May 2005

Moviegoers flocked to the dark side in droves, giving the final installment of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” tale a record-breaking midnight run.

“Star Wars: Episode III

Xavier Rudd has inked an exclusive worldwide licensing deal with
Foundations/Universal Records, and will release his Solace CD in the US on June 7th. Xavier will be also embark on a summer tour of the States beginning in Boston on June 3rd and running through the end of summer, including stops at the 2005 Bonnaroo Festival on June 10th and 11th.

TOUR DATES

June 3 Boston B of A Pavilion
June 4 Poughkeepsie Hunter Mountain
June 5 Philadelphia Festival Pier
June 6 NYC Bowery
June 7 Norfolk Harbor Center
June 8 Myrtle Beach House of Blues
June 9 Richmond, VA Innsbruck Pavilion
June 11 BONNAROO Saturday at 4:00, Tent #3
June 14 Ann Arbor The Ark
June 15 Chicago Navy Pier
June 16 Chicago Navy Pier
June 17 Minneapolis Zoo Amphitheater
June 19 Lawrence, KS Wakarusa Festival
June 22 Cincinnati Zooma Tour, Riverbend Music Center
June 24 Atlanta Zooma Tour, Hi-Fi BuAmphitheater
June 25 Tampa Zooma Tour, Ford Amphitheater
June 26 West Palm Beach Zooma Tour, Sound AdviceAmphitheater
June 27 New Orleans House of Blues
June 30 Boulder, CO Fox Theater
July 1st Denver Red Rocks
July 16 Anchorage, AK West Delaney Park
July 26 Washington, DC The State Theater
July 29 Ashville, NC The Bele Chere Festival
July 30 Floyd, VA The Floyd Festival
July 31 Chicago Taste of Lincoln Ave Festival

The Black Crowes, Maceo Parker and the Subdudes are among the artists who will take part in Colorado’s 12th annual Telluride Blues & Brews festival. Set for Sept. 16-18 in the Telluride Town Park, the three-day event will present an eclectic slate of music and a host of beers for revelers to enjoy.

The reunited Crowes will headline the festival’s first night, which will also feature performances by Susan Tedeschi and the Subdudes.

Sax great Parker anchors the second day’s bill, with Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Muscle Theory and Mofro among those slated to be on hand. That day will also host the Grand Tasting, with 50 microbreweries showcasing their wares, including Atlanta’s Sweet Water Brewery, Montana’s Flathead Lake Brewing Company and Colorado’s own Flying Dog Brewery.

The final day of the festival will feature guitar talents Chris Thomas King and Sonny Landreth, as well as the Dixie Hummingbirds and Henry Butler. Other artists confirmed for the event are Eddie Turner, Corey Harris, Hazel Miller, Eric Lindell and Dwayne Dopsie.

Various multi-day passes are on sale now at Tellurideblues.com or 866-515-6166, with single-day tickets set to go on sale June 1.

Source billboard.com.

The digital world has added many new wrinkles to the music landscape, the latest being the immediate availability of sought-after vintage and long out-of-print works. The catalogs of Cambridge, Mass.-based Rounder Records and Memphis’ venerable Sun Records labels are two such examples, with virtual vaults being thrown open for collectors and aficionados.

The Rounder Archive Series will launch May 31 via Rounderarchive.com with access to a treasure trove of roots music and select new releases. Ten to 15 titles will be made available quarterly as downloadable digital files and as limited-edition CDs. Accompanying liner notes, photos and album art will be available as Adobe PDF files either as downloads or as files on the CDs themselves.

To read more, please visit billboard.com.

Jurassic 5 DJ Cut Chemist is at work on his debut solo album, “The Audiences’ Listening,” set for release in the fall via Warner Bros. Although the guest lineup is under wraps for now, some of the tracks are expected to feature musicians Cut Chemist met during a trip to Brazil.

“The album is hip-hop in the sense that it’s cut’n’paste, and there’s a lot of turntablist stuff on there,” the artist says. “You really get a feel of me going through records to put this together.” He adds that there is “only one really slow song on the record,” with the rest of the material aimed squarely at the dance floor.

Cut Chemist, who says he was “computer illiterate” until recently, is utilizing digital assistance for the first time for the project. “I figured out slowly how to do certain things and just gradually taught myself the ins and outs,” he says.

The artist will take a break from the studio for Jurassic 5’s summer tour, which includes three early June shows opening for Dave Matthews Band as well as a nearly three-week stint in July on the inaugural Zooma tour. As previously reported, that trek will be co-headlined by Trey Anastasio and Ben Harper and will kick off June 16 in Camden, N.J.

Source billboard.