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Like many bands flush with the success of a debut album, the Killers have spent the better part of the year in the road in support of “Hot Fuss” (Island). And while the group has several new songs percolating for its second set, touring will dominate the landscape for at least the next few months.

The Killers are in the midst of a short Australian trek that wraps Monday (Dec. 20) in Brisbane. A rare show in the quartet’s Las Vegas hometown is on tap for Dec. 30, to be followed by a New Year’s Eve show in Los Angeles and a three-week U.K. tour in January. A four-show swing through Japan is also booked for early March.

As for the new songs, guitarist Dave Keuning tells Billboard.com the band is “painfully close” to unveiling them at upcoming shows. “Almost,” he says. “Maybe by the end of the year we’ll play them.” According to vocalist Brandon Flowers, the crop includes “I Won’t Let You Down,” “Daddy’s Eyes” and “It’s Only Natural.”

“We’re trying to strip it down a little bit,” Flowers says of the material. “Not have it be so busy. Just let it breathe and let it be a great song. We wrote some great songs on the first one, but these have more of a classic feel.”

After the Japan dates, the band will begin demoing new material with several producers, including Flood (U2, Smashing Pumpkins) and Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver). “We actually worked with Alan on our record, so we’re familiar with him,” says Flowers. Adds drummer Ronnie Vannucci, “That time will be used to get some ideas on tape and tie up the loose ends of the songs that have been written on the road.”

Capping the Killers’ breakthrough year was last week’s announcement that the band had been nominated for three Grammys: best rock album for “Hot Fuss” plus best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Somebody Told Me.”

“Three of them! One would have been nice but three is just… we’re excited,” Flowers says.

Here are the Killers’ tour dates:

Dec. 16: Adelaide, Australia (Thebarton Theatre)
Dec. 17: Melbourne (the Palace)
Dec. 18: Sydney (Enmore Theatre)
Dec. 20: Brisbane, Australia (Arena)
Dec. 30: Las Vegas (House of Blues)
Dec. 31: Los Angeles (Giant Village)
Jan. 19: Northumbria, England (University)
Jan. 20-21: Glasgow (Academy)
Jan. 23: Nottingham, England (Rock City)
Jan. 24: Birmingham, England (Academy)
Jan. 25: Liverpool, England (University)
Jan. 27: Leeds, England (University)
Jan. 28-29: Manchester, England (Academy)
Jan. 31: Norwich, England (UEA)
Feb. 1: Bristol, England (Academy)
Feb. 2: Brighton, England (Dome)
Feb. 4: Cambridge, England (Corn Exchange)
Feb. 5: Southampton, England (Guildhall)
Feb. 6: Cardiff, England (University)
Feb. 7, 9: London (Brixton Academy)
March 6: Nagoya, Japan (Club Quattro)
March 8: Hiroshima, Japan (Club Quattro)
March 9: Osaka, Japan (Club Quattro)
March 10: Tokyo (Liquid Room)

Source billboard.com.

Former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo has made his first public statement about the murder of bandmate “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, with whom he had feuded in the press in recent years. Abbott was murdered on stage in Columbus, Ohio, last week during a performance with his new band, Damageplan.

“I love Dimebag Darrell because there was not one motherf***er like him,” he said. “I love him like a brother loves a brother.” Anselmo also reached out to Dimebag’s brother/ex-Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, referring to him as “my other brother. I’m so sorry to his family. I want to say bless his family [and] all of his close friends. I wish his family the least grief they could ever have, and I know it’s impossible.”

Sadly, Anselmo did not attend Dimebag’s funeral in Texas earlier this week. “I never got a chance to say goodbye in the right way and it kills me,” he said. “I wish to God I could’ve gone to his funeral, but I have to respect his family’s wishes, and they do not want me there. I believe I belong there, but I understand completely.”

The artist, who now fronts hard rock act Superjoint Ritual, ended his message with hints that he may not resurface for some time. “This has changed the entire world, and this is the last you’ll be seeing of me for a long time,” he said. “I hope you’re happy, heavy metal music magazines, media, I hope you’re happy. I’m done.”

Source billboard.com.

Josh Rouse will release his fifth album, Nashville, next March. Named for Nebraska-born Rouse’s adopted hometown (where the set was crafted), the upcoming disc was recorded by Brad Jones, who also produced the singer-songwriter’s acclaimed 2003 disc, 1972.
Rouse is proud of the simplicity of the record’s sound. “It’s the sound of a band in a room, and it’s quite nice, actually,” he says. And while other artists are clamoring to claim new territory, Rouse is happy to mine the same terrain, acknowledging similarities between the new record and its predecessor. “It’s exactly the same,” he says with perfect confidence. “Why would we change anything?”

Tracks will include “It’s the Nighttime,” which Rouse calls “a hooky tune with pedal steel and Fleetwood Mac keyboards,” and “Winter in the Hamptons,” which Rouse cites as “Smiths-ish, with more hooks.” But the artist counts “My Love Has Gone” as his pick of the new set. “It’s my favorite,” he confesses. “It just has a great swing.”

Rouse will launch a stateside tour in support of Nashville next spring, before heading to Europe.

Source rollingstone.com.

The soulful New York-bred trio the Holmes Brothers lead the nominees for the 2005 W.C. Handy Blues Awards, presented annually by the nonprofit Memphis-based Blues Foundation. Singer/guitarist B.B. King, Southern soul-bluesman Bobby Rush, harmonica ace Kim Wilson, pianist Pinetop Perkins and vocalist Solomon Burke are in the running for blues entertainer of the year.

The awards — the most prestigious in the blues business — will be presented May 5 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. Blues Foundation members vote on the winners.

The Holmes Brothers’ Alligator Records album “Simple Truths” was nominated for blues album of the year and contemporary blues album of the year, and the group will compete for blues band of the year. Additionally, Wendell Holmes’ composition “Run Myself Out of Town” received a blues song of the year nomination; his brother Sherman was cited for instrumentalist/bass, while bandmate Popsy Dixon was tagged in the instrumentalist/drums category.

Released in January, “Simple Truths” peaked at No. 5 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums tally.

Harmonica player Paul Oscher, a veteran of Muddy Waters’ band, received four nominations. Rush, Wilson, Perkins, singer-guitarist W.C. Clark, harp players Rod Piazza, James Harman and Charlie Musselwhite and vocalist Mavis Staples received three nominations each.

Source billboard.com.

An autopsy of rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard reveals his death by heart attack was due to “intoxication by the combined effects of cocaine and [the painkiller] Tramadol,” according to Grace Burgess, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office.
Born Russell Jones, O.D.B. died on November 13th after collapsing suddenly in a New York recording studio just days short of his thirty-sixth birthday.

The wild card of the nine-man Wu-Tang Clan, at the time of his death, O.D.B. had completed a two-year prison sentence for a drug possesion and had been working towards his fourth solo album and Roc-A-Fella Records debut. Osirus, an album recorded during the rapper’s last six months, will be released January 4th on JC Records, a label recently formed by his mother Cherry Jones and manager Jarred Weisfeld. A reality TV show, Stuck On Dirty, which wrapped filming in the weeks before O.D.B.’s death, will debut on Spike TV in early 2005.

Source: RollingStone.com

Beth Orton, Fatboy Slim, Mavis Staples, Billy Idol and, as previously reported, Aimee Mann, are among the first confirmed acts for the 2005 South by Southwest music festival. The event will be held in mid-March in Austin, Texas.

As previously reported, Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant will deliver the keynote address and perform his first show in the United States since the summer of 2002. Staples will sit for a one-on-one interview in addition her performance. R&B vocalist Erykah Badu is also confirmed to speak.

Among the first discussions set for the conference portion of the festival are panels on digital rights collection, ringtones and satellite radio.

Source billboard.com.

After nearly waiting four year between their last set of albums, 2003

Singer-songwriter Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes will launch two separate winter tours for their two upcoming full-length releases, I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (both due January 25th).

The first of the dates — beginning January 14th in Oberst’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska — will be in support of the largely acoustic I’m Wide Awake, which Oberst says is packed with tunes about “drinkin’, travelin’, love gained and love lost.” These include the tearjerker “Lua” and the gorgeous “Land Locked Blues” — one of three songs that feature Emmylou Harris. “We sent her the songs, and she said she liked ’em, and we were like, ‘No way!'” explains Oberst. “A few weeks later, we flew to Nashville and did it in one day. She’s super-rad.”

Dates for the second tour, also featuring Saddle Creek labelmates the Faint, is set for early May, with dates to be announced. These shows will focus on Digital Ash, which Oberst describes as the darker of the two records, dealing with “the fear of death and trying to move past that.” The album features string arrangements, heavy guitar from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner and electro synths on the single “Take It Easy (Love Nothing).”

Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning tour dates:

With Tilly and the Wall:

1/14: Omaha, NE, Sokol Auditorium
1/15: Minneapolis, State Theatre
1/16: Milwaukee, Pabst Theatre
1/17: Chicago, Riviera Theatre
1/18: Ann Arbor, MI, Michigan Theatre
1/19: Columbus, OH, Wexner Center for the Arts
1/21: Toronto, Phoenix Theatre
1/22: Montreal, Spectrum de Montreal
1/23: Burlington, VT, Higher Ground
1/24: Cambridge, MA, Sanders Theatre (Harvard University)
1/25, 1/26: New York, NY, Town Hall
1/28: Philadelphia, Academy of Music
1/29: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
1/30: Norfolk, VA, Norva Theatre
1/31: Raleigh, NC, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
2/1: Atlanta, Variety Playhouse

With Neva Dinova:

2/3: Miami, Olympia Theatre at Gusman Center
2/4: Tampa, Tampa Theatre
2/5: Orlando, House of Blues
2/7: Fort Worth, TX, Ridglea Theatre
2/8: Austin, La Zona Rosa
2/10: Phoenix, Celebrity Theatre
2/11: San Diego, Spreckles Theatre
2/12, 2/13: Los Angeles, Orpheum Theatre

Source rollingstone.com.

Advance ticket sales have been announced for a Ben Fold’s peformance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on May 31st, 2005. Fans can buy tickets on Ben’s website starting Wednesday, December 15th — at 10:00am london time (that’s 5:00am new york time).

So far 13 dates have been confirmed through June 17, 2005 including shows in Germany and Scotland.

Tour Dates

6/04/05 berlin, germany columbia halle
6/05/05 koln, germany live music hall
6/07/05 glasgow, scotland royal concert hall
6/08/05 dublin, ireland vicar street
6/10/05 southampton, england guild hall
6/11/05 manchester, england lowry
6/13/05 sheffield, england octagon
6/14/05 leicester, england de montford hall
6/16/05 cambridge, england corn exchange
6/17/05 warwick, england arts centre

Sonic Youth will head to Japan for a five-date swing in March, beginning March 16-17 in Tokyo. Tickets go on sale Dec. 25. The group is also working on a host of projects for hopeful 2005 release, including a double-disc reissue of its 1990 major label debut for DGC, “Goo,” loaded with previously unreleased tracks.

Additional releases on tap include an expanded edition of the group’s 1982 self-titled EP, the next installment in its experimental releases for its SYR label and the first DVD appearance of the 1992 film “1991: The Year Punk Broke,” which chronicles Sonic Youth’s 1991 European tour with Nirvana.

Source billboard.com.