Carla Meyer

They share Sacramento roots and a musically adventurous spirit that took them beyond the hard-edged alternative rock for which their bands were known in the 1990s.

Dancers in Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal" walk the Moonwalk, lean the Lean and replicate other Jackson dance moves, often in groups.

Performing on New Year's Eve requires forethought. Bands must rehearse their regular sets, perfect "Auld Lang Syne" and make other preparations.

"P.A.R.T.Y.," the new album from Dog Party, a.k.a. sisters Lucy Giles, 13, and Gwendolyn Giles, 15, does not entirely put away childish things.

Internet opinions are cheap, with your tweets and tumblrs and half-cocked anonymous comments.

Pedal steel guitar is a powerful motivator.

No introductory pleasantries are needed with Lucinda Williams. She answers the phone as if in mid-conversation.

Halloween falling on Monday means a long holiday weekend.

Nearly half a century in the business has taught Bill Cosby when to sit one out.

It billows. It engulfs. It announces with a flourish the arrival of Transylvania's most famous inhabitant.

He arrived with the hallmarks of a novelty act. A stringy-haired rock rapper from the Detroit suburbs, Kid Rock screeched out a hit in 1998 with "Bawitdaba," a nonsense-titled ode to degeneracy.

Terence Blanchard began his film- music career playing trumpet parts in early Spike Lee films, standing in on horn for Denzel Washington in "Mo' Better Blues."