2005

Journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, who unleashed the concept of “gonzo journalism” in books like “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” fatally shot himself in the head Sunday at his home near Aspen, Colorado, police and his family said.

“On February 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado,” said a statement issued by Thompson’s son, Juan Thompson, to the Aspen Daily News.

A dispatcher for the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Thompson’s death.

Neither the family statement nor Pitkin County sheriff’s officials said whether Thompson left a note, The Associated Press reported.

His account of a drug-fueled trip to cover a district attorneys’ anti-drug conference as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine was the seed of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” perhaps his best-known work.

Source: cnn.com

National, regional and local talents collide on a Spotsylvania farm to create a truly unique musical experience. The Haymaker Music Festival is the only place where concert goers will see Keller Williams perform alongside local Virginia favorites such as, Cephas & Wiggins, King Wilkie, The Hackensaw Boys, AJ Roach, and DJ Williams.

How does Starbucks, which partnered with Concord on Ray Charles’ Grammy Award-sweeping “Genius Loves Company,” follow up that phenomenally successful album? By taking another legendary artist and pairing him with a stellar array of acts for what promises to be another strong duets album.

Billboard has learned that the artist is Herbie Hancock and that among the performers already on tape with the keyboardist are Sting, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Damien Rice and, as previously reported, Trey Anastasio.

The album will arrive Sept. 13 on Nashville-based Vector Records. “Starbucks is our partner in the record, it is Starbucks’ next big push,” Vector principal Ken Levitan confirms. Like “Genius,” the CD will be available at traditional retail and in Starbucks outlets.

For Hancock, working with the various artists has been very rewarding. “The kind of energy and magic that they are bringing to the project is fantastic,” he says. “So often artists are put into a pigeonhole and expected to stay there, and I never liked that. Coming from jazz, we like to try new things … and I know there’s a lot more to artists than that which they’re kind of forced to do, in a sense.”

Some artists brought finished songs to the project, while some wrote tunes specifically for the record. In Mayer’s case, he brought in a few notes that they crafted into a song in the studio.

“The tune is like 15 minutes long, but the actual song is only four or five minutes long,” Mayer says. “The rest is Herbie going around and around on my chord progression, and every time he tags home, he puts on 50 more pounds of weight and starts lifting that. It’s incredible.”

Hancock is in the midst of a tour with Directions In Music, featuring saxophonist Michael Brecker and trumpeter Roy Hargrove. The trek hits Washington, D.C., tonight (Feb. 18).

Source billboard.com.

John Langenstein, Director of Security for several prominent bands has teamed up once again with David Shulman and The Mimi Fishman Foundation to raise money for The Station Family Fund (SFF).
The newest auction, which coincides with the 2nd anniversary of the horrific fire, will be the fifth in a series of fundraisers organized by Langenstein/Shulman. To date their efforts have raised over $50,000 for the SFF.
The Station Family Fund is an all-volunteer, 501 c 3 recognized, tax exempt, nonprofit organization, founded to offer assistance and relief to people directly affected by the fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. 100 people perished, close to 200 severely injured, and more than 60 children lost one or both parents in the horrific fire on Feb 20, 2003.

Todd King, a survivor himself of the fire, is the VP of the Station Family Fund. “As we approach the 2nd anniversary the story is further removed from people’s minds. The needs of the victims are a great as ever. It’s vital we don’t forget the families left behind. The Station Family Fund was formed to help those families, as well as the survivors”, said King.

The auction features items donated by a bands and musicians and represents a wide variety of musical tastes. In addition, every item is signed. Highlights include items donated by Paul McCartney, The String Cheese Incident, Jackson Browne, Eminem, CSN, Sting, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, BB King, and many others. A few non-musicians such as Tom Hanks are represented as well.

Historically, the auctions have featured items donated by jambands, which limited the auction’s exposure. This time will be different.
“With over thirty wonderful auction items, there is certain to be something for everyone’s taste,” says Shulman. “We are reaching out beyond the jamband audience in an effort to raise as many funds as possible for the SFF”.
The Station Family Fund will distribute every dollar raised by the auction in an effort to address the needs of the survivors and the families of victims.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received, both from those donating items as well as those bidding on them. Working in the music industry, this tragedy hit me right in the heart. My desire to help those affected by the fire has only strengthened and I am more determined now than ever to help out the survivors and the families of the victims”, said Langenstein.
For more information the auction can be viewed at www.mimifishman.org
Information on the Station Family Fund can be found at www.stationfamilyfund.org

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers may be the hardest working rock band in the land. Kellogg has built a solid fan base and a growing national buzz the old fashion way, by logging thousands of miles on the road. In the last two years alone, Kellogg & The Sixers have played more than 300 shows and moved over 10,000 copies of their independently released albums, including last year

Fresh off their sold-out headlining tour, Tegan and Sara have been chosen to open the second leg of the Killers

Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand have made music history after taking two top prizes at the NME Awards. The band, who won best album and best single, have become the first to win the Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards and NME awards in the same year.

Lead singer Alex Kapranos said: “When we got together as a group, we wanted to be like the groups that inspired us, like New Order and Oasis.”

Other winners at the London ceremony included The Libertines and Razorlight.

The awards are voted for by the readers of the New Musical Express magazine.

Source: bbc

Veteran rap trio De La Soul will embark next month on a speaking and performance tour of U.S. colleges. Dubbed the Past, the Present, the Future trek, it will begin March 2 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and run through March 30 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The outing will be sponsored by Toyota.

“We’ve wanted to do something like this for awhile,” group member Pos says. “We’re fans of hip-hop and to have the opportunity to talk to young people about what’s so powerful in hip-hop — its history and what’s going on right now — is the coolest thing we could be doing.”

Tickets to the shows will be available for just $1.20, while the symposiums are free of charge. At each stop and on Spitkicker.com, attendees can enter to win four scholarships underwritten by proceeds from the tour.

De La Soul has also lined up several special guests for the shows, including A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg, Scarface, Raphael Saadiq and Dwele, and promises additional surprises.

The group is out in support of its fall 2004 debut for Sanctuary, “The Grind Date,” which peaked at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart.

Here are De La Soul’s tour dates:

March 2: Washington, D.C. (Blackburn Center, symposium)
March 2: Washington, D.C. (Lincoln Theatre, performance)
March 3: Baltimore (Morgan St. University, symposium)
March 4: Philadelphia (Lincoln University, symposium)
March 4: Philadelphia (Kimmel Center, performance)
March 6: New York (Spirit, performance)
March 7: Newark, N.J. (Rutgers University, symposium)
March 8: St. Louis (Washington University, symposium)
March 8: St. Louis (Fox Theatre, performance)
March 9: Detroit (African-American Museum of History, performance)
March 10: Detroit (Wayne St. University, symposium)
March 11: Houston (Texas Southern University, symposium)
March 11: Houston (Jones Hall, performance)
March 20: Chicago (Museum of Contemporary Arts, performance)
March 21: Chicago (Columbia College, symposium)
March 23: Atlanta (Clark University, symposium)
March 23: Atlanta (Woodruff Arts Center, performance)
March 28: Las Vegas (UNLV, symposium)
March 28: Las Vegas (Ra, performance)
March 30: Los Angeles (USC, symposium)
March 30: Los Angeles (Director’s Guild of America, performance)

Source billboard.com.

Tori Amos has confirmed plans to open a solo piano tour April 1 in Clearwater, Fla. The month-long Original Sinsuality theater outing has 14 confirmed dates, closing April 25 in Los Angeles.

Amos last toured behind 2002’s “Scarlet’s Walk,” which featured her on piano and organ backed by drummer Matt Chamberlain and bassist Jon Evans. “We always like to change it up a little,” Witherspoon adds. “So we’re going back to purely solo for the first time since 2001.”

The April dates come in support of “The Beekeeper,” due Tuesday (Feb. 22) via Epic. Fans can expect to find Amos accompanied by her B