News

Former Phish bassist Mike Gordon and guitar legend Leo Kottke will hit the road this fall in support of their second collaborative album, “Sixty Six Steps.” Due Aug. 23 via RCA Victor, the set blends a handful of originals with such covers as Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and Pete Seeger’s “Living in the Country.”

Although the lone confirmed date at deadline is a Sept. 23 appearance at the Austin City Limits Festival, Gordon tells Billboard.com the outing will last five weeks and hit every part of the United States. And while a handful of recent shows found Gordon and Kottke backed by percussionist Neil Symonette, the fall tour will return to a duo format.

Gordon is also building a recording studio in his Vermont home, in which he plans to focus on writing once the touring and promotion cycle for “Sixty Six Steps” is complete. “Hopefully, I’ll fire up the solo band,” he says, “but that will be some ways down the line.”

Full article: Billboard.com

There’s one thing that can definitely be said about Built to Spill: The band sure has a following. The trio is from Boise, Idaho, but it has a lot of fans in New York City and Portland, Ore., too. The group consistently sell-out large clubs, playing multiple nights in some markets.

Built To Spill consists of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Doug Martsch and whomever he wants to play with, currently bassist Brett Nelson and drummer Scott Plouf. The band has been around for 13 years in one form or another, and an album of new music is on the way in the fall.

The band’s been on the road a lot lately, and the new gigs include July 31st in Seattle, and plenty in September, including Lawrence, Kan.; Houston, New Orleans, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Source and tour dates, visit pollstar.com.

Highlights from last year’s Austin City Limits festival are heading to CD late next month via Rhino. Due Aug. 30, the eponymous collection rounds up 16 tracks by acts ranging from the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand to the Blind Boys Of Alabama and the Neville Brothers.

Also featured are tracks from My Morning Jacket, Cake, Dashboard Confessional, Broken Social Scene, Calexico (covering Love’s classic “Alone Again Or”), Ben Harper and former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. Elsewhere, rootsy rock’n’roll is represented by Shelby Lynne, Los Lonely Boys, Josh Rouse and the Drive By Truckers.

As previously reported, the 2005 edition of Austin City Limits will be held Sept. 23-25 in Zilker Park. Headliners include Coldplay, Widespread Panic, Oasis, the Black Crowes, the Allman Brothers Band, Wilco and Jimmy Cliff.

Newly added to the bill are psychedelic rock legend Roky Erickson and his band the Explosives, Kaiser Chiefs, Blues Traveler and Jack Ingram.

Here is the track list for “Austin City Limits”:

“Debaser,” the Pixies
“Hands Down,” Dashboard Confessional
“Darts of Pleasure,” Franz Ferdinand
“Be Be Your Love,” Rachael Yamagata
“Crazy Dream,” Los Lonely Boys
“Walk in Jerusalem,” Blind Boys Of Alabama
“It’s the Nighttime,” Josh Rouse
“Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl,” Broken Social Scene
“Streets Are Callin’,” the Neville Brothers
“Your Lies,” Shelby Lynne
“The Day John Henry Died,” Drive By Truckers
“Wheels,” Cake
“The Way That He Sings,” My Morning Jacket
“Alone Again Or,” Calexico
“Brown Eyed Blues,” Ben Harper
“First Tube,” Trey Anastasio

Source .

Primus’ classic lineup of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander will hit the studio later this year to record its first album together since 1995’s “Tales From the Punchbowl.” It will be Primus’ first new studio album since 1999’s “Antipop.” It is unknown if the new set will be released by Claypool’s Prawn Song imprint or via another label.

Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander regrouped in the fall of 2003 for a North American tour and the Interscope release of a DVD/CD, “Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People.”

On Saturday (July 23), the group will be the only performer at the revived Lollapalooza festival in Chicago that was a part of the event in its 1990s heyday. Claypool will also play a solo show the night before at the Vic Theatre.

Source billboard.com.

In one of the more intriguing pairings in recent memory, Chicago instrumental rock act Tortoise and famed Canadian producer/artist Daniel Lanois are teaming for a 13-city fall tour of North America. Tortoise will play its own set each night, then back Lanois for his performance. The tour will begin Oct. 6 in Boston.

Tortoise will be helping Lanois bring to life the material on his brand new instrumental Anti- album, “Belladonna.” As previously reported, the artist is playing select dates this summer, and will also make Sept. 30-Oct. 1 appearances at the Wall to Wall guitar festival at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

As for Tortoise, the group is at work on a covers album with fellow indie rock icon Will Oldham, its first to feature extensive use of vocals. The set is due in November. Tortoise also has a handful of live dates on tap through July 24 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Here are Tortoise/Daniel Lanois’ tour dates:

Oct. 6: Boston (Sommerville Theatre)
Oct. 7: New York (Irving Plaza)
Oct. 8: Philadelphia (TLA)
Oct. 10: Chicago (venue TBA)
Oct. 11: Madison, Wis. (Barrymore Theatre)
Oct. 12: Minneapolis (Fine Line)
Oct. 14: Boulder, Colo. (Fox Theatre)
Oct. 15: Salt Lake City (Suede)
Oct. 17: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
Oct. 18: Seattle (Neumo’s)
Oct. 19: Portland, Ore. (Alladin Theatre)
Oct. 20-21: San Francisco (the Independent)
Oct. 22: Los Angeles (Avalon)

Source billboard.com.

Wilco has confirmed that it will be among the artists appearing at the 20th anniversary edition of Farm Aid. As previously reported, the Sept. 18 show in Tinley Park, Ill., will feature the organization’s founders, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, as well as Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews.

“I grew up in Southern Illinois and I’ve seen farms close and the effect that can have on families and communities,” Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy says. “I’ll take any opportunity I can to help address that problem. To get to share a stage with the likes of Neil Young and Willie Nelson, well, that

It

Details of the co-headlining Foo Fighters/Weezer tour are beginning to come together. The North American arena tour will open in early-September and run through late October.

For developing details see: Billboard

Superstar rapper Eminem will retire from touring and making solo albums this fall, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. The piece quotes sources close to Eminem as saying his final live performance will be Sept. 17 in Dublin, and that his 2004 album, “Encore,” will likely be his last.

Eminem exploded into the mainstream in the late 1990s, having honed his skills amid the Detroit rap underground. He has sold nearly 29 million albums to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan; “Encore” has shifted 4.68 million since its release last fall.

Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg, told the Free Press that while “no official decision” has been made about the artist’s future plans, “Encore” is “certainly the cap on this part of his career.”

To read more, visit billboard.com.