2004

As he prepares for the final Guided By Voices tour, frontman Robert Pollard seems to be doing some housecleaning. Currently open for bidding on Web-auction site eBay are nine rare, autographed GBV/Pollard solo releases listed as “from Bob Pollard’s personal collection.”

The lots range from autographed vinyl copies of Guided By Voices albums “Mag Earwhig!” (Matador) and “Isolation Drills” (TVT) to the rarer vinyl collection “Earful O’ Wax” and the out-of-print bootleg “King’s Ransom.” The most expensive item listed is an original vinyl copy of Guided By Voices’ breakthrough album “Propeller,” with hand-glued cover art created by Pollard — asking price starts at $1,000.

As previously reported, GBV plans to break up following a New Year’s Eve concert at Chicago’s Metro. The band’s final album, “Half-Smiles of the Decomposed,” was on August 24th via Matador.

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The first in a series of Bob Dylan’s memoirs will be captured in “Chronicles: Volume One,” hitting shelves Oct. 12 via Simon & Schuster. The volume is comprised of “first-person narratives focusing on significant periods in Dylan’s life and career,” according to the publisher.

Simon & Schuster executive VP/publisher David Rosenthal describes “Chronicles: Volume One” as “extraordinary, revealing and surprising. It is a beautifully written, singular achievement.”

The 304-page book will carry a suggested retail price of $24 and feature a rare portrait on its back cover of Dylan from his early days in New York. A hardcover edition is expected in January.

Also arriving in October is Dylan’s “Lyrics: 1962-2001,” an updated version of a compendium first published in 1973 and revised in 1985.

Beyond the books, the 63-year-old music legend will be the subject of the tentatively titled Todd Haynes film “I’m Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan,” due sometime next year, as well as a Martin Scorsese-helmed documentary, provisionally titled “Bob Dylan Anthology Project.”

Dylan is in the midst of a minor-league baseball stadium tour with Willie Nelson that touches base tonight (Aug. 25) on Peoria, Ill.

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Dave Matthews, Trey Anastasio and members of The Dead are telling their fans to “show up” on election day via a series of public service announcements produced by HeadCount, a not-for-profit nonpartisan group run entirely by volunteers.

The campaign, which includes three 30-second commercials as well as radio and Internet-based spots, will appear on TNT, TBS and other networks between now and election day. It can be viewed at www.headcount.org.

HeadCount is affiliated with nearly 30 national touring bands and has registered over 25,000 voters to date. It has a network of over 50 local voter registration teams, and also sent traveling teams on tour with Dave Matthews Band, The Dead and Phish this summer. Both Dave Matthews Band and The Dead made $15,000 contributions to HeadCount to help fund those efforts.

“Having Dave Matthews, Trey Anastasio and The Dead in television commercials and shooting them at Bonnaroo really captures what we’re trying to do as an organization,” said Andy Bernstein, HeadCount’s co-chair and the executive producer of the campaign. “We’re using the enormous power of music to get people to the polls in November.”

The public service announcements were developed by an in-house creative team, and produced in high-definition by Fossil Films in conjunction with Air Seal Land Productions. They were made possible by the generosity of Leo Hindery Jr., Steve Simon, Richard Simonds and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, comedian David Cross, Queensryche, X’s John Doe and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion are among the acts confirmed to perform at No Vote Left Behind, a festival/political fundraiser to be held Sept. 23-26 at a variety of Seattle venues. The full lineup is still being finalized; tickets go on-sale Sept. 10.

Other early confirmations include Grant Lee Phillips, John Vanderslice, Pansy Division, Delays, Kinski, Robbers On High Street, El Vez, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and members of Nada Surf and the Long Winters. Participating venues include the Showbox, the Crocodile Cafe, Sunset Tavern and Graceland.

A kick-off event will be held Sept. 10 at Neumo’s, featuring Sir Mix-A-Lot, Outtasite and Children Of The Revolution.

Proceeds from No Vote Left Behind will fund donations to the Democratic National Committee, progressive candidates in congressional races and like-minded political action groups.

“There are a lot of other great organizations that are using music to increase voter turn-out and register voters,” says NVLB’s Chris Olson. “We want to use music more directly as a fundraising tool. We really want to be a partisan voice in the music community working for regime change.”

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Blending seven hours of acoustic, bluegrass and progressive folk music, The 5th Annual Grassroots Music & Arts Festival is being held Sunday, August 29 at the legendary Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.

Fans of progressive Americana have particular reason to rejoice, as this year

The state of Illinois filed suit against the Dave Matthews Band yesterday (Aug. 24) for allegedly dumping up to 800 pounds of liquid human waste from a bus into the Chicago River, dousing a tour boat filled with passengers.

The lawsuit accuses the band and one of its bus drivers of violating state water pollution and public nuisance laws. It seeks $70,000 in civil penalties.

“Our driver has stated that he was not involved in this incident,” a band spokesperson said in a statement, adding, the band “will continue to be cooperative in this investigation.”

According to the lawsuit, on Aug. 8 a bus leased by the band was heading to a downtown hotel where members were staying. As it crossed the Kinzie Street bridge, the driver allegedly emptied the contents of the septic tank through the bridge’s metal grating into the river below.

More than 100 people on an architecture tour were showered with foul-smelling waste. The attorney general’s office said no one was seriously injured.

“This incident may be unique, but that does not lessen the environmental or public health risks posed by the release of at least 800 pounds of liquid human waste into a busy waterway and onto a crowded tour boat,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.

After the incident, the boat’s captain turned the vessel around and took passengers back to the dock. Everyone received refunds, and the boat was cleaned with disinfectant.

Source billboard.com.