News

M.I.A., the MC5 and Coheed & Cambria are among the acts confirmed to play free shows as part of New York’s Central Park SummerStage. The series will begin June 17 with Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun’s AZA, featuring jazz legend Pharoah Sanders.

Rising hip-hop/dance star M.I.A. will perform Aug. 7 backed by DJ/off-stage companion Diplo and special guests, while MC5 will be joined by the Sun Ra Arkestra and DJ Spooky for a July 30 bill. Coheed & Cambria, Colombian rock act Aterciopelados and singer/songwriter BeBe are set for an Aug. 6 show sponsored by the Latin Alternative Music Conference.

Other artists set to appear throughout the summer include John Legend (June 17), Cassandra Wilson (June 24), Ron Sexsmith with Tegan & Sara (June 26), a Nick Drake tribute with an orchestra led by the late artist’s collaborator Robert Kirby (July 2), the Blind Boys Of Alabama (July 10), Shelby Lynne (July 15), Femi Kuti with Brazilian Girls (July 17) and revered comedy ensemble the Upright Citizens Brigade (July 21).

As previously reported, SummerStage also boasts an all-star lineup of benefit concerts, for which paid admission is required. They include the Killers (June 4), Modest Mouse (June 20), Broken Social Scene (July 14) and Elvis Costello (July 19).

For the full summer lineup, visit SummerStage’s official Web site.

Source billboard.com.

The 3rd installment of the Diesel U Music awards has kicked off with the first round of nominations showcasing some of North America

CBGB is hoping to host a 30-date festival of big-name acts this summer in a last-ditch effort to save the legendary punk rock club, founder and owner Hilly Kristal told the handful of journalists and supporters who turned out yesterday (May 16) for the start of a fund-raising push.

Kristal indicated that he would invite Patti Smith, David Byrne and many of the other one-time fringe acts who played the New York landmark on their way to mainstream stardom. “If the Beastie Boys are around, I think they’d play,” said Kristal. “Green Day came in one night and just played. Maybe they’d come back.

To read more please visit billboard.com.

Coldplay has confirmed dates for its summer North American tour. The run in support of the band’s forthcoming album, “X&Y” (Capitol), will open Aug. 2 in Toronto and close Sept. 30 in Bristow, Va. Rilo Kiley will serve as the opening act.

As previously reported, the outing will include a Sept. 25 headlining berth at Texas’ Austin City Limits Music Festival on the event’s opening day.

Tickets for all shows go on sale June 4, with the exception of a Sept. 23 date in Dallas that goes on sale June 11 and a Houston show the next night that is already on sale. A Coldplay.com online presale will begin May 24.

As previously reported the band taped an episode of VH1’s “Storytellers” at Harvey Theatre in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., last night (May 16) that will premiere June 8 on the music channel. Tonight, Coldplay will perform a show at New York’s Beacon Theatre for an AOL Music cybercast and will be the musical guest on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” season finale on NBC.

Here are Coldplay’s North American tour dates:

Aug. 2: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Aug. 3: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Aug. 4: Hartford, Conn. (Meadows Music Theatre)
Aug. 6: Boston (Tweeter Center)
Aug. 7: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center @ The Waterfront)
Aug. 9: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center)
Aug. 11: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post Gazette Pavilion)
Aug. 12: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
Aug. 13: East Troy, Wis. (Alpine Valley Music Theatre)
Aug. 16: Seattle (White River Amphitheatre)
Aug. 17: Portland, Ore. (Amphitheatre at Clark County)
Aug. 19: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
Aug. 20: Irvine, Calif. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Aug. 24: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
Aug. 25: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Aug. 26: San Diego (Coors Amphitheatre)
Aug. 30: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
Aug. 31: Columbus, Ohio (Germain Amphitheater)
Sept. 1: Darien Center, N.Y. (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
Sept. 3: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept. 6: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Sept. 9: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Sept. 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Alltel Pavilion)
Sept. 13: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Sound Advice Amphitheatre)
Sept. 14: Tampa, Fla. (Ford Amphitheatre)
Sept. 16: Birmingham, Ala. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
Sept. 17: Maryland Heights, Mo. (UMB Bank Pavilion)
Sept. 18: Nashville (Starwood Amphitheatre)
Sept. 20: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Sept. 21: Kansas City, Mo. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Sept. 23: Dallas (Smirnoff Music Center)
Sept. 24: Houston (Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion)
Sept. 25: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits Music Festival)
Sept. 28: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
Sept. 29: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater)
Sept. 30: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge)

Source billboard.com.

Jimmy Martin, a ground-breaking bluegrass guitarist and singer, died Saturday at the age of 77 in a Nashville hospice.

Run-DMC’s Reverend Run will open his home to MTV cameras for the new reality series “Run’s House.” The show will hit the airwaves at the end of the year and was brought to MTV by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy TV and Run’s brother, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons.

“Run’s House” will chronicle the artist in the midst of recording his debut solo album while attempting to raise his five children, who range in age from nine to 21. The show is also expected to feature appearances by Simmons, who lives down the street from Run in Saddle River, N.J.

Source billboard.com.

The Northeast

Wilco will head back into the studio in August to begin recording the follow-up to 2004’s A Ghost Is Born. “For some reason, we’ve been digging a lot of dance music recently, like Fela Kuti,” says Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy, “so look out!”

First, the band will kick off a summer tour on May 28th in Washington. Fellow rockers My Morning Jacket and hip-hoppers the Roots will pop up along the way. “I read an interview where [Roots drummer] ?uestlove said he really likes A Ghost Is Born,” Tweedy says of the pairing.

Filmmaker Sam Jones, who directed the acclaimed 2002 Wilco documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, captured the band live during its recent four-night stand at Chicago’s Vic Theatre. A live DVD is due later this year.

Wilco tour dates:

5/28: George, WA, Sasquatch! Festival at the Gorge
6/11: Berkeley, CA, Greek Theatre
6/14: Los Angeles, Greek Theatre (with the Roots)
6/16: Telluride, CO, Telluride Bluegrass Festival
6/17: Morrison, CO, Red Rocks (with the Roots)
6/18: Lawrence, KS, Wakarusa Festival
6/21: Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (with My Morning Jacket)
6/23: Philadelphia, Penn’s Landing (with My Morning Jacket)
6/24: Boston, Agganis Arena (with My Morning Jacket)
6/26: Columbia, MD, Merriweather Post Pavilion (with the Roots)
6/28: Montreal, Metropolis (with My Morning Jacket)
6/29: Buffalo, Albright Knox Art Museum (with My Morning Jacket)

Source rollingstone.com.

“I’m ready to shake it all up,” John Mayer says of his next studioalbum, Continuum, due in early 2006.

“They are tunes that live on guitar. When it comes out, I may never win a Grammy again, I may never sell a million records again, but the world will get where I’m coming from,” he tells Rolling Stone’s Smoking Section column. “I’m not afraid to lose it all.”

Meanwhile, Mayer has been an in-demand guest for his heroes: He has recorded with Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy for their upcoming albums, and he’ll be performing at Bonnaroo on June 10th with Herbie Hancock’s reunited Seventies funk-jazz group, the Headhunters. The group will play additional gigs on the 8th in St. Louis, on the 9th in Kettering, Ohio, and on the 11th in Memphis.

Mayer is also preparing to flex his new blues-based outfit, the John Mayer Trio, on the road and on a live disc. “I’m gonna go out in the fall with the trio and just play,” he says. “Power-rockin’, electric-guitar, in-your-face blues.”

Source rollingstone.com.

To support its sophomore album, “Demon Days,” due May 24 via Virgin, the cartoon band is in the planning stages for how to present the material in a live setting. “As for the show itself, it would be one where the lights never come up,” group member Damon Albarn (aka 2D) tells Billboard.

“So, if [album guest star] Dennis Hopper were to walk on stage, you would know it’s him by his voice alone — as well as his silhouette,” he continues. “It will be like those old cutout silhouette portraits everyone used to get. Yes, it will all be done by silhouette.”

To read more visit billboard.com.