Soulive will do a string of dates in the Northeast featuring special guest Reggie Watts, best known as the frontman for the group Maktub. The shows will take place from February 6th-14th running from a date at Colby College in Maine to a date the Dowtown in Farmingdale, NY.
Source soulive.com.
Musical troubadours Widespread Panic announce the release of Night Of Joy on March 23, 2004 (Widespread Records/Sanctuary Records). Known for their legendary live performances, Night Of Joy is compiled from two of their most recent concerts, taped at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC on November 6 and 7, 2003. The live CD is both a follow up and companion to Another Joyous Occasion released in 2000, both CD’s feature Widespread Panic performing with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on horns and rhythm.
Particle will deliver their trademark high-energy funktronic sounds to the masses with their debut studio album, “LAUNCHPAD.” The release features a diverse selection of tracks from the Los Angeles based band’s extensive live repertoire. It showcases the unique, dynamic sound that has propelled Particle into the national spotlight. Produced by Tom Rothrock (Beck, Coldplay, Foo Fighters), “Launchpad” will be released nationally March 23, 2004 on the Or Music label (Los Lonely Boys).
Though “Launchpad” is Particle’s first studio effort, the band is nostranger to the road. Since forming in 2000, the group has touredrelentlessly, both nationally and internationally, performing almost500 shows since their inception. Particle’s upcoming three-month tourwill see them headlining large clubs and theatres in major marketsincluding Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta,Denver, and Chicago. Bass master Rob Wasserman will open the winterportion of the tour from February 2nd through the 23rd (complete listof dates follow below).
Hip-hop act the Roots has formed a label, Okayplayer Records, in partnership with Decon, a multimedia design/entertainment company, Billboard.biz reports. The label derives its name from the Grammy-nominated group’s popular Web site, Okayplayer.com. The Roots previously operated the Motive imprint through MCA.
Roots drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson will executive-produce the label’s inaugural release, a compilation featuring the Roots, Skillz, Jean Grae, Madlib, Aceyalone, Little Brother and Dilated Peoples. The album will also include two unsigned acts; Okayplayer Records is accepting submissions until Feb. 13, with details available through the Web site. The album is slated for release this summer.
“There is an array of untapped talent out there, especially from the people who are members of the Okayplayer.com community,” Thompson says in a statement. “The Roots have always been a magnet for talented artists. This deal is important to us because we can now provide a vehicle for bringing deserving artists to the forefront.”
As previously reported, the group is currently recording a new album, “The Tipping Point,” for release on Geffen. It’s the follow-up to 2002’s “Phrenology,” which is nominated for the best rap album Grammy.
Source billboard.com.
Experience Hendrix, the holding company that oversees the Jimi Hendrix estate, is launching a pilot tour of three concerts celebrating the Hendrix legacy, Billboard.biz reports. The dates are Feb. 22 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle; Feb. 24 at Roseland Theatre in Portland, Ore.; and Feb. 26 at the Warfield in San Francisco.
Participating artists will include Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Living Colour, Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Kid Rock, Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf), Sheldon Reynolds (Earth, Wind & Fire), Indigenous and Joe Satriani. All will be backed by former Hendrix bandmates Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass, with Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers on vocals.
As previously reported, Experience Hendrix has corralled a host of top acts for “Power of Soul,” a Hendrix tribute album due May 4 from Image Entertainment. The set will feature newly recorded covers by Sting, Prince, Eric Clapton and Musiq, among others.
Source billboard.com.
Modern rock acts Grandaddy and Saves The Day will co-headline a spring tour due to launch March 1 in Santa Cruz, Calif. The six-week journey will also feature the Fire Theft, the Seattle-based group featuring three former members of Sunny Day Real Estate. The 41-date trek is scheduled to wrap April 17 in Los Angeles.
The tour is Grandaddy’s fourth major outing in support of last year’s V2 album, “Sumday,” which peaked at No. 84 on The Billboard 200. Grandaddy has recently toured with Pete Yorn and the Super Furry Animals.
The upcoming dates will be promoted with a free downloadable limited-edition EP available through Apple’s iTunes Music Store. A track list and release date for the EP will be announced shortly, and the digital songs will be available to fans that have purchased “Sumday.”
Saves The Day is touring in support of its DreamWorks debut, “In Reverie,” which peaked last year at No. 27 on The Billboard 200. The Fire Theft’s 2003 self-titled Rykodisc debut reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.
For a complete list of dates visit billboard.com.
Neil Young’s latest album, “Greendale,” will be re-released Feb. 24 by Reprise with a bonus DVD featuring behind-the-scenes footage of its creation. Issued in August, the original edition of “Greendale” was bundled with the DVD “Live at Vicar St.,” which found Young performing the new material during a solo concert in Ireland.
The Young-directed “Greendale” film, which brings to life the characters described in the album, will be rolled out nationally around the album’s re-release. Screenings begin Feb. 27 in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, with new locations added through late April. For a full list, visit Young’s official Web site .Young and Crazy Horse are also planning to return to the road, beginning Feb. 19 in Vancouver. Eighteen dates are on tap through March 21 in Amherst, Mass., including a March 17-18 stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
The “Greendale” film is tentatively scheduled for a summer release.
Source billboard.com.
David Byrne, Ray Davies, Bright Eyes, Yo La Tengo, Keb’ Mo’, Nawang Khechog and artistic director Philip Glass will perform at the 14th annual Tibet House benefit concert. The event will be held Feb. 25 at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Tickets can be purchased by calling the venue at (212) 247-7800; tickets that include a fundraising reception with the artists can be obtained by calling Tibet House at (212) 807-0563.
Tibet House is dedicated to the proposition that the wisdom and arts of all human civilizations vitally enrich the emerging global culture and its many cultural and educational programs. The organization’s primary goal is to preserve and restore Tibet’s unique cultural and spiritual heritage. The concert also commemorates the Monlam Prayer Festival, which was established in 1409 but canceled by the Chinese government after it took over Tibet.
Last year’s event featured performances by David Bowie, Davies, Laurie Anderson, Rufus Wainwright and Ziggy Marley, among others.
Source billboard.com.
Universal Music International (UMI) is to rerelease the early work of Bob Marley & the Wailers through a 10-year exclusive licensing deal with JAD Records, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based label established in 1967 by Danny Sims, Billboard Bulletin reports.
UMI says the deal covers 211 tracks recorded from 1967-72. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “It is thrilling, both personally and professionally, that Universal is now able to present to fans virtually the entire recorded works of one of the most prolific and influential artists of the 20th Century,” Universal Music International’s Julian Huntly said in a statement.
Sims is recognized as one of the first label executives to spot the potential of Marley. In their five years with JAD, Marley and the Wailers recorded such notable songs as “Stir It Up,” “Small Axe,” “Guava Jelly” and “Concrete Jungle,” plus material that was never released.
The first release will be a three-CD set, “Grooving Kingston 12,” due March 8 internationally. Named after the postal code for the Wailers’ Trench Town, Jamaica, homebase, it will include the first-ever CD release of the tracks “Music Gonna Teach” and “I’m Still Waiting,” plus the original version of “Concrete Jungle” and an extended version of “Trench Town Rock” with an extra scat verse.
The third disc begins with an eight-song acoustic medley featuring “Stir It Up,” “Cornerstone,” “This Train” and “Dewdrops.”
Source and track list visit billboard.com.
