Loney Dear touring with, without Andrew Bird

Ready, set, swoon. Loney Dear and Andrew Bird were already sharing a release date for their new albums (Jan. 27), but having them share a stage through a February tour, too—it's sure to make a whole lot of heartstrings swell....  read more

Andrew Bird schedules early 2009 tour dates

In support of his forthcoming full-lenth, Noble Beast, whistling multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird will tour the U.S. in January and February. The tour launches with Bird's first-ever headline performance at Carnegie Hall, on Jan. 28....  read more

Johnny Cash Christmas DVD box set out now

Available now, Shout! Factory has released a 4-DVD set of The Johnny Cash Christmas Specials 1976-1979. While '76 and '77 were released last year, the '78 and '79 specials are new and are available separately or as part of the box set. Included on the new set are Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman, amongst others....  read more

Over the Rhine celebrates 20th anniversary, tour dates

In 1989, Over the Rhine formed as a quartet: the soon-to-be husband and wife team Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, guitarist Ric Hordinski and drummer Brian Kelley. The band has since dropped down to a duet (Detweiler/Bergquist) while releasing 12 albums over the last two decades, one of which nabbed the #25 on Paste's top 100 albums of 2007. Now, the band is gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a run of November and December concerts, including a two-night special event in the couple's hometown of Cincinnati....  read more

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy to get exclamatory with Beware!

By the time Johnny Cash recorded Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "I See A Darkness" for his American Recordings series in 2000, Will Oldham could justifiably have rested on his laurels. Shoulder-patting from the great Cash—what more could a modern folk artist have hoped for?...  read more

Bon Iver extends Winter tour, announces Blood Bank EP

Jagjaguwar is set to release a new four-song EP from Bon Iver called Blood Bank on Jan. 20. Be on the lookout for Justin Vernon and friends to play a song off the album on David Letterman on or around Dec. 11....  read more

The Bridges set to headline new tour

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} We first brought you The Bridges as a 4 to Watch in January, and the familial quintet has since released its debut album, Limits of the Sky, and embarked on tours with Matthew Sweet and others. (They’re pretty solid live, too.) Now the group has announced a new national tour, its first in years as headliners, which kicks off tomorrow in Memphis, Tenn....  read more

Los Campesinos! and Titus Andronicus plan joint tour

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A U.S. tour for Best of What's Next laureates Los Campesinos! was more a question of "when" than "if." Not ones to be content with a simple throwaway tour, they've pulled the proverbial stops out by tapping kindred punksters Titus Andronicus to join them for a passel of dates, possibly making this the best selection of a partner in at least two months....  read more

Is Yo La Tengo releasing a new album?

Of the many roles that Pitchfork Media has come to serve in the world of independent music, the sleuthing Sherlock hasn't always been a central one. But it turns out they've got some game when it comes to stitching together evidence. This week, the site presented a case for the Internet jury, pointing toward a new album from legendary New Jersey trio Yo La Tengo. It would be their first since 2006's wondrous I Am Not Afraid of You And Will Beat Your Ass....  read more

Annuals announce 2009 tour dates

Annuals have been touring since the Oct. 7 release of their sophomore album, Such Fun, which featured cover art courtesy our favorite '80s TV-art instructor, Bob Ross. The band has just announced that the fun will continue in 2009, with a handful of concert dates confirmed (below) and more to come. The Raleigh-based sextet will be joined on tour by Jessica Lea Mayfield and What Laura Says (also on the Terpsikhore label). Keep an eye on Annuals' MySpace for tour updates; also, click here to see the music video of "Confessor," from Such Fun....  read more

Marc Broussard keeps coming back on tour

Following his Paste-sponsored tour throughout the fall, Marc Broussard has added Nov. and Dec. dates to his line-up (schedule below). The tour is in support of his debut Atlantic full-length, Keep Coming Back. Rolling Stone christened Broussard "the heir to Texas white-soul icon Delbert McClinton," but this album encompasses a number of styles, including funk, disco, pop, country and soul....  read more

José González releases live EP, tours

Swedish indie-folk darling José González has released a new EP, Live at Park Ave. ...  read more

Barenaked Ladies to release DVD of latest cruise outing

Canadian five piece Barenaked Ladies has announced plans to release a new DVD, SHIPS & DIPS III, chronicling their commercial Caribbean cruise event earlier this year. The disc, due Dec. 6, will include the band’s performances aboard the ship as well as behind-the-scenes footage as BNL traveled south from Miami last January. It's available for pre-order on the band's website....  read more

Bloc Party tours West coast in December

Bloc Party has expanded its Intimacy tour to include a handful of American dates, all on the West coast in December....  read more

The Black Keys announce Winter tour dates

We already warned you that The Black Keys were hitting the U.K. this November. Now we have learned, via Brooklyn Vegan, that the Ohio-based duo have extended its Winter tour through January, and will hit Australia, followed by one show in New York....  read more

Phosphorescent to tour South through November

Last we heard from Matthew Houck, Phosphorescent's 2007 album Pride was making grown men weep into their whiskey neats from Athens, Ga. to New York City—a move Houck had just made himself....  read more

Led Zeppelin to tour with Alter Bridge frontman?

Since their 2007 one-off reunion concert, several members of Led Zeppelin have tried to arrange a splashy world tour, complete with new material from the reassembled band. The hitch has been former lead singer Robert Plant, who stalwartly refuses to rejoin the crew (even releasing a statement to refute the rumors). Remaining collaborators Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham (who replaced his father, John Bonham, as the band's drummer) recently told the press they're willing to take Zeppelin in a new direction. They've been sizing up replacement frontmen, and Billboard seems to think they've got an eye on...  read more

Mastodon reveals 2009 album details

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Atlanta-based metal quartet Mastodon has revealed that the title of its anticipated fourth album will be Crack the Skye. Reprise will release the seven-track, 50-minute record in early 2009. The song sequence is built around a four-movement centerpiece, entitled "The Czar," which delves into the album's overall theme of Czarist Russia....  read more

Unglued: The Space Between

If video-game franchise Guitar Hero has shown us anything, it’s that anyone can play guitar, provided the guitar has five colored buttons instead of actual strings. So maybe it’s just...  read more

MerleFest announces 2009 line-up

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MerleFest, one of the nation's largest folk music festivals, has just announced the line-up for its 22nd annual festival. Slated to run April 23-26, this year's events include performances by Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Travis Tritt and Jerry Douglas, Tift Merritt, the Del McCoury Band, and, of course, the father of MerleFest, Doc Watson....  read more