Black Country at Variety Playhouse

Black Country Communion is an English-American hard rock band based in Los Angeles, California active from 2009-2013 and 2016-present. Formed in 2009, the band is a supergroup comprising bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Originally formed by Hughes and Bonamassa with the help of producer Kevin Shirley, the group released its debut album Black Country in September 2010. Second album 2 followed in June 2011, which was promoted on a European tour later in the year. The band released its third album Afterglow in October 2012. They disbanded in 2013, to return with their fourth album in September 2017. The band was initiated as a side project by Hughes and Bonamassa following a performance together in Los Angeles in November 2009, who on the advice of Shirley recruited Bonham and Sherinian later in the year. The name Black Country Communion is derived from the term Black Country, referring to the West Midlands area of England where Hughes and Bonham were brought up. The group's sound is intentionally reminiscent of popular classic rock groups of the 1970s, reflecting the previous work of frontman Hughes as well as the link between Bonham and his father John's band Led Zeppelin. After disbanding Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham formed California Breed and Derek Sherinian joined Joe Bonamassa's touring band. Their reunion album from 2017 is entitled BCC IV. It’s the first album to be released since the band’s breakup in 2013. Recorded in Malibu, California, with producer Kevin Shirley, released on September 22, 2017. BCC IV expanded the combination of blues rock (Bonamassa’s solo work) and hard rock (Hughes’ previous work with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, and Bonham’s link with Led Zeppelin) that took place on the first three albums. It’s a high quality hard rock album that brings a great feeling that classic rock is alive and in good hands. Recorded in only seven days, the band was careful enough not to repeat the previous albums. BCC IV sounds bolder with heavy riffs, undeniable hooks, melodic flair and infectious choruses. Kevin Shirley’s importance is huge by guiding the band into the right directions for the album’s best interest, and the result is spectacular. In 2024, the group is set to return with its fifth album, V.

Recorded 2019-2024 Dagmar Zuniga makes music that feels both intimate and expansive: songs drift like disrupted signals, carried by harmony, tape hiss, and a strong sense of touch. Her debut solo album in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music, written and recorded in New York, Norway, and Athens, Georgia over a period of five years on her longtime companion, the Tascam 424, was uploaded to Bandcamp and YouTube in January 2025, quickly garnering over two hundred thousand views and the attention of artists such as Mount Eerie, who invited her to tour with them that summer. This year, what was once a jewel of tapped-in algorithms and message boards will meet the world at large, with in filth arriving digitally on March 4, and physically on April 10 2025, via AD 93.