2003

Academy award-winning actor Woody Harrelson will channel his karmic energy into what he hopes will turn out to be the largest outdoor yoga class in the world — and all are welcome to participate, rain or shine.
Harrelson, in Toronto to promote the film “Go Further” by director-producer Ron Mann, will join fellow cast members for a 90-minute outdoor yoga session on the University of Toronto campus on Sunday morning.
Organizers are expecting between 500 to 1,000 people to attend.
The former self proclaimed enthusiast of drugs and alcohol tuned into the organic lifestyle for the film as he cycled from Seattle to Los Angeles on a spiritual journey, extolling the virtues of an ecologically sound life.
The film chronicles the eco-friendly antics of Harrelson and friends as they traverse the U.S. west coast. “It’s kind of a free for all,” said Catherine Fawcett of Harrelson’s publicity group, FLIP Publicity & Promotions Inc.
Participants are urged to bike, walk or take transit to the university as “the air will be nicer to breathe,” the press release said.
“In the film, which follows Woody down the Pacific Coast highway, he stopped at campuses to speak about sustainable organic living and more often than not, impromptu yoga classes happened at these campuses,” said Debbie Rix of Flip.
Harrelson, whose acting credits include playing a daft bartender in the television series “Cheers” and the movie “Natural Born Killers” is also a fierce activist of legalizing marijuana.
Source CNN.com.

After a quiet four years, Guster is making up for lost time. The band released their long-awaited album, Keep It Together and, to the delight of fans, hit the road running. Although it was four years between albums, Guster has kept a steady stage presence. They had a surprise spring tour this year, ahead of the new disc, and have just launched an autumn tour.
Already in progress, Guster’s newest outing finds the Boston trio tackling theatres and universities all over North America through November 9. One show is scheduled for the beginning of December in Detroit.
Support is lined up as well, in the form of a couple of Canadians. Sam Roberts opens September 9-28 and Kathleen Edwards handles September 30 through October 26. Their respective bands will be joining them. Guster also has a slot on the “Austin City Limits” show September 6.
Source Pollstar.com.

Albums by Interpol, Bright Eyes, Cat Power and the Black Keys are among the 10 finalists for the 2003 Shortlist Music Prize. The prize will be presented Oct. 5 as part of a concert/ceremony at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater and taped for broadcast on MTV2 in mid-October. The finalists were chosen from a “long list” of 86 nominees.
Interpol’s “Turn on the Bright Lights” (Matador), Bright Eyes’ “Lifted or The Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground” (Saddle Creek), Cat Power’s “You Are Free” (Matador) and Floetry’s “Floetic” (Dreamworks) join the Black Keys’ “Thickfreakness” (Fat Possum), Cody ChesnuTT’s “The Headphone Masterpiece” (Ready Set Go), Damien Rice’s “O” (Vector), Sigur Ros’ “( )” (MCA), the Streets’ “Original Pirate Material” (Vice/Atlantic) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Fever To Tell” (Interscope) as finalists.
Interpol, Bright Eyes, Black Keys, Damien Rice and Cat Power will perform at the Shortlist concert, alongside potential surprise appearances from the “listmaker” judge panel. The panel — including Dave Matthews, Flea, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Erykah Badu, Perry Farrell, Mos Def, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and directors Spike Jonze and Cameron Crowe — will select the winner at the end of the concert and present the $5,000 cash prize from sponsor Sirius Satellite Radio.
Source Pollstar.com.

Vida Blue will release The Illustrated Band, the second studio release from the ambitious organ trio led by Phish-keyboardist Page McConnell.

On the eve of beginning an extensive touring schedule t) in Boston, Guided By Voices Tim Tobias has left the band for unexplained reasons. A post on the group’s official Web site says only that Tobias will be replaced by Chris Slusarenko for the North American dates and Superdrag’s Sam Powers for the European run, beginning Sept. 10 in Munich.
Tobias joined GBV in 1999 and has played on the group’s last three studio albums, including the recently released “Earthquake Glue” (Matador). Tobias and his brother Todd were also members of GBV frontman Robert Pollard’s side project Circus Devils.
Source Billboard.com.

Veteran DJ Paul Oakenfold has collected two CDs (or three LPs) worth of remixes for “Perfecto Presents … Paul Oakenfold: Great Wall,” due Sept. 30 from Warner Bros. The set features Oakenfold’s own creations as well as music by Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Madonna, Ian Brown and Bjork.The new album features Oakenfold’s remixes of Madonna’s “Hollywood,” Layo & Bushwacka’s “Deep South” and “Another Day” by Skip Raiders featuring Jada, as well as Oakenfold’s own track “Hypnotised,” remixed by Deepsky’s Reaktor Radio. Other cuts include Brown’s “Fear” (UNKLE Remix), Bjork’s “Pagan Poetry,” Infusion’s “Legacy” (Junkie XL Remix) and Jon B’s “Mercury Skies” (Trance Mix).
Source Pollstar.com.

The Jimi Hendrix clearing house continues as Experience Hendrix/UME has set an Oct. 14 release date for the CD and limited-edition double-LP “The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Live At Berkeley (The Second Set).” The recording stems from a 1970 performance that has long been partially available on VHS; a DVD version of the concert mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound will be released Sept. 16.
The hour-long DVD draws material from the two sets of a May 30, 1970, concert played by the Experience at Berkeley, Calif.’s Community Theater. Staged less than four months before Hendrix’s death, the show features the legendary guitarist augmented by longtime drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox. Original Experience bassist Noel Redding had quit the band in June 1969.
Highlights of the film include performances of “Purple Haze,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and an extended take on Hendrix’s Vietnam war epic “Machine Gun.” Other cuts include a cover of “Johnny B. Goode,” “Hear My Train a Comin’,” “Star Spangled Banner,” “I Don’t Live Today,” “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)” and “Lover Man.”
The CD/LP release will feature the second set of the performance in its entirety, cutting “Johnny B. Goode” and “Hear My Train a Comin'” from the film version and adding performances of “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe,” “Pass It On (Straight Ahead)” and “Stone Free.”
Source Billboard.com.

Ratdog has announced the initial dates for their forthcoming fall tour. Featuring Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Kenny Brooks and new comer

Cambridge, Mass., is going to be minus a venerable music venue come mid-September. House of Blues has announced the sale of their Cambridge location, throwing already scheduled concerts into a spin.
The venue will close on September 14, and thus the previously booked events will shut down with it. Although there is the possibility that some shows will be moved to other venues, nothing has been confirmed yet. Ticket holders can receive refunds at the point of purchase.
Affected shows include Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, The Bomb Squat Feat. Jen Durkin, Paranoid Social Club, Ari Hest, Dan Bern, Clumsy Lovers, Willie Porter, and Hot Tuna.
“The sale of our venue in Cambridge is a business decision that does not at all affect our commitment to the Boston area,” Dolf Berle of HoB said. “We have been in the Boston area for over 10 years and we will continue to have a very strong presence there.
“We are also actively looking for alternative creative spaces that will have the look, feel and scale that House of Blues fans have come to expect.”
Source Pollstar.com.

Producer and American Recordings head Rick Rubin is compiling tracks for a Johnny Cash box set that will consist largely of unreleased material the two have recorded together over the last decade. Operating under the working title Unearthed, the set could included Cash