March 2004

Rumors have surfaced that The Rolling Stones are working on their first new album in seven years.

Prolific singer/songwriter Ryan Adams is offering a three-track EP for sale via Apple’s iTunes download store. The “Moroccan Role” EP boasts the songs “Ah, Life,” “I’m Coming Over” and “Don’t Even Know Her Name.”

In addition, Adams’ two recent “Love Is Hell” EPs will be combined onto a single 15-track disc to be issued May 4 by Lost Highway. The EPs debuted late last year on The Billboard 200 at No. 78 and No. 171, respectively.

Adams has been sidelined since injuring his wrist in a Jan. 22 fall from a Liverpool, England, stage. “[I’m] currently doing stuff but its none of anybody’s business and get out of my yard before I hit you with a rake,” Adams says by way of an update on his official Web site, which also features post-operative pictures of his injury.

Source billboard.com.

Hip-hop collective the Roots has set a June 29 release date for its next Geffen album, “The Tipping Point.” The album sports guest appearances from Jean Grae, Devin the Dude, Martin Luther, guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas, comedian Dave Chappelle and producer Scott Storch.

The Storch-produced first single “Don’t Say Nothin'” will be supported by a video that is currently in production. Other tracks earmarked for the album include “In Love With (The Mic)” featuring Chappelle and “Everybody Is a Star,” described as a “virtual duet” with Sly and the Family Stone.

Roots drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson describes “The Tipping Point” as the “sum of our six records and our 12 years as a band. Most of our album titles are chosen to reflect on the mood of where the group is and we feel as though this album is our biggest step.”

The new set is the follow-up to 2002’s “Phrenology.” So far, the Roots have a handful of tour dates on tap, beginning April 8 in Las Vegas. They will also play the Sasquatch! Music Festival on May 29 outside Seattle and Holland’s Pink Pop Festival two days later.

As previously reported, the Roots recently launched their own label, Okayplayer Records. The inaugural release is slated to be a compilation featuring the Roots, Skillz, Jean Grae, Madlib, Aceyalone, Little Brother and Dilated Peoples.

Source billboard.com.

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Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam are among the artists who will take part in a pair of California concerts remembering late country rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Dubbed Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons, the shows are set for July 9 at the Santa Barbara Bowl and July 10 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

Jones, Yoakam, Williams, Steve Earle and Jim Lauderdale are confirmed to perform. Artists who have been invited to take part include Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Beck, Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, Ben Harper, Starsailor and the Old 97s.

Jointly produced by House of Blues Concerts and Nederlander West Coast, the Return to Sin City concerts are being organized by Parsons’ daughter, Polly.

Tickets will go on sale May 8 via Ticketmaster. A portion of the proceeds from the shows will be donated to the Musicians’ Assistance Program. For more information, visit gramparsonstribute.com.

The legendary tale that followed Parsons’ death from a morphine and tequila overdose in September 1973 is the subject of the film “Grand Theft Parsons,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The movie relates the heist of the artist’s coffin from Los Angeles International Airport by his road manager, Phil Kaufman, and the subsequent a pilgrimage to the Joshua Tree desert to incinerate his body, according to Parsons’ wishes.

Starring Johnny Knoxville as Kaufman, as well as Christina Applegate, Michael Shannon and Marley Shelton, the film was released earlier this month in the United Kingdom and Ireland. For more information, visit its official Web site.

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On May 25, the Grateful Dead will release Rockin’ the Rhein with the Grateful Dead, a three-CD set that features the band’s complete concert on April 24, 1972 in Dusseldorf, West Germany.

Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and Sammy Hagar have set June 11th in Greensboro, NC as the kick-off for America’s top rock band historic reunion, marking their first concert tour in more than nine years. Tickets will go on sale for select concerts of the nationwide tour on Saturday April 3, 2004, with pre-sale ticket information to be announced shortly. Additionally, Warner Bros. Records will be releasing “It’s About Time,” a newly recorded Van Halen track from the upcoming, best of Van Halen album scheduled for release this June.

Sammy Hagar was the Van Halen front man from 1985-1996. During that period, all Van Halen studio albums, 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance, as well as Best of Van Halen Volume I, went straight to #1 on the Billboard charts.

Van Halen has teamed up with iloveallaccess.com to offer the ultimate fan experience featuring a variety of premium ticket packages. Packages for the Greensboro, Hershey, Philadelphia, Worcester, East Rutherford, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Auburn Hills, St. Paul, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Las Vegas concerts will be available starting Tuesday March 30 at 10am ET.

For more details go to the band’s Web site at www.van-halen.com. Additional concerts will be announced shortly.

Wynton Marsalis, Natalie Cole, Lyle Lovett and David Byrne are among the artists confirmed to take part in the Janus Jazz Aspen Snowmass festivals this summer. The first of the events will take place June 24-27 in downtown Aspen, Col., while the U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend (Sept. 3-6) festival will be staged at the foot of the nearby Elk Mountains.

The 14th annual June festival will feature Marsalis and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on June 24; Cole on June 25; Al Green, Lizz Wright and Yerba Buena on June 26; and Buddy Guy, Medeski, Martin & Wood and Yerba Buena on June 27. Additional free concerts will be held in Aspen’s Wagner Park, while small venue shows under the JAS After Dark banner will be held throughout the weekend.

At deadline, Lovett and Byrne were the only confirmed artists for the September Jazz Aspen Snowmass event.

In addition, weekly free concerts will be staged at the base of the Snowmass Ski Area, with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, C.J. Chenier, Marcia Ball, Kermit Ruffins, Otis Taylor and Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys confirmed to take part.

Daily and weekend festival tickets are already on sale to JAS Club members, and will go on sale Monday (March 29) to the general public via the event’s Web site.

Source billboard.com.

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