2004

R.E.M.’s upcoming North American tour will feature support from such acts as Joseph Arthur, Charlie Mars, Five Eight, Angela McCluskey and Now It’s Overhead.

Rock outfit Five Eight, which hails from R.E.M.’s Athens, Ga., hometown, will open the first four shows of the six-week tour, which kicks off Oct. 13 in Los Angeles. Sprinkled through the subsequent 11 dates will be the lone appearance of newcomer Trent Dabbs (Oct. 22, Nashville), four opening sets by fellow Athens natives Now It’s Overhead and six by former Wild Colonials vocalist McCluskey.

Akron, Ohio-bred, New York-based singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur, who will release the album “Our Shadows Will Remain” this fall via Vector, opens the next six shows through Nov. 12 in Montreal. V2 rock artist Charlie Mars will support on seven of the final eight dates, with Five Eight returning for a Nov. 19 performance in Seattle.

R.E.M. will be touring in support of its new Warner Bros. album, “Around the Sun,” due Oct. 5 in North America. First single “Leaving New York” can be streamed via the band’s official Web site; a video, directed by Peter Care, is in the works.

In other news, the group has contributed its vintage track “We Walk” to the Epic compilation “Mary Had a Little Amp,” also due Oct. 5. The Dixie Chicks, Moby, Maroon 5 and Lou Reed are among the other artists donating cuts to the album, proceeds from which will benefit Project Kid Smart and Start Smart America.

Source billboard.com.

U2’s as-yet-untitled new studio album will be released Nov. 22 internationally and a day later in North America via Interscope. First single “Vertigo” will hit radio in late September, to be followed by a video. A commercial single is tentatively due for a Nov. 8 international release.

A spokesperson for the band’s U.K.-based Principle Management says the information is “broadly correct” but would not confirm specific details.

Even though a disc featuring album tracks was reported stolen during a photo shoot last month in France, few details have emerged about the set. Among the song titles mentioned in recent comments by band members are “Tough” and “Full Metal Jacket.”

Author/band friend Neil McCormick recently told Ireland’s Hot Press magazine that the album featured “an interesting title, an interesting philosophical idea as a title, and quite a difficult title.”

As first reported here in February, production was handled by Steve Lillywhite, who has worked on such past U2 albums as “The Joshua Tree” and “Achtung Baby.”

The upcoming release will be the follow-up to 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” which has sold more than 4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. A world tour is expected to launch early next year.

Preceding the album will be the photo book “U2 Show: The Art of Touring,” due Oct. 21 via Riverhead Books. More than 400 rare photographs and illustrations appear in the volume, which chronicles the band’s live performance history.

Source billboard.com.

The bounty of vintage Grateful Dead and posthumous Jerry Garcia releases will continue to overflow this fall. In September, Rhino will release a three-disc live Garcia set and follow it in October with a 12-disc box culling the Dead’s post-Warner Bros. studio albums, rarities and live cuts.

Due Sept. 28, “After Midnight” stems from a Garcia performance at Kean College in Union, N.J., captured on 24-track masters. The nearly three-hour show featured 16 songs, including Bob Dylan’s “Simple Twist Of Fate” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come” and the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”

Dead lyricist and frequent Garcia collaborator Robert Hunter was on hand to sing lead vocals on his songs “Tiger Rose” and “Promontory Rider.” Joining Garcia on stage was Ozzie Ahlers (keyboards/vocals), John Kahn (bass) and Johnny De Foncesca (bass).

As previously reported, Jerry Garcia Estate LLC discovered a treasure trove of Garcia tapes when the Dead reorganized its storied tape vault. Two-track concert recordings will emerge via the “Pure Jerry” series, which will be released exclusively online. Further multi-track recordings are expected to emerge via the estate’s relationship with Rhino.

“There’s over 500 live concerts in two-track, and then … several multi-track concerts that haven’t been mined yet,” Christopher Sabec, CEO of the Jerry Garcia Estate LLC recently told Billboard.com. “It’s unbelievably impressive, the number of solo projects that he performed.”

On Oct. 26, Grateful Dead Productions/Rhino will release “Beyond Description (1973-1989),” which will boast remastered and repackaged version of the band’s Arista-era output on its own Grateful Dead Records label. In the vein of the Warner Bros. -era 2001 box “The Golden Road (1965-1973),” this sprawling set captures 161 songs, 65 of them previously unreleased.

The box will boast sonically improved versions of the studio albums “Wake of the Flood” (1973) “The Grateful Dead From the Mars Hotel” (1974), “Blues for Allah” (1975), “Terrapin Station” (1977), “Shakedown Street” (1978), “Go to Heaven” (1980), “In the Dark” (1987) and “Built to Last” (1989). Each title has been expanded to include outtakes, live tracks, alternate versions and rehearsal peroformances.

Additionally, the 1981 live albums “Reckoning” and “Dead Set” have been expanded to two-disc sets that include further material from the original concert dates. The first, from San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre, adds 16 songs, including “Cassidy,” “Ripple” and “Heaven Help the Fool” from the concert, and a studio rehearsal version of “To Lay Me Down.”

“Dead Set” has been expanded with a nine-track bonus disc featuring previously unreleased versions of such Dead staples as “Sugaree,” “Not Fade Away,” “Jack Straw” and “Shakedown Street.”

“Beyond Description” was co-produced by Dead archivist David Lemieux and Rhino’s James Austin. Joe Gastwirt remastered each disc in the set utilizing HDCD technology; he had previously remastered the titles for their initial CD release.

The set will also include a book with essays by Rolling Stone music critic David Fricke, “Grateful Dead Hour” host David Gans and author Blair Jackson. Lemieux and Dead biographer/spokesperson Dennis McNally (“A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead”) contribute liner notes.

Source billboard.com.

The Del McCoury Band tops the list of nominees for the 15th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, set for Oct. 7 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville, Ky. The awards show, hosted by Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski, is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) annual World of Bluegrass Trade Show and Fan Fest, which runs Oct. 4-10.

The Del McCoury Band, eight-time winners of the award for entertainer of the year, have 12 nominations this year, including entertainer, vocal group, instrumental group and album of the year for “It’s Just the Night.” McCoury earned an individual nod in the male vocalist category, and other band members received individual nominations on their respective instruments: Rob McCoury, banjo; Mike Bub, bass; Jason Carter, fiddle; and Ronnie McCoury, mandolin.

Krauss & Union Station earned nine nominations, including entertainer of the year, instrumental group, vocal group and female vocalist of the year for Krauss. Blue Highway earned seven nominations. Other multiple nominees include Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Mountain Heart and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

This year’s Hall of Honor inductees are Curly Seckler and Bill Vernon. Distinguished Achievement Awards will be presented to Moses “Mo” Asch, Kirk & Becky Brandenberger, Tom T. & Dixie Hall, Jimmie Skinner and Art Stamper.

The winners are voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA. This year marks the last year in Louisville before the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass event moves to Nashville in 2005. The awards will be broadcast to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks.

Source billboard.com.

Reggae fans will have reason to celebrate Sept. 28, as Island/Tuff Gong/UME reissues Bob Marley & the Wailers’ classic 1973 album “Burnin'” as a two-CD package including a previously unreleased concert recording from that year.

The first disc of “Burnin’ — Deluxe Edition” will feature the original album (including such hits as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Burnin’ and Lootin’,” “Small Axe” and “Put It On”), as well as five bonus tracks: an alternate take and a single version of “Get Up, Stand Up”; the B-side “Reincarnated Soul”; and “No Sympathy” and “The Oppressed Song,” both of which were released for the first time on Island/Tuff Gong/UME’s 2001 digitally remastered version of “Burnin’.”

Disc two of the set features a 12-song Wailers concert recorded Nov. 23, 1973, at England’s Leeds Polytechnic. Founding member Bunny Wailer had already left the group by that point, but the show features Marley and Peter Tosh, who would also soon take leave of the pioneering reggae band.

The show includes performances of “Duppy Conqueror,” “Slave Driver,” “No More Trouble,” “Kinky Reggae,” “Stir It Up,” the rarity “You Can’t Blame the Youth” and a 13-minute version of “Lively Up Yourself.”

“Burnin'” joins previously issued Deluxe Editions of the Marley albums “Catch a Fire,” “Exodus,” “Rastaman Vibration” and the greatest-hits set “Legend.”

Source billboard.com.

Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson and Crosby, Stills and Nash have joined the Vote for Change Tour. They’ll make guest appearances on the Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ bill. The tour, which will travel through key “swing states” the month before the presidential election, has expanded to Arizona and Washington.
Johnson and Crosby, Stills and Nash will play a just-announced Phoenix show on September 29th, while Crow will perform at the previously scheduled Jacksonville, Florida, show on October 8th. Browne, Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ have also scheduled a Seattle show for September 27th.

For additional show and ticket information, go to moveonpac.org.

Jackson Browne/Bonnie Raitt/Keb’ Mo’ tour dates:

9/27: Seattle, WA, McGraw Hall (on sale 8/20)
9/29: Phoenix, AZ, (guests Jack Johnson, Crosby, Stills and Nash) Cricket Pavilion (on sale TBA)
10/1: Erie, PA, Warner Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cincinnati, OH, Taft Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/3: East Lansing, MI, Warton Center (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Kansas City, MO, Midland Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/6: Des Moines, IA, (no Jackson Browne; guest TBA) Des Moines Civic Center (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Jacksonville, FL, (no Jackson Browne; guest Sheryl Crow), Moran Theater (on sale 8/21)

Pearl Jam/Death Cab for Cutie tour dates:

10/1: Reading, OH, Sovereign Center (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Toledo, OH, Sports Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Grand Rapids, MI, Delta Plex (on sale 8/21)
10/5: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/6: Asheville, NC, Civic Center (on sale 8/21)
10/7: Kissimmee, FL, Silver Spurs Arena (on sale 8/21)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band/R.E.M./Bright Eyes tour dates:

10/1: Philadelphia, PA, Wachovia Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cleveland, OH, Gund Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Cobo Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/5: St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Orlando, FL (no Bright Eyes), TD Waterhouse (on sale 8/21)

Dave Matthews Band/Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals/Jurassic 5/My Morning Jacket tour dates:

10/1: State College, PA, Bryce Jordan (on sale 9/2)
10/2: Dayton, OH, Nutter Center (on sale 8/28)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Palace of Auburn Hills (on sale 8/28)
10/5: Madison, WI, Kohl Center (on sale 9/3)
10/6: Ames, IA, Hilton Coliseum (on sale 8/28)
10/8: Gainesville, FL,(no My Morning Jacket) O’Connell Center (on sale 8/28)

Dixie Chicks/James Taylor tour dates:

10/1: Pittsburgh, PA, Heinz Hall (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cleveland, OH, State Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Iowa City, IA, Hancher Auditorium (on sale 8/21)
10/6: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall (on sale 8/21)

John Mellencamp/Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds tour dates:

10/1: Wilkes-Barre, PA, FM Kirby Center (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cincinnati, OH, PromoWest Pavilion (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Kalamazoo, MI, Wings Stadium (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Milwaukee, WI, Riverside Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Miami, FL, Jackie Gleason Theater (on sale 8/21)

Source rollingstone.com.

Chris Robinson has canceled plans for a fall tour with his band New Earth Mud, amid growing speculation that he may re-team with his brother Rich under the Black Crowes moniker. As previously reported, the siblings have met recently with former manager Pete Angelus to discuss a potential reunion.

Angelus declined to comment, other than to say, “Keep your resin-covered fingers crossed.”

Rich Robinson is prepping for the Aug. 24 release of his solo debut, “Paper,” via his own Key Hole imprint. There’s no word yet if he will tour in support of the set, in the wake of recently completed pre-release residencies in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

Also foreshadowing a reunion is the recent reactivation of the Black Crowes’ Web site, which has been largely dormant since the group announced a hiatus in 2002. The site hosts animation of two crow heads with lit joints in their mouths, as live Black Crowes audio clips play in the background.

Source billboard.com.