Scott Tady: Chippewa comic brings coast-to-coast tour here; Beaver Falls is honkytonkin'
Chippewa Township native Dan Rosenberg chose Sewickley as the spot last year to test screen a TV pilot he shot with rock star Rick Springfield.
Rosenberg returns our way April 13 to headline a comedy show at the same screening site, The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center.
The West Coast-based Rosenberg, whose 30-year career spans comedy, writing and radio hosting, makes the Lindsay a stop on his "Coast to Coaster" comedy tour, featuring special guest Auggie Cook.
The 90-minute standup show, with the equivalent of a PG-13 rating, starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Lindsay's Community Room.
Tickets are at thelindsaytheater.org, costing $20. Seating is first-come, first-served, beginning at 6:30 p.m., with BYOB available.
Rosenberg, a Blackhawk graduate, will draw from his experiences at national comedy clubs like the Laugh Factory and the Improv, and at comedy festivals like Just for Laughs in Montreal. A host for CBS radio shows in Los Angeles and Seattle, and for National Lampoon Radio on SiriusXM, Rosenberg will be joined by Cook, a nationally touring stand-up comedian who has appeared on ABC-TV and worked with the likes of Howie Mandel, Drew Carey and Chris Rock. He was one of the first comedians Rosenberg met early in the 1990s, at Station Square’s Funnybone Comedy Club.
Rosenberg first came to The Lindsay last spring to test his pilot sit-com "It’s A Lot" where he plays a used car salesman, whose rock star dad is portrayed by Springfield.
The show is being pitched to streaming services.
"After screening our sitcom at The Lindsay last spring, it was obvious to me that the theater is a great gift to the community,” Rosenberg said. “I serve on the board of a local performing arts center on Bainbridge Island, Wash., and I realize the importance of nonprofit theaters."
For the Lindsay, comedy shows are more often becoming an option. “Our first two comedy shows have featured LA-based female comedians, Angelina Spicer and Nicole Travolta,” theater CEO Carolina Thor said. “Now, for the first time, we have a Pittsburgh area native with years in the business bringing his latest to a home-town crowd.”
Beaver Falls library concerts
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls hosts a March 30 concert by Honky Tonk Heroes, one of western Pennsylvania's premier classic country-rock bands.
Tickets cost $35, which includes two beverage tickets. A cash bar is available to purchase additional beverages, and there'll be a food truck.
Honky Tonk Heroes will perform in the library's second-floor ballroom, which reopened last December with a Novel Noel benefit gala featuring music by Byron Nash and Jacquea Mae.
Beaver Falls library officials are thinking of launching a full-fledged concert series, but first want to see how the ballroom handles the five-piece Honky Tonk Heroes.
The Dewey Decimators, a rock trio, has been booked for this year's Novel Noel on Dec. 6.
Cool show brewing in New Brighton
Recording artist Jenah Shank makes her first visit to Beaver County's top-voted coffee spot, the Promise Blend, on April 6.
Shank, a Beaver County native, will sing and strum her original music along with several traditional and contemporary songs ranging from pop to alt-folk and contemporary Christian.
"I might even throw in a couple of gospel sing-alongs in there," she said. "This might seem strange, but sometimes I change the whole thing up depending on who shows up."
Showtime is 6:30 p.m., and admission is free at the coffee shop, located at 119 Mercer Road (Route 65) in the Oak Hill section of New Brighton.
Shank performs at churches, coffee houses, youth events, juvenile centers, clubs, cafes, festivals, and now regularly at Harkins Mill Wines in Ambridge where you can catch her March 24 and April 28 co-hosting open mic sessions, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., with David Granati of the Granati Brothers.
Shank has released seven CDs, netting thousands of streams and downloads, and currently is recording a new project with Granati.
She also assists her husband, Ron, with the Truckers 4 Jesus Truck Stop Ministry at the Petro Truck Stop in Girard, Ohio.
More: Beaver County's Broadway star Amber Ardolino says what's special about 'A Beautiful Noise'
Ambridge winery with lots of shows
Besides Jenah Shank mentioned above, Harkins Mill Winery offers lots of live local music the next few months.
Tonight features Heather Eileen, then on Saturday it's Doug Edgell, both from 6:30-9:30 p.m. DJ Uncle Al will spin tunes March 28 with Valentina Powell on March 30.
Next month's schedule:
April 5: Cody Alushin
April 6: Shelly Duff
April 7: Ricky Lake
April 12: Samantha Sears
April 13: Jay Wiley
April 14: Kevin Latshaw
April 19: Eclectic Acoustics
April 20: Straight Up with Ed & Gary
April 26: David Green
April 27: The Jive Daisy.
Two cool things craft beers and wineries have brought to the local music scene: Earlier start times (usually 7 p.m.) and full schedules announced and advertised more than a month in advance.
I hope bar owners are paying attention, because attendance is usually solid at breweries and wineries.
Important People music
Meeting of Important People return to action tonight with a hometown album release show at the Thunderbird Music Hall in Pittsburgh.
"MOIPsgiving" is the first full-length album in eight years for Meeting of Important People, an indie-rock/garage-pop band you might have seen at the Three Rivers Arts Festival main stage or heard on 91.3-WYEP.
The album's sleeve cover features advertising art that frontman Josh Verbanets' grandmother created for Hornes department stores in the 1960s, given a modern revamp by graphic artist/Beaver County rocker Andre Costello.
Costello will be the opening act of the 7 p.m. Thunderbird show, in both acoustic fashion and with his WYEP-featured band, Forestry Division. Tickets are $15 at thunderbirdmusichall.com.
"MOIPsgiving" was co-produced by Jake Hanner, from another of Pittsburgh's most decorated indie bands, Donora.
"The album is 20 years in the making," Verbanets said. "It’s a batch of songs I wrote way back with another band when I was a kid. We had a record label deal fall apart and these were sort of lost songs. So, we are finally recording and releasing them. My friends knew them and the MOIP band members always loved these songs; they became like little mythical songs to us as a joke. And we would play them live here and there."
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Blackhawk grad Dan Rosenberg and Honky Tonk Heroes set local shows
