LOCAL SCENE: 'Rock'In Out' for region broadcaster John Baranowski

The Steepwater Band is headlining a benefit concert Saturday at Knights Of Columbus, 1400 Broad Street, Griffith, for longtime local radio broadcaster John Baranowski, a 1975 graduate of Lake Central High School.

A native of Dyer and resident of Highland, Baranowski — perhaps best known for his years with WJOB AM 1230 in Hammond — has been battling a rare form of bone marrow cancer, Myloid Metaplasia, for several years and funds from this event will help to pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance.

Four other area music groups scheduled to perform at "Johnny B's Rock'In Out Benefit Bash" are The Nick Danger Band, Loyal Plastic Robots, The Healers and Useless Information.

Along with a requested donation of $30 per person (includes dinner and soft drinks with a cash bar for those 21 and older), there will be a silent auction, raffles and a 50/50 drawing. For more information or to make a donation, call (219) 227–8025 or (219) 306–9209.

Music notes ...

• Chicago–based international children's music artist Ralph Cover, of Ralph's World, is creating a television pilot, "Ralph's World: Time Machine Guitar."

"We'll blast through time and rock out with folks such as Mozart and Betsy Ross and spin the 'Wheel of Shenanigans'," said Covert of the pilot, now in pre–production in Charlottesville, Va. "Just like my concerts, we'll sing and dance and along the way, learn letters and numbers, and all that other important stuff."

Covert — frontman and founder of the iconic Chicago rock group The Bad Examples — has released eight albums and several videos over the years via Disney Sound. but he hopes to create this show independently.

"It's been a lifelong dream of mine to make a TV show for my fans, but production is expensive, so we've partnered with Kickstarter.com, a website that allows people to learn about and donated to creative projects, helping make them a reality," Covert said. FYI: WWW.TIMEMACHINEGUITAR.COM

• Crown Point native Sam Henderson — drummer of the regional rock band Asteria — had the opportunity to work on a recording project with legendary audio engineer/producer Eddie Kramer and blues icon Buddy Guy.

An intern at The Chicago Recording Company, Henderson won the honor of being in the studio with Kramer (who has worked with Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Kiss) after competing against other CRC interns and taking first place in a contest to custom mix an audio project.

• Curiousity had the best of me, so I caught the debut performance of the new History's End line–up last weekend at Northwoods in St. John. The group is stronger than ever with the addition of new guitarist/vocalist Chad Burton and primary lead vocalist John Hendricks. The long–running region party band is still anchored by founding members guitarist Rich Melton and drummer Phil Carmen.

The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach him at beatboss@aol.com.