Fischer's Fab Five - the other four
1) More recently he’s found success as a songwriter and producer, but in the late 80s, Richard Marx as a recording artist was gold – as in, multi-platinum.
You remember the songs (especially if you were at any wedding receptions in those years) – Right Here Waiting, Hold On to the Nights, Don’t Mean Nothing and more. His first seven singles reached the Billboard Singles Chart’s top 5. Marx was, in many ways, the quintessential male pop artist of the time period.
Marx is back on the road, and stops at Newark’s Midland Theatre Saturday, Jan. 14. Tickets are $35/$30/$25. Visit www.midlandtheatre.org.
2) Singer/guitarist Chad Metheny, who makes his musical hay both solo and with friends as Emperor X, is an indie-pop urchin, a quizzical and mischievous nomad who thrives in the hostels of the music world.
His earnest tales of the ordinary, often focusing on all things technological, often sound like he just made up the lyrics on the spot - kind of a musical Verbal Kint. These tunes are bestowed such song titles like A Violent Translation of the Concordia Headscarp, so you best be prepared to pay serious attention – or no attention at all and just get lost in the tunes’ simple beauty.
Emperor X, in trio form, plays Carabar Saturday, Jan. 14. Call (614) 223-1010.
3) Zachariah's Red Eye Saloon was the center of the country rock music scene in Ohio during the late '70s and early '80s, and a place for lots of local acts to cut their teeth, including McGuffey Lane.
Little wonder, then, that the scene's favorite country-rockers have taken to paying tribute each year. The "Lane" again headlines Zachariah's Red Eye Reunion this year at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 14.
Tickets are $12/$15. Visit www.promowestlive.com.
4) Folk-punk singer-songwriter Griffin House is your standard Nashville-based modern folkie – and yet he’s not. The Springfield, Ohio, native is also your standard, say, Philly based acoustic punk artist.
He is Nashville-based, but his songs are peppered with a brazen immediacy that belies his nice-guy-with-an-acoustic-guitar demeanor.
See House at The basement Sunday, Jan. 15, with opener The Shaw Brothers. Tickets are $12/$14. Visit www.promowestlive.com.
