November 2004

For some Southern rockers

GorillaPop launches the first social networking service bringing
people together based on their favorite music. GorillaPop’s new service makes it easy, and fun, for people who love the same kind of music to connect from anywhere around the world.

Monitoring songs someone plays on their computer, GorillaPop builds a real time profile of a person’s musical preferences. This data along with other search criteria (sex, age, location, etc…), provide an ever changing landscape of possibilities for people to meet, discover new music, and maybe even find their funk/soul mate.

For more information see – gorillapop.com

Rock ‘n’ roll fans with deep pockets can buy a Beatles guitar or a mugshot of the pop star formerly known as Cat Stevens at what Christie’s calls its biggest auction of show business memorabilia.

The Gibson SG electric guitar, played by George Harrison from 1966-1969, is the star attraction among over 400 lots, ranging from Britney Spears’ book report to a handwritten 1991 letter from the late Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love.

The guitar, expected to fetch around $500,000, was used while recording the Beatles’ “Revolver” album and in two Beatles films “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.”

John Lennon also played it on what is commonly known as “The White Album.”

Another big draw at the December 17 sale is a Keith Richards guitar from around 1964-1965, which he played when the Rolling Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Singer Mick Jagger also played the guitar during the “Beggar’s Banquet” recording sessions. It is estimated to sell for about $400,000.

The Beatles guitar was recently rediscovered and has been on loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2002.

Source: cnn.com

The String Cheese Incident will ring in this New Year in the Big Apple. The band is confirmed to perform December 28 and 29 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and December 31 at Radio City Music Hall. Radio City Music Hall is sold out but a few tickets still remain for December 28 and 29.

In year’s past The String Cheese Incident have announced a NYE theme and audience participatory opportunities. This year the band is forgoing the hoopla, instead opting for a good ‘ole rock &; roll concert. What better place than New York City’s historic Radio City Music Hall for a straight up, no chaser rock show? This SCI New York New Year’s run marks the band’s first NYE on the east coast!

Throughout the year, The String Cheese Incident and their community continued to nurture Gouda Causes, the band’s philanthropic arm. Activities during 2004 included local cleanups close to home in Telluride, Colorado, and as far as Byron Bay Australia. In addition, Conscious Alliance has been on the road with SCI for every show this year. So far this year Conscious Alliance and Gouda Causes have collected over 16 tons of food donations to help feed America’s hungry. Gouda Causes and Conscious Alliance will be hosting yet another food drive along this New Year’s Eve run. Concert attendees are encouraged to bring 10 non-perishable food items to the shows in exchange for an exclusive food drive poster. All donations will go to local affiliates of America’s Second Harvest Food Share and to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

During the beginning of 2005, The String Cheese Incident will be wrapping-up studio time with producer Malcom Burns (Bob Dylan, Chris Whitley, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois). Malcom and the band are to begin recording SCI’s fifth studio album this December, at a private studio in the hills of their hometown, Boulder, Colorado.

R.E.M. will reissue their entire Warner Bros. catalog on February 15th, with each two disc set including the original album and a bonus DVD featuring the record remixed in 5.1 surround sound, as well as unreleased documentary and video footage.
The reissues span from R.E.M.’s 1988 Warner debut Green to this fall’s Around the Sun, and mark the band’s transition from indie favorites to one of the world’s biggest bands.

“These days, there are R.E.M. fans who think ‘Stand’ or even ‘Losing My Religion’ is the first song the band ever wrote,” bassist Mike Mills told Rolling Stone in 1991. “The people who listen to Top Forty are generally not R.E.M. record buyers — or they weren’t until the last year or two. It’s kind of surprising to listen to the fourteen-year-old girls call up and go, ‘How long have you been together? I like your first record.’ And it’s like ‘No, no. See, the first record came out when you were about one year old.'”

Typical of the bonus material is the extra disc for Out of Time, which includes the unreleased documentary Time Piece, a blend of band member interviews and commentary on songs from the album that made R.E.M. a household name.

R.E.M. finish their U.S. tour Sunday with a show at Albuquerque’s Kive Auditorium, before heading to Europe in January.

Source rollingstone.com.

Designed specifically for women and girls so their first day on a snowboard turns into a lifetime of riding fun, Women’s Learn To Ride (LTR) provides first-time riders with learning-specific equipment, smaller classes, personal attention and knowledgeable instructors that cater to the way girls learn. The goal of Women’s LTR is to make learning fun so girls return to the mountain and join the snowboarding lifestyle.

“The Women’s LTR Program is a perfect opportunity for women to add the fun of snowboarding to their lives in a comfortable, safe environment,” says Burton Global Team rider Victoria Jealouse. “For me, I need things explained and I want to fully understand something before I try it, and I think this might be a common thing for us girls. So, smaller instructor groups and more attention make a big difference. The chances are very, very high that after a day with Women’s LTR, women will be linking turns and laughing.”

Burton LTR products and programs have brought new riders to the sport since 1998, but have never catered specifically to women until now. To create this groundbreaking new program, Burton gathered a group of experienced women riders and girls who had never snowboarded before to help design and develop Women’s LTR. This season, Women’s LTR is offered at three resorts that will work with Burton to make sure girls and women have the best experience from day one.

Each of the three participating resorts will offer various promotions and special programs that will encourage women to get involved with the new Women’s LTR program. Every participant in women’s LTR will receive a journal, stickers and an issue of SG magazine to take home after her first day on the hill.

More specifics to come on each resort’s special offerings and launch plans surrounding this breakthrough new program for women.

Indie rock outfit Rilo Kiley just wrapped an extensive tour in support of its latest Brute/Beaute album, “More Adventurous,” but that hasn’t stopped frontwoman Jenny Lewis from keeping busy. The artist is at work on her as-yet-untitled solo debut, which will be released by Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst’s new Team Love label.

“Four days after we got back [from touring], I made this record in six days with [producer] Mike Mogis,” Lewis tells Billboard.com. “It’s a kind of soul record. I’m really excited about it.” According to a Team Love spokesperson, the set will likely arrive in the summer of 2005, as the fifth or sixth release on the imprint.

Until then, Lewis and Rilo Kiley have plenty on their plate. “We’re going to Europe with Bright Eyes in February, and I think to Japan with them as well,” she says. “We’ll come back and do another tour — we’re playing Coachella and Bonnaroo.”

“Then, hopefully my record will come out and I’ll tour with that before the year is over,” Lewis continues. “It’s a lot but it’s good. I get a little antsy when I have too much time off.”

As previously reported, guest spots by members of Rilo Kiley are sprinkled through Bright Eyes’ two new albums, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” and “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.” Both sets arrive Jan. 25 via Saddle Creek.

Lewis also appears on singer/songwriter Ben Lee’s New West debut, “Awake Is the New Sleep,” due Feb. 22.

Source billboard.com.