2003

When they released their first album of holiday material in September, the Blind Boys Of Alabama said they’d be taking the tunes to the stage. And they’re doing just that for nine shows in December.
Treating fans in major cities from West to East Coast, the Blind Boys will play songs from their Go Tell It On The Mountain CD starting December 9 in Colorado. Mavis Staples and John Medeski are on all dates, while Aaron Neville joins in a handful.
A big show will take place in New York City at the Beacon Theatre. There, the gang will be joined by many of the same guests on their album, including Chrissie Hynde, Michael Franti, Robert Randolph, Charlie Musselwhite and Duke Robillard. Like the holiday shows, the album is chock-full o’ guest appearances, including spots by Tom Waits, Hynde, Neville, Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Shelby Lynne, Randolph and many others.
Source Pollstar.com.

David Crosby and Graham Nash will enter the studio in January to record their first album together as a duo in almost 30 years. “We are excited as hell because we have a terrific bunch of songs for it,” Crosby tells Billboard.com. The last Crosby & Nash studio album, “Whistling Down the Wire,” their third as a duo, was issued in June 1976.
The pair is in discussions with several labels, including Sanctuary, says Crosby, adding that the set will be helmed by drummer/producer Russ Kunkel (Jimmy Buffett, Carly Simon).
Backing Crosby and Nash will be bassist Lee Sklar and guitarist Dean Parks, as well as Crosby’s son, keyboardist James Raymond, and guitarist Jeff Pevar of Crosby’s side project CPR. Conkel’s son, Nathaniel, will engineer.
After 11 years between albums, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young returned in 1999 with “Looking Forward.” Since then, the act has embarked on two major tours and a slew of one-off performances, such as Neil Young’s recent Bridge School benefit outside San Francisco.
Source billboard.com.

John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to the song “Nowhere Man” were sold for $455,000 — more than four times the expected price — at an entertainment memorabilia sale at Christie’s Tuesday. The lyrics to the Beatles song were expected to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 at the New York auction, according to Christie’s spokeswoman Margaret Barrett.
Source cnn.com.

The late George Harrison, Prince, Traffic and ZZ Top are among the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Jackson Browne, the Dells and Bob Seger round out the group.
Harrison was previously inducted in the Rock Hall’s 1988 class as a member of the Beatles; former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney have already been inducted as solo artists.
The 19th annual induction ceremony will be held March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. A Lifetime Achievement Award /Non-Performer honoree will be announced soon.
Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording. A Foundation committee nominates eligible artists, who are then voted on by an international body of about 700 music experts.
Source cnn.com.

Guster, about to wrap up months worth of touring in support of their latest release “Keep It Together,” have announced a special upcoming show. The three piece will play homage to one of their three piece influnces – The Violent Femmes. Guster will perfom the Violent Femmes’ debut album in its entirety on November 25th at New York’s Arlene Grocery. The self titled debut album was release in 1982, and features the world recognizable – “Blister in the Sun.”
Source Rollingstone.com.

The paperback edition of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s “Journals” has been bolstered with 14 pages of new material, including an extended narrative about a semi-fictional serial killer. Riverhead released the volume Nov. 10, with a front cover reproduction of Cobain’s red Mead notebook bearing his hand-written caveat, “if you read, you’ll judge.”
“Frankly, we had this the first time around, but we chose not to include it, because it’s disturbing and bizarre,” Riverhead co-editorial director Julie Grau tells Billboard.com of the serial killer-themed pages. “We checked, and there was a serial killer that shared some of the traits and biographic facts that he writes about. But it’s hard to know if Kurt was inventing all of this but had pieces of facts he recalled.”
Source Billboard.com.

Rolling Stone has compiled their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band claiming the #1 spot. The Beatles, clearly the best band ever on vinyl, take 4 of the top 10. Revolver is 3rd, Rubber Soul 5th and The Beatles (“The White Album”) is 10th. Abbey Road doesn’t come in till 14 and Let It Be barely makes the top 100.
See the complete list here: Rollingstone.com.

Garaj Mahal has planned to ring in 2004 with a 3 night run in British Columbia. New Years Eve, Dec 31st & New Years Day, Jan 1st will be at THE BOOT 7124 Nancy Green Way, Whistler, B.C. The Jan 2nd show will be held at MESA LUNA 1926 W Broadway St. Vancouver.
To celebrate New Years, the band is also holding a Dream Set Contest. The person who

Wilco is in a New York studio recording the follow-up to its acclaimed 2002 album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” As with that set, which was released by Nonesuch after Wilco parted ways with Warner Bros., the band is working on the sessions with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke. Chris Shaw, best known for his work on Bob Dylan’s “Love and Theft,” is engineering.
The album, tentatively titled “W*lco Happens,” will most likely not be released until late spring. Tracks include “We are Finished Waiting for You Now” and “Hell Is Chrome.”
Source Billboard.com.

Rock duo the Black Keys has postponed an extensive European tour after guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach fractured two toes while unloading a van full of equipment. The Akron, Ohio-based group was scheduled to be in Europe through a Nov. 30 show in Berlin. Fans are encouraged to keep their tickets for the affected gigs, as they will be valid when the shows are rescheduled next year.
“Not only were we exhausted and way too stressed after this insane year of non-stop touring, but little s*** like missing planes and fracturing toes added to our decision to take a break,” Auerbach writes on the band’s official Web site.
The Black Keys were touring in support of their sophomore album, “thickfreakness,” released this year by Fat Possum. The pair will return to the stage on Dec. 6 in Oberlin, Ohio, and will play a previously announced New Year’s Eve show at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. The only other show on the group’s schedule is Jan. 2 in Detroit.
During the downtime, Auerbach says he and drummer Patrick Carney “are busy in the basement trying to remember what it’s like to practice. All of our recording equipment and musical junk has a nice thick layer of dust on it, so we’re gonna wipe the dust away and get to work on writing some new songs.”
Source Billboard.com.