Monday

Billy Gardell

Billy Gardell took the long road to Hollywood, stopping at every small-town lounge, military base and comedy club along the way. His comedy act took him to Los Angeles, where his dedication to acting, along with touring as a stand-up comedian, allowed him to grow consistently in both arenas. After appearing in a number of television programs including “Yes, Dear,” “Judging Amy” “My Name is Earl” and “Monk,” Gardell is also the star of the hit sitcom “ Mike and Molly” which airs Mondays on CBS. He’s starring in the new Showtime special, “ Billy Gardell Presents: Road Dogs” along with Don Learned, Bob Zany and Earthquake. Visit his website here. (Photo Credit: Guy Viau)

Kevin Meany

With an inspired blend of lunacy that includes physical humor, impersonations, stylized caricatures of nightclub singers and his signature “man on the street” interviews. Emmy Award winner KEVIN MEANEY has been one of the country’s most popular standup comedians for more than 25 years. Tom Shale’s of the Washington Post said, “Picture the precocious love child of Jonathan Winters and Ethel Merman and you have some idea of Kevin Meaney’s act.” Making people laugh has always been a top priority for Kevin. From his early years doing standup comedy in San Francisco and Boston he’s amassed an impressive list of credits along the way. His first HBO special in 1986 catapulted him to the forefront of the comedy scene. In 1987 Kevin made his debut appearance on, “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson and was invited by Johnny to join the guest panel. Since his first appearance Kevin has returned to the show a dozen times. He was a special guest on Saturday Night Live and has appeared on Letterman, Regis, Oprah and Conan. Kevin is also an accomplished actor, having starred in the CBS sitcom, “Uncle Buck” which ran for a full season. In addition, he has done numerous guest appearances on both sitcoms and dramas. He also had a featured role in the movie ‘Big”. In 2006, Kevin expanded his acting repertoire to appear in the Broadway production of Hairspray as The Male Authority Figure, playing five roles – Mr. Pinky, Harriman F. Spritzer, The Principal, The Cop and the Flasher. Kevin is also a successful writer and producer. He wrote and produced and starred in a one-man autobiographical play titled, Wedding Vows in Vegas which premiered at the prestigious U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado before going on to a successful summer run in Boston at the Hasty Pudding Theatre. Steve Martin called it, “The most innovative, heart-rending and funny show I’ve seen in a long, long time.” Known for drawing upon his family relationships for much of his material, Kevin has made such lines as “That’s not Right” and “We’re Big Pants People” and “We’re going to lose the house” (delivered in the tremulous voice of his mother) catch phrases for hilarity. An evening with Kevin is a trip to the funhouse and one laugh escalates into a bigger one and good-hearted humor prevails. So, Big Pants People of the world unite…your leader is here, his name is Kevin Meaney and he’s on a mission of mirth. Kevin is currently living in New York with his daughter Kate.

Nicole Pence

Bob Seger

His Greatest Hits collection has sold more than seven million copies, and albums like Beautiful Loser (1975), Live Bullet (1976), Night Moves (1976), Stranger in Town (1978), Against the Wind (1980) and Nine Tonight (1981) have all enjoyed multiplatinum sales. In March of 2004 Seger was more than deservedly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Seger’s songs tell stories about characters with whom listeners can readily identify. They are often about people who are trying to find their way through a world that has proven more complex, challenging and perhaps even dangerous than they could have imagined. Innocence drains away, and what’s left is a combination of knowledge, experience and an aching nostalgia for something that has been lost along the way and must be recovered. His characters cross a line, frequently without realizing it, like a car passing over an invisible borderline at night. By the time they figure out that they are no longer in the world they knew, that world is simply a receding image in the rear-view mirror. Getting back to it isn’t always easy. Sometimes it’s not possible. As Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go home again.”

But, while rollicking statements of hell-raising intent like “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” and “Heavy Music” earned him a reputation among hardcore music fans, he struggled for many years to break out of his regional scene. Bad luck and bad timing conspired to keep him a secret from audiences outside Michigan, Florida and a few other hotbeds of support. When people heard and saw Seger, they fell under his spell. It just seemed for a time as if he would have to personally perform in front of every single person he wanted to win over.

 The album that brought Seger significant national attention was Live Bullet, a double-vinyl-record set that was recorded live in Detroit in 1975 with the Silver Bullet Band, which he had formed the year before. Whatever recognition Seger had garnered to that point was based on two elements: the emotional power of his songs and the intensity of his live shows. Riveting performances of such soon-to-be classics as “Beautiful Loser” and “Turn the Page” combined those two virtues on Live Bullet. The mood was further heightened by the make-or-break ardency that Seger and the band palpably felt. Happily, the album broke and perfectly set the stage for the moment of Seger’s true dramatic rise: Night Moves.

But Seger was only beginning to find his voice – or, more accurately, to have his voice heard. He was a superstar now, even if an unusually grounded one, and each of his albums routinely gathered the sort of attention (and often sales) that he had sought so futilely early in his career. The six studio albums he has recorded since that time have generated a catalogue of songs that have entered the pantheon of contemporary popular music: “Hollywood Nights,” “Still the Same,” “Old Time Rock and Roll” (which is not a Seger original), “Fire Lake,” “You’ll Accomp’ny Me,” “Against the Wind,” “Like a Rock,” “American Storm,” “The Fire Inside” and “Lock and Load,” to compile a list that is by no means complete.

Now Seger is back with Face the Promise, an album that extends his legacy into the 21st century. His raw, rough-edged voice still seethes with the conviction that charged it decades ago, but the years have lent him the stature of experience and authority. Not that such authenticity was ever a quality that either Seger or his songs lacked. He has expressed the frustrations, hopes and dreams not simply of people like himself, but that he himself has felt. When he sings, you believe it.

Visit his website here.

Tuesday