2004

Nine Inch Nails are at work on their fourth album, Bleed Through, in Los Angeles. Trent Reznor and Co. hope to finish it by summer and release it later this year.

“It’s more song-oriented [than 1999’s The Fragile],” says NIN mastermind Reznor. “It’s much more lean. It’s going to be twelve good punches in the face — no fillers, no instrumentals, just straight to the point.”

Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash) is producing the record. “It’s kind of a new vibe this time around,” says Reznor. “Different people, different approach.

While Bleed may be more streamlined than its predecessors, namely the expansive concept records 1994’s The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, it won’t exactly be light fare. “It’s a complicated concept record,” Reznor says, “but reduced to just simple songs. It’s not epic in its scope. It’s minimal and a bit brutal.”

NIN plan to hit the road in the next few months to preview the new material. “It’s been forever since we played,” Reznor says. “I’m reenergized right now, my life’s in order, and I’m ready to combat the shitty music that’s out right now.”

Source rollingstone.com.

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.

Selma Litowitz, a retired high school English teacher in Lawrence, NJ, has battled Parkinson’s Disease for over 10 years. Inspired by her courage, her son and two daughters present ParkinSong, Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope — a two-CD Who’s Who of contemporary singer-songwriters

The Dave Matthews Band has announced an extensive summer tour following the Dave Matthews and Friends appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival June 11th-13th. The two-and-a-half month-long tour will kick of on June 17th at the UMB Bank Pavillion in Maryland Heights, MO. Complete dates are listed below:

Thu 6/17 UMB Bank Pavilion Maryland Heights, MO
Fri 6/18 Tweeter Center Chicago Tinley Park, IL
Sun 6/20 Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville, IN
Mon 6/21 Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville, IN
Wed 6/23 Germain Amphitheater Columbus, OH
Thu 6/24 Germain Amphitheater Columbus, OH
Sat 6/26 Post-Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake Burgettstown, PA
Sun 6/27 Post-Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake Burgettstown, PA
Tue 6/29 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Wed 6/30 Ontario Place – Molson Amphitheatre Toronto, ON Canada
Tue 7/6 Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts Mansfield, MA
Wed 7/7 Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts Mansfield, MA
Sat 7/10 Hersheypark Stadium Hershey, PA
Sun 7/11 Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge Bristow, VA
Tue 7/13 Six Flags Darien Lake – Performing Arts Centre Darien Center, NY
Wed 7/14 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD
Fri 7/16 ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre Hartford, CT
Sat 7/17 ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre Hartford, CT
Tue 7/20 Tweeter Center at the Waterfront Camden, NJ
Wed 7/21 Tweeter Center at the Waterfront Camden, NJ
Fri 7/23 Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater Virginia Beach, VA
Sat 7/24 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC
Mon 7/26 Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek Raleigh, NC
Tue 7/27 HiFi Buys Amphitheatre Atlanta, GA
Thu 7/29 Tampa Bay Amphitheatre Tampa, FL
Sat 7/31 Sound Advice Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL
Sun 8/1 Sound Advice Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL
Wed 8/4 Starwood Amphitheatre Antioch, TN
Thu 8/5 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH
Sat 8/7 Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI
Sun 8/8 Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI
Mon 8/16 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Bonner Springs, KS
Wed 8/18 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Selma, TX
Fri 8/20 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion The Woodlands, TX
Sat 8/21 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion The Woodlands, TX
Mon 8/23 Journal Pavilion Albuquerque, NM
Tue 8/24 Cricket Pavilion Phoenix, AZ
Thu 8/26 Coors Amphitheatre Chula Vista, CA
Sat 8/28 Home Depot Center Carson, CA
Sun 8/29 Home Depot Center Carson, CA
Tue 8/31 Sleep Train Amphitheatre Marysville, CA
Sat 9/4 Gorge Amphitheatre George, WA
Sun 9/5 Gorge Amphitheatre George, WA

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

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.