March 2005

Laconic genre-blender Jack Johnson starts a summer tour August 1 in Houston, Texas at the Verizon Wireless Theater. The dates cover more than 30 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada and end on September 17 in Toronto at the Molson Ampitheatre.Special guests on the dates will be ALO and Matt Costa.

Pre-sale tickets will be available through www.jackjohnsonmusic.com starting March 12. General public on-sales for most dates is March 19.

Jack Johnson’s new album, In Between Dreams, hits stores March 1 and will be the first music CD to be released with the 1% for the Planet logo. 1% for the Planet (1% FTP) is an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet.

Source pollstar.com.

Over the course of the past weekend, Wilco front-man Jeff Tweedy played two solo sold out shows at Chicago

As expected, the Black Crowes reunion has grown into a full-blown tour, and the band has finally unveiled details of the musicians who will back founding sibling duo Chris and Rich Robinson at the band’s first gigs since October 2001.

Guitarist Marc Ford is back in the fold for the first time since 1997, while Bill Dobrow, who played with Rich Robinson in the short-lived band Hookah Brown, will take over for Steve Gorman on drums.

Bassist Sven Pipien returns for the first time since his less-than-amicable departure in 2000, while longtime keyboardist Eddie Hawyrsch will round out the group.

Beyond the Crowes’ previously announced seven-show run at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom later this month, plus appearances at Bonnaroo and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, more than 20 new dates have been confirmed through mid-June.

Additional shows are expected to be added, as is another touring leg later this summer.

Here are the Black Crowes’ tour dates:

March 22-23, 25-27, 29-30: New York (Hammerstein Ballroom)
April 21: Houston (Verizon Wireless Theatre)
April 22: New Orleans (Jazz Fest)
April 23: Gulfport, Miss. (Grand Casino)
April 25: Myrtle Beach, S.C. (House of Blues)
April 26: Charleston, S.C. (the Plex)
April 27: Raleigh, N.C. (Disco Rodeo)
April 29: Knoxville, Tenn. (Civic Auditorium)
April 30: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)
May 1: Memphis (Beale Street Music Festival)
May 5-7: Atlanta (Tabernacle)
May 10-11: Boston (Orpheum Theatre)
May 13-14: Hampton Beach, N.H. (Hampton Beach Casino)
May 16: Montreal (Metropolis)
May 17: Toronto (Kool Haus)
May 22: Pensacola, Fla. (Springfest)
May 24: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Revolution)
May 25: Orlando, Fla. (House of Blues)
May 28: Little Rock, Ark. (Riverfest)
May 29: Montgomery, Ala. (Jubilee)
June 11: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo Festival)

Sources billboard.com.

The Benevento/Russo Duo featuring Mike Gordon have added two new dates in Georgia before their late night Jazzfest appearance at the end of April. The group will be performing at the Georgia Theatre in Athens on Wednesday, April 27th and at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on Thursday, April 28th.

Tickets are being offered through Mike Gordon’s secure online ticketing system NOW before they go on sale to the public. The Mike Gordon ticket site can be found at mikegordontickets.net.

Source phish.com

Handsome Boy Modeling School will later this month embark on its first full-scale tour in support of its sophomore album, “White People.” Producers Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Prince Paul will assume their respective alter-egos of Nathaniel Merriweather and Chest Rockwell for the trek, which begins March 28 in Los Angeles.

Various special guests will join the group throughout the tour, but a spokesperson declined to provide specifics. On “White People,” the duo is augmented by everybody from members of Linkin Park and Franz Ferdinand to rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and hip-hop legends such as Grand Wizard Theodore and Jazzy Jay.

Here are Handsome Boy Modeling School’s tour dates:

March 28: Los Angeles (House of Blues)
March 29: Solana Beach, Calif. (Belly Up Tavern)
March 31: Anaheim, Calif. (House of Blues)
April 1: Santa Cruz, Calif. (Catalyst)
April 2: San Francisco (Fillmore)
April 3: Portland, Ore. (Berbati’s Pan)
April 4: Seattle (Showbox)
April 6: Boulder, Colo. (Fox Theatre)
April 7: Omaha, Neb. (Sokol Auditorium)
April 8: Minneapolis (Quest)
April 9: Chicago (House of Blues)
April 10: Bloomington, Ind. (Bluebird)
April 11: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Blind Pig)
April 12: Cleveland (House of Blues)
April 15: Burlington, Vt. (Higher Ground)
April 16: Philadelphia (TLA)
April 17: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
April 18: New Haven, Conn. (Toad’s Place)
April 19: Boston (Paradise)
April 20: New York (Irving Plaza)

Source billboard.com.

Surprise Me Mr. Davis, a touring and recording outfit featuring The Slip and Nathan Moore have announced an eight show run.

Surprise Me Mr. Davis is a band comprised of Brad Barr [guitar, vocals], Andrew Barr [drums] and Marc Friedman [bass] of The Slip, and poet/songwriter Nathan Moore [guitar, vocals]. This will be their second tour with this ensemble, which hatched as a studio project during a 2003 blizzard. The result of these snowed-in sessions was the record