alan k stout is a rock music journalist based out of northeastern pennsylvania who has written extensively for the wilkesbarre times leader and the weekender a popular arts and entertainment paper also published in wilkesbarre he was voted northeastern pennsylvanias favorite newspaper columnist in 1997 1998 2001 2003 2004 2008 and 2009 in 1998 he was awarded a keystone press award for excellence in journalism for his music coverage in 2014 he was presented with the lifetime achievement award by the steamtown music awards which were a a part of the electric city music conference stout began covering music for the times leader in 1992 and his weekly column music on the menu appeared in the times leader from 19942005 in 2000 he was named music editor at the times leader in 2005 music on the menu moved to the weekender where he served as editor until 2007 and where the column appeared until 2011stouts focus in the northeast pennsylvania region has often been on the local music scene which has produced national recording artists such as the badlees 1995 and breaking benjamin 2002 he was among the first writers to profile these bands and continues to write about local talent in the nepa region in 2004 stout launched his own weekly radio show music on the menu on 1023fm the mountain in 2013 the program moved to 105 the river 1049fm and as his column did for nearly 18 years it continues to showcase local talent from 20042013 stout hosted of the monthly weekendermountaingrown original music series a live radio broadcast which allowed local musicians to showcase their songs to a wide audience in 2014 stout began to host a new original music series music on the menu live which was broadcast live on 105 the river from mohegan sun at pocono downs stout is also known for his concert coverage and reviews he frequently reviewed shows at the mohegan sun arena in wilkesbarre the fm kirby center in wilkesbarre and the montage mountain amphitheatre in scranton he also sometimes covers major concert tours that visit philadelphia and has reviewed shows by the rolling stones paul mccartney u2 bruce springsteen madonna plantpage sting eric clapton the who dave matthews band and billy joel in addition to appearing in the wilkesbarre newspapers stouts reviews have also appeared on the national entertainment newspaper wires in papers from coasttocoast and if favorable on the websites of the artists he coversstouts interviews include conversations with billy joel steven tyler david bowie eddie van halen and don henley many of these interviews have also appeared on national newspaper wires and have appeared in various newspapers across the united states many can now be found on youtube in 1999 stout worked with the band mtley cre when the group released digitally remastered versions of its entire cd catalog titled crucial crue the series featured all new linernotes for each album written by stout with the band he is credited on each albumalso in 1999 stout helped found concert for karenconcert for a cause an annual charity event held in nepa that united the regions entire musical and media community the annual event held each april featured dozens of regional bands plus full sponsorship from the local print television and radio media a rock auction featured autographed items from john mellencamp kiss mtley cre dave matthews elton john and bob weir since 2002 the event also included a limited edition companion cd for which stout often contributed a track his recordings for the concert for a cause albums included covers of the beatles blackbird bruce springsteens happy john lennons watching the wheels kiss sure know something john mellencamps what if i came knocking elvis presleys his latest flame and u2s walk on in 2008 the concert for a cause 6 cd spent five weeks at no 1 on the nepa album chart in 2009 concert for a cause 7 also spent several weeks at no 1 and in 2011 concert for a cause 9 the final show also hit no 1 as of 2011 the concert and the cds had raised more than 204000 for regional charitesin 2003 one of stouts original songs summer days received critical acclaim from others in the nepa media and the billboard magazine songwriting panel featuring members of the badlees as do all of his recordings it hit the top5 on the nepa singles chart and also appeared on the concert for a cause ii albumstouts stories have appeared in the boston globe san jose mercury news chicago tribune philadelphia daily news san diego tribune dallas morning news and miami herald he continues to serve as a music correspondent for the weekender and through his weekly radio show and frequent music blogs he continues to provide insight into the musical climate of northeastern pennsylvania