2004

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.

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.

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.

Source billboard.com.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
Copyright 2004 Billboard

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.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
Copyright 2004 Billboard

The surviving three MC5 members — guitarist Wayne Kramer, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson — are planning to tour as DKT/MC5 with guest vocalists including Evan Dando, Marshall Crenshaw, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek and the Hellacopters’ Nicke Royale.

The tour comes amid a ripe period of discovery of the politically minded, legendary pre-punk band. The Motor City rockers — singer Rob Tyner died in 1991 and guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith passed in 1994 — are at the heart of a pair of upcoming DVDs. First up is Sonic Revolution: A Celebration of the MC5, filmed at a London concert last year when the remaining MC5 members were joined on stage by Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, Ian Astbury, Royale, the Damned’s Dave Vanian and others. Also included on the DVD, due July 6th, is a thirty-minute documentary that includes interviews with Jack White and members of Primal Scream and Death in Vegas, along with footage taken by the U.S. Department of Defense, which kept tabs on the band during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

A second DVD, the documentary MC5: A True Testimonial, was scheduled for release in May, but it was recently put on indefinite hold because of publishing clearance issues. Testimonial includes film and television footage of the band, as well as interviews and testimonials from the likes of Cheap Trick, Blue Oyster Cult, Primal Scream and Kilmister.

The tour will kick off in June and make several North American stops (including a hometown gig in Detroit) before visiting Europe, Australia and Japan.

Source rollingstone.com.

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.