June 11: Kansas at Francis Marion's Performing Arts Center

KANSAS has spent than four decades as a part of the soundtrack of the lives of multiple generations of music lovers. The band’s first public statement appeared on their self-titled album in 1974. "From the beginning, we considered ourselves and our music different and we hope we will always remain so." Little did this legendary rock group realize that back in the early ‘70's, what seemed to be “different," was actually ahead of its time.

The band has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), and a million-selling gold single, ‘Dust in the Wind.’ KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70's and ‘80's and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ was the #2 most played track on classic rock radio in 1995 and went to #1 in 1997.

843) 661-1720

www.fmupac.org

Tickets are $57/$47/$37

March 26:FMU Artist Series Presents Mike Keneally

FMU Artist Series
Thursday, 26 March 2015, 7:30 pm
Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center

Mike Keneally, guitar

Mike Keneally obviously doesn't like to be labeled -- he's a bandleader and bandmember, a rock and jazz fusion player, and also an outstanding guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, and percussionist. Taking up keyboards at age five, Keneally's life changed when he moved from New York to California in 1970 and heard Frank Zappa for the first time at age ten. Woodshedding for the next 15 years as a self-taught guitarist, Keneally formed a band called Drop Control in his hometown of San Diego in 1985 and became one of the city's musical heroes. Keneally auditioned for Zappa's band in 1987 as a "stunt guitar" replacement for Steve Vai, and was hired as a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. The multi-instrumentalist would appear on some classic Zappa albums like Broadway the Hard Way and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, but little did he know that his lineup would be Zappa's final touring band. Between 1988 and 1991, Keneally performed with Drop Control and Zappa's son Dweezil's band Z, toyed with studio-musician status, and moved to Los Angeles.

After working on the Grammy-winning tribute album Zappa's Universe, Keneally started a solo career with his 1992 debut album, Hat. Quirky and hard to categorize (with Zappa trademarks like classical undertones, stuttering, jazz-like rhythms, and humorous lyrics), the debut was a big hit with critics. But the next year would claim both Keneally's father and Zappa, leading to the moody yet brilliant 1994 CD Boil That Dust Speck. Ranging from intense rock ("Skunk") to ballads ("Blameless [The Floating Face]") to Keneally's closing percussion tribute saga to Zappa, "The Old Boat Guy," the disc showcased every facet of his array of talents. Leaving Z in 1996 and naming his solo touring band Beer for Dolphins, Keneally released the riotous double CD Half Alive in Hollywood, featuring one disc of live-in-a-studio originals and one of live stage performances (including covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Power to Love" and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"). He also formed a band called the Mistakes, with Henry Kaiser, Andy West (Dixie Dregs), and Prairie Prince (the Tubes), who released a self-titled album.

The same year, Keneally joined fellow Zappa alumnus Steve Vai's band, playing on the G3 Tour over the next year with Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Playing classical piano-like keyboard lines, percussion, and intricate harmonized guitar lines with rock virtuoso Vai, Keneally helped the band steal the G3 show often (as evidenced by the G3: Live in Concert CD). Between releases by Beer for Dolphins (1997's Sluggo!; 2000's Dancing) and solo albums (1999's Nonkertompf, on which he played all of the instruments), Keneally also found time to record two CDs with Vai, 1999's The Ultra Zone and 2001's Alive in an Ultra World.

In 2001, Keneally got a new acoustic guitar, which led to the release of the largely acoustic-based and mellow Wooden Smoke, which showed yet another side of Keneally's musical personality. For another interesting detour, in 2002, Keneally was approached by Co de Kloet, commissioning director for Holland's NPS Radio, and was commissioned to write music for electric guitar and orchestra. The resulting music and live performances with the renowned Metropole Orchestra were such a success that de Kloet started the NPS Output label to release The Universe Will Provide in 2004, just a month after Keneally turned around and delivered his hardest-rocking album to date, Dog, with the newly christened Mike Keneally Band. Just a few months after that came Piano Reductions, Vol. 1, an album of Vai songs played solo on piano that was actually recorded in 1999 at Steve's request. As if he weren't busy enough, around the same time he got involved with Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Yo Miles! project, appearing on both Sky Garden and Upriver.

The Mike Keneally Band hit the road in 2005, playing across the U.S., with Guitar Therapy Live appearing as the tour document in 2006. That same year, Keneally acquired the rights to his early catalog on Immune with plans to re-release it in deluxe editions in 2007 on Exowax (each of Keneally's Exowax recordings has been available as a limited-edition package with lots of bonus material). With his wide-ranging talents and ability to be creative in almost any musical situation, Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era.

Artist Biography by Sean Westergaard www.allmusic.com

March 25: FMU Artist Series Presents the Richter Uzur Duo

FMU Artist Series
Wednesday, 25 March, 2015, 7:30 pm
Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence

Richter Uzur Duo
Brad Richter, guitar and Viktor Uzur, cello

Viktor Uzur and Brad Richter met in 2005 when Brad was commissioned by Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where Viktor is cello professor, to write a concert length chamber piece (Navigating Lake Bonneville). The piece prominently featured cello and guitar and as it developed so too did a close friendship and a deep mutual respect that became the foundation for this collaboration.

Viktor and Brad are each classical musicians of the highest caliber with successful international solo careers and intensive training from two of the world’s most lauded musical institutions: The Moscow Conservatory and The Royal College of Music respectively. Their musical interests and abilities, however, are far from limited to classical music. In their teens and twenties, while developing into classical virtuosi, they cut their teeth in rock bands – Viktor as an electric guitarist and Brad as a guitarist and singer. They also delved into folk and world music but eventually put those interests aside as they pursued their classical concert careers.

The Richter Uzur Duo may be unique in the way in which they combine classical, rock and folk music and themes into truly original new compositions as well as in the way in which they collaborate. Because they live almost 1,000 miles apart they do a great deal of composing over phone and internet and write parts separately, combining and re-developing them while on concert tours together.  It is rare that two successful classical composers come together to co-write music of such distinction. The fun and friendship Viktor and Brad share in this partnership are obvious on stage and in their music.

February 7: US Air Force Jazz Ensemble at the PAC

The U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band’s Rhythm in Blue, the unit’s dynamic jazz ensemble, will take the mainstage at Francis Marion University’s Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

The concert, sponsored by the Morning News and FMU, is free to the public. Veterans in attendance will be honored as part of the show.

Tickets are required for the show. They can be obtained by calling or visiting the box office at 201 S. Dargan Street in downtown Florence. The box office phone number is (843) 661-4444, and it is open Monday through Friday between 12-5 p.m.

The 13-member Rhythm in Blue will perform a mixture of big band hits, modern jazz and patriotic music that includes the sounds of such greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Dave Holland. The program has been themed as an observance of Black History Month.

Staff Sgt. Dave Fatek, the band’s tour manager, says the group is poised and ready to make an appearance in the region.

“We’ll deliver a great concert featuring the original music of America,” says Fatek. “Anyone that loves music of any kind will enjoy this.”

Rhythm in Blue is made up of professional musicians who enlisted in the Air Force, and, who take great pride in preserving America’s uniquely original art form, recruiting a new generation of listeners, and representing all Airmen. The group is in constant demand traveling throughout the eastern United States, performing formal concerts in grand auditoriums to casual shows in the park, for diverse audiences from Maine to South Carolina.

December 6: A Christmas Market

October 18: Fleur de Lis Strings Chamber Orchestra Concert

The Fleur de Lis Strings Chamber Orchestra will present a Harmony for Humanity concert at 2 pm on Saturday, October 18th at the Arts Trail Gallery at 185 West Evans Street in Florence, South Carolina. This concert celebrates the 13th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an international network of concerts that use the power of music to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance and humanity during the month of October. Music of Mendelssohn, Mozart, and selections from Fiddler on the Roof, Schindler's List, West Side Story as well as South American tangos and music will make this a concert to delight a variety of tastes. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Benjamin Woods and is free to the public.