Rick Springfield & Pat Benatar announce summer tour

80s rockers Rick Springfield and Pat Benatar are joining forces this summer for a short tour that will kick off right here in the Triangle.

The pair, as well as Benatar's sideman and husband Neil Giraldo, will rock the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh on Sunday, June 29. Ticket information is not available yet but we'll let you know when it is. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 14, via the Duke Energy Center box office and Ticketmaster for $23 to $82.50. A Live Nation pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.

Check out a Springfield with the Sound City Players (aka Foo Fighters) performing his hit "Jessie's Girl" on The Ellen Show last year below.

Chatham County Line announces new album 'Tightrope,' shares "Any Port in a Storm"

Raleigh's own superstar string band Chatham County Line is back this year with their first studio album since 2010's Wildwood. The new album is titled Tightrope and will hit stores on May 20 via Yep Roc Records.

The album was recorded at Durham's Sound Pure Studios and features 11 new songs produced by frontman Dave Wilson and the group. Check out the album's third track, "Any Port in a Storm," below.

Chatham County Line hasn't announced any hometown release shows yet for the new album, but we'll let you know when they do.

Man Man announce spring tour, coming to Raleigh

Experimental Philadelphia indie rockers Man Man are hitting the road again this spring in support of their latest album On Oni Pond and they'll return to the Triangle (they played the Cat's Cradle last fall).

This time the band will play the more intimate Kings Barcade in Raleigh on Wednesday, May 7. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 28, via Ticketfly for $14.

Man Man will also play Ziggy's By the Sea in Wilmington on May 10 and the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach on May 8.

Check out the music video for groovy synth rocker "Loot My Body" from On Oni Pond below.

Hall & Oates to headline Band Together concert this spring

Band Together's concerts in Raleigh raising money for community organizations in the Triangle have become a staple in the area and they've grown bigger and bigger each year. This spring it grows exponentially as the concert moves the area's big shed with a big headliner.

Daryl Hall and John Oates, aka Hall and Oates, will headline the big event at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh on Saturday, May 3. Robert Randolph and the Family Band are also on the bill along with a local opener (who will be announced after Last Band Standing concert at the Lincoln Theatre on March 1). Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, via Live Nation for $51 to $101. The lawn will not be open, only pavilion seats will be sold. Pre-sale tickets are available now via the Hall and Oates mailing list.

Album Review: Vertical Scratchers - Daughter of Everything

Vertical Scratchers debut, Daughter of Everything, is scattershot, but charming. John Schmersal (Brainiac/Enon, Caribou’s touring band, and Crooks on Tape) and Christian Beaulieu (Triclops!/Anywhere) have created an album all over the place, but still inviting.

The 15 songs on Daughter of Everything average 2 minutes and 7 seconds with eight tracks being under 2 minutes. The first three songs in particular fly by. The frantic pace of the record is energizing and disorienting. The band catches its breath with a few slower, drawn out songs, but they’re only memorable as breaks.