Musicfest NW Line-up Announced
In its sixth year as a non-profit fundraising event, Musicfest NW recently announced that its upcoming festival line-up—which will be held at various venues on Sept. 7-9 in Portland, OR—is set to include such acts as The Dandy Warhols, Phantom Planet, Stephen Malkmus and The Black Keys. The proceeds of the events are expected to contribute to the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, as well as The Oregon Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who will accept the donations to increase funding for music education in high schools. For more information on the festival line-up, tickets, and venues, click... read more
Smith To Attend Clerks II Premiere in Austin
The much-anticipated return of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves to the big screen might be upstaged at the Clerks II premiere in Austin, Texas, by its filmmaker, Kevin Smith. The audience at the premiere will be privy to a Q&A session after the Austin Film Society screening on July 13. Smith, who will reprise his role as Silent Bob in the film, checks back in after ten years with Hicks and Graves, our favorite slacker mall clerks. Though the pair has moved from the mini-mall world they inhabited in 1994's Clerks to the fast-food restaurant industry, they are still pulling... read more
Tom Waits Hits the Road
Tom Waits is set to perform a string of live dates during the month of August. The legendary, secluded artist will tour eight cities throughout the South and Midwest, kicking off the tour in Atlanta on the first of the month. Waits, whose last live performance was in 2004, has chosen to travel to the cities he hasn’t performed in since the '70s. "We need to go to Tennessee to pick up some fireworks, and someone owes me money in Kentucky," says Waits about why he’s chosen this particular time and route to tour. Judging by sales from his past... read more
Help Name This Band: Herring, Rodgers and Sipe
Jimmy Herring (Allman Brothers/The Dead/Aquarium Rescue Unit), Bobby Lee Rodgers (The CodeTalkers) and Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit/Hellborg, Lane and Sipe/Leftover Salmon) will join forces to perform a string of tour dates in August. The new collaboration — currently bearing the band name of Herring, Rodgers, and Sipe with Neal Fountain and Mark van Allen — is in desperate need of a new title, and is relying on the public to create one. Anyone interested in suggesting a band name can log on to the band's website to submit ideas. The person whose idea is chosen... read more
Patty Griffin To Headline Americana Folk Festival
Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin is set to headline the third annual Americana Folk Festival, which will take place Oct. 21 at Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson, Tenn. Sponsored by Kaleidoscope Media and Nashville Scene, the one-day event will bring in more than 30 bluegrass, Americana, folk and jazz acts, including Mindy Smith, The Avett Brothers and Kate York. The festival will also include an art village featuring rural artists. Tickets for the festival go on sale Aug. 15. For more information, click here. ... read more
Dave Matthews Band Cleans Up Its Act
Dave Matthews Band’s latest project is a breath of fresh air — literally. Through two privately owned energy companies called NativeEnergy and Clean Air-Cool Planet, the band will counteract the 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide it has emitted through various aspects of touring over the past 15 years. These companies fund clean energy projects that counteract the effects of pollution. NativeEnergy and Dave Matthews Band first teamed up four years ago through One Sweet Whirled, a campaign aimed at stopping global warming. The band compensated for 2,175 tons of carbon dioxide generated from its 2004 tour. For more information, about... read more
The Who Rocks For A Cause
Hard Rock International is set to make rock history at the Hyde Park Calling concert on Sunday, July 2. For the first time, legendary rock band The Who will allow their entire live set to be broadcast as a 99-cent pay-per-view download to benefit various causes supported by Pete Townshend’s Double O charity, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation for underprivileged children. Hard Rock Café will be broadcasting the concert at its locations in New York, Chicago, Orlando, Hollywood, Rome, Barcelona and Paris. Viewers will be able... read more
Corinne Bailey Rae On Leno June 28 To Launch New Album And Tour
British import Corinne Bailey Rae is set to appear on Late Night with Jay Leno on Wednesday, June 28 to promote her new album, a self-titled release that debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200. With her appearance on Leno, Bailey Rae continues a string of appearances on other national television shows which will lead into her first U.S. tour starting on July 24. With much critical acclaim already to her credit, Bailey Rae debuted at #1 on the U.K. album chart, the first British female to do so with an album of original songs. Bailey Rae's confirmed U.S. tour... read more
NBC Partners With YouTube
Six months since it threatened the video-sharing site YouTube with a lawsuit over copyright infringement, NBC has recently reversed its course of action and announced a deal to become the first major network to partner with the up-and-coming website to create an official “NBC Channel,” specifically designed to show promotional clips of television shows. While new NBC content will be uploaded on a weekly basis, to kick-start this new merging the network will host a competition inviting YouTube users to submit their own 20-second spots for “The Office” wherein the winning submissions will be aired during an episode of the... read more
Sleater-Kinney Calls It Quits
Portland rock trio Sleater-Kinney has thrown in the towel. The band has posted the following message on its website: “After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings. We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us. But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing... read more
Copeland’s Third Album Set For October Release
Copeland is set to release its third album, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, on Oct. 31. The new disc will be produced by the band’s longtime collaborator, Matt Goldman. To keep their fans up to date on album-related efforts, the Florida-based group will film pieces of the recording process while in the studio, and post the footage on their MySpace page. In addition to the videos, the band will include notes about their writing process and in-studio experiences. In August Copeland will travel to Japan to perform a few sets before returning to the United States to headline shows with Lovedrug and... read more
Voxtrot To Play Louder
Following the release of their acclaimed self-released EPs, Raised by Wolves and Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives, Austin, Texas-based band Voxtrot have recently announced that they have signed to Playlouderrecordings, an extension of the Beggars Group label company. The band—composed of vocalist Ramesh Srivastava, guitarist Mitchell Calvert, bassist Jason Chronis, drummer Matt Simon and keyboardist Jared Van Fleet—is expected to begin recording their full-length debut later this fall. ... read more
Three Neil Young Albums Reach Top 200
Three albums from Neil Young were recently simultaneously listed on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart – an achievement quite unusual for an artist. Last week’s chart contained Young’s most recent disc, Living With War, which was released in May, as well as Prairie Wind, released last September, and Greatest Hits, which came out in 2004. Each of the three albums – all on Reprise Records – has risen more than 50 percent in sales. Also raking in success is Young’s film Heart of Gold, which sold more than 78,000 copies in its first week. The legendary musician will soon be... read more
Grant-Lee Phillips Revisits Nineteeneighties
Paying tribute to the artists that influenced him, singer/songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips is set to release his new album, Nineteeneighties on June 27, a follow-up to 2004’s Virginia Creeper that features acoustic interpretations of songs originally written and performed by REM, the Psychedelic Furs, the Church, Nick Cave, and many others. While previewing his covers at an upcoming show in Hollywood on June 28, Phillips is expected to kick off the full leg of a 13 date tour on July 25. For more information of these shows, click here. ... read more
Black Crowes Show Love To Fans
In a surprise gesture of gratitude toward the loyalty of their fans The Black Crowes recently announced that every single person who entered in the band’s “Get Tall In The Rockies” online contest will receive two free tickets to any one show of their choice this summer. Originally intended as an exclusive selection for a few lucky contestants, the band was supposedly so moved by the overwhelming number of submissions and included letters that they completely nixed the idea of excluding anyone. The Black Crowes are currently touring with the Drive-By Truckers. For more information click here. ... read more
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Celebrate 30 Years
Thirty years, 12 albums, 16 Grammy nominations and an induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after the release of their self-titled debut, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are still going strong. The band is touring America, playing several sold-out shows, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn. last Friday. In recognition of the anniversary, Peter Bogdanovich, who was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for 1971’s The Last Picture Show, will take the helm of a new film documenting the band’s long career. Petty’s current projects don’t end with the Heartbreakers. The rocker recently inked a... read more
Rosanne Cash Announces Black Cadillac Tour Dates
After a successful stint in the UK, Rosanne Cash announced Monday the rest of her 2006 U.S. tour dates to promote Cash's latest release Black Cadillac. The album, written and recorded in the two years following the deaths of her father, Johnny Cash, her mother, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, and her stepmother, June Carter Cash, is Cash's most critically acclaimed release to date. For tour dates, visit www.rosannecash.com. ... read more
Jerry Douglas Band Joins Paul Simon On Summer Tour
The Jerry Douglas Band is embarking on a tour with Paul Simon this summer. The band, led by 12-time Grammy winner and renowned dobro player Jerry Douglas, will open for the legendary singer/songwriter with its distinct jazz- and country-influenced bluegrass sound. Douglas has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris and Bela Fleck. The upcoming tour sees him performing alongside fiddler Gabe Witcher, bassist Todd Parks, drummer Doug Belote and mandolin/guitar player Guthrie Trapp. For more information and complete tour dates, visit Douglas’ official... read more
Keane To Play World Cup
In promotion of their new album Under the Iron Sea British trio Keane have scheduled a rare World Cup halftime performance during the England vs. Sweden game on June 20. Broadcasted live from the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood, CA, the band is expected to take the stage at approximately 12:45 PM (PST) on ESPN and perform their new single, “Is It Any Wonder?” For more information on Keane’s upcoming tour click here. ... read more
Radiohead Guitarist Composes Orchestral Piece For BBC Concert Orchestra
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has composed an original orchestral piece to be performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth Hall. The exploration in white noise, entitled “Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” was premiered in April at St. Luke’s Church in London and will be conducted by Robert Ziegler on November 24. Greenwood released a solo soundtrack to the 2003 film Bodysong and was named the BBC’s Composer in Residence in 2004. ... read more
