2005

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Rock ‘n’ Roll piano legend, Johnnie Johnson, died of natural causes at his home outside of St. Louis, MO Wednesday morning. He was 80 years old.

Johnson began his career in 1952, when he hired the then-unknown guitarist, Chuck Berry, to join his St. Louis-based band. Berry eventually became the frontman of the group and the two collaborated on some of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s most seminal recordings, including “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.”

Johnson stepped into the spotlight later in life, releasing his first solo album in 1989. His star continued to rise, especially among his fellow musicians, who lined up to work with the icon. In the last decade, Johnson performed and recorded with an amazingly diverse array of artists, including Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Keith Richards, The Kentucky Headhunters, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, Susan Tedeschi, NRBQ, Buddy Guy and Styx.

In honor of his contributions to the genre, Johnson was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 by his friend and supporter, Keith Richards. He continued to perform and headline at concerts and clubs around the world until earlier this year. His last performance was with fellow Rock ‘n’ Roll originator, Bo Diddley on February 9, 2005. “It was so much fun to play with Johnnie,” Diddley said upon hearing the news. “The world has lost a great man and a great musician. He will be missed but his music will live on.”

Johnson is survived by his wife, Frances, 10 children and many grandkids. A memorial service will be held at a time and place to be announced.

the Pixies will return to the road this summer, begining May 26-27 with two doubleheaders in Portland, Ore. North American dates are set through June 14 in Wantagh, N.Y., with more to be added.

The Pixies will also drop in on several festivals, including May 28 at the Sasquatch! Festival in George, Wash., and the inaugural CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest on June 8 in Cleveland. A European run is also in the works for late August.

Also in the discussion stage is a fall Frank Black tour in support of his upcoming solo album, “Honeycomb.” That set is due July 19 via Back Porch/EMI.

Here are the Pixies’ tour dates:

May 26-27: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theatre; two shows both nights)
May 28: George, Wash. (Sasquatch! Festival)
May 30: San Francisco (Warfield Theatre; two shows)
June 2: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre; two shows)
June 5: Morrison, Col. (Red Rocks)
June 8: Cleveland (CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest; early show)
June 8: Cleveland (Scene Pavilion; late show)
June 11: Atlanta (Music Midtown Festival)
June 13: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
June 14: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)