Wednesday Intermezzo: New Pearl Jam LP

In a recent interview with Billboard, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament broke the news that the band will soon enter the studio to record a new album. Ament explained that a disc of 25 demos has circulated among members with the hopes that 12-15 tracks would “float to the top.” The colorful bassist also told Billboard that a potential festival announcement – for an event that would celebrate the band’s 20th Anniversary – will likely come next month.

Let’s take a quick tour of the ‘nets for six other stories…

• Primus and the Flaming Lips team up to play Red Rocks
• Beastie Boys get a bank robber named after them
• Al Schnier of moe. talks about playing Levon’s Ramble
• All Good Adds include Rex Jam, Marco Benevento & DSO
• Charles Perry shares the story of the Owsley he knew
• The Strokes’ Angles scores four stars from David Fricke

Finally, we were saddened to learn that guitarist Melvin Sparks passed away yesterday in his Mount Vernon, NY home. Annabel Lukins penned this touching tribute to the jam scene fixture for jambands.com. R.I.P. Melvin.