More of the Same Old Rock and Roll

Calvert ups the volume on its summer concerts

previewed by Margaret Tearman

Everywhere there’s music, real live music, bands with a million styles. But it’s still that same old rock and roll music, that really, really drives ’em wild

–Huey Lewis

Summer brings transformations: Water lilies bloom, insects buzz, produce stands and tiki bars open for business — and an asphalt museum parking lot and a grassy community field undergo overnight metamorphosis into concert halls for some of music’s biggest stars.

Dierks Bentley

From Cars to Chart-Toppers

For most of the year, Calvert Marine Museum’s parking lot is reserved for the cars bringing people to visit the museum’s resident skates, rays and otters. But several times a season, automobiles are displaced in favor of 4,500 folding chairs for the museum’s Waterside Concert Series.

This year’s series kicks off on May 24 with country crooner Dierks Bentley. In 2003, the single “What Was I Thinkin” — from Bentley’s self-titled debut album — reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks. In 2005, Bentley won the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award and joined the Grand Ole Opry. At 32, he now stands as the second youngest (above Josh Turner) current member of the Opry.

Long Trip Alone, Dierks’ third album, released in late 2006, produced two number one hit singles: “Every Mile a Memory” and “Free and Easy.”

ZZ Top.

Tickets still available; reserved seating $40/$50. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/concerts; 800-787-9454.

On Tuesday, June 17, sharp-dressed fans can rock and roll to the classic sound of ZZ Top. Formed in 1969 in Houston, the trio consists of Billy Gibbons (guitars, lead vocals, harmonica), Dusty Hill (bass, vocals) and Frank Beard (drums, percussion). ZZ Top reached peak commercial success in the 1970s and ’80s, scoring many hit songs, including “Gimme All Your Lovin,” “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Nearly as well known as their music is the group’s image: Gibbons and Hill are almost always pictured wearing sunglasses and sporting their trademark chest-length beards. In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million to shave their beards for a television commercial. They declined, saying “We’re too ugly without ’em.”

Kenny Loggins.

Tickets still available; reserved seating $45/$55. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/concerts; 800-787-9454.

The last scheduled concert of the year brings soundtrack superstar Kenny Loggins to the museum stage on Thursday, July 24. Loggins’ first three solo albums — Celebrate Me Home, Nightwatch and Keep The Fire — all went platinum. In 1980, “What A Fool Believes” was awarded the Grammy for Song of the Year. In 1981, the single “This Is It” brought Loggins a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal.

During the 1980s, Loggins scored hits from movie soundtracks including “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack. and his chart-topping title song from the hit movie, Footloose. He reached his commercial peak with the soundtrack from the Tom Cruise movie, Top Gun in 1986. Al Gore declared Loggins’ 1991 single, “Conviction of the Heart,” the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement.

Tickets go on sale to Calvert Marine Museum members on June 3; open sales begin June 10. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/concerts; 800-787-9454.

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush are the superstar duo Sugarland.

Firehouse Field Scores Hit-Makers

Standing in the community field alongside St. Leonard’s Volunteer Fire Department, you are more likely to cheer for base hits than for the musical variety. But this park, too, undergoes a summertime transformation as batting practices give way to sound checks.

Scoring big on concert bookings, the volunteer firefighters will treat concert goers to one of country music’s hottest acts: On June 6, superstar duo Sugarland will play to a full house. Sugarland’s two singer-songwriters — Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (harmony vocals, mandolin, guitar) — are both from Atlanta. Their debut album, Twice the Speed of Life, released in 2004, featured the hit singles “Baby Girl,” “Something More,” “Just Might (Make Me Believe)” and “Down In Mississippi (Up To No Good).” The album has sold over two million copies.

In 2005, the band performed with rocker Bon Jovi on Country Music Television’s musical fusion show, Crossroads. Nettles and Jon Bon Jovi produced a single, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” that hit Number One on Billboard’s country music chart. Released in November, 2006, Sugarland’s second album, Enjoy the Ride sold 211,000 copies during its first week. In 2007, Nettles and Bush were named County Music Association’s Duo of the Year, and in 2008 their hit song, “Stay,” won best duo video by County Music Television. Their third album is expected later this spring.

Huey Lewis.

Limited reserved seating still available, $35. www.ticketmaster.com; 800-551-SEAT; or at the firehouse Saturdays from 10am-noon: www.slvfd.com.

Down the road is a blast from the past: Huey Lewis & The News blow into town on June 29 for the final scheduled concert of the firehouse’s series. The Grammy-winning band from San Francisco achieved to enormous success in the 1980s with hits including “Do You Believe in Love,” “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock & Rock,” “If This Is It,” “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Hip to be Square.”

Their Academy Award nominated song, “The Power of Love,” was featured in the 1985 movie Back to the Future, in which Lewis made cameo appearances.

In 2008, the band has been back at work, recording the theme song for the upcoming action-comedy film, The Pineapple Express, scheduled for release in August.

Reserved seats $40/$45. www.ticketmaster.com; 800-551-SEAT; or at the firehouse Saturdays from 10am-noon: www.slvfd.com.