LISTEN HERE! Third Eye Blind Sees Future

REVAMPED ROCKERS PLAY BARNHILL ARENA TUESDAY

By Kevin Kinder

Posted: November 13, 2009 at 9:09 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

FAYETTEVILLE — Something funny happened on the way to obscurity.

Third Eye Blind refused to quit, and the fans refused to quit listening.

After hitting what many would consider their peak in the late 1990s with a selftitled release and songs such as “Jumper,” “Graduate” and “Semi-Charmed Life,” the band didn’t match that success with the albums that would follow.

Then there were personnel changes and a six-year gap between the release of “Out of the Vein” in 2003 and the latest effort, August’s “Ursa Major.”

“Ursa Major” debuted higher on the charts than any Third Eye Blind record ever had before.

“I feel like we are bigger than we ever have been, and I am quite grateful for it. … The fact that a whole new generation of fans has embraced us means a great deal,” Third Eye Blind drummer Brad Hargreaves says via e-mail from the road.

A testament to enduring popularity, Third Eye Blind will perform Tuesday at Barnhill Arena on the University of Arkansas campus, a venue that the band played in 2000 on the heels of its initial explosion onto modern rock radio. The concert is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., and the band Grand Buffet will kick off the evening.

The show is being sponsored by the University of Arkansas’ Headliner Concerts Committee, meaning that a limited number of student tickets were distributed for free to fees-paying university students. Those tickets are long gone, but $20 tickets remain for the public (or for students who were slow to pick up passes) through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

Space limitations mean that the full interview can’t be found here, but it can be located on our live music blog at www2.nwanews.com/blogs/tunedin. Also, it might be fun to check out George’s Majestic Lounge after the conclusion of the Third Eye Blind show.

Band members say they are throwing a party there in celebration of the end of the tour, as the last stop is here in Fayetteville. Hargreaves, who moonlights in a project called Just Brad, is slated to perform at the after-party, which is free.

Country Hits Alma

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, there were few more prolific hitmakers than Crystal Gayle. She rose to the top of the country charts 18 times with songs such as “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” “It’s Like We Never Said Goodbye,” “The Sound of Goodbye” and many more.

Among her rivals for space at the top of the charts were the Gatlin Brothers, led by Larry Gatlin, with songs such as “All The Gold In California” and “Talkin’ to the Moon.”

While neither is taking over country radio these days, the two have combined forces and, along with the help of vocalist Andy Cooney, are taking over stages throughout the country.

The three are featured in the American Voices tour, whichcomes to the Alma Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets are $35-$45 and available by calling 632-2129 or through www.almapac.org.

Still Electric

Disclosure alert: I love alternative country music.

Secondary disclosure: I really like Son Volt. They’re coming to George’s Majestic Lounge on Monday night, and if I go - and I plan to - it will be the fourth time I’ve seen them live.

Son Volt got its start as a result of the death of one of the pioneering alt country bands, Uncle Tupelo. Bickering in that band drove principal songwriters Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar to start Wilco and Son Volt, respectively. Son Volt, which has seen plenty of turmoil of its own, has been a constant producer of midtempo, brooding rock, which is made all the better by Farrar’s baritone bellowing. The latest effort, “American Central Dust,” came out in July. Tickets to the show are $18 and available through the venue.

Revival!

New faces in the wide and hard-to-define genres of roots music and Americana are making their way to Fayetteville for a show Saturday. The Dixie Bee-Liners, Sierra Hull and Uncle Earl are all part of a concert experience called “American Revival,” which comes to the Walton Arts Center at 8 p.m. And when they say new faces, they aren’t kidding - Hull, in particular, though an International Bluegrass Music Award nominee, is still a teenager. Tickets are $18.50-$28.50 and can be found by calling 443-5600 or at www.waltonartscenter.org.

Entertainment, Pages 23 on 11/13/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.