Brandi Carlile performs at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Sept. 21, 2019. Photos: Michael Smyth. BERKELEY — Sometimes everything just lines up. Something happens between an artist and the audience, and between the audience and the artist; something about the venue is just right; something in the artist’s…

Nancy Wilson (left) and Ann Wilson of Heart perform at a previous stop on the “Love Alive” tour. Courtesy: Kimberly Adamis/Heart. CONCORD, CALIF. — At various points during their 90 minutes or so onstage Friday night at the Concord Pavilion, the Wilson sisters of Heart referred to how long…

1977 was a good year. Star Wars came out, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours came out, Voyager 1 and 2 launched, Harvey Milk was elected. I mean, yeah, disco still existed and there was that whole Son of Sam (serial killer) thing I guess—but, Star Wars! It was a pretty good year…

Some time ago I had the opportunity to chat with Texas-born, Nashville-based guitarist Tyler Bryant, who’s been called a blues virtuoso since he was a teen. My story on the 22-year-old, who plays the Brick & Mortar with his band the Shakedown on June 25, focuses on his teacher-mentor…