2004

Gregg Allman will return to the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival this year as Gov’t Mule’s Special Guest, Saturday, September 18, 2004. Regarding the addition of Allman to the line-up, Steve Gumble, Festival Director, says, “Gregg Allman has been one of my musical heroes for many years. He is truly a part of rock and roll’s living history and Telluride is once again part of that history. To have him grace our stage with Gov’t Mule is more than just an honor, it is a privilege.”

This year’s diverse array of world class musicians also includes B.B. King headlining Sunday, Jonny Lang headlining Friday as well as the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Stockholm Syndrome featuring Dave Schools and Jerry Joseph, Edgar Winter, Shemekia Copeland, Elvin Bishop, Lonnie Brooks, Indigenous, Anders Osborne and Friends, Papa Grows Funk, Bonerama, Richard Johnston with Papa Mali, Gospel Hummingbirds, Hazel Miller, Mofro, Tommy Elskes and Friends.

To order tickets, check availability, and/or make camping reservations, call 866-515-6166 (toll free) or log on to tellurideblues.com. Three day passes are $125.00, Friday passes are $44.00 and Saturday and Sunday passes are $49.00 each. Juke Joint passes are $17.00 each per night. Tickets are also available locally at Telluride Music at 201 East Colorado Avenue.

Vision International is proud to announce AmsterJam, the first ever multi-bill event for American bands in Amsterdam, Holland. There will be limited capacity to catch four of today’s hottest acts for three nights only, March 20-22, 2005. Confirmed acts are:

Keller Williams, The Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee and Particle

Each act will play a long two-hour set each night of AmsterJam, in one of the two venues. There will be overlap, so that we can accommodate all attendees within the two rooms. Even though the total capacity is 1750, we only plan to sell 1500 tickets, so as to keep it very comfortable for all. With normal ebb and flow of the crowd, it should be no problem seeing your favorite group, up close and personal, without being elbowed or jostled.

The General Public onsale will begin next Friday August 6th at noon at amsterjam.net.

Also, at that time, travel packages will be available from Madison House Travel. Due to the nature of the show, there will not be a ‘one size fits all’ package, but will include deals on airfares, hotels, and offer travel insurance. Show passes will also be included, but not discounted.

Badly Drawn Boy will launch a North American tour Oct. 5 in Vancouver. Heading out in support of his just released fourth album, “One Plus One Is One” (Astralwerks), the U.K.-based singer/songwriter has dates scheduled through an Oct. 26 show in Houston.

“One Plus One Is One” is the follow-up to 2002’s “Have You Fed the Fish?” That set bowed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and No. 135 on The Billboard 200.

Here are Badly Drawn Boy’s tour dates:

Oct. 5: Vancouver (Commodore)
Oct. 6: Walla Walla, Wash. (Whitman College)
Oct. 7: Portland, Ore. (Aladdin Theatre)
Oct. 8: Seattle (Showbox)
Oct. 10: San Francisco (Fillmore)
Oct. 12: Los Angeles (Avalon)
Oct. 13: San Diego (Cane’s)
Oct. 14: Phoenix (Marquee Theatre)
Oct. 16: Salt Lake City (In the Venue)
Oct. 17: Boulder (Fox Theatre)
Oct. 18: Lawrence, Kan. (Liberty Hall)
Oct. 20: Minneapolis (Pantages Theatre)
Oct. 21: Chicago (Vic Theatre)
Oct. 22: St. Louis (Pageant)
Oct. 24: Dallas (Gypsy Tea Room)
Oct. 25: Austin, Texas (La Zona Rosa)
Oct. 26: Houston (Meridien)

Source billboard.com.

Comedian Chris Rock will release a new album, “Never Scared,” Aug. 31 via Geffen. The set culls material from his HBO special of the same name in addition to a handful of music parodies and new comedy sketches. The first single, “Crackers,” is a parody of OutKast’s No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Hey Ya.” The album will also include a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes footage from the HBO special.

“Never Scared” is Rock’s first CD release since 1999’s “Bigger and Blacker,” which peaked at No. 44 on The Billboard 200 and has sold more than 404,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

After a two-year hiatus from films, Rock will be heard in the 2005 animated feature “Madagascar” and seen in the remake of the football-themed “The Longest Yard,” also starring Adam Sandler and rapper Nelly.

Source billboard.com.

The three members of the renowned underground rock band Dispatch, Chad Urmston, Pete Francis and Brad Corrigan wouldn

Neko Case will release two new albums via Epitaph’s Anti- imprint in the coming months as part of a licensing deal with Mint Records for the world excluding Canada. The first set, “The Tigers Have Spoken,” is due Nov. 9. An as-yet-untitled new studio album is expected in spring 2005. Case was previously signed to Bloodshot as a solo artist.

“The Tigers Have Spoken” was recorded earlier this year across seven shows at venues in Chicago and Toronto. Case was backed by the Sadies, steel guitarist Jon Rauhouse and a host of guests, including Kelly Hogan, Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops and Carolyn Mark.
The track list includes two new cuts (the title track and opener “If You Knew”), covers of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Soulful Shade of Blue,” the Shangri-Las-popularized “Train From Kansas City” and her interpretations of the standards “Wayfaring Stranger” and “This Little Light.”

Also featured is the title track from Case’s latest solo album, 2002’s “Blacklisted,” which peaked at No. 31 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart.

Case has two dates on her tour itinerary: Sept. 16 at the Parish in Austin, Texas, and the following day in the same city as part of the Austin City Limits Festival.

Source billboard.com.

An announcement is expected tomorrow (Aug. 4) with details of the upcoming Vote for Change tour, presented by MoveOn.Org’s political action committee MoveOn PAC and America Coming Together (ACT), an organization advocating change in government. The series is set to begin Oct. 1 in Pennsylvania and will include in the neighborhood of 40 shows in such presidential election “battleground” states as Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and Florida.

Sources say the format will be several concerts in different cities in one state on a given night; shows include R.E.M. with Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks with James Taylor and Jackson Browne with Bonnie Raitt, along with performances by such acts as Jimmy Buffett, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews Band. A host of additional acts are expected to participate.

Tentative plans call for a major concert featuring several acts on Oct. 10 in Miami. Among those spearheading the effort are Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau and R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs.

A number of artists will be hitting the airwaves tomorrow to discuss the tour; Matthews will appear in the morning on NBC’s “The Today Show,” while R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills will be interviewed by Al Franken at 1:30 p.m ET on the Air America Radio Network.

Source billboard.com.