Music

Channy Leaneagh's haunting, ethereal voice doesn't really sound haunting or ethereal these days.

LOS ANGELES – Shirley Caesar used to refuse to infuse contemporary styles with her traditional gospel sound, but now the pastor and 11-time Grammy winner has changed her stance.

A native New Yorker with extensive experience staging opera, symphonic music and other art forms has been picked to lead the soon-to-be merged organizations of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Sacramento Opera.

When asked how the 27-year-old Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has managed to stay together through many tours and other challenges, founding member George Hinchliffe likened it to how the Rolling Stones have kept it together so many years.

TODAY-THURSDAY - The River Cats, the hometown AAA baseball team, extend opening weekend into next week, first against the Las Vegas 51s and then against Tacoma's Rainiers.

ON SALE TODAY - Fall Out Boy, The Heartbreaker Tour: Heart with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, Pitbull and Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch

It's not easy being Pervis.That's according to Spinners singer Jessie Robert Peck, who gained a spot in the legendary smooth-soul group in 2008, supplying the bass vocals once performed by original band member Pervis Jackson.

Most of the founders of country music are gone – Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff – along with most of the original "outlaw" band of brothers that included Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

Music-loving entrepreneurs Gabe Meyers and Bob Vogt saw an opening: a spot on the calendar in between April's Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, held in the Southern California desert, and late May's Sasquatch! Festival in Washington state.

SATURDAY - Kristine Flaherty, known in her entertaining persona as K. Flay, found music to be a way to express what mattered to her. Her days at Stanford set her on a path of self-inspection and bouncy wordplay. The San Francisco-based rapper often works alone, but won't mind sharing her talents with a crowd.

She was the one with the dreadlocks, the baby son and the colorful past as a busker at Chicago train stations.

"I get a huge kick out of the audiences," said Linda Collins, producer of "Moonwalker: The Reflection of Michael," which plays at Harrah's Tahoe on Saturday. "They come up to the cast afterward and cry. They grab Michael and hug and hug him. They don't want to let (him) go.

Logic with Skizzy Mars, John Mayer, Pitbull with Ke$ha, Old Crow Medicine Show, Steve Miller Band & The Doobie Brothers, Chris Tucker,

The musical ideas from the indie-classical ensemble Build range from Bjork to Beethoven.

Vocalist Martin Beal has operatic training but counts Mel Torme, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bobby Darrin among his favorite singers.

Dave Matthews Band, Sept. 8, Shoreline Amphitheatre

If there's any doubt about the enduring love for the pop group ABBA, witness a recent trip to Guatemala by "Abbacadabra," the tribute show featuring musicians performing songs from the Swedish hitmakers.

TODAY - If Leo Kottke's appearances included only his six- and 12-string guitar work, that would be amazing enough. But audiences also get his populist-laced monologues that delight, charm and tickle the funny bone.

Randy Paragary would love to see Neil Young performing at his new nightclub, Assembly.

The Beat, the independent Sacramento music store that has been a fixture at 17th and J streets for nearly 20 years, is looking for a new home.

The Sacramento Music Festival announced Friday that it's lowering ticket prices by 15 percent and booking national acts, such as longtime rockers Los Lobos, in an effort to attract a wider audience this year.

It's not every day that the likes of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and composer Gunther Schuller grace the streets of Stockton.

Cabarets aren't easy venues. Crowds can be unpredictable, diverse and difficult to please. But musicians such as Maxx Cabello Jr. know spontaneity is one of the best ways to engage an audience.

Tired of the predictable? Try on Fishtank Ensemble, billed as a serendipitous reunion of gifted and misfit musicians. Theirs is an amalgam of world, pop, rock, flamenco, folk, jazz, rockabilly, tango, Indian, groove and unendingly energetic Gypsy music.

TODAY- 2 Chainz, Five Iron Frenzy, Flux Pavilion, Boz Scaggs and Tesla.

Ask conductors and they will tell you they have a short list of soloists to call upon whenever a concerto is programmed – and St. Louis Symphony conductor David Robertson is no exception.

SAN FRANCISCO – The symphony's musicians voted to strike Wednesday, forcing cancellation of its next concert and putting a future East Coast tour and an upcoming concert appearance at UC Davis' Mondavi Center on April 18 in jeopardy.

When he first started working with Imagine Dragons, music producer Alex da Kid was looking for some inspiration for the Broadway musical, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."

TONIGHT- Capitol Pops Concert Band gives a free performance at the California Automobile Museum. A mix of automotive-themed arrangements, 1950s-'70s hits and traditional favorites will be offered against a backdrop of the exhibit "1968."

Joe Ely, 66, came up in Lubbock, Texas, hung out with the Clash in London and rarely let an experience sit without writing about it.

ON SALE TODAY-Miranda Lambert, Jason Mraz and Darius Rucker

The Hangar, a sprawling, storied Sacramento recording studio with a garage-rock appearance, loads of space and world-class equipment, will close this month after more than two decades in business.

At age 8, guitarist Julian Lage was already getting more screen time than most of his jazz contemporaries.

"Saturday Night Wrist" Deftones (2006)

Every so often a musician comes along who takes a conceptual leap with an instrument, without an inkling that an evolution is under way.

The winter snowpack looked good in December, but the past two months have proved to be record-breakers in the dry column. Still, optimism remains high, the snow makers have been churning out white stuff, and the annual North Lake Tahoe SnowFest will go on as scheduled, beginning tonight and running through March 10.

THURSDAY - Historical-fiction writer Melanie Benjamin's new novel, "The Aviator's Wife," tells the story of the marriage of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who emerged from his shadow to become a writer and advocate for women's rights.

There are two kinds of people: Those who have yet to see Brittany Howard sing, and the converted.

These days, analog sound born from vinyl-playing vintage turn- tables, receivers and speakers is making a comeback.

You can expect to see most anything at stylized Mission District dive bars, known for their high quirk quotient. Habitués cultivate aggressive nonchalance and need something truly unusual, just short of cattle-prod shocking, to get them to look up from their PBRs and pay attention.

New Orleans-based, funk-infused jam band Galactic is in Lawrence, Kan., when lead vocalist Corey Glover (of Living Colour fame) calls and reports that the band covets the warmer climes of California

ON SALE TODAY - Ron White; HIM; Tracy Morgan an Sting

The life of an opera singer is no party. There is a voice to safeguard, languages to learn and all that traveling.

The elbow-length red gloves, gold garter belts and tasseled pasties conjure a bygone era of highballs and hepcats, of entertainers such as Sally Rand and Gypsy Rose Lee.

Nothing changes so fast as the nightclub scene. Open and hot one week, cold and closed the next.

ON SALE TODAY - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Sharon Van Etten; Dropkick Murphys; Fun., Tegan and Sara; Green Day: KRTY's Kickoff Concert with Lady Antebellum; Lou Reed and Ultimate Fighting Championship

The 1959 Miles Davis album "Kind of Blue" could be the greatest jazz album of all time. It's certainly the biggest selling, and while popularity doesn't always suggest artistic achievement, the record's influence has been immense in jazz specifically and music in general.

The Grammy Awards gave their top honor to the British roots music band Mumford & Sons for their album "Babel" on Sunday at the 55th awards ceremony.

At age 76 you might think composer Philip Glass would be resting on his laurels. After all, he owns an impressive résumé as a 20th century composer, which includes the soundtracks to "Koyaanisqatsi," "The Hours" and "Mishima," as well as seminal operas like "Satyagraha" and "Einstein on the Beach."

You know what's great about Valentine's Day? Being single.