New Mexico’s hottest indie-poppers,The Shins, are heading out on another North American tour. The group spent most of the fall on the road, and after a short holiday break, they’re ready to do it again.
The band kicks things off January 31 with a double spot at Seattle’s Showbox. They’re scheduled to swing down the West Coast before doing a few scattered dates in the East.
All Night Radio, Magic Magicians, Cass McCombs, and Sam Jayne are helping out in various capacities as opening acts on the tour, which wraps with another double-nighter February 14-15 at Irving Plaza in New York.
The Shins got their start in the late ’90s with some supporting gigs for Modest Mouse and two 7″ releases on Omnibus Records. Sub Pop soon grew interested and released their 2001 debut, Oh, Inverted World. The band is currently supporting their sophomore effort, Chutes Too Narrow, which met with rave reviews when it hit the streets last October.
Source Pollstar.com.

Ray Davies, the lead singer with the British rock band The Kinks, is recovering after being shot in New Orleans.
A police spokesman said Davies and a female companion were walking near the French Quarter at about 8:30 p.m. ET Sunday when two suspects approached them and grabbed the woman’s purse.
Davies, 59, ran after the suspects, and was shot in the leg, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon DeFillo said. The woman was not injured, police said.
The songwriter was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released soon afterwards in good condition.
DeFillo said police had arrested one of the suspects and were seeking the other.
Source cnn.com.

Plans for the 17th annual MerleFest are underway. As a matter of fact, the event, which takes over the Wilkes Community College campus in Wilkesboro, N.C., April 29 through May 3, is good to go.
The festival is Doc Watson’s tribute to the music of his late son, Merle, and unites scores of artists from all over the globe. Among the confirmed performers for the 2004 event are the Sam Bush Band, Roseanne Cash, Donna The Buffalo, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Vince Gill, David Grisman Quintet, Hot Tuna, Patty Loveless, Natalie MacMaster, Nickel Creek, Reeltime Travelers, Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends, the Waifs, Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. Of course, Doc Watson and Merle’s son Richard Watson will be on hand to play a tune or two. Tickets are already available through merlefest.org and range from $35 for a single-day pass to $175 for a four-day, assigned seat pass.

Source Pollstar.com.

Folk man Nathan Moore and The Slip will be teaming up in late February for the Surprise Me Mr. Davis Tour. Serpentfly – featuring the music of Leslie Helpert will be opening the shows. The eight night run begins February 26th at the Webster Theater in Hartford though March 6th at the Eclipse Theater in Waitsfield, VT.
For more info, visit theslip.com.

Bruce Hornsby’s next studio record is taking shape. Hornsby was in Atlanta recently recording a new track with Elton John. Entitled “Dreamland”, the song is a ballad and will appear on the next studio CD. Bruce commented, “Elton is amazing in that he can wake up in the morning and not even have to warm up his voice. And it’s all there, right away. The rest of us phlegmatic flounderers can only look on in admiration.”
Eric Clapton has also reportedly recorded four tracks for Hornsby’s upcoming release.
Source brucehornsby.com.

New Dates for a mid-winter tour by pedal steel phenom Robert Randolph and the Family Band has been announced. Dates run from Janaury 30th at Constituition Hall in Columbus, OH through February 27th at Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis, MN.
For a full list of the tour schedule visit robertrandolph.net.

Leftover Salmon are keeping true to their word to the late Mark Vann; the band is continuing to tour relentlessly, playing every type of venue and festival around.
Vann, a founding member in the group who passed away in 2002 after battling skin cancer, made the band promise to keep on trucking. And they have.
The new tour runs from the end of January, starting on the West Coast, through April, covering major cities West of the Mississippi – mainly mountain communities
For complete list of dates click pollstar.com.

Dublin newbies The Thrills have continued to live up to their name. They’re topping many critical best-of lists for 2003 and were nominated for a prestigious Mercury Music Prize for their major label debut, So Much For The City.
Now, they’re giving fans on the other side of the great sea a little taste of their thrilling tunes. A monthlong tour of North American venerable music haunts is on the books, starting January 9. They also have a couple gigs in the U.K. at the beginning of February.
It’s not the first time The Thrills have been Stateside. In addition to a mini-tour last fall, they spent several months camped out in San Diego writing music for their album.
Much of the band’s sunny California pop sounds are owed to that session in SoCal. Hey, they’ve even got a hit single called “Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far).”
Source Pollstar.com.

The lead guitarist for the rock band Rush skirmished with sheriff’s deputies, spat blood on one and was arrested on New Year’s Eve after his son refused to leave the stage at a fancy hotel, authorities said. Deputies said they had to use a stun gun on 50-year-old Alex Zivojinovich – known on stage as Alex Lifeson – for what they described as drunken, violent behavior at the Naples Ritz-Carlton hotel. Zivojinovich was still in Collier County jail early Friday. Also arrested were his son Justin Zivojinovich, 33, and his son’s wife, Michelle Zivojinovich, 30. Justin Zivojinovich said deputies broke his father’s nose.
The son said he went on the stage where the house band was performing so he could sing. “I was singing Happy New Year’s, that’s all I was doing, singing to the whole crowd. That’s all I said,

A judge has ruled that the bass player for the rock band Meat Puppets, who has been charged with assault, is a flight risk and a danger to others and must remain in custody.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia Mathis also ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to try Cris Kirkwood, 43, in connection with a December 26 incident at a Phoenix post office, said Harriet Bernick, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kirkwood is accused of hitting a federal post office security guard in the head with a baton that the musician took from the guard during a struggle.
According to court documents, the guard then shot Kirkwood in the back. The incident began over a dispute about parking with another customer.
Kirkwood has been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon at a federal facility.
Kirkwood was released from a Phoenix hospital on December 30 and was subsequently arrested.
Kirkwood and his brother Curt fronted the Meat Puppets, who had several hit records in the 1980s and 90s. They were cited as an influence for bands such as Nirvana and earned a gold record in 1994 for “Too High to Die.”
No trial date has been set.
Source CNN.com.