Rock in Ashland as Paramount Preps to Host Night Ranger

Sonya Newman The Ashland Beacon When most people turn 40 there may be a party, but that party doesn’t enter a time machine and project through 40 years of rock music that is going to tour and put audiences back into the memorable moments that made them love songs and made them love the bands that performed them. California based rock band NIGHT RANGER is marking their 40th year by doing just that as the ATBPO Tour pulls in for a Friday night stop at the Paramount Arts Center. They tour supporting their 13th studio album, ATBPO (or ‘and the band played on’). Currently, Night Ranger is led by Bassist and lead singer Jack Blades, who has performed on all but one studio album when he left the band from 1989-1996 joining Tommy Shaw and Ted Nugent in Damn Yankees. Drummer and vocalist Kelly Keagy and lead guitarist Brad Gillis are original members. Lead and Rhythm guitarist Keri Kelli, who’s played for an accomplished list of rock artists and groups joined the band in 2012. Night Ranger is rounded out by keyboardist, Eric Levy. When you go, prepare to be transported to a pure rock world with layered guitar work, driving melodies, and ballads that you'll be able to sing along with no matter how old you are. You’ll hear major hits like, ‘(You Can Still) Rock in America’, ‘Sing Me Away’, ‘Goodbye’, as well as top 10 hits ‘Sentimental Street’ and ‘Sister Christian’. It wouldn’t be out the realm of possibility that you would hear a song or two from the ATBPO album. There might be a couple of popular songs from other artists that band members have been a part of. In a perfect world, you may even hear a Damn Yankees tune or two. Local music historian Tracy Rowsey reflects ‘As a teenager in the 80’s, I got to see a lot of bands because I had connections. These bands played small venues, not huge festivals.” He noted many bands were maxing out in 8,000 -10,000 people venues. “It was cool to see bands like Kiss, Whitesnake, and others, but I never got to see Night Ranger,” he relayed, continuing, “It’s taking me back to my old concert days and get to see that band in a smaller venue.” He concludes, “A lot of people our age still love the music, but don’t want to fight the crowds of the huge festivals.” Night Ranger will take the stage at the Paramount Arts Center on September 9 at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m). Tickets are available at www.paramountartscenter.com or by calling the box office at 606.324.0007.