John Wetton has been a key part of numerous influential rock bands since the 1960’s, including progressive rock groups Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, UK, Asia and more. They were all chart topping bands that are still listened to and respected to this day. I had a chance to talk with John Wetton via phone from his home in England a few weeks ago as he and his band mates prepare for the Rochester appearance of super group Asia.

Delbert McClinton, who once had the Beatles as his opening act, is eager to share the news.

"The most wonderful thing in the world happened to me," says the Grammy winning singer-songwriter -- hailed as "an American treasure " -- who performs Friday, March 26, at the German House in Rochester.

As we await the arrival of a March 11th, 2010 appearance at the Turning Stone Casino I had the opportunity to sit down with Alicia Keys to discuss her upcoming tour, new albums and some of her future business endeavors.

This 12 time Grammy winning performer has just released her fourth studio album called The Element of Freedom and already it has sold 1.9 million copies around the world.

With a world tour starting in March, Alicia took some time to speak with Freetime Magazine.

There is much to be learned about the musical year that was 2009 through the insights of the artists who were playing, singing and writing those songs.

•EMMYLOU HARRIS: “It’s a great thing to have people not expecting you to do one thing or another and who are just happy to see what you will do. I think that’s what has kept me out on the road for so long.

In comedy, suggests Dane Cook, it is necessary to look in the eyes of a fan and share a moment, as opposed to just delivering a moment.

“That sets the good comics apart from the great comics,” muses this Boston bred man of mirth who finds himself in the midst of an ever-evolving creative journey now embracing films, television and the ever-present crucible of artistic fire that is stand up.

Joey: First of all let’s get this question answered.... For those who don’t realize that you are an original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, could you give us a history on that? I know that you did write, play guitar, sing and play drums on the first recordings in the Muscle Shoals sessions which years later was released by MCA. What happened from there that led to your decision to return to Blackfoot?

Songs, to Emmylou Harris, are like precious gems.

“We are just the setting, polishing up that diamond and trying to show it off in the best way possible,” says this American treasure and beloved singer-songwriter-musician.

Harris has received the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy, 12 times; been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry, and was part of one of the most celebrated musical pairings in country-rock history, touring and recording with the legendary Gram Parsons until his death in 1973.

This business of music comes down to two things, muses Rob Baker: what you can control, and what you cannot.

“You can control whether you are good,” suggests the guitarist for the enduring The Tragically Hip. “You can’t control whether you are famous or not.”

Almost 30 years down the road, this most beloved of Canadian bands seems to have its priorities straight, focusing on the music and not the spotlight.

Mick Fleetwood believes his band is a “glorious accident” that probably was meant to happen “because it’s going on for so long.”

Decades down the road, the multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winners just keep going.

The long running Anglo-American Rock’n’Roll Hall of Famers are back together and on the road again for the first time in five years, under way with their “Greatest Hits Unleashed” North America tour.

Some people, muses Buddy Guy, say they have never heard the blues.

Perhaps, he suggests, they are just not listening closely.

It's there when the roller coaster economy dips to a new low. It's there when someone loses their job or when a person can't pay this month's rent or mortgage, or come up with enough money to go to the grocery store. It's there when a heart is broken. Blues, he implies, is the soundtrack of life. "It speaks to everybody if you listen to it," says this most revered member of the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.