The last time Robert Earl Keen was in town, a drove of his fans discarded their reserved seating at the Carolina Theatre and packed the pit area at the front of the stage for another of his typical performances.

For a band who's albums have been largely hit-ormiss, there has been one constant in the lengthy career of Red Dirt rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed. Their live performances are consistently dynamic, playing like a jukebox of rock and country influences from the Outlaws to Alejandro Escovedo.

Back in September at the Trinumeral Festival, I engaged in animated discourse with Blackalicious front man Gift of Gab over the merits of Jay-Z's then No. 1 release The Blueprint 3.

Its 9 p.m. on a Friday night and theres a drunk whos gone staggering backwards after losing his grip on the bar. Theres an extremely pregnant young bartender maneuvering feverishly around her graviditas with one constant hand on the Jim Beam.

Its almost unfortunate that Steve Winwoods appearance during the Super Bowl pre-game show might have been his introduction to tens, maybe hundreds of thousands.

With the annual Greensboro Blues Fest canceled this past weekend due to a massive weather nonevent, those in need of a little Soul had to get creative for their fix.

Its not unusual for an opening act to outshine a headliner, but for a relatively new band to do so over a veteran act with a collection of mostly cover tunes is quite a noteworthy feat indeed.

There are so few popular artists with catalogs that are capable of cutting right to the heart of their fans the way those of George Strait and Reba McEntire can, which is why they have genuinely earned the billing as the King and Queen of Country music billing of their current co-headlining tour.

There was one man that a Saturday night packed house at the Flatiron came to see among several during the second day of the weekend-long Progressive Pieces, a benefit for the Autism Society of North Carolina.

"I can tell now that there are so many of my old school friends here tonight," said Jim Lauderdale with a wink and a nudge as a lighting miscue sent the house lights on in the middle of his Saturday night concert at the Stevens Center.