His show may not be flashy, but country music artist and Cherry Valley native Mo Pitney keeps his audience entertained with his honest lyrics and music that he hopes will move them. The up-and-coming performer will bring his band and unique country sound to DeKalb’s Egyptian Theatre on Saturday night. “We’re not geared toward lighting or video screens, but we’re geared toward raw music. We try to make music that moves us, and we want people to step into that world with us, to celebrate music with us,” Pitney said. Pitney, 24, described his music as traditional country music with a softer, more acoustic sound, which he said comes from his singer-songwriter influences, like James Taylor. He sa

When pop icon Cyndi Lauper began work on her 11th album Detour, choosing a producer who could steer her towards a country sound was key. Enter the legendary Tony Brown. Brown’s dossier is beyond impressive. From his early days playing keys for Elvis, Tony Brown has risen to become one of the music industry’s most talented and respected producers, recognized for his boundary-breaking vision. Reba McEntire, George Strait, Lionel Richie and Vince Gill – some of who also contributed on Detour – are just a few who have worked with Brown to create chart-topping hits. His proven intuition and vast experience made Brown the ideal partner to guide Lauper’s incredible talent in a different direction.

Having conquered pop and musical theatre, Lauper went to Nashville to record a country album, Detour. She talked about working with legends and why she chose to perform in a state with anti-LGBT law. While Cyndi Lauper will no doubt be remembered for her mid-1980s pop hits (Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time After Time), since then she has very successfully turned her hand to musical theater and traditional roots music. Besides winning a Tony award for her original score to her Broadway show Kinky Boots, she earned a Grammy nomination for Memphis Blues, a collection of traditional blues covers. Next week she releases Detour, a collection of country music covers spanning the genre’s earliest d