2004

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

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.

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.

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.

Hip-hop act Jurassic 5 has wrapped three songs for its next Interscope set, the group’s DJ Nu-Mark tells Billboard. The as-yet-untitled set will be the follow-up to 2002’s “Power in Numbers,” which debuted at No. 13 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In the meantime, Nu-Mark just released his Sequence mix CD “Hands On,” while members Chali 2na and Cut Chemist have scored solo deals with Interscope and Warner Bros.

The group also signed a partnership deal with Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee for his new “Super 7” cartoon, due in 2005. “That’s really cool for us because three out of the six of us collected comics growing up, so we’ve always wanted to see the merge of hip-hop and comics come into play,” Nu-Mark says. “Cut Chemist and I will be doing beats for the cartoon and Chali 2na might be doing the voice for one of the characters.”

Source billboard.com.

Canadian rock trio Rush’s next release will feature covers of classics popularized by the Who, Cream, Buffalo Springfield and the Yardbirds. Due June 29 via Atlantic, the eight-track “Feedback” marks the first time the group has ever recorded material by other artists.

The album kicks off with a new take on Blue Cheer’s cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” The track list is rounded out by the Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul” and “Shapes of Things,” the Who’s “The Seeker,” Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and “Mr. Soul,” Love’s “Seven and Seven Is” and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” famously covered by Cream.
Bassist] Geddy [Lee], [guitarist] Alex [Lifeson] and I were channeling back to 1966 and 1967, when we were 13- and 14-year-old beginners,” drummer Neil Peart writes in the album’s liner notes. “We thought it would be a fitting symbol to commemorate our 30 years together if we returned to our roots and paid tribute to those we had learned from and were inspired by. We thought we might record some of the songs we used to listen to, the ones we painstakingly learned the chords, notes and drum parts for, and even played in our earliest bands.”

As previously reported, Rush’s 30th anniversary tour begins May 26 in Nashville and will wrap its North American portion with an Aug. 22 show in the group’s Toronto home town. A European swing kicks off Sept. 8 in London.

Source billboard.com.

Hot on the heels of her universally acclaimed Van Lear Rose LP, subversive country legend Loretta Lynn has announced plans to collaborate with White Stripes axe-grinder Jack White on two more full-length records for Interscope. Speaking last week to The New York Times, Lynn revealed, “I’ve got two more [albums] in mind, and Jack and I are going to do ’em together. When I’m on the road, I say to my fans: ‘How many of you know The White Stripes?’ And they applaud. Country people know him.”

Lynn is presently on the road, playing modest gigs– mostly at casinos– nationwide, but she told the paper that she will also embark on another tour with White and the Van Lear Rose backing band, which she named The Do-Whaters, possibly playing rock venues: “Me and Jack are going to do a tour with the Do-Whaters, the boys that played on the album. I’ll take my band out, too, so it won’t be no big deal.” When she might find time for that tour remains to be seen, however, since her current itinerary has her booked fairly solid through the end of the year. Current dates:

05-14 Johnson City, TN – Freedom Hall
05-15 Norfolk, VA – Chrysler Hall
05-29 Hurricane Mills, TN – Loretta Lynn Ranch
06-04 Lubbock, TX – West Texas Canyon Amphitheater
06-05 San Antonio, TX – Sunset Station
06-11 Kalamazoo, MI – Kalamazoo State Theatre
06-12 Toledo, OH – Stranahan Theatre
06-18 Florence, IN – Belterra Casino & Resort
06-19 Branson, MO – Grand Palace
06-20 Birmingham, AL – City Stages
06-25 Bossier City, LA – Isle of Capri Casino
06-26 Jackson, MS – Jackson Municipal Auditorium
07-03 Hurricane Mills, TN – Loretta Lynn Ranch
07-17 Branson, MO – Grand Palace
07-21 Walker, MN – Northern Lights Casino
07-22 West Bend, WI – Washington County Fair Park
07-30 Gilford, NH – Meadowbrook Farm Musical Arts Center
07-31 Atlantic City, NJ – Adrian Phillips Ballroom
08-07 North Myrtle Beach, SC – Alabama Theatre
08-20 Chautauqua, NY – Chautauqua Institution
08-21 Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre
08-22 Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre
08-24 Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Wolf Den
08-25 Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Wolf Den
08-27 Cherokee, NC – Harrah’s Pavillion
08-28 Cherokee, NC – Harrah’s Pavillion
09-17 Robinsonville, MS – Sam’s Town
09-18 Kinder, LA – Grand Casino Coushatta
10-02 Hurricane Mills, TN – Loretta Lynn Ranch
10-16 Taylorville, IL – Nashville North
10-17 Taylorville, IL – Nashville North
10-23 Cumming, GA – Lanierland Music Park
11-12 Renfro Valley, KY – Renfro Valley Entertainment Center
11-13 Renfro Valley, KY – Renfro Valley Entertainment Center
12-17 Burgettstown, PA – Pepsi Cola Roadhouse

Source pitchfork.com.