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Boone to light up Packard

Debby Boone had some great teachers available to her as a performer. She grew up watching her father, Pat Boone, and she did several tours with her mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. Performing with her father and sisters, Boone learned to be prepared and professional, to deal with the rigors of the road and still be warm and receptive to the people she met. She described listening to the simplicity of Clooney’s vocal phrasing as, “a master class and a gift to me that I will be eternally grateful for.” But those aren’t the only lessons that she’ll put to use when she brings ...

Locally shot ‘Brier Hill’ movie premieres tonight

Jimmy Taaffe takes audiences back to Youngstown in the 1970s with his movie “Brier Hill.” The movie started as a novel, also written by Taaffe, a Canfield native who now lives in Struthers. The idea came from his fascination with the Mahoning Valley’s organized crime history. “I always think to myself, it's amazing that a town with so few people was able to be so corrupt,” Taaffe said. “This isn’t New York or Chicago or Pittsburgh or Cleveland, it's Youngstown, yet somehow we managed to be such a corrupt city.” What makes “Brier Hill” unique is that the main ...

Gray Areas: Glass Harp’s Carnegie Hall gig released on vinyl

Fifty-four years ago this month, Youngstown natives Phil Keaggy, Daniel Pecchio and John Sferra were making music on one of the most prestigious concert stages in the world. Glass Harp fans traded bootleg recordings of that Nov. 21, 1971, Carnegie Hall concert for years. In 1997, the band gave the show its first official release on CD, and now those fans can spin the set on vinyl, the dominant format when it was recorded and the one that now generates the most physical sales in 2025. A mobile recording unit captured the performance by the power trio — Keaggy, guitar and vocals; ...

Ticket stubs

Howland library hosts holiday event A holiday celebration is planned from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library Howland Branch, 9095 East Market St. Festivities include children’s crafts, performances by members of the Howland School District Chamber Choir (directed by Mark Semrau) and the arrival of Santa Claus at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be available courtesy of the Friends of the Howland Library. Admission is free. ‘End Is Nigh’ set for Darlene Lounge “The End is Nigh (And Yet, So Far)” will be the next offering in Kent State University ...

Mahoning Valley arts and entertainment

Art ARTS & EDUCATION AT THE HOYT, 124 E. Leasure Ave., New Castle, Pa.: “Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e,” through Jan. 29, 2026. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. hoytartcenter.org and 724-652-2882. BUTLER INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN ART, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown: “Fred Staloff: Origins of a Modernist” and “Pure Abstractions from the Collection,” both through Sunday; “Kim Novak: Tribute on the Occasion of Her Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award,” through Dec. 7; “Robert Rauschenberg: A Centenary ...

Phelps tour to stop in Austintown

David Phelps brings a touch of home to the opening date of his One Wintry Night tour on Dec. 4 at Youngstown’s Highway Tabernacle. The Christian music vocalist’s concert will be similar to his annual Christmas Barn Bash at his family farm just outside of Nashville. This year’s event took place last weekend. “There's a lot of the same kind of songs,” he said during a recent phone interview. “First of all, we do all Christmas, all the time. Once Thanksgiving is passed, it is a Christmas tour. So, if people want to come out for a night of great Christmas music, we try to do ...