#WhatsHappening for October 17, 2018

Hello, kiddios. Hope you're having a decent week so far. And- look at it this way- Wednesday's almost over, so the weekend's almost here.

Of course, it almost being the weekend means it's also almost time for another crazy-whack-funky edition of Saturday Night Karaoke at the Iron Horse Tavern and we're just over a week away from the Ninth Annual Costumes and Karaoke Party, so- c'mon out and share the joy.

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The Tournament of Roses parade committee announced today that Chaka Khan (Chaka Khan, lemme rock you Chaka Khan) for the 2019 Rose Parade.

Tournament President Gerald Freeny saluted the Grammy Award-winning singer’s efforts as an activist, while Khan said she was "honored" to have been chosen.

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Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival is going Hollywood as it closes out it's 2018 series at the famed Hollywood Bowl this Sunday night.

Artists appearing at the final show include former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, Sturgill Simpson, Margo Price, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Particle Kid, and- of course- Willie Nelson and the Family Band.

Margo Price told Billboard she's "always down to share a bill with Willie and the family band! Especially when it includes Phil Lesh."

"'Outlaw' as a label has always been a hard-to-define phrase. It was actually a term invented by the press. ... But to me, it is music that doesn’t fit into the mainstream bubble," she added, "(it's) music that’s not homogenized and over-produced by people in offices and considered safe to radio programmers. It’s most likely not played on the radio. It’s different and weird and probably thought-provoking."

Plans are already being made for the 2019 edition of the tour to include more West Coast dates- including stops in San Francisco and San Diego.

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Today's "No Shit, Sherlock" headline: Half of New Guitar Players Are Women, Fender Study Finds

Considering females make up just under 50% of the population... Well, even I can do that math.

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South by Southwest Music has announced its initial list of 2019 Showcasing Artists, and there's a lot of them. In fact, I started typing them out about 20 minutes ago and only got to the "L's", so you can check out the names here.

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Birthdays today include: Wyclef Jean of Fugees (46); Eminem (46); Christopher Kirkpatrick of 'N Sync (47); Ziggy Marley (50); Rene Dif of Aqua (51); Alan Jackson (60). #MusicalBirthdays