With a new album On My Way, Ben Kweller is playing homage to mid 60’s early 70’s form, with his quirky brand of rock. It all sounds distinctly familiar as echoes of Carole King, Graham Parsons and Neil Young ring forward, proving Kweller is truly in with the old.
This is the best of the New Orleans jazz funk scene today, and it
PHISH will end their 2004 Summer Tour with a two-day festival, COVENTRY. The event will take place August 14th and 15th on the grounds of the Newport State Airport and adjacent fields in the rural town of Coventry, Vermont. COVENTRY is the band’s first-ever home state festival, and first public outdoor Vermont appearance since 1995.
Located amidst the rolling hills and lush green valleys of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, COVENTRY will be Phish’s seventh “city-size” festival, with an expected turnout that will qualify it as Vermont’s most populated city for the weekend of August 14th and 15th. As with all prior Phish festivals, COVENTRY will see the band performing three live sets each day, with on-site camping as well as numerous attractions and art installations created by teams of talented artists and performers.
Tickets for COVENTRY will go on sale on Thursday, May 20th, at 10AM for $149.50 (plus applicable service fees) via the Phish Tickets website, located at http://phishtickets.rlc.net . Starting Friday, May 21st at 9AM, tickets will also be available via Ticketmaster by phone or online at http://ticketmaster.com . Tickets may also be charged by phone at the following Northeast Ticketmaster numbers: 802-862-5300; 603-868-7300; 207-775-3331; 617-931-2000; 413-733-2500; 212-307-7171; 518-476-1000; 401-331-2211; 757-671-8100
Source phish.com.
As previously reported, HeadCount, a voter registration group affiliated with most of the top improvisational music acts, will be holding a benefit concert at BB King Blues Club on June 7, 2004 to raise money for its nationwide voter registration campaign.
Today they proudly announce that Mike Gordon, Joe Russo and Marco Benevento will be performing at the event, as will Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident. Already announced on the bill are moe. and a separate performance by The HeadCount All-Stars, featuring Al Schnier and Vinnie Amico of moe., and Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits.
“We are very honored to have this sort of talent supporting HeadCount and performing at this event,” said Bernstein, HeadCount’s Co-Chair. “There’s almost universal agreement that the November election is among the most important in history, and the musicians are truly getting behind our efforts to register their fans.”
All proceeds from the event will go to HeadCount. The organization’s web site, HeadCount.org, is also accepting volunteer applications and donations. It also houses a proprietary on-line voter registration system.
British heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath will reunite for the first time since 2001 during the Ozzfest tour, which begins July 10 in Hartford, Conn., according to a tour spokesperson.
Ozzfest co-founder and headliner Ozzy Osbourne will revisit such hard rocking classics as “War Pigs” and “Paranoid” along with guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. But original drummer Bill Ward will be replaced by Mike Bordin, who backs Osbourne on his solo gigs.
Along with three-quarters of the original Black Sabbath, Ozzfest will also feature four-fifths of the original Judas Priest (including singer Rob Halford), and such acts as Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, Superjoint Ritual (featuring former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo) and Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society.
Black Sabbath, with Ward on board, last played live during the 2001 version of Ozzfest, but plans to play its own shows afterwards were canceled because Osbourne had to finish work on a solo album. The group’s legacy was recently celebrated with the eight-disc Warner Bros./Rhino boxed set “Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978.”
Source billboard.com.
On June 29, 2004 beloved one-man-band Keller Williams releases an album that highlights his awe-inspiring live performance. Stage (SCI Fidelity) is a sonic snapshot of the singer/multi-instrumentalist settling into the groove with digital looping devices that make his solo performances sound as if he’s backed by a full-band. Williams’ is fully enveloped in the rising art of digital looping on the album’s two discs, which were recorded during spring and fall of 2003. The first disc is culled from a performance in the spring on the West Coast, while the second was captured several months later in the Northeast. Listen closely and you’ll hear Williams’ art evolving from disc to disc. More obvious is the difference in mood. Says Williams, “Ninety-nine percent of the first CD was recorded at the Cal Poly Theater in San Luis Obispo; and that was an all-seated venue, listening intently and it’s quiet, whereas the show in the Northeast was seatless. There was much more of a dance energy vibe there.”
For summer 2004, Williams will open select dates with the Dave Matthews Band, will tour with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and Yonder Mountain String Band as part of the Acoustic Planet Tour, and will hop around to some of the countries best festivals.
For more info see Kellerwilliams.net.
Jam Cruise 3, which sets sail from Jacksonville, Florida on January 3, 2005, has just announced the final artist lineup: Galactic, Les Claypool, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Keller Williams, Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Jazz Mandolin Project featuring Jamie Masfield and Jon Fishman, North Mississippi Allstars, Ozomatli, Peretz (Perry Farrell) with special guest Alex Graham, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Umphrey’s McGee, Garaj Mahal, MOFRO, Benevento/Russo Duo, Tishamingo, DJ Logic, and DJ Harry.
Tickets are expected to go quickly. On sale begins Wednesday, May 19 at 11:00 am MST. Cabin prices range from $550 to $1125.00 per person, plus port charges, service fees and gratuities. Call 303.544.0191 or visit jamcruise.com for reservations aboard Jam Cruise 3.
Grammy Award-winning recording artists The Wallflowers will kick-off a
two-week run of west-coast dates on June 10 at the East County Pacific
Arts Center in El Cajon, California. On the Back To California tour,
the band will play a mixture of large outdoor venues, concert theatres
and special engagements at intimate clubs in a run designed to bring
fresh vitality to The Wallflowers’ hits, play some band rarities and
covers, and debut some new tunes, according to Jakob Dylan and his band
mates. The brief tour will also serve as a prelude to the recording of
the band’s next album, which is scheduled for release in the first
quarter of 2005.
Renowned producer Brendan O’Brien – who has helmed multi-platinum
albums for Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine and
numerous others — will produce The Wallflowers’ forthcoming album,
with sessions set to begin in early July. For the first time in many
years, O’Brien will return to his road roots as lead guitarist for The
Wallflowers’ Back To California tour, having last taken a break in
production duties to tour with Neil Young in 1997. As Jakob Dylan
explained, “The band has been talking with Brendan about working
together for a long time, and we’re thrilled that the timing is finally
right to make a record with him and get him on stage with us. Yes, he
is a producer of great distinction, and yes he plays a mean guitar,
but,” Dylan added, “he is the new guy and we hope he doesn’t think he’s
getting the good bunk on the bus.”
The complete schedule for The Wallflowers’ Back To California tour is
as follows:
June 10 — El Cajon, California — E County Pacific Arts Center
June 11 — Las Vegas, Nevada — Mandalay Bay Beach Stage
June 12 — Palm Springs, California — McCallum Theatre
June 14 — Anaheim, California — House Of Blues
June 15 — Anaheim, California — House Of Blues
June 17 — Santa Cruz, California — The Catalyst
June 18 — San Francisco, California — Great American Music Hall
June 19 — San Francisco, California — Slims
June 21 — Eugene, Oregon — The Jungle
June 22 — Spokane, Washington — Big Easy Concert House
June 23 — Seattle, Washington — The Showbox
June 25 — Petaluma, California — Mystic Theatre
June 26 — Kelseyville, California — Konochti Harbor Resort
Nearly four decades after it was initially slated for release on Capitol, Brian Wilson’s “lost” Beach Boys masterpiece “SMiLE” will finally be heard by the record-buying public. A newly recorded version of the album is to be released Sept. 28 worldwide by Nonesuch Records.
The new “SMiLE” was produced by Wilson and features the pop icon’s 10-member touring band along with the Stockholm Strings and Horns ensemble. Wilson first revisited the project in November 2003 along with lyricist Van Dyke Parks and keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, reviewing the original 37-year-old tapes with the intent to prepare a version of the album for live performance.
The material was debuted Feb. 20 live at London’s Royal Festival Hall and played to audiences on a brief European tour. Following the album’s release, Wilson plans to take the performance on the road in the United States this fall.
The reworked “SMiLE” features recreations of songs and musical motifs first recorded in 1966-1967, as Wilson attempted to produce a highly ambitious follow-up to the Beach Boys’ orchestral pop classic “Pet Sounds.” The project was famously abandoned in 1967 after it already appeared on a Capitol release schedule. Instead, the group released the patchwork album “Smiley Smile” later that year.
Parks, who collaborated with Wilson on the original “SMiLE” sessions, also co-wrote new material with Wilson to complete the album for performance and release.
As previously reported, Wilson will release a new solo studio album, “Gettin’ in Over My Head,” June 22 via Rhino.
Source billboard.com.
