Take Your Pick (8)

Don McLean's American Pie

"Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?" That question — and its answer — still resonates thanks to Don McLean's tour de force, "American Pie."

A renown recording artist of 30 years, McLean is best known for the eight-minute-plus semi-autobiographical song that, in his own words, "was my attempt at an epic song about America."

And he brings his epic to Akron on Jan. 18 at the Highland Theater. Anne DeChant will open for McLean. The show starts at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 in advance. Click to www.highlandtheater.com for more information.

Rock 'n' Roll For Free

If you haven't been to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland, you have no excuse now. The museum will be open to the public for free on Jan. 21 as part of the city's celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The Rock Hall opens at 10 a.m., and entertainers, including Maestro Glenn Brackens, the Wiley Middle School Challenge Choir, the Wings Over Jordan Celebration Choir, Humbly Submitted Choir and the Performing Ministries Choir, will perform free of charge, as well.

Happy Days Are Here Again

The Happy Days Visitors Center will again host a concert Saturday, Jan. 19 as part of the Cuyahoga Valley Heritage Series, presented by the National Parks Service and the Cuyahoga Valley Association.

Al Petteway and Amy White, a husband and wife duo, will perform a melange of traditional Celtic and contemporary music, meshing story and song.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for Cuyahoga Valley Association members and $5 for children. For more information, click to www.dayinthevalley.com.

And Don't Forget . . .

The Nathan and Fannye Shafran Planetarium at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History opens to the public beginning Tuesday, Jan. 15. Astronauts Jim Lovell (of Apollo 13 fame) and Guy Bluford, Jr. are the guests of honor at a ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for 11:30 a.m.