December 2005

After skipping over NYC on his recent fall tour, as promised, Phil Lesh and Friends will more than make up for lost time in the Big Apple. In addition to expected dates at the Beacon Theatre February 10-12 and 14-15, the band has also announced a run at the Hammerstein Ballroom February 17-19. The tour, entitled

While it reaps in critical acclaim for its collaborative album and tour with Iron & Wine, veteran rock act Calexico has put the finishing touches on its next studio set. Due April 11 via Quarterstick, the 11-track “Garden Ruin” was produced by J.D. Foster, who has worked with everyone from Dwight Yoakam and Marc Ribot to Nancy Sinatra and Alejandro Escovedo.

“The songs have that moodiness and ambience, but there’s also some more electric, rockin’ numbers,” group member Joey Burns told Billboard.com this summer of the new material.

Indeed, there are a few more overt rock moments on “Garden Ruin” than usual, particularly on the sprightly “Letter to Bowie Knife” and the Crazy Horse-tinged second half of the six-minute album closer “All Systems Red.”

But for the most part, the album boasts another helping of the group’s signature desert rock sound, from the hushed, largely acoustic “Yours and Mine” to the soulful, string-flecked “Bisbee Blue.”

“Garden Ruin” is the follow-up to 2003’s “Feast of Wire,” which debuted at a career-best No. 23 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart. The Calexico/Iron & Wine album, “In the Reins” (Overcoat) was even more successful, opening at No. 2 on the Heatseekers tally and No. 12 on Top Independent Albums.

The two acts’ supporting tour will wrap tomorrow (Dec. 16) in Atlanta and will resume in Europe next spring. To close out the year, Calexico will play two shows with Mariachi Luz de Luna and Nick Luca on Dec. 22 in Los Angeles and Dec. 30 in Tucson. Three showcase gigs are also on tap for Jan. 24 in New York, Jan. 26 in Los Angeles and Jan. 29 in San Francisco.

As previously reported, Burns and Calexico mate John Convertino guest on Neko Case’s upcoming Anti- album, “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood,” due March 7.

Here is the track list for “Garden Ruin”:

“Cruel”
“Yours and Mine”
“Bisbee Blue”
“Panic Open String”
“Letter to Bowie Knife”
“Roka”
“Lucky Dime”
“Smash
“Deep Down”
“Nom De Plume”
“All Systems Red”

Source billboard.com.

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference and Festival, scheduled to take place Wednesday, March 15 – 19, 2006 in Austin, Texas is pleased to announce their initial list of showcasing acts. From the 7500 bands that applied, a partial list of acts scheduled to perform at the five night festival will include:

The Adored (Los Angeles CA), Annie (Bergen NORWAY), Arctic Monkeys, Belle and Sebastian (Glasgow UK), The BellRays (Los Angeles CA), Be Your Own PET (Nashville TN), Blockhead (New York NY), The Boy Least Likely To (Wendover UK), The Brokedown (Los Angeles CA), Calexico (Tucson AZ), Neko Case (Tacoma WA), Cat Power (Atlanta GA), clap your hands say yeah (Brooklyn NY), Clor (London UK), Jason Collett (Toronto ON), The Cribs (Wakefield UK), Cuff the Duke (Toronto ON), Jamie Cullum (London UK), Dashboard Confessional (Boca Raton, FL), Death In Vegas (London UK), Death Vessel (Brooklyn NY), Dengue Fever (Los Angeles CA), Destroyer (Vancouver BC), Die! Die! Die! (Auckland NEW ZEALAND), Dirty Pretty Things (London UK), Jorge Drexler (Madrid SPAIN), Dr. Spock (Reykjavik ICELAND), The Duke Spirit (London UK), The Earlies (Manchester UK), Echo & The Bunnymen (Liverpool UK), Editors (Birmingham UK), The Eighteenth Day Of May (London UK), Elbow (Manchester UK), Empire Dogs (Stockholm SWEDEN), Erase Errata (San Francisco CA), Faker (Sydney AUSTRALIA), Flogging Molly (Los Angeles CA), Forward Russia (Leeds UK), Giant Sand (Tucson AZ), Gogol Bordello (New York NY), Jose Gonzalez (Gothenburg SWEDEN), The Go! Team (Brighton UK), Headphones (Seattle WA), The Hellacopters (Stockholm SWEDEN), Clarence Frogman Henry (New Orleans LA), The Juan Maclean (Dover NH), Kaki King (New York NY), Kalas (Oakland CA), k-os (Whitby ON), Sharron Kraus & Christian Kiefer (London UK), Lady Sovereign, The Like (Los Angeles CA), Los De Abajo (Mexico City MEXICO), Luminous Orange (Yokohama JAPAN), Barbara Lynn (Beaumont TX), The Magic Numbers (London UK), Magnolia Electric Company (Chicago IL), Serena Maneesh (Oslo NORWAY), Mates of State (East Haven CT), The Morning After Girls (Sydney AUSTRALIA), The Most Serene Republic (Toronto ON), Mystery Jets (London UK), My Summer as a Salvation Soldier (Reykjavik ICELAND), Neon Blonde (Seattle WA), Nickel Creek (Carlsbad CA), n0 things (Brooklyn NY), Of Montreal (Athens GA), Beth Orton (London UK), Peaches (Berlin GERMANY), The Plimsouls (Los Angeles CA), Robert Pollard (Dayton OH), Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (New York NY), Saves the Day (Princeton NJ), The Secret Machines (New York NY), Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives (Hendersonville TN), Tarantula A D (New York NY), Susan Tedeschi (Jacksonville FL), Towers of London (London UK), KT Tunstall (London UK), Two Gallants (San Francisco CA), Tom Verlaine (New York NY), Vetiver (San Francisco CA), The Whigs (Athens GA), Witch (Brattleboro VT), and Wolfmother (Sydney AUSTRALIA). This list is subject to change. Please keep in mind this is only a portion of the showcasing acts that will be playing at the SXSW Music Festival.

Trey Anastasio will join old friends the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars for a special New Year’s Eve performance at Madison Square Garden. My Morning Jacket, who was originally scheduled to perform has cancelled due to health reasons. Tickets are $45-65 and still available at Ticketmaster.

Carole King and Rockingdale / Concord Records are hosting a charity auction on eBay to benefit Mercy Corps.

Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. The agency’s programs currently reach 7 million people in more than 35 countries. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided over $1 billion in assistance to people in 81 nations. Mercy Corps is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Portland, Seattle, Cambridge, Washington, D.C. and Edinburgh, Scotland.

For more information about Mercy Corps visit their website at: mercycorps.org

Carole King / Mercy Corps ebay Auction

ITEMS IN THE AUCTION

Carole King autographed 11″ x 17″ mini poster from “The Living Room Tour”
Full-color tour program from The Living Room Tour
Latte mug with lyrics to Carole’s classic song from Tapestry, “Beautiful” printed on mug with Carole’s handwriting and signature
“You’ve Got a Friend” wristband
The Living Room Tour double CD
Love Makes the World CD
In Concert CD
Colour of Your Dreams CD
Pearls – Songs of Goffin and King CD

Also available are the following Carole King audio streams from her Living Room Tour CD for one month.

Quicktime

Windows Media

Dr. Dog has been creating music in various incarnations in their hometown of Philadelphia for nearly four years now. The five musicians making up Dr. Dog are all from various musical backgrounds. Imagine The Beach Boys, Beatles, Tom Waits, David Bowie and Neil Young as acknowledged influences that have been interpreted through the eyes of Pavement, Palace Brothers, R. Stevie Moore or Roy Wood.

Along with Rolling Stone, Spin, Alternative Press, Fader and many others, The Philadelphia Inquirer raved Easy Beat, the band’s current album, is an” infectious debut album … Beach Boys-style three part harmonies layered over skewed bouncy rock songs.” The New York Times went on to call Easy Beat an “extraordinary catalog of off kilter ballads and light-headed riff rock … All nine songs, filled with breezy vocal harmonies and unexpected digressions.”

Dr. Dog will be producing the record themselves and are currently recording in Philadelphia in their own studio / rehearsal space. Dr. Dog are looking at a June / July 2006 release.

The King Of France, consisting of vocalist Steve Salad and drummer Michael Azerrad, are gearing up to take to the road in February with Nada Surf and recently announced tourmates, Rogue Wave.

TOUR DATES

Thu 1/12/06 Spaceland Los Angeles CA w/Helio Sequence & The Can’t See
Sat 2/4/06 Mercury Lounge New York NY w/Say Hi To Your Mom
Sun 2/5/06 The Khyber Philadelphia PA
Mon 2/6/06 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH
Tue 2/7/06 Garfield Artworks Pittsburgh PA
Wed 2/8/06 Eight By Ten Baltimore MD w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Thu 2/9/06 Starr Hill Charlottesville VA w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Fri 2/10/06 Cats Cradle Carrboro NC w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sat 2/11/06 The Loft Atlanta GA w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sun 2/12/06 Exit / In Nashville TN w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Tue 2/14/06 Blue Note Columbia MO w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Wed 2/15/06 Granada Lawrence, KS w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Fri 2/17/06 Trees Dallas TX w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sat 2/18/06 Emo