concert

This Veteran’s Day weekend, there is an exciting opportunity to not only honor our nation’s heroes, but be entertained in the process, when the contemporary rock musical Skytrooper comes to the Rancho California RV Resort in Aguanga. The songs for Skytrooper were written by Producer and Lead Vocalist, Bill Ellis; some written while he was serving in Vietnam as an infantryman with the 1st Air Cavalry Division during 1968-69.

Just as the Halloween festivities are winding down in the valley, the Old Town Temecula Community Theater prepares to celebrate the Latin American tradition of El Día de los Muertos, with their Latin American Sketches concert, presented by the California Chamber Orchestra. When Dana Zimbric, Chamber Artistic Director and Composer, discovered that their concert would be scheduled for November 1st, she knew it was a perfect opportunity to celebrate not only El Día de los Muertos (November 1) but also the Catholic traditions of All Saints Day and All Souls Day (November 1 and 2).

It’s hard to frequent any establishment in the Temecula area without seeing the rock band, Crimson Crow, perform at least once because these guys are never hurting for a gig.

It’s hard to think about the iconic music of the 1980’s without remembering the award-winning Mtv music video for The Cars’ number one single, “You Might Think,” where a cartoonish representation of lead singer Ric Ocasek appears to model Susan Gallagher as a submarine, a robot monster and even King Kong. The image may seem silly now, but the music of The Cars helped shaped not only the sound of their own decade but has also inspired musicians ever since.

Local sound-alike classic rock cover band, Mrs. Jones’ Revenge, is doing their part to help support one of the valley’s most important organizations while spreading a little spooky Halloween spirit, with their “Zombie-Rock Apocalypse” Benefit for the Fine Arts Network on Sunday, October 26th.

When speaking to contemporary jazz musician and composer Brian Culbertson about his two decades of performing professionally, he seems genuinely grateful for being able to sustain a successful career while still being true to himself as an artist. Twenty years and sixteen albums later, Culbertson’s music has run the gamut of genres from smooth jazz to R&B to funk, depending on the time in his career or the album being recorded.

Temecula high school girl turned successful recording artist, Xenia Martinez, now known simply as Xenia, is using her celebrity for a good cause this weekend, headlining an evening full of music, food, fun and entertainment, all to help support local foster parents and adoption families. Now in its second year, the Rose Again Foundation is a local non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of foster and orphaned children in our community.

For such a small and close knit community, the Inland Empire offers unprecedented opportunities for cultural enrichment, including the one-of-a-kind artistic gem, the California Chamber Orchestra. Ranging from fifteen to thirty musicians, depending on the needs of the concert, the California Chamber Orchestra provides big-city caliber performances close to home.

Starting in 1935 in Buffalo, New York, The Modernaires, or The Mods, as they were known, rose to success in the late thirties and early forties, singing with the legendary Glenn Miller Band on such famous recordings as “Moonlight Cocktail,” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Before forming Soul Sacrifice in the late nineties, classically trained musician Rousseve regularly performed in a number of genres including rock, pop, Latin, classical, flamenco and country. Because of his resemblance to the band’s namesake, Rousseve decided to go ahead with the tribute and began searching for musicians to round out his vision.