Once again it's time to rock and roll with Rios and Roberts, the two guys who keep you up to date on the local music scene.
• We told you in our last column that April was going to be a great month for music in Lancaster, but even we didn't see everything that was coming out way. So let's get to it.
• Little Duck and the Drakes will be making some good music for a good cause on Saturday, April 21, when they take the stage at the Continental Inn at a benefit dance to help raise funds for Relay for Life.
Not familiar with them. Well, they haven't been around that long -- only since November 1961. So they're, like, 50 years old!
They've played around a bit with a few other performers, including Gary "U.S." Bonds, Freddie "Boom Boom" Cannon and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells.
How'd you like to have those names on your Christmas card list?
Current lineup includes LDD originals Ronnie Aungst and Gordie Snyder, plus Jim Geiter and Bruce McComsey. They'll be backed up by The Nomads.
The show kicks off at 7 p.m. A $10 donation is requested, and there will be door prizes, a 50/50 raffle and a cash bar. Proceed will benefit Kathy's Knights Relay for Life team.
The Continental Inn is on Lincoln Highway East, next to Dutch Wonderland. For tickets, call Steve Lepore at 397-3528.
• And a 13-year-old band has a new lineup.
Guitarist Michael Filippo is joining the Celtic band Fire in the Glen, making his public debut with the trio on Friday, April 13, at Stoudt's Brewpub in Adamstown, and Saturday, April 14, at a Row House Concert & Ceilidh at the Elks Lodge in Lancaster.
Filippo, who's replacing longtime FitG guitarist Jason Mundok, is a native of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and a longtime resident of Boston, where he was first exposed to the city's thriving Irish music scene.
After moving to Lancaster, he co-founded the Dwindling Farmboys with Jeff Bryson in 2005 and the Bon Accord Trio with Chris de Vitry and Trixi Greiner in 2007.
He also plays clawhammer banjo, though FitG hasn't decided yet whether to incorporate that distinctive sound.
Still on board: FitG fiddler/bodhranist Tom Knapp and singer/percussionist Aaron Gagne.
For more on the band, check out www.rambles.net/fitg.
• April also is the month, we've just learned, that Stu Huggens will take the stage at the American Music Theatre -- to do a little practicing, that is.
Because Stu will be a part of "Country Classics," an AMT original show featuring tunes by Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, as well as what AMT calls some "soon-to-be-classic hits."
No doubt that will include "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (unless AMT's saving that for their Christmas show).
"Country Classics" kicks off the first week in May and runs through June. Tickets are already available at www.AMTshows.com.
• Fresh off the recent release of their full-length album "Desolate Day," Ten Throne will join Trapt, Heroes 4 Ransome and Candlelight for an April 17 show at the Chameleon, 223 N. Water St. Tickets are $13 and $15. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Manager Mark Reinmiller said the current lineup of band -- Digger, Eian Wolpert, Josh Wolpert, Zack Graham and Eric McNeil -- has been together for about a year.
The band's sound is "straight-forward mainstream modern rock," Reinmiller said.
Listen for yourself at Ten Throne's Facebook Band Page, where four of the songs -- "Wicked," "Let You Down," "Truth and Lies" and "Falling Far Away."
The album's "Letting This Go" has been featured on 105.7 the X, and 101.3 has played "Truth and Lies."
The independently release "Desolate Day" was recorded at Atrium Studio in Lancaster.
The band, which Reinmiller said is working on new material, will return to the Chameleon on April 28 as part of LAUNCH.
• Quentin Jones is headed back to town -- and he's bringing along a friend: Rockabilly singer Robert Gordon.
Not familiar with him? Well, get familiar. Because he's going to be part of the local music scene starting this spring.
Quentin is bringing him here to record at Lanark Entertainment's new recording studio -- a "world class recording studio," according to Quentin.
Gordon and Quentin are teaming up to write and record songs for an album, also featuring the Lanark Kings and some guest musicians, to released late this year.
Gordon's impressive resume includes appearances on "The Conan O'Brian Show," "The David Letterman Show," "Second City TV" and "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" -- not mention a TV commercial for Budweiser.
Music and beer? Now that's a great combo.
• Slackwater News will be opening for national act Rubblebucket April 20 at the Chameleon. Tickets are $12 and $14, and the show kicks off at 8 p.m.
Drummer Matt Blank said the band's upcoming album "Graveyard Mates" should be ready for release this summer. He said the seven-song album will include appearances by Luke Dunn, who will play trumpet on a couple of tracks, and others. Blank also said most of the tracks will clock in at about five minutes.
The band plans to release a video for the track "Ghosts" prior to the album's release.
As the band puts the finishing touches on its album, they are already working on the song list for a five-song EP they plan to release about six months after the unveiling of "Graveyard Mates."
We can't wait.
Now, before we go, the quick hits:
• More good music for another good cause: The Dave Wilson Quintet will be taking the stage in "The Big Hall" downstairs at the Lancaster County Convention Center on Sunday, April 15, at a benefit for the Central PA Food Bank. The Quintet goes on at noon.
More info at www.centralpafoodbank.org/e....
• Dana Alexandra released a video this week for the song "I Want the Radio Up" off her album "Wash Your Mouth Out." Check it out at her Facebook page.
Alexandra will be at the Marion Court Room, 7 Marion Court, on April 27 as part of LAUNCH. The show begins at 7 p.m.
So what's your band (or solo act, or duo) up to? New venue? New lineup? New CD? Tell us, and we'll tell the world (starting with Lancaster County, of course). Email items to arios@lnpnews.com and/or jroberts@lnpnews.com.
