February 2004

Blind Melon Lost Tapes Planned For Release

Former Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn recently stumbled across some lost gems while going through the Capitol Records vaults, and he’s planning another rarities set. “I got turned onto stuff that I just completely forgot about,” he says. “Shannon playing by himself — acoustic versions of ‘Galaxie’ and ‘Vernie’ — really cool songs that I’d never heard before acoustic.”

As well as unheard versions of previously released songs, Thorn found several previously unissued full-band songs, including “Frosting a Cake” and “Ever Had the Feeling.” “It’s a really dark song,” Thorn says of the latter. “It’s about killing yourself. It’s sung in — which only Shannon could do — this tongue-in-cheek voice. I think maybe it scared people. I don’t know, maybe it’s something that we still don’t release.”

While Thorn would like to get the other surviving Blind Melon members involved in the song-selection process and maybe even add a missing part or two if needed, he’s not looking to stray too far from the songs’ current state. “There’s just nothing like hearing songs stripped down,” he says. “You really get a sense of the band and the songs, and you really hear Shannon’s voice. It’s going to be raw. For me now, it’s kinda charming — I hear it and I can smell the room from hearing the recordings.”

Thorn would also like to assemble an accompanying live disc. “I was given a box of A-DATs,” he says. “For a while, we were recording every live show — right around the time that ‘No Rain’ hit, when we were playing bigger places. I’d like to have the stuff get out. I don’t feel good about it just being in a box somewhere.”

Source Rollingstone.com.

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Blues Traveler announces tour dates

Blues Traveler will hit the road on March 6th for their first tour in six months. Additional dates are expected to be announced soon. Here are the confirmed dates so far:

3/6 Ventura CA. Ventura Theater
3/8 Los Angeles CA. House of Blues
3/9 Anaheim CA. House of Blue
3/12 Des Moines IA. Valair Ballroom
3/14 Grand Rapids MI. Van Andel Arena
4/1 Grandforks ND. Univ of North Dakota
4/3 Lake Tahoe. Caesars Circus Maximus
4/4 San Antonio TX. Sunset Station (free show)
4/7 Park City UT. Harry O’s
4/9 Steamboat Springs CO. Steamboat Grand
4/10 Vail CO. Check Point Charlie (free show)
4/11 Grand Junction, CO. The Avalon Theater
4/15 Cleveland MS. Delta State Univ
4/17 Robinsonville MS. Blue Horseshoe Casino

Source: BluesTraveler.com

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Widespread Panic to sell NYE run through iTunes.com

Widespread Panic has announced that they will begin selling their performances from last December 30th and 31st at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia through iTunes.com on Tuesday, February 24th.

This is the first time ever that iTunes is offering an entire live concert for sale. Fans can download one concert for $9.99, or two for $14.99. Individual tracks are available at the regular .99 cents per song. These 51 songs recorded during the band’s last two concerts will not be sold in stores.

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Dave Matthews, Springsteen and Others Will Induct Hall of Famers

Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys and Tom Petty are among the artists who will be on hand to induct the 2004 class into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A longtime supporter of the Hall and 1999 inductee into the elite group of honored musicians, Springsteen will introduce Jackson Browne at this year’s event.

Dave Matthews will do the honors for Traffic, while Petty and Jeff Lynne will induct their Traveling Wilburys bandmate George Harrison. Keys will be joined by hip-hop duo OutKast to welcome Prince, while Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, himself a Hall of Famer since 1989, will be on hand to enshrine ZZ Top.

As previously reported, Steve Winwood has pledged that Traffic will perform at the event, as has inductee Bob Seger.

The ceremony will take place March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and will be taped for a VH1 special that will premiere March 21 on the music channel.

Source Billboard.com.

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Liars: They Were Wrong So We Drowned

The only promise these tunes can deliver is one for the cult lavish, who enjoy their music on the dirty and dark side. It’s been said the Liars frenzied live performances are quite the catch on the New York scene, so hopefully that energy is a bit more cohesive than the one preserved on record.

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