SINGING POL: U.S. Congressman Prepares to Rock Out at the San Diego County Fair

Former U.S. Rep. John Hall (center) and his band Orleans

I grew up in Iowa and still carry a bit of that Midwestern boy inside me. Once a year, I'm allowed to "let my Iowa out" and embrace my bucolic roots at the San Diego County Fair. The fair, the fourth largest in North America, is a refreshing reminder of the rural roots that so many allegedly “hip” San Diegans share. 

I never tire of watching La Jolla trendoids attend the Swifty Swine Pig Races and chow down on terminally greasy food. The vibe is pure Americana, and there's no escape. People who go to this fair dare to be square, and audiences who attend concerts at the fair's Heineken Granstand Stage will notice a striking visual juxtaposition: cow, sheep and pig barns to your right, the scenic Del Mar coastline to your left.

At this year’s fair, which runs from June 8 to July 4, the big stage will feature such acts as Train, The Steve Miller Band, Colbie Caillat, Martina McBride, Bad Company (with Paul Rodgers), REO Speedwagon and Adam Lambert. But one of the more curious grandstand acts this year is "Sail Rock," which features soft-rocking radio stalwarts Orleans, Christopher Cross, Firefall and Player. It'll be especially interesting to see Orleans, whose co-founder John Hall only recently returned to the fold after serving as a U.S. Congressman in New York from 2007 to 2011. 

Hall, who's always adeptly juggled his love for music with his political passions, helped create Orleans in 1972. The band recorded four albums in the 70's including the "Waking and Dreaming" record featuring the mildly controversial "naked" cover (above). Hall and his band enjoyed several monster hits including "Still the One," Dance With Me" and "Love Takes Time." Hall left the band in 1978 and made two solo records, "John Hall" and "Power," which featured the anti-nuclear anthem that later became the theme of the legendary No Nukes concerts, recorded by the Doobie Brothers with James Taylor. 

Orleans co-founder John Hall running for Congress

Hall's political career began in earnest when he was elected to the Ulster County (New York) Legislature in 1989. In the late 1990's, he was elected twice as trustee of the Saugerties NY Board of Education, where his fellow trustees elected him president. And then in 2006 he decided to run for Congress. 

Hall won the primary with 48 percent in a four-way race and then beat incumbent Republican Sue Kelly in the fall election. The New York Times endorsed Hall, noting he was a musician but “not a posturer or political dabbler. His platform is ambitious and coherent, with calls for universal health coverage, a return to fiscal discipline and a full-bore national effort to achieve energy independence. He blends a deep-blue idealism with a crisp command of details."

Not sure the Times ever gave Hall's pop band such a glowing review - but they should have. Orleans, which featured undeniably catchy hooks and the crisp, strong singing of Hall and Larry Hoppen, was one of the definitive vocal bands of the late 70s. 

Meanwhile, the curiously titled fair gig (Sail Rock??) also features Grammy winner Christopher Cross ("Sailing" "Ride Like the Wind"), ethereal hit makers Firefall ("You Are the Woman" "Just Remember I Love You") with cofounder Jock Bartley, and Player ("Baby Come Back") with founding member and lead singer Peter Beckett. Should be a nice evening of soft rock. And, lest you worry, I don't think Hall will be making any political speeches. But he may not be able to help himself.

Steely Dan: The World's Coolest Nerds Are Back

Smile, boys! Donald Fagen (left) & Walter Becker - aka Steely Dan

It's strangely comforting to know that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (left), the so-called voices of doom, are once again playing their unique brand of high-I.Q. jazz-rock-soul music. The suave but nerdy/snarky duo known to most as Steely Dan, Walt & Don, who began their musical experiment at Bard College in New York more than 40 years ago, refused for years to perform live. They just wouldn't do it. They toured from 1972 to 1974, then decided to pull a Greta Garbo - or perhaps Dracula - and become an insular, purely studio-based act. Fans like me were pissed, but these two crusty but benign homebodies kept stubbornly declining big-money offers to take their show on the road - even after their popularity skyrocketed in 1977 with the release of Aja, the band's jazz-rock-soul fusion masterpiece.

Steely Dan disbanded four years later, and for the next decade rock's most mercurial twosome pretty much went into hiding. They didn't seem to have any compelling need or desire to regroup. But in the early 90s, they finally brought the Steely Dan brand out of mothballs. When I saw them perform at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles in 1993, it was joyfully surreal. I never thought that day would come. 

But would there be any new music? It didn't appear to be in the cards. Then in 2000, after a nearly 20-year break, The Dan released Two Against Nature, which against impossible odds earned the best album Grammy. It was a very good record, although contrary to what some clueless and incurably pretentious critics might tell you, it isn’t the band’s best. Grammy voters in their infinite wisdom passed on such Dan gems as Can't Buy a Thrill, Katy Lied, The Royal Scam and even Aja. But Two Against Nature was still a welcome return of the wry, literate musical auteurs who named their band after a sex toy in a William S. Burroughs novel. 

Over the last four decades Becker and Fagen have taken Steely Dan's sound in a few different musical directions, from brainy rock with guitarists du jour (Denny Dias, Elliot Randall, Jeff Skunk Baxter) to jazz. But they’ve always managed to simultaneously keep old fans happy and recruit new devotees by skillfully wrapping mordant, ambiguous lyrics, intricate time signatures and complex jazz chords around impossibly catchy rock and soul hooks. Yes, the real key to Becker and Fagen's success and longevity isn't their aloofness, it is in fact the utter accessibility of their melodies.

Walt and Don are a study in contradictions. Eclectic, cynical, sarcastic, and detached yet deeply soulful, passionate, funny, and demonstrably happy to still be playing music together, Becker and Fagen, who as Steely Dan were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, are coasting a bit now. But they even do that with more panache and humor than most. And no one's complaining. Steely Dan enjoys an incredibly loyal fan base. And the concerts, which are annoyingly among the most expensive you'll find, still sell out fast. 

The boys recently announced that they're hitting the bricks again starting next month for a major tour - Mood Swings Tour 2013 - that will last into the fall. They'll be performing here in San Diego at Humphrey's Concerts By the Bay on Aug. 21.

Walt and Don will be joined by eight remarkable supporting musicians who now call themselves The Bipolar Allstars - Keith Carlock on drums, Freddie Washington on bass, Jim Beard on keyboards, and Jon Herington on guitar) - along with The Borderline Brats, three very soulful and sublime singers.  It promises to be another pleaser for the Steely Dan faithful, who, like fans of so many bands that evolve over the years, fall into several camps. There are the stalwart older fans who love the more guitar-heavy first few albums, there are the fans who embraced Steely Dan when they became a more jazzy outfit, and there are fans like me who love both incarnations. When I pay to see Steely Dan perform live I hope and expect to hear "both" bands. And for the most part they give me what I want. But could they rock a bit more? Yes. Do they focus a bit too much on the jazz side and not enough on those amazing early rock songs? Yes. When I saw them on that '93 reunion tour, for example, they did a slowed-down, jazzed-up version of Reelin' in the Years. It was awful. Yes, I booed. This is one of the great guitar songs of all time. Don't mess with perfection, guys.