James Taylor, a Depeche Mode Experience and Grant Peeples
This week’s Top 3
Lehigh Valley area concerts include a six-time Grammy-winning artist, a tribute band that has toured the globe and received nods from the group they honor, and a folk artist who installed the first flushing toilet on a small island off Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast. If variety is the spice of life, do yourself a favor and catch them all.
James Taylor
When: 8 p.m. Monday Where: PPL Center, 701 Hamilton St., Allentown How much: $55-$115 Tickets: pplcenter.com/ 610-224-4625
Musical style: Folk, Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Known for hits like: ”Fire and Rain,” “Carolina on my Mind,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “How Sweet it is (To be Loved by You),” and “Your Smiling Face” Honors: In 2000 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He’s a six-time Grammy Award winner who’s sold over 100 million records. His “Greatest Hits” album (from 1976) is certified Diamond; he played the leading role in the 1971 film, “Two-Lane Blacktop” alongside Beach Boys’ drummer, Dennis Wilson; and in 2006 he was the MusiCares “Person of the Year” — with musicians like Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, and Sheryl Crow paying tribute to him. He holds honorary music doctorates from Berklee College of Music, the New England Conservatory,
and Williams College, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Check him out if you like: Jackson Browne, Jim Croce, Carole King, Crosby, Stills & Nash, America, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, John Denver
Strangelove — The Depeche Mode Experience
When: 8 p.m. Thursday Where: Sellersville
Theater, 24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville
How much: $35
Tickets: st94.com/ 215-2575808
Musical style: New Wave,
Synth-Pop, Post-Punk Known For hits like: Covers of Depeche Mode hits
like, “Never Let You Down Again,” “Enjoy the Silence,” “Master and Servant,”
“Policy of Truth,” “People Are People,” and “A Question of Lust.”
Honors: They were featured on E!’s “Clash of the Cover Bands,” and in 2015 were included in LA Weekly’s “20 Best Tribute Acts in Los Angeles.” They formed in 2010 and have since played all over the US as well as internationally in Mexico, Canada, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and England. They were featured on a Depeche Mode tribute album called “Music for Constructions,” which went to number one on Amazon Germany in the Indie & Lo-Fi category. Check them out if you like: Depeche Mode, New Order, Soft Cell, Duran Duran. Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Gary Numan
Grant Peeples
When: 8 p.m. Friday Where: Godfrey Daniels, 7 E. 4th St., Bethlehem
How much: $17.50-$22.50 Tickets: godfreydaniels.org 610-867-2390
Musical style: Folk, Singer-Songwriter
Known for hits like:
”Things Have Changed,” “Sunshine State,” “Who Woulda Thunk It,” “It’s
Too Late to Live in Austin,” and “You’re a Slave to your Imagination.”
Honors: He regularly tours the folk festival circuit appearing at The Florida Folk Festival, The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, and The 30A Songwriters Festival. He has received the Focus Foundation Award for Creative Excellence and has had five albums produced by Gurf Morlix (who has also produced Lucinda Williams and Robert Earl Keen).
Check him out if you like: Woody Guthrie, Amy Speace, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, The Weavers
Jay Honstetter is a freelancer for The Morning Call. Follow him on Twitter @jayhonstetter