Paul Rodgers, “The Voice” of Bad Company, member of “Free” and “The Firm, will headline the 27th Annual Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival, Saturday, June 5 at Lake Skinner Recreation area. Rodgers is just part of a packed Saturday lineup that includes Vertical Horizon and Gin Blossoms.
Rodgers
www.paulrodgers.net career spans from the 1960s where he was a singer-songwriter with the band Free, a British band that hit the international charts with the Rodgers’s penned hit “All Right Now.” He later formed Bad Company. From 1973 to 1982 the band produced a series of hits including “Feel Like Making Love,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Shooting Star,” “Bad Company,” and “Run with the Pack” and “Rock and Roll Fantasy.” Bad Company earned six platinum albums until Rodgers left in 1982.
Rodgers linked with Jimmy Page briefly with the band The Firm. In 1993 Rodgers produced a Grammy nominated solo CD, “Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.” The CD included a who’s who of guitarists with Brian May, Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, and Buddy Guy. Rodgers has mixed touring with Bad Company, touring and recording with Queen, and his solo career for the past decade. Last year he was voted the # 3 Greatest Voice in Rock in Rolling Stone magazine by fans and voted the #2 Greatest Singer in Rock by Classic Rock Magazine.
Vertical Horizon has been hitting the Rock Charts with their alternative sound since 1999 when they hit #1 on the charts with the song “Everything You Want.” The group’s most recent CD “Burning Down the Days” introduced lead singer’s Matthew Scannell “Save Me From Myself,” with Rush drummer Neil Peart. The song has risen rapidly on Hot AC charts.
Launched in 1991 as a folk-based acoustic duo, Vertical Horizon
www.verticalhorizon.com became a slick pop/alternative rock band with original tunes that have been on soundtracks for popular movies and television series. Vertical Horizon’s recent surge is a result of having their song “The Best I Ever Had” on the soundtrack of the vampire movie “Twilight/New Moon.” The song was also played on the WB drama “Roswell.” “Finding Me” was heard on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Echo” was played on the WB’s “One Tree Hill.” “You’re a God” and “Give You Back” were both played in the pilot episode of Alias and “You’re A God” was heard on “Bruce Almighty.”
Gin Blossoms
www.ginblossoms.net return to the Festival fueled with their hits “Hey Jealousy,” “Follow You Down,” “Found Out About You,” and “Till I Hear It From You.” The alternative rock band formed in Tempe, Arizona in 1987 and took their name from a W.C. Fields photo that had the caption “W.C. Fields with gin blossoms.” The band released three albums by the mid 1990s, broke up in 1997, reunited in 2002, and released a fourth album “Major Lodge Victory” in 2006. The group released a live album, “Live In Concert” last year, which included live performances of their major hits plus two from their 2006 album, “Learning the Hard Way” and “Long Time Gone.” They reportedly have a new studio album ready for release sometime this year.
Tickets for the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival are available online now at reduced rates. Prices at the gates during the Festival will be higher. Friday adult tickets are $20, Saturday $22, Sunday $15. Juniors ages 7-12 are $5 Children ages six and under are free. There is a weekend combo ticket available online that will include all three days for $50 for adults.
The 2010 Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival returns to Lake Skinner June 4-6, 2010. It includes wine tasting from over 20 area wineries, a wine and food pairing experience, dawn hot air balloon launches and breathtaking evening balloon glows, kids faire and giant arts and craft fair. For more information visit
www.tvbwf.com or call (951) 676-6713
