BY KARYN A. POKLETAR John Mellencamp’s professional career began in 1976. He’s a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall in 2008. He’s had multiple Grammy nominations and in addition to his indelible success, a slew of chart topping hits, 23 …

BY KARYN A. POKLETAR The Livesays are greatly accomplished musicians fronted by the bands namesake, singer-songwriter and guitarist William “Billy” Livesay, who toured with former E-Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for over 12 years. The Livesays (Pronounced “thuh lev-va-sees”) independent release Not What I Bargained For is their fifth album, …

BY DEBRA J. MORRIS The sky begins to lighten as the sun rises over the rolling hills above Martinez, filtering light through the pear trees. It’s going to be another hot dry day at Alhambra Valley Pears & Beef, a farm nestled in the beautiful Alhambra Valley/Briones Valley Agricultural Preserve …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Adam Duvall‘s two-run seventh-inning home run broke open a pitchers duel between Max Fried and Anthony DeSclafani as the Atlanta Braves salvaged the final game of their weekend series with a 3-0 win over the Giants Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park. Atlanta got a stellar pitching performance …

BY KARYN A. POKLETAR Professionally known as Anderson East, Michael Cameron Anderson grew up in a small town of about 20,000 in Athens, Alabama. His new album Maybe We Never Die follows his 2018 hit Encore. Not surprising for a southern kid, East’s primary musical influence was the gospel hymn. …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Continuing our countdown of the best teams in the NFL heading into the 2021 season, here’s our Top 8: 8. Los Angeles Rams: When a team can put Aaron Donald, who has won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year twice in the past three seasons, in …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The 2021 NFL season will be the second straight campaign waged in the shadow of a pandemic. Last season, most of which was staged in cavernous stadiums largely empty due to virus avoidance procedures, still ended in a familiar way to NFL fans: with Tom Brady lifting …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Sean Manaea held the White Sox to five hits over seven innings and a throwing error by Chicago pitcher Reynaldo Lopez proved decisive as the A’s scored a 3-1 win Thursday afternoon to keep their flailing postseason hopes alive. The win gave Oakland the three-game series, and …

BY HELEN LAME’ AND RICK D. PORCARO The eighth annual BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival concluded Sunday night with headlining sets by Foo Fighers, Megan Thee Stallion and Village People bringing the Labor Day weekend event to a close with over 120,000 fans attending the three day celebration. As usual, …

BY KARYN A. POKLETAR A sequel is the continuation of a story that develops because of an earlier one. In this case Jack Russell and Great White have continued covering the thrilling Led Zeppelin catalog with Great Zeppelin ll: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin, 22 years after releasing 1999’s Great …