2004

King’s X leader Doug Pinnick has completed work on a long-in-the-works album with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament. The duo does not have a name but the 15-track album is tentatively titled “Montana,” according to King’s X’s official Web site. Richard Stuverud, Ament’s collaborator in his side band Three Fish, also participated in the sessions. No release date has been announced.

Pinnick describes the sound as “sort of a southern rock/classic sound, a bit of the Rolling Stones vibe, a little jam band vibe some groovy/funky tunes and a few beautiful ballads.” Pinnick and Stuverud handle all the singing, while Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready recently dropped by to add guitar to seven tracks.

The “Montana” album is just one of many projects on Pinnick’s plate. He is working with Winger guitarist Reb Beach on a CD of “’80s type music” that sounds like “Bon Jovi, Dokken [and] Whitesnake sort of but with my twist for vocals,” Pinnick says. The set is tentatively titled “Devil’s Children.”

King’s X has a double-disc live album in the can, sporting “no overdubs so at times [it] is really rough but has lots of vibe,” according to Pinnick. The group has also begun talks with its former label, Atlantic, to reissue its first four albums in a boxed set with a bonus disc of rehearsals. “This project is in just the talking phase right now,” Pinnick says.

Finally, King’s X is working on a new studio album, which will be the follow-up to 2003’s “Black Like Sunday.” Says Pinnick, “We are doing it like we used to in the early days; some old demos and lots of new stuff. Hopefully this is what you diehards are waiting for.”

The group will hit the road this fall, beginning Sept. 21 in Fort Worth, Texas, and running through a Nov. 17 finale in Baltimore.

Source billboard.com.

Funk legend Rick James was found dead at 9:45 a.m. PT this morning (Aug. 6) at his Los Angeles home by a caretaker, according to a police spokesperson. He was 56. The cause of death was believed to be natural. The artist had a history of drug problems that led to poor health in recent years, including a 1998 stroke.

In addition to his own slew of pop and R&B hits, such as “Super Freak (Part 1),” “You and I” and “Mary Jane,” James wrote and produced songs for the likes of Teena Marie, the Temptations and Eddie Murphy. The one-time Navy deserter fell prey to drugs, and spent time behind bars in the 1990s for assault and holding a woman against her will.

James was recently honored with the Heritage Award from performing arts society ASCAP. Prior to the ceremony, he told Billboard he was planning to release a 30-song double-CD on his Sony/RED-distributed label, Ma Records.

“God sat me down to pay attention,” James said about the stroke. “Then he told me to get back up and hit the stage, and I’m enjoying it.”

James also claimed he was ready to retire from the music business “to do something more spiritual.” His daughter Ty, a rapper, is recording and negotiating a deal for her own solo album.

The artist roared back into the public consciousness earlier this year thanks to a series of hilarious, oft-quoted sketches on Comedy Central’s “Chapelle’s Show.” The show’s host/creator, Dave Chappelle, was in early talks to star as James in a film based on his upcoming autobiography, “Memoirs of a Super Freak.”

Source billboard.com.

The String Cheese Incident has mapped out their plans for the remainder of 2004. Fall Tour will begin in mid October with a three-night run at The Backyard in Austin, Texas. The 16-show tour will wind through parts of the South and Midwest and end on October 31st with a Halloween bash in Madison, Wisconsin. The band has also confirmed an isolated run of shows in Philadelphia over Thanksgiving weekend, as well as an acoustic performance at Michael Franti’s 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Halloween is always an over-the-top event for The String Cheese Incident and their fans. In 2001 SCI’s Halloween show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden staged stops along NYC’s subway line. The conductor for the wild ride was John Perry Barlow. In 2002 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles SCI fans dressed for the “Acadamummy Awards” and upon entering the venue via the red carpet, stopped to chat with a Joan Rivers impersonator. During that show the band played a special middle set comprised of songs by dead rocks stars; and they dressed the part. The set list included Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Tightrope,” Freddie Mercury’s “We are the Champions,” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” among others. The band is not yet revealing plans for this Halloween. Stay tuned to their website for details as they become available stringcheeseincident.com.

SCI has also announced that they will ring in this New Year in the Big Apple. The band is confirmed to perform December 28 and 29 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and December 31 at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets for SCI’s Fall Tour go on sale at 10 am MST on August 25 at sciticketing.com. On sale dates for November Philly shows and NYE will be announced soon.

The complete 2004 Fall tour dates is as follows:

Sat Sep 11 San Francisco CA Golden Gate Park
Fri Oct 15 Austin TX The Backyard
Sat Oct 16 Austin TX The Backyard
Sun Oct 17 Austin TX The Backyard
Tue Oct 19 Birmingham AL BJCC Theater
Wed Oct 20 Atlanta GA Fox Theatre
Fri Oct 22 Asheville NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Sat Oct 23 Asheville NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Mon Oct 25 Louisville KY Palace Theatre
Tue Oct 26 Bloomington IN IU Auditorium
Thu Oct 28 Ann Arbor MI Hill Auditorium
Fri Oct 29 Chicago IL UIC Pavilion
Sat Oct 30 Chicago IL UIC Pavilion
Sun Oct 31 Madison WI Exhibit Hall @ the Alliant Energy Center
Fri Nov 26 Camden NJ Tweeter Waterfront
Sat Nov 27 Camden NJ Tweeter Waterfront
Tue Dec 28 New York NY Theater at Madison Square Gardens
Wed Dec 29 New York NY Theater at Madison Square Gardens
Fri Dec 31 New York NY Radio City Music Hall

Strangefolk and Wormtown Trading Co. present The 9th Annual Strangefolk’s Garden Of Eden Festival to be held September 4th and 5th at Camp Keewanee in Greenfield, MA.

For the 9th year in a row, Strangefolk, the energetic Rock quintet from Burlington,VT will be hosting their annual Strangefolk’s Garden Of Eden Festival. This year marks the first time that the event has been held in Massachusetts and also the first year that Strangefolk has joined forces with one of New England’s most prolific festival promoters, Wormtown Trading Co. to create an even more vibrant and colorful Garden of Eden.

This exciting 2 day event is to be held at Camp Keewanee, on the banks of the Green River in Greenfield, MA on Labor Day weekend, September 4th and 5th and will include performances by some of the most talented and beloved bands in the Northeast today, as well as a variety of other attractions including roaming entertainers, a kids tent, drum circles, a community bonfire, arts & crafts, body art and a wide array of quality food and clothing vendors.

Also Performing:
Max Creek, The Zen Tricksters, Rob Wasserman, Rev Tor Band, Gordon Stone Band, Raisinhill, U-Melt, Seth Yacavone Band, Perpetual Groove, Bathtub Mary, Fungus Amungus, Oak Street, Hot Day At The Zoo, Spaghetti Cake, The Rafter Bats, The Brew, & EdnDave with T.

For more information on Strangefolk’s Garden Of Eden Festival, visit wormtown.com/gardenofeden.

Norah Jones’ sophomore Blue Note album “Feels Like Home” will be re-released as a double-disc package Sept. 21. Three previously unreleased songs will be featured: the original “Moon Song,” a cover of the Boudleaux/Bryant staple “Sleepless Nights” and “I Turned Your Picture to the Wall,” penned by Jones’ guitarist Adam Levy’s grandfather.

The second disc will be a DVD with live versions of album cuts “Creepin’ In,” “The Long Way Home” and “In the Morning,” recorded in March in Madrid, as well as a cover of Gram Parsons’ “She.” An interview with Jones plus music videos for “Sunrise” and “What Am I to You?” round out the package.

“Feels Like Home” debuted earlier this year at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 3.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Jones is in the midst of her biggest tour yet, which next plays Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry on Aug. 12. Dates are on tap through Nov. 14 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

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Updating a story first posted here yesterday (Aug. 3), artists such as Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks and the Dave Matthews Band have teamed up for the Vote for Change tour, which will visit 28 cities in nine presidential election battleground states.

The tour will kick off Oct. 1 with a concerted effort in Pennsylvania, where Springsteen & the E Street Band will play Philadelphia with R.E.M., John Fogerty and Bright Eyes, while Pearl Jam will play Reading, Pa., with Death Cab For Cutie.

State College, Pa. will get the Dave Matthews Band, Jurassic 5 and My Morning Jacket on that date and the Dixie Chicks will team up with James Taylor to play Pittsburgh. John Mellencamp and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds will perform together in Williamsport, Pa., and Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ will stir things up in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Other states that will see some or all of the shows are Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, North Carolina and Florida.

Vote for Change is presented by MoveOn.Org’s political action committee MoveOn PAC and America Coming Together (ACT), an organization advocating change in government.

The full lineup is still coming together but early details are available via MoveOn’s Web site.

“There isn’t going to be any illusion in the audience about why we’re there,” Matthews said on NBC’s “The Today Show” this morning. Adds R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, “This unprecedented coming together of musicians underscores the depth of the desire for change in our country’s direction, and it feels right to use some of the freedoms granted to us in a democracy to try and effect that change.”

“This is the fourth presidential election which Pearl Jam has engaged in as a band, and we feel it’s the most important one of our lifetime,” Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder says in a statement. “We believe in the power of the first amendment, and have always exercised our right to free speech in every aspect of our lives and music. This year there is no more powerful way for all Americans to exercise that right than by voting.

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.