Martin Sexton

Martin Sexton still remembers the exact evolution of venues he has played around here. It goes like this: subway stations, Christopher's in Porter Square, Club Passim in Harvard Square, Johnny D's in Davis Square. In Boston, he went on to the Paradise Rock Club, Orpheum Theatre, and finally Avalon (now the House of Blues). "That area is where I was born as a singer and songwriter," Sexton says. "I remember being very inspired walking through Harvard Square on a July night and thinking, ‘Hey, I could do this.' " And he did for a few years in the early 1990s, primarily...

Martin Sexton still remembers the exact evolution of venues he has played around here. It goes like this: subway stations, Christopher's in Porter Square, Club Passim in Harvard Square, Johnny D's in Davis Square. In Boston, he went on to the Paradise Rock Club, Orpheum Theatre, and finally Avalon (now the House of Blues). "That area is where I was born as a singer and songwriter," Sexton says. "I remember being very inspired walking through Harvard Square on a July night and thinking, ‘Hey, I could do this.' " And he did for a few years in the early 1990s, primarily...

March 9 Boston Lyric Opera's "The Barber of Seville" opens at Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. www.blo.org March 10 Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company present "Story/Time" at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence. www.vmari.com March 13 "Les Miserables" opens at the Boston Opera House. www.broadwayinboston.com March 14 Boston Flower & Garden Show opens at Seaport World Trade Center. www.bostonflowershow.com March 16 George Winston opens at the Center for Arts in Natick.

March 9 Boston Lyric Opera's "The Barber of Seville" opens at Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. www.blo.org March 10 Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company present "Story/Time" at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence. www.vmari.com March 13 "Les Miserables" opens at the Boston Opera House. www.broadwayinboston.com March 14 Boston Flower & Garden Show opens at Seaport World Trade Center. www.bostonflowershow.com March 16 George Winston opens at the Center for Arts in Natick.

Sometimes even background music can reveal great truths. So it was at last Saturday's Finn Brothers show at the FleetBoston Pavilion when the P.A. blasted the greatest hits of the Fixx between acts. With its nervous New Wave energy, unshakable catchiness, and ultimate disposability, it seemed to say, "There but for the grace of God go Neil and Tim Finn. " With their first band, Split Enz, the brothers might very well have become early '80s curios themselves, but through a combination of talent, historical importance (Split Enz is revered in New Zealand as that country's first major rock band on the world...

Considering how much time the six members of Ryan Montbleau Band spend together on the road — an estimated 187 shows this year — the last thing you’d think they’d want to do is live together. But so far, they haven’t come to fisticuffs over toothpaste cap etiquette, reports Montbleau with a chuckle on the phone from the house in Lawrence the genre-defying Boston sextet has called home for about a year and a half. “I think it would’ve broken up the band years ago,’’ he says of the shared address.

Country-Rock Assembly of Dust Some Assembly Required Missing Piece/Rock Ridge Music ESSENTIAL “Arc of the Sun’’ Assembly of Dust headlines the Paradise Rock Club on Sept. 24. Call this a case of high ambition. But it’s a fully realized ambition in the hands of Reid Genauer, the former singer of Vermont’s Strangefolk who now fronts the even more versatile Assembly of Dust. He has a hauntingly cosmic voice that falls somewhere between Neil Young and Jeff Tweedy, while his lyrics recall the trippy Robert Hunter of...

  The Life is good Festival returns to Canton this September 24 and 25 and the roster of acts performing at the two day shindig is long and appealing. With folks like the Avett Brothers, Raphael Saadiq, the Hold Steady, Ray LaMontagne, Ingrid Michaelson, and Dwight and Nicole on tap, it's a good mix of local, national, and international acts playing pop, rock, soul, Americana, and roots music to benefit the Life is good Kids Foundation. The fest will again host a kids' music stage as well.

Harold Lloyd Film Festival Riviera Theatre NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. April 18-20 Almost as famous as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in silent film was Harold Lloyd, an actor known for performing dangerous stunts in such movies as "Safety Last!" (that one had him hanging from a clock tower). In April, you can see Lloyd's best work when the Riviera Theatre hosts a festival dedicated to him with an appearance by his granddaughter and live musical accompaniment on the Riviera's Wulitzer organ.

CANTON - Last year, the Life is good Festival was a curiosity, fusing a wholesome family show of the sort the namesake clothing company used to present for free on the Boston Common to a bona fide rock and pop fest. Year one raised a bunch of money for charity and the spirits of those hungry for a big music gathering that doesn't skew to teens or metalheads. Year two, which played out Saturday and yesterday at Prowse Farm, simply raised the bar in every way. A lineup featuring Ray LaMontagne, the Avett Brothers, and Boston Pops-enhanced...

Considering how much time the six members of Ryan Montbleau Band spend together on the road — an estimated 187 shows this year — the last thing you’d think they’d want to do is live together. But so far, they haven’t come to fisticuffs over toothpaste cap etiquette, reports Montbleau with a chuckle on the phone from the house in Lawrence the genre-defying Boston sextet has called home for about a year and a half. “I think it would’ve broken up the band years ago,’’ he says of the shared address.

Sometimes even background music can reveal great truths. So it was at last Saturday's Finn Brothers show at the FleetBoston Pavilion when the P.A. blasted the greatest hits of the Fixx between acts. With its nervous New Wave energy, unshakable catchiness, and ultimate disposability, it seemed to say, "There but for the grace of God go Neil and Tim Finn. " With their first band, Split Enz, the brothers might very well have become early '80s curios themselves, but through a combination of talent, historical importance (Split Enz is revered in New Zealand as that country's first...

ON WGBH High School Quiz Show 6 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) Hamilton-Wenham vs. Rockport in the semifinals. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS Only a Game 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. WBUR-FM (90.9) NFL star Junior Seau's suicide, and can the NFL make football safer without fundamentally changing the game? Mountain Stage 2 p.m. WUMB-FM (91.9) Martin Sexton, Whitehorse, and Ryan Montbleau. Boston Symphony Orchestra 7 p.m. Classical New England (99.5) Pianist Garrick Ohlsson joins conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the BSO for Samuel Barber's robust Piano Concerto.

Judging from the sheer number of new holiday releases every year, artists can't wait to sing traditional carols and add their own twists -- sometimes for the better, occasionally for the worse. But hey, when else can you hear lyrics like: "We'll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman," and "We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather should be"? Of course, there are also songs about peace and good will toward men. Those themes never go out of fashion. Nor does the creativity required to make a good holiday record.