*It’s a sad week in music. I won’t go into personal thoughts and anecdotes on the death of JOEY RAMONE, but I was among those saddened to learn of his passing on Easter Sunday. The Ramones always were and still are huge musical influences. Gabba gabba hey!

*In the event you have managed to miss the radio announcements all week, AEROSMITH will be opening its Just Push Play 2001 Tour at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre in Hartford on Wednesday, June 6. Seventeen US dates were announced this week and another 17 were still to be confirmed, but right there at the top of the list was Hartford. Fuel will be opening.

Tickets are going on sale this Saturday morning at 10 am through all ctnow.com and tickets.com outlets. Phone charges will be handled at 203-265-1501 (the ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre box office) and 800-477-6849 (tickets.com charge line); in-person purchases can be done at the Oakdale in Wallingford and any Strawberries store; and online charges can be done at www.ctnow.com or www.tickets.com. Tickets are $69 and $79 for the pavilion seating area and $34 for the lawn. The Meadows has begun a new ticket policy this year, by the way. Tickets purchased on the day of a show are going to cost you an additional $2.

*Blues will come into Bethel next weekend when 11-year old HOLDEN TRUELOVE, a blues-rock and r&b prodigy who receivedhis first guitar from his grandparents at age 7, headlines at Bethel High School on Friday, April 27. Truelove was a guest on Live with Regis on January 22, part of the show’s Amazing Kids Week, but Truelove’s first brush with fame came three summers ago with no less than the legendary BUDDY GUY. According to Truelove’s Web site, the youngster had already managed to acquire backstage passes for Guy’s show at Charles Ives Center in Danbury. When the young musician met Guy he apparently charmed him with his story of how he began playing at age seven on a guitar his grandparents had purchased for him out of a Sears catalog. Next thing everyone knew, Guy had Truelove up there on the stage with him.

Tickets for the show at Bethel High School are $15 for adults and $10 for students, and can be reserved by calling 730-9940 (or purchased at the door). Showtime is 7 pm. David “Wolfman” Gray will serve as master of ceremonies and the show will also feature sets by CHANCE BROWNE and DAN BONIS & FRIENDS.

The show was initiated by Showcase of Americana, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, educating and promoting excellence in music, with proceeds of sponsored shows donated to local charities. Proceeds from Truelove’s show will be donated to a Bethel High School scholarship fund.

*Tickets are $21.50 and $31.50 for KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD’s show at the ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre. The young guitarist will be in Wallingford on Friday, May 25, with Double Trouble and Lizzie West both offering opening sets. Tickets are going on sale Friday morning at 10 am through the same outlets outlined in the paragraph concerning Aerosmith details above.

Tickets for next week’s MARK KNOPFLER   show (Tuesday, April 24 — Happy 30th Birthday Christy Spinelli!!) at the Oakdale are still available in all price ranges, which run from $35 to $65.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you... on the road.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

APRIL 20 — Billy Idol at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theater, Ledyard; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s PlaceNew Haven, , Ink opening; Tree CD release party at The Webster Theater, Hartford (all ages), Throne and Toxic Field Mice opening; Joe Proc & Abu at Mimi’s, Danbury;

April 21 — Sugar (formerly Playback) at Hot Shots II, Newtown; Of My Own…, Eventide and Dismay at Players (formerly Our Place Café); Amortar at City Hall, Woodbury; Tower of Power and Average White Band at Stamford’s Palace Theatre;

April 22 —Soulive at Toad’s Place (all ages);

April 24 — Mark Knopfler at the ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford;

April 25 — CSA Songwriters’ Showcase at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport;

April 26 — The Melvins and Folk Implosion at Toad’s Place; Savatage at The Webster Theater, Fates Warning opening;

April 27 — Holden Truelove at Bethel High School, Chance Browne and Dan Bonis & Friends opening; Strangefolk at The Webster Theater; Joe Proc at Carl Anthony’s, Monroe;

April 28 — Sugar (formerly Playback) at Hot Shots.