The iconic rock band Chicago returned recently to Florida’s Space Coast, much to the delight of Michelle Wilson and the sold-out Melbourne audience.

Lest Melbourne lag behind the trendsetters, Open Mike’s hosts a variety of swell weekly open-mic events. Rose Petralia sat in on a Jazz Jam, but she had beer, not wine.

A modern-day prog metal onslaught by top-billed Between the Buried and Me delights throngs of Orlando diehards and entertains Christopher Long.

Christopher Long and hardcore fans delight in Scottish chart-busting combo Big Country’s rock-out under the stars at Captain Hiram’s in Sebastian, Florida.

The national Big Night Out Tour features four mighty chart-busters, yet the recent St. Petersburg date came to a soggy, premature conclusion. Christopher Long and his fellow music fans still got their money’s worth, however, in the form of Alien Ant Farm.

Charging faster than an angry Great White Buffalo, the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent, unleashed a rock and roll love fest of Gonzo proportions in Orlando, nearly steamrolling Christopher Long.

Jen Cray returns for a dip in the summertime pool of musical evolution that is Warped Tour – along with a hundred thousand fans or so.

Jen Cray returns for a dip in the summertime pool of musical evolution that is Warped Tour -- along with a hundred thousand fans or so.

Delivering plenty of bang for the buck, the eclectic triple-bill alterno-rock package that found Nico Vega headlining was a summer highlight for Chris Long.

Two Gallants graciously return to stage to woo the fans that love them – a lot.

Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, also known as The Flatlanders, brought their laid back genius to Santa Fe, leaving James Mann and Nancy Mullis feeling enlightened!

James Mann and Nancy Mullis enjoy country music heaven with Emmylou and Rodney under Santa Fe skies!

Alkaline Trio can make a collar bone sexy, can make a tattoo needle feel like a numbing tickle, and can make Jen Cray sit through an emo band just to see them play, yet again.

John Wesley Harding masterfully stages a modern-day vaudeville with his Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery in New York City. May Terry allows herself to be led into this magical world.

Merchandise makes Gainesville, and Matthew Moyer, swoon like teenagers at an early ’90s Morrissey concert… and that’s a very, very good thing.

Nataly Dawn brings the intimate half of Pomplamoose on tour as a solo artist and delivers a warm-hearted and entertaining set at the Neo-Burlesque club, The Slipper Room.

Wanee Music Festival, featuring two sets by both the Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic, offers two stages of music that entertain fans on the banks of the Suwannee River until the early hours of the morning for 3 days. Phillip Haire returns to the Florida fest.

May Terry gets an audio-visual taste of East meets West with the L.A. shoegazing ethereal rock band, Io Echo, at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ.

Bad Religion are still exciting after 30+ years of making music, as Jen Cray discovered at a recent Orlando date.

A contemporary American songbook comes alive with the sophisticatedly sweet voice of jazz-country singer, Kat Edmonson, at New York’s City Winery.