When you hear “Bad to the Bone,� you know what’s coming. When someone asks “Who Do You Love,� the answer is obvious. It’s George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Thorogood and the boys will bring their ‘blues and boogie’ anthems to the Amphitheater again this August.

If you had the chance to see them last summer, you know their live performance is definitely no-holds-barred awesome. They play for their audience first, so you are guaranteed to rock out with music you’ve come to know and love. What makes it all the more fun is you can tell Thorogood is having just as good a time as the audience.

Considering he has been doing this for over 30 years, that’s not bad. In a recent interview with Bakersfield.com, Thorogood says, “Anyone born after 1950 who says he didn’t dream of being a rock star is lying.â€� However for him, it wasn’t his first dream. That was playing professional baseball, and he even did a stint in the semi-pros. But, as he put it, “I couldn’t hit, play or throw.â€� So apparently he moved on to dream #2. Good plan.

That dream has resulted in 16 studio albums, five live albums, some compilation albums and the respect of the music industry. Four of his albums have gone gold and in 2004 he earned Billboard’s “Best Blues Album of the Year� honor. And Thorogood doesn’t seem to have plans of stopping anytime soon—which is a good thing for his fans.

So if you’re a longtime fan or new to the Destroyer experience, “Move It On Over� to Meijer Gardens and take in one of the best shows you’ll see this year.

For ticketing info visit the George Thorogood & The Destroyers event page.

If you missed her concert at The Intersection in January, now is your chance to see Brandi Carlile. She will be performing on August 25 as part of the Outdoor Summer Concert Series.

Carlile has been gaining fans at a phenomenal rate since the release of her 2005 debut studio album. Her third album, Giving up the Ghost, was released in October and includes contributions from Elton John, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. That’s a pretty diverse and impressive group. Carlile and her band have also gained quite a following on the touring circuit, performing in Europe, the UK, the US, at Lilith Fair and Bonnaroo 2010.

Maybe you don’t recognize the name but you have probably heard the music. She vocally captured the pureness of love in her cover of Bryan Adam’s hit, “Heaven,� which received airplay on local radio stations. Carlile performed a couple of times on NPR’s World Café. In addition, her song, “Before It Breaks� was featured in the November 5, 2009 episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Carlile grew up listening to country music, “totally immersed in the Grand Ole Opry culture, wherein the entertainers are usually not the ones who wrote the music.� When she was 11 years old, she discovered Elton John. With that discovery, she learned that some performers do write and perform their own music, and she’s been writing her own music ever since. (Can you imagine how excited she must have been to perform a duet with Sir Elton on her recent album?) She began playing in bands in her teens, where she met Tim and Paul Hanseroth who plays guitar and bass in her band today.

For ticketing info visit the Brandi Carlile event page.

“The truth is I do put a lot of myself into my music,� says Chris Isaak of his 2009 album, Mr. Lucky. “If people out there listening feel that it’s me in these songs, that means I’m probably doing my job. At the same time, I believe anyone who’s ever fallen in love – or out of love – should be able to hear themselves in this album too.�

That’s want you can expect when the soulful voice of Chris Isaak graces the stage of the Meijer Gardens Amphitheater on July 29. Joining him on stage will be Mark Broussard.

Chris Isaak has made a name for himself both as a musician and as an actor. He taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs when he was a teenager. His debut album in 1985 earned him praise from both critics and other artists. It also earned Isaak and his band a reputation for crowd-pleasing performances. He really hit it big after David Lynch used an instrumental version of “Wicked Game� in the 1991 film Wild at Heart. An Atlanta DJ became intrigued with the song’s haunting melody and began playing the album version, which included Isaak’s vocals. The song became a hit with listeners and eventually reached number six on the Billboard pop chart in 1991.

Between writing and recording, Isaak also established himself as an actor, appearing in films such as Married to the Mob and Silence of the Lambs as well as his own musical comedy series on Showtime, The Chris Isaak Show.

But music remains his first love and he believes in working hard to give his audiences the best show possible. “Every night, we try to do a great show for people because we know they may have hired a babysitter and driven a hundred miles just to see us…we take pride in trying to live up to the respect people show us.�

For ticketing info visit the Chris Isaak event page.

Canadian-born Natalie MacMaster is considered a virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Fiddling is in her blood; her uncle is fiddle prodigy Buddy MacMaster and she is related to the late Canadian folk icon, John Allan Cameron. So it is safe to say that when she makes her second appearance at Meijer Gardens Amphitheater, the audience will be in for an incredible experience.

In case you have never heard Cape Breton fiddling, it sounds like something you would expect to hear in Lord of the Dance. MacMaster just adds some stylistic dimensions to it.

MacMaster performed her first concert at age nine and put out her first album by the time she was 16. Ten albums and 27 years later, she has earned numerous awards and distinctions as well as the respect and admiration of her peers. In fact, Yo-Yo Ma invited MacMaster to be a guest performer on his 2008 holiday album, Songs of Joy & Peace. She has also performed on stage with The Chieftains, Paul Simon, Faith Hill and Luciano Pavarotti plus on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Good Morning America.

MacMaster is passionate about music as a whole and doesn’t limit herself to just Cape Breton fiddling. Her sound also encompasses jazz, pop, rock and country with splashes of flamenco, bluegrass swing, Gaelic singing, folk, new age, traditional and a little step dancing. Performing over 100 shows per year, she has garnered a reputation as one of Canada’s most captivating performers. Her commitment is not only to her music but also to her audience. She says, “I always get the sense from them that they deeply understand the unspoken essence of what I do.�

For ticketing info visit the Natalie MacMaster event page.