2004

Wilco have written and recorded “Just a Kid” for the soundtrack to The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. The big-screen cartoon, which hits theaters November 19th, features the voices of James Earl Jones, Scarlett Johansson and Alec Baldwin, and the soundtrack will also include a new track by the Flaming Lips.

One of the movie’s producers contacted frontman Jeff Tweedy after noticing a SpongeBob air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror in a scene from the band documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. Tweedy got turned on to the SpongeBob TV show by his sons Spencer, 8, and Sam, 4.

“I fell in love with SpongeBob when I heard him describe the darkness at the bottom of the sea as ‘advanced darkness,'” Tweedy says. “How could I not write a song for this film? It automatically makes me the coolest dad on the block.”

“Just a Kid” also makes young drummer Spencer the coolest kid on the block, as his band the Blisters accompany Wilco on the song. Tweedy the elder reports that early returns from a dad’s toughest critic are positive: “My son’s band thinks it rocks.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Bruce Hornsby has announced a number of new east coast dates in support of his latest release Halcyon Days. These dates include an October 30th date at the Flynn Theater in Burlington VT and dates that follow in Portland, Maine and in Boston, MA.

In other Hornsby news, long time drummer John Molo will be touring this fall with former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty.

Fall US Tour Dates –

10/8
Hampden-Sydney College, VA Kirby Fieldhouse Lawn
www.hsc.edu

10/9 Ovens Auditorium – Charlotte, NC
www.ovensauditorium.com

10/10 Mountain Stage – Charleston, WV
www.mountainstage.org

10/12 Byham Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
www.pgharts.org

10/13 Roanoke VA – Shaftman Performance Hall
www.jeffcenter.org

10/15 Portsmouth VA – Harbor Center
www.harborcenter.com
“Internet Pre-Sale Friday August 27 at 10am.
Password is ‘changes’

10/16 Richmond VA – Carpenter Center
www.carpentercenter.com
Tickets on sale 9/10/04
Internet pre-sale Sept. 9 at 10am. Password = “changes”. Click here for link!
General tickets on sale Sept. 10.

10/17 Baltimore MD – Hippodrome
www.france-merrickpac.com

10/19 Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT

10/20 Palace Theater – Albany, NY
www.palacealbany.com

10/22 York, PA

Indie rock stalwarts Ted Leo & the Pharmacists have confirmed a host of headlining tour dates in support of their forthcoming fourth album, “Shake the Sheets.” As previously reported, the album is due Oct. 19 via Lookout!

The band will play New York’s Knitting Factory five days before the album’s street date, as part of the Lookout! Records CMJ Music Marathon showcase. The tour kicks off a week later (Oct. 21) in Baltimore, and dates are set through Dec. 10 in Philadelphia.

Support acts signed on for the tour include Brendan Benson, the Natural History, Mary Timony, the Lashes, Engine Down, Lucero, Matt Pond PA and Just A Fire.

The outing includes two-night stands at Washington, D.C.’s Black Cat (Dec. 1-2) and Cambridge, Mass.’ Middle East venue (Dec. 8-9). On Oct. 23 in Atlanta, the band will play two shows — a 5:00 p.m. all-ages gig and a 9:30 p.m. performance for fans 21-and-over. Leo also has a DJ set scheduled for Nov. 4 at Hollywood’s Beauty Bar.

Here are Ted Leo & the Pharmacists’ tour dates:

Oct. 14: New York (Knitting Factory)
Oct. 21: Baltimore (Ottobar)
Oct. 22: Raleigh, N.C. (Kings Lounge)
Oct. 23: Atlanta (the Earl — two shows)
Oct. 25: Orlando, Fla. (The Social)
Oct. 26: Tallahassee, Fla. (Club Downunder)
Oct. 27: New Orleans (Twiropa)
Oct. 28: Houston (Rice University Student Center)
Oct. 29: Dallas (Gypsy Tea Room)
Oct. 30: Austin, Texas (Emo’s Alternative Lounge)
Nov. 1: Tucson, Ariz. (Solar Culture Gallery)
Nov. 2: San Diego (Porters Pub)
Nov. 3: Anaheim, Calif. (Chain Reaction)
Nov. 4: Hollywood (Beauty Bar — Ted Leo DJ set)
Nov. 5: Los Angeles (El Rey Theater)
Nov. 6: San Francisco (Great American Music Hall)
Nov. 8: Portland, Ore. (Bossanova)
Nov. 9: Seattle (Neumos Crystal Ball Reading)
Nov. 10: Vancouver, B.C. (the Red Room)
Nov. 12: Salt Lake City (Kilby Court)
Nov. 13: Denver (Climax Lounge)
Nov. 14: Lawrence, Kan. (Bottleneck)
Nov. 15: Grinnell, Iowa (Gardner Lounge)
Nov. 16: Duluth, Minn. (University of Minnesota-Duluth)
Nov. 18: Chicago (Metro)
Nov. 19: Detroit (Magic Stick)
Nov. 20: Cleveland (Grog Shop)
Dec. 1-2: Washington, D.C. (Black Cat)
Dec. 4: Ithaca, N.Y. (Noyes Community Center at Cornell)
Dec. 8-9: Cambridge, Mass. (the Middle East)
Dec. 10: Philadelphia (Beyond Nightclub)

Source billboard.com.

If rock stars were superheroes BANYAN’s ferocious new full length, “LIVE AT PERKINS PALACE” (out October 12 on Sanctuary Records), would be the stuff of comic book collecting fantasies. Over the course of their previous two full-length albums (1997’s “Banyan,” and 1999’s “Anytime At All”), Jane’s Addiction’s resident skin pounding guru, Stephen Perkins, lead a rotating cast of a veritable who’s who in California’s collaboration happy music scene. Banyan seemed to consist
of everybody from eccentric beat junkies like Money Mark and the Dust Brothers, to Chili Peppers’ Flea and John Frusciante, to critically acclaimed Lou Reed collaborating bassist Rob Wasserman.

For “Live At Perkins Palace,” though, Perkins wanted to try and capture the very essence of Banyan’s ambitious live experience. In doing so, he trimmed the group’s far-reaching lineup down to its four core members. This time around Banyan consists of former Minute Men bassist and low-frequency iconoclast, Mike Watt handling bass duties, Wilco’s current ghost-birthing guitarist, Nels Cline, one-time Death Row records session musician, Willie Waldman on trumpet, and, of course, Jane’s Addiction’s tribal rhythm provider, Stephen Perkins, holding it all together on the kit.