2004

With a nomination for best score and two nods in the song category, “Cold Mountain” dominates the musical contenders for the 76th annual Academy Awards. Composer Gabriel Yared earned his third nomination for his score for the Civil War epic, while Sting and the team of T-Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello each earned song nominations.
Sting’s nomination for “You Will Be My Ain True Love” is his third Oscar nod. Burnett and Costello’s collaboration, “Scarlet Tide,” gives each his first nomination. Both songs are performed by Alison Krauss on the film’s DMZ/Columbia soundtrack.
Also nominated in the song category is “Into the West,” written by first-time nominee Annie Lennox in tandem with veterans Fran Walsh and Howard Shore, who have been nominated seven and three times, respectively. The Lennox-performed theme of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won the comparable honor at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards.
Rounding out the category is “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from the folk music parody “A Mighty Wind.” The song was written by the film’s co-star and “Spinal Tap” alum Michael McKean and his wife, Annette O’Toole, and is the first nomination for each.
In the score field, Yared will go up against Shore’s formidable “Lord of the Rings” work, which won him the Golden Globe. Also nominated are Danny Elfman’s “Big Fish” score, Thomas Newman’s “Finding Nemo” work and James Horner’s music for the film “House of Sand and Fog.”
The final installment of director Peter Jackson’s trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” leads all films with 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and director. The seafaring epic “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” is close behind with 10 nominations, also netting best picture and director nods.
The best picture category is rounded out by “Lost in Translation,” “Mystic River” and “Seabiscuit.”
ABC will broadcast the Academy Awards Feb. 29 live from Los Angeles. Actor/comedian Billy Crystal will take his eighth turn hosting the ceremony, which will be held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Kodak Theatre.
Source billboard.com.

With four nominations each, String Cheese Incident and Gov’t Mule lead the field for the fourth annual Jammy Awards. Set for March 16 at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, the event recognizes the best among the crop of jam bands, with a concentration on live performance.
SCI is up for live performance of the year for an Aug. 2, 2003, set in North Plains, Ore. The group also earned a nod for DVD of the year for “Live at the Fillmore Auditorium,” plus studio album and album cover of the year for “Untying the Not,” all on the band’s own Sci-Fidelity label.
Gov’t Mule is nominated in the live album and DVD of the year categories for “The Deepest End,” as well as for the May 3, 2003, performance in New Orleans that spawned the releases. The show boasted Les Claypool, Bela Fleck, Sonny Landreth, George Porter Jr., Dave Schools and Victor Wooten, among others, joining the band on stage. Gov’t Mule’s fall Rebirth of the Mule trek also netted the Warren Haynes-led band a nod for tour of the year.
A lifetime achievement award honoree will be announced closer to the event. Singer/guitarist Bob Weir was on hand at last year’s event to receive the honor on behalf of the Grateful Dead.
Produced by Relix Magazine, Jambands.com and concert promoter Peter Shapiro, the event largely consists of performances by nominees and other prominent members of the jam band community. “The improvisational music scene continues to expand, evolve and diversify,” Shapiro says. “And the Jammy’s is a night to celebrate that diversity.”
Source billboard.com.
To vote, please visit jammys.com.

Veteran rock artists Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are launching a provocative new musicians’ alliance that would cut against the industry grain by letting artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels.
With the Internet transforming how people buy and listen to songs, musicians need to act now to claim digital music’s future, Gabriel and Eno argued Monday as they handed out a slim red manifesto at the Midem conference in Cannes, France.
They call the plan the “Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists” – or MUDDA, which has a less lofty ring to it. “Unless artists quickly grasp the possibilities that are available to them, then the rules will get written, and they’ll get written without much input from artists,” said Eno, who has a long history of experimenting with technology.
By removing record labels from the equation, artists can set their own prices and set their own agendas, said the two independent musicians, who hope to launch the online alliance within a month.
Their pamphlet lists ideas for artists to explore once they’re freed from the confines of the CD format. One might decide to release a minute of music every day for a month. Another could post several recorded variations of the same song and ask fans what they like best.
Source billboard.com.

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.

8-string guitar maestro Charlie Hunter is now offering three albums for sale through digital downloads in either MP3 or FLAC format on his website, CharlieHunter.com. The three albums include his two latest: a duo album with Bobby Previte called Come In Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader, and TJ Kirk’s new album Talking Only Makes It Worse. The third album is out-of-print and very difficult to find a physical copy of: his 2000 release Solo Eight-String Guitar. This may mark a new trend in the distribution of out of print albums.

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.

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.