 1939, The Blind Boys of Alabama have sung a fervent blend of traditional and contemporary gospel music. Much has changed during these seven prolific decades. Stylistic phases have waxed and waned; personnel has come and gone. 78 r.p.m. records have given way to LPs, followed by eight-track tapes, cassettes, and CDs. The Blind Boys' audience — once rigidly segregated and confined to traditional gospel venues — now reflects the group's eclectic, global following, while their repertoire has expanded to embrace secular songs with a strongly spiritual message.

OTHER CONCERT SERIES

Doobie Brothers in Lodi

Where: Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St.

When: Aug. 2

Time: 8 p.m.

Information: http://www.HutchinsStreetSquare.com.

Jessie's Grove Groovin' in the Grove Summer Concert series

June 14 — ReUnion "A funky good time"

June 28 — Frankie Lee and his Blues Orchestra

July 12 — Shane Dwight Band

July 17-19 and 24-26, Changing Faces Theater Company presents "Peter Pan and Wendy."

Aug. 2 — Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers with Pianist Christian Rennenenberg from Germany

Aug. 23 — Leah Tysse and The OG's

Jessie's Grove Winery is located at 1973 W. Turner Road in Lodi. For information, call 368-0880.

University of Pacific, Conservatory of Music, Concert Series

Sept. 27 — University Symphony Orchestra

Oct. 8 — Pacific Jazz Ensemble

Oct. 17 — Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Oct. 18 — University Choruses

Oct. 24 — Nov. 1 Musical

Nov. 8 — University Symphony Orchestra

Nov. 23 — Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Dec. 5 — Pacific Jazz Ensemble

Dec. 13 — Christmas at the Cathedral Orchestra and Chorus

Concerts will be held in the Faye Spanos Concert Hall at University of Pacific. Tickets are $6 general admission, $4 for seniors. For information, visit web.pacific.edu/x1352.xml.

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Summer Concert Madness

In the foothills not far from Lodi, there is a winery where some of the nation's top musicians will perform this summer.

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