LeAnn Rimes Plays The Grand May 18
She’s sold more than 48 million records around the world, won two Grammy awards, 12 Billboard Awards, and she’s playing The Grand on Thursday, May 18.
She’s Leann Rimes, and you might say she was born to sing, being the youngest solo artist to win a Grammy and, at age 15, the first country artist to win “Artist of the Year” at the Billboard Music Awards.
Rimes will play her greatest hits plus songs from her latest album, god’s work, which features guest artists Ziggy Marley, Robert Randolph, Ben Harper and Sheila E.
For tickets and more info, visit TheGrandWilmington.org.
Ladybug Returns to Rock Wilmington with More Than 30 Female-Front Acts
On Friday, June 2, the Ladybug Music Festival returns to Wilmington. It remains the longest-running, free female-centric music festival in the country.
The event boasts more than 30 female-fronted bands and acts, including headliners Adia Victoria and Nitro Nitra.
“It feels pretty fantastic to know that we have been able to not only keep this festival going, but grow it as well,” says Gayle Dillman, CEO of Gable Music Ventures, which has nurtured the event since founding it in 2012. “We are instrumental in helping women come together to feature their talents.”
As the website states: “The Ladybug Festival not only exclusively hires female or female-identifying fronted bands, but we do our best to hire as many women as we can for available positions on festival staff.”
Dillman adds that her team is “very proud that Delaware is embracing the creative economy by supporting events like Ladybug.”
Last year, Ladybug drew an estimated crowd of 4,000 area music fans to 2nd and LOMA. This year, the event takes place at the 400 and 500 blocks of Market Street from 5-10pm.
For more info on this free event, visit TheLadybugFestival.com.
Adam Beck Looks Up with Feeding of the Stars LP
Featuring deftly crafted guitar licks and wonderfully lush harmonies, Adam Beck’s new EP Feeding Of The Stars is one of those varieties of sweet lemonade derived from the massive influx of sour lemons the world endured a few years ago.
“The record started pretty darn close to the first major news of the coming pandemic,” Beck recalls. “All the gigs I had lined up were promptly canceled. I felt dismayed.”
But with the cancelations, a clean slate eventually appeared: “I felt the weight lift,” he adds. “I felt free to just create.”
The EP started with the song “The Party Is Over,” which Beck wrote on piano early in the process. After producing the entire song on his own at his home studio, Captured Sound, he decided to do another… then another…
“As much as I wanted to make a full-length record, I always felt more quality than quantity is the way to go and settled on a handful tunes,” Beck says.
“Although it was three years in the making, it wasn’t day in and day out,” he adds. “It was worked on when I was inspired, in between engineering and recording for fellow artists, fishing, playing golf and enjoying life with my family.”
Give Feeding Of The Stars a listen at AdamBeck.Bandcamp.com.
Elkton Music Hall Opens July 15 with Oh He Dead & Cosmic Guilt
Last month, operators announced the opening date for Elkton Music Hall and it sounds like quite the party: A WXPN-hosted jam with Oh He Dead and Cosmic Guilt on Saturday, July 15.
The Washington Post says Oh He Dead creates an “infectious and soulful sound” while NPR calls lead singer CJ Johnson’s voice “a combination of Stevie Nicks and Tracy Chapman.”
Local music fans may recognize Cosmic Guilt’s James Everhart from Philly’s Low Cut Connie and, earlier, Delaware’s own Villains Like You.
The theater holds more than 300 guests standing, 250 seated theater-style, or 175 cabaret-style. Currently the venue has booked show up through Dec. 1 of this year (Steve Forbert) with other upcoming acts including GA-20 (Aug. 25) and Marshall Crenshaw (Sept. 27).
For tickets and more show dates, go to ElktonMusicHall.com.
