April 15, 2005

The Dears have already toured North America, Europe and Australia behind No Cities Left, and the Montreal rockers will head back across the U.S. beginning May 24th in Los Angeles.

Formed a decade ago, the Dears are longtime critical favorites, but their orchestral-tinged rock has just begun to win over the public. “When you actually get out there and the crowd knows the songs and is really into it,” Lightburn says, “that’s where it hits you.”

The Dears will be road-testing new material on the tour, and they plan to begin recording the No Cities follow-up later this year. ” The real challenge is to make an album that is more succinct but still epic,” Lightburn says. “I think the album is about forgiveness and, I guess, a bit more of what No Cities Left was trying to get at: a big love that can save the world.”

Dears U.S. tour dates:

5/24: Los Angeles, El Rey Theatre
5/25: San Francisco, Great American Music Hall
5/27: Seattle, Crocodile Cafe
5/28: Quincy, WA, the Gorge
5/30: Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge
5/31: Denver, Climax Lounge
6/2: Lawrence, KS, Bottleneck
6/3: Minneapolis, MN, Ascot Room at the Quest
6/4: Chicago, the Metro
6/5: Detroit, Magic Stick
6/6: Cleveland, OH, the Grog Shop
6/11: New York, Bowery Ballroom
6/12: Boston, the Paradise
6/14: Philadelphia, North Star Bar
6/15: Baltimore, Fletcher’s

Source rollingstone.com.

Fountains of Wayne will release Out-of-State Plates, a two-disc collection of rarities, on June 28th. The compilation features twenty-six tracks that span the pop-rockers’ ten-year career.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff that was released only in really obscure ways,” Fountains co-frontman Adam Schlesinger told Rolling Stone. “There are songs from European singles, compilations and a few things that haven’t been released at all.”

Plates features the band’s 1999 cover of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” which garnered much attention when radio mogul Howard Stern broadcast it on his show. The compilation also includes covers of songs by Jackson Browne, Burt Bacharach, Aztec Camera and ELO; fan-favorite oddities like “I Want an Alien for Christmas” and “California Sex Lawyer”; and two new tracks penned by Schlesinger and songwriting partner Chris Collingwood, “Maureen” and “The Girl I Can’t Forget.”

Meanwhile, the band has begun recording new material for the anticipated follow-up to 2003’s Grammy-nominated Welcome Interstate Managers. Schlesinger is also writing music for the Broadway adaptation of the 1990 John Waters film Cry Baby, set to debut in 2006.

The Out-of-State Plates track list:

Disc One:

Maureen
California Sex Lawyer
Janice’s Party
Karpet King
Baby I’ve Changed
I Know You Well
You’re Just Never Satisfied
I’ll Do the Driving
Nightlight
I Want You Around
Trains and Boats and Planes
Places
Can’t Get It Out of My Head

Disc Two:

The Girl I Can’t Forget
…Baby One More Time
Elevator Up
Comedienne
Kid Gloves
Today’s Teardrops
She’s Got a Problem (live)
These Days
I Want an Alien for Christmas
The Man in the Santa Suit
Killermont Street
Half a Woman
Imperia

Source rollingstone.com.

This summer The String Cheese Incident will headline the BIG Summer Classic 2005. The traveling festival, which will launch with two shows at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 2 and 3, will make 14 stops throughout the U.S. during the month of July, visiting cities such markets as Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.

BIG Summer Classic will feature a slightly rotating cast of some of today’s most vital touring acts, includingKeller Williams, Michael Franti &; Spearhead, Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey’s McGee,and New Monsoon. The complete list of tour dates is as follows:

Sat July 02 Morrison (Denver), CO Red Rocks
Sun July 03 Morrison (Denver), CO Red Rocks
Wed July 06 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
Thu July 07 Sauget (St. Louis), MO GMC Stadium
Fri July 08 Schaumburg (Chicago), IL Alexian Field
Sat July 09 Schaumburg (Chicago), IL Alexian Field
Sun July 10 Indianapolis, IN White River Park State Park Military Park
Wed July 13 Ottowa ONT Cisco Systems Bluesfest
Fri July 15 Richmond, VA Amphitheatre at Richmond Raceway
Complex
Sat July 16 Masontown, WV All Good Family Picnic
Sun July 17 Cuyahoga Falls (Cleveland), OH Blossom Music Center
Tue July 19 Rochester, NY High Falls
Thu July 21 Brooklyn, NY Keyspan Park
Fri July 22 Philadelphia, PA Festival Pier @ Penn’s Landing
Sat July 23 Mansfield (Boston), MA Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
Sun July 24 New Haven, CT Yale Field

Praise the Guitar Gods, Dinosaur Jr. is back – in their original lineup!

For a certain strain of alternative rock fan, Dinosaur Jr. is and always will be the power trio of J Mascis, Emmett Jefferson “Murph” Murphy III and Lou Barlow. They blew the minds and ears of anyone who ever saw them play between 1984 and 1989 and before splintering apart, they etched the grooves of three classic noise albums: “Dinosaur,” “You’re Living All Over Me” and “Bug” (now available on Merge with bonus videos).

Whether they intended to or not, J, Lou, and Murph forever changed the face of rock & roll music. Their sonic wall of melodic bass, furious drums and stunning guitar wizardry, coupled with an almost laissez faire vocal delivery, became the sonic blueprint for what has become known as “alternative rock.”

Today, after 15 years since their last performance together, the three will reunite for U.S. and Europe summer tour dates. Confirmed dates are as follows:

U.S Tour Dates
Thur July 7 House of Blues Orlando, FL
Fri July 8 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
Sat July 9 The Norva Norfolk, VA
Sun July 10 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC
Mon July 11 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Wed July 13 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
Thur July 14 Central Park SummerStage New York, NY
Fri July 15 Avalon Boston, MA
Tue July 19 House of Blues Cleveland, OH
Wed July 20 Clutch Cargo’s Pontiac, MI
Thur July 21 The Madison Theater Covington, KY
Fri July 22 The Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI
Sat July 23 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Sun July 24 Lollapalooza Chicago, IL

Europe Tour Dates
Wed June 8 The Forum London U.K.
Thur June 9 The Forum London U.K.
Fri June 10 Download Festival Donnington U.K.
Fri – Sun July 29-31 Fuji Rock Fest Naeba Ski Resort, Japan

More shows to be announced.
Tickets for U.S. shows on sale April 26th.

Look for Dinosaur Jr.’s reunion debut to be aired on CBS’ Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Friday, April 15. A day later, at Hollywood’s Spaceland, J Mascis + the Fog with VERY special guests will perform a full show to 300 lucky fans. The show is sold out. A handful of additional tickets will be released at the Spaceland box office day of show.

Willie Nelson is returning to Fort Worth for his Fourth of July picnic – and he’s bringing Bob Dylan with him. His 32nd annual picnic will be at the 27-acre North Forty concert field, just east of Billy Bob’s Texas. Last year’s concert at the same site drew 19,000 people.

Los Lonely Boys will perform, and about 20 more acts will be announced over the next month.

“Willie takes such an interest,” said Pam Minick, marketing director for Billy Bob’s Texas, which helps organize the picnic. “He picks every artist according to who he likes, and he negotiates the contract. Last year he wrote on a brown paper bag how much each one was going to get.”

This year’s picnic will honor the memory of Rick Smith of Fort Worth-based Smith Music Group, who died in August of complications from a heart attack.

Smith, a friend of Nelson’s, convinced the Texas country music singer that the picnic should be in the Fort Worth Stockyards. His brother, Randy Smith, now runs the Smith Music Group, also an organizer of this year’s event.

Source pollstar.com.

Veteran alt-country act Son Volt will have a new album, a retrospective disc and a live DVD available in the near future.

On July 12, the Jay Farrar-led group will release “Okemah and the Melody of Riot,” its fourth studio album and first in seven years under the Son Volt name. The album will be issued by Transmit Sound/Legacy in DualDisc format with interviews and video content.

Recorded in October 2004 in St. Louis, “Okemah” was produced by Farrar, who sings and plays guitar, piano and harmonica on the set. The musicians rounding out the group are making their first appearance on a Son Volt studio release, although drummer Dave Bryson (Damnation A.D.) has been a member of Farrar’s solo backing band for some time. Bassist Andrew Duplantis has logged time with the Meat Puppets and played with Richard Buckner, while guitarist Brad Rice was a member of the Backsliders and has also recorded with Ryan Adams.

“We didn’t know what we were capable of as a band,” Farrar says. “Since none of us knew exactly what to expect, the recording session was unconstrained and spontaneous. I think we found a creative flow.”

Son Volt kicks off a European tour April 22 in Belgium. A handful of U.S. shows will precede a proper tour planned for September.

“Okemah and the Melody of Riot” will be the follow-up to 1998’s “Wide Swing Tremolo” (Warner Bros.), which debuted at No. 93 on The Billboard 200. Since then, Farrar has released three solo studio albums and the 2004 live set “Steel, Stone & Bright Lights,” all through Artemis.

Before the new material arrives, Rhino will release “A Retrospective 1995-2000.” Due May 24, the 20-track set includes such favorites as “I’ve Got To Know” and “Rex’s Blues.” Also included will be five previously unreleased tracks, including four-track demos of “Tear Stained Eye” and “Loose String,” and a live version of “Medicine Hat.”

Finally, Son Volt’s 1997 appearance on the PBS series “Austin City Limits” will be released May 10 on DVD via New West Records. It will mark the debut for the band’s full performance, as the session was edited to 30 minutes for its original airing, when it was paired with a separate performance by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

Here is the “Okemah and the Melody of Riot” track list:

“Bandages & Scars”
“Afterglow 61”
“Jet Pilot”
“Atmosphere”
“Ipecac”
“Who”
“Endless War”
“Medication”
“6 String Belief”
“Gramophone”
“Chaos Streams”
“World Waits for You”
“World Waits for You (Reprise)”

Here is the “A Retrospective 1995-2000” track list:

“Drown”
“Windfall”
“Route”
“Rex’s Blues”
“Looking at the World Through a Windshield”
“Too Early”
“Back Into Your World”
“Picking up the Signal”
“I’ve Got To Know”
“Creosote”
“Straightface”
“Tulsa County”
“Driving the View”
“Ain’t No More Cane”
“Flow”
“Holocaust”
“Tear Stained Eye” (four-track demo)
“Loose String” (four-track demo)
“Medicine Hat” (live, Acoustic Cafe)
“Open All Night”

Source billboard.com.

Announced today, The Flaming Lips will headline Xingolati (pronounced Z