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Les Paul Celebrating 90th Birthday With New Album

Guitar legend Les Paul will celebrate his 90th birthday with his first new studio album since 1978’s “Guitar Monsters,” a collaboration with Chet Atkins. Les Paul & Friends’ “American Made, World Played” is due Aug. 30 via Capitol/EMI.

The album will boast such collaborations as “Love Sneakin’ Up on You” with Sting and Joss Stone, “Fly Like an Eagle” with Steve Miller, Eric Clapton on “Somebody Ease My Troublin’ Mind,” Jeff Beck on “Good News,” ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons on “Bad Case of Lovin’ You” and Buddy Guy, Keith Richards and Rick Derringer on “Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl.”

Source billboard.com.

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Post Zooma Road Plans For Ben Harper

As the cancellation of the ill-fated Zooma tour left him without summer plans, singer/songwriter Ben Harper has slated a 16-date North American small venue tour to kick off July 12 in Vancouver and close Aug. 1 in Atlanta.

Harper was due to co-headline Zooma with former Phish guitarist/singer Trey Anastasio. The tour was the creation of the same promoters who annually stage the wildly successful Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn.

This outing will be Harper’s first since 2003, as well as his last until he releases the new album he will begin recording at the conclusion of this tour. Tom Freund, with whom Harper recorded the out-of-print 1992 album “Pleasure and Pain” (Cardas Records), will open all shows.

Here are Harper’s tour dates:

July 12: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
July 13: Seattle (Moore Theater)
July 14: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theater)
July 16: San Francisco (Warfield)
July 17: Los Angeles (Henry Fonda Theater)
July 19: Denver (Fillmore)
July 21: Chicago (Vic Theater)
July 22: Royal Oak, Mich. (Royal Oak Music Theatre)
July 23: Toronto (Kool Haus)
July 25: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
July 26: Boston (Avalon Ballroom)
July 27: New York (Irving Plaza)
July 28: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
July 30: Asheville, N.C. (Orange Peel)
July 31: Myrtle Beach, S.C. (House of Blues)
Aug. 1: Atlanta (Tabernacle)

Source billboard.com.

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Kings of Leon and Secret Machines Make Summer Touring Team

Kings Of Leon and Secret Machines will head out on the road together this summer. The tour will begin July 15 in Portland, Ore., and will last through Aug. 20 in Nashville.

Having recently completed its run opening for U2’s Vertigo tour, Kings Of Leon are about to begin a short swing of U.K. headlining dates.

Secret Machines open for Oasis tonight (June 6) in Berlin, and will be in Tennessee this weekend for the annual Bonnaroo Festival. The month prior to the Kings Of Leon tour will be spent playing festivals and headlining dates in Europe.

Tomorrow will see the release of the trio’s new EP, “The Road Leads Where It’s Led,” which features the title cut as well as covers of the Motown staple “Money (That’s What I Want),” Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country” and Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks.”
Here are Kings Of Leon/Secret Machines tour dates:

July 15: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theatre)
July 16: Seattle (Moore Theatre)
July 17: Eugene, Ore. (McDonald Theatre)
July 19-20: San Francisco (Fillmore)
July 22-23: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)
July 24: San Diego (4th & B)
July 26: Denver (Paramount Theatre)
July 28: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
July 29: Milwaukee (the Rave)
July 30: Chicago (Congress Theatre)
Aug. 2: Pontiac, Mich. (Clutch Cargo)
Aug. 3: Toronto (Kool Haus)
Aug. 5: Boston (Avalon)
Aug. 6: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
Aug. 8: New York (Roseland)
Aug. 9: Sayreville, N.J. (Starland Ballroom)
Aug. 11: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Aug. 12: Norfolk, Va. (NorVa)
Aug. 13: Myrtle Beach, S.C. (House of Blues)
Aug. 15: Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (House of Blues)
Aug. 16: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Revolution)
Aug. 19: Asheville, N.C. (Orange Peel)
Aug. 20: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)

Source billboard.com.

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Lawn Seat Rules & Prices To Ease Up At Clear Chanel Venues

Clear Channel Music, sometimes perceived as the unfeeling behemoth that runs a big chunk of the amphitheatre business, has made good on its promise to invest in revitalizing the concert-going experience with the announcement of a variety of fan incentives including reduced lawn seat prices, ticket packages and concession upgrades.

Another welcome change will be the loosening of restrictions on carry-in coolers, blankets and chairs.

The “Music Sounds Better On Grass” promotion means immediate benefit for the casual music fan – who most often frequents the lawn areas.

In addition to lowering lawn ducats to as little as $20 for some 150 shows this season, CCM is including parking, capping ticket surcharges and eliminating facility fees at 33 of its sheds.

For other shows, Clear Channel is introducing a $39 “Grass Pass” that includes ticket, parking and a $10 food and beverage voucher.

Included in the shed changes is an increase in the number of concession stands as well as the inclusion of local favorites among the eateries on site.

Selection will go up and prices down with the participation of such national companies as Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Subway, Legal Sea Foods and Au Bon Pain.

The Instant Live program will also offer live recordings of shows for purchase as fans exit select shows.
Clear Channel released on June 1st the results of two fan surveys conducted for CCM that gave the company reason to be hopeful for a more successful summer season than the last.

According to the statistics released by CCM, 69 percent of respondents said that “sitting on the lawn at a concert is something I really enjoy,” while 77 percent said they were likely to sit in a lawn seat. Of those responding, 72 percent said they were “very likely” to attend an outdoor concert.

Source pollstar.com.

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Heavenly Jams Band Returns For Two Nights

Heavenly Jams Band featuring guitarist Yosi Piamenta will return for performances at Ace of Clubs in New York City on July 6th and 7th. Piamenta will be joined for both performances by Yonrico Scott (drums) and Tal Wilkenfeld (bass). Seth Yacovone will join the band on guitar for the show on the 6th, while RANA

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NYC Charm Sessions Brings International Music To NYC

The NYC Charm Sessions is an international music concert series aimed at representing the stylistic diversity of the New York City music scene. The four night series will feature 18 of the best underground musical acts in NYC ranging from African hip-hop to Finnish a cappella, Brazilian Choro to Old Nashville Country, and Hungarian punk music to Middle Eastern dub. All the performances will be held June 19 through the 23 at The Living Room in New York. Headset Productions, a Brooklyn-based artist development company, will produce the shows, which will be recorded live by Uist Media, a Scotland-based production company. BBC Radio will air the performances in a 6-part/2 hour radio series throughout the United Kingdom.

The International music scene in New York is a true melting pot of ethnic and musical influences, and the series will offer quality and diversity in depth. Here

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B.B. King 80th Birthday Concert Planned

B.B. King will celebrate his approaching 80th birthday with a multi-artist blues concert in Mississippi that will benefit the planned B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. King, who will turn 80 in September, will headline the July 30 show at the Isle of Capri’s Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi.

Also on the bill will be Deborah Coleman, Bobby Blue Bland, Smokin’ Joe Kubek, Jody Williams and Dickey Betts. King will close the show with his own set and a jam that will include all of the artists.

Source billboard.com.

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After 17 Years, Rambo Series Returning

Rambo is coming out of hiding and looking for some fresh blood.

After a 17-year layoff, Sylvester Stallone is ready to reprise his role as everyone’s favorite muscle-bound Green Beret for a fourth installment in the popular 1980s film franchise.

After protracted legal wrangling, the rights to Rambo were snapped up in 1997 by Miramax’s genre division, Dimension Films. But a planned Rambo IV stalled. Now, with Miramax heads Harvey and Bob Weinstein exiting Disney, they have sold the sequel rights for the intrepid character to Nu Image/Millennium Films, and the project is finally moving forward.

In addition to breaking the old red bandanna out of mothballs, Stallone, 58, will write the screenplay.

“I’ve signed the deal and I have the old headband, machine gun and bow and arrow ready to go. I am looking forward to showing movie fans the real action hero again,” Stallone said in a statement.

To read more visit yahoo.com.

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