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Local concertgoers can catch three acts, each one a leader in their genre, at three different venues this weekend.
Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs performs Friday at the Robins Theatre, top-selling smooth jazz artist Kenny G will blow his soprano saxophone at Packard Music Hall on Saturday and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Chicago will play Powers Auditorium on Sunday.
Skaggs, 72, played mandolin with legends Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs as a child and joined Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys when he still was a teenager.
Skaggs played in the influential bluegrass act J.D. Crowe's New South alongside Leavittsburg native Jerry Douglas. They formed the progressive bluegrass band Boone Creek and have a long history of working together.
Skaggs expanded his reach into country music by 1980, and he had 12 number one country singles that decade.
He's continued to push musical boundaries throughout his career, recording an album with Bruce Hornsby and performing with jam band Phish.
His many accolades include 15 Grammy Awards and induction into Country Music, Bluegrass Music, Gospel Music, National Fiddler, Musicians and Kentucky Music halls of fame.
In June Skaggs released "Say a Prayer," his first album of new music in more than a decade, and he'll be joined by his band Kentucky Thunder for the 7:30 p.m. show at the Robins. Tickets range from $50.06 to $75.81.
Kenny G is billed as the greatest selling instrumental musician of the modern era. He's sold more than 75 million records worldwide and his songs have been streamed 1.5 billion times.
"Songbird," a top 5 single in 1987, is his best known song, but his music was a staple of adult contemporary radio, both instrumentals and collaborations with such vocalists as Smokey Robinson and Peabo Bryson.
His collaborators span genres. He got his start with Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and worked with Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin early in his career. In recent years he's worked with Kanye West, The Weeknd and Jon Batiste. He appeared on MTV's Video Music Awards with Doja Cat and has a cameo in 2025's "Jonas Brothers Christmas Movie."
Kenny G also was an early investor in Starbucks, so he should be able to weather the ups and downs of the music industry better than most.
Tickets for his 7 p.m. Saturday concert range from $60 to $110.
Making its debut in 1969 as The Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago was the most successful horn-driven rock band of the 1970s. The band had four consecutive number-one albums followed by a greatest hits collection that also topped the charts. "Make Me Smile," "25 or 6 to 4," "Saturday in the Park" are "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" are a few of the hits from that era
While the horns remained an integral part of the music, the band shifted to a more adult contemporary/pop ballad sound, at least with its singles, and continued its chart success into the '80s and '90s.
"If You Leave Me Now" was the band's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Baby What a Big Surprise," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Hard Habit to Break," "You're the Inspiration," "Will You Still Love Me?," "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" and "Look Away" all appeared in the top five.
Chicago played Packard Music Hall in 2016, the same year it was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and it was one of the first acts to play the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre when it opened in 2019.
Trumpet and flugelhorn player Lou Loughnane is the only original member currently on tour with the band. Trombone player James Pankow and keyboard player and vocalist Robert Lamm still are listed as members of the group but are unable to tour due to health reasons.
The rest of the current lineup features Ray Hermann, saxophone, flute and clarinet; Walfredo Reyes Jr., drums; Ramon "Ray" Yslas, percussion; Nick Lane, trombone; Tony Obrohta, guitar and vocals; Eric Baines, bass and vocals; Carlos Murguia, keyboard and vocals; Justin Avery, keyboard and vocals; and Rudy Cardenas, lead singer.
Tickets start at $87.50 for the 7:30 p.m. show.
Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.