Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2016 UCW 19 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville's CONCERT CONNECTION ANSTEAD'S TOBACCO CO. 320 N McPherson Church Rd 864-5705 • ansteads.com Dec. 15 Christmas Event HUSKE HARDWARE HOUSE 405 Hay Street • 437-9905 www.huskehardware.com Dec. 2 Tommy King Dec. 3 Tommy King LUIGI'S 528 N McPherson Church Rd. 864-1810 • www.luigisnc.com Dec. 2 Live Entertainment Dec. 3 Live Entertainment KICK BACK JACKS 5081 Morganton Rd. • 223-7676 Friday Live Music THE CROWN COMPLEX 1960 Coliseum Dr. • 438-4100 www.crowncomplexnc.com Dec. 3 Kansas Jan. 14 An Evening with Jaheim Jan. 20 Beach Boys Feb. 21 Brain Candy Live! March 4 Ron "Tater Salad" White ROCK SHOP 128 S. King St. • 321-ROCK www.therockshoplive.com Nov. 30 Art Attack w/ Ra- chael Floyd, Zach- ary Greig Coloring Book Release party Dec. 3 Toys For Tots / Mr. Blackwell Reunion Christmas Ben- efit Show, with The Fifth, Last Call Mes- siahs, The Chemical Lizards and Axis 5 Christian Albums • WCLN 107.3 Christian Listening Network • Visit us online at www.christian107.com 1 CASTING CROWNS One Step Away 2 ZACH WILLIAMS Chain Breaker 3 CHRIS TOMLIN Jesus 4 WE ARE MESSENGERS Magnify 5 HILLARY SCOTT & THE SCOTT FAMILY Thy Will 6 FOR KING & COUNTRY Priceless 7 MERCYME Dear Younger Me 8 AFTERS (THE) Battles 9 CROWDER My Victory 10 LOVE & THE OUTCOME The God I Know Kansas Rocks the Crown by STEPHANIE CRIDER When David Ragsdale was a little boy, he loved the Beatles and rock and roll. He was so enthralled with music that he told his mom he wanted to take music lessons. He envisioned a guitar. She had other things in mind, though, and signed him up for violin lessons. Today, he plays the violin and the guitar in the progressive rock band with a history of four decades of rock and roll hits, Kansas, which performs at the Crown Theatre on Dec. 3. Ragsdale stepped away from the violin and focused on the guitar and drums in high school. "I never loved classical music and was only as good as I had to be on the violin," said Ragsdale. "I didn't like to practice. I taught myself the guitar, though, and even played the drums for a while. The thing about learning an instrument when you are young is that you just soak it up and it stays with you. I wish I had been more dedicated when I was learning the violin. I would be a better player today." It was his band teacher that convinced Ragsdale to take the violin back up and go to Nashville. He encouraged Ragsdale to put all of his musical skills to use and follow his dream. "And that is what I did," said Ragsdale. He's toured with Louise Mandrell, recorded with The Smashing Pumkins, Jason Bonham and Queensryche in addition to his work with Kansas.Ragsdale also has a solo album call David and Goliath. At the Dec. 3 concert, the band celebrates the 40th anniversary of its breakthrough album Leftoverture. It's more than a sampling or a run through of a few of the songs from the album. "This is a performance of the entire album — in order," said Ragsdale. "It's more than two hours tracks from the album. But the show also includes machismo, energy and more. The entire concert is pretty much an obstacle course for the band. We will also play songs from our newest album The Prelude Implicit." With a track record that spans more than four decades, Kansas' music crosses generations. While some fans first heard the group on the radio and cassette tapes, their children likely played Kansas tracks on Guitar Hero, heard the band on commercials and on the show Supernatural, which has an impressive following. Now, the band has a three-record deal and is poised for a resurgence. In today's music business filled with one-hit wonders, finding a band with this kind of staying power is a rare thing. But one listen to the album and the music speaks for itself. "There are a lot of complexities in our music," said Ragsdale. "We pull off some things that a lot of other bands won't even try." Kansas released its debut album in 1974 and since then has sold more than 30 million albums. With 15 studio albums and five live albums to their name, Kansas has eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), and two one million-selling gold singles, Carry On Wayward Son and Dust in the Wind. According to the band's website, "Carry On Wayward Son" continues to be one of the top five most-played songs on classic rock radio, and "Dust In the Wind" has been played on the radio more than three million times. Find out more about Kansas at, http://www.kansasband.com. To purchase tickets to the concert at the Crown Theatre, visit http://www. crowncomplexnc.com/events/detail/kansas. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $39.50 and go up to $75. Doors open one hour prior to the event. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200