Rock -n- roll legends The Band drop in tomorrow night at The Tennessee

Amphitheater on the World’s Fair Park with their celestial sounds that have

endured over time and embrace the qualities of tradition, lineage and lore

symbolic of our country.

The show begins at 8 and tickets can be purchased in advance for $17.50 at

all Tickets Unlimited outlets. Opening for The Band will be local act RB

and the Irregulars. For outlet information or to charge, call

656-4444.

More than 25 years after they redefined rock-n- roll, The Band remains at

the forefront of American music on radio and television, in print and in

concert. The group, who earlier in the year were inducted into the Rock-n-

Roll Hall of Fame, are touring in support of their first release in 16

years. Jericho, a box set chronicling The Band’s career, is also

due for release this year.

Jericho, the group’s first new recording since 1975’s Northern

Lights – Southern Cross, weaves impassioned originals like the

coal miner’s lament Caves of Jericho into versions of songs like

Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City and Blind Willie

McTell, a composition from the catalog of longtime Band collaborator

Bob Dylan.

“Back a couple of years ago we’d play and people would call it nostalgia,”

bassist/vocalist Rick Danko said. “Lately they’ve been calling it music

again. At that point, we just didn’t seem to fit into the big picture, but

with that many more revolutions of the world come and gone, suddenly it

doesn’t seem so sinful for old-timers to try and make some music. The Band

will make Band music, but I don’t think this album sounds like we’re

lingering in the past.”

Largely recorded in the reincarnation of drummer/vocalist Levon Helm’s

barn/studio, Jericho is anything but nostalgic. From the

tongue-in-cheek Move to Japan to the pan-ethnic ballad Amazon

(River of Dreams), The Band ventures into uncharted territory with the

same grace that they apply to versions of traditional American music, such

as Muddy Water’s Stuff You Gotta Watch.

“I think it’s clear that The Band is a unit, not just one person,” Danko

said. “When one person grabs the spotlight, it gets very jaded. That’s a

sign of immaturity as far as I’m concerned. When the whole is more than the

sum of the individual parts, it’s a special treat – and that’s what I think

we provide.”

Helm seconds those emotions, adding that even after more than 30 years of

playing with his band mates of longest standing, their talents are a treat

for him as well as the audience.

“I know they can do it, so I can’t call it a surprise, but every time I

hear Garth play, I hear something that shakes me,” Helm said. “Same with

Rick. I’ve heard him sing a lot of nights, but every show he hits one note

that really hits me, really makes me feel.”

In addition to original members Helm, Danko, and keyboardist Garth Hudson,

The Band includes guitarist Jim Weider, percussionist Randy Ciarlante and

keyboardist Richard Bell. Original vocalist and pianist Richard Manuel

committed suicide in 1986, and Helm accuses Band songwriter and guitarist

Robbie Robertson of taking sole credit for many collaboratively composed

Band songs.