2005

Pixies guitarist/vocalist Frank Black is eyeing an early 2006 release for his second consecutive solo album that has been recorded in Nashville with top session musicians. The artist tells Billboard.com he has about 25 songs to choose from for the upcoming Back Porch/EMI set, which will be the follow-up to this summer’s “Honeycomb,” which debuted at No. 11 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.

“It will either be a lean and mean record with 11 songs on it, or a self-indulgent opus with everything,” he says with a laugh. Although the provisional name for the album was “La Sicilian,” Black says, “That probably won’t be the title.”

Black recently completed a second round of recording with such artists as Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, David Hood, the Band’s Levon Helm, Al Kooper, Buddy Miller and Rich Gilbert, a member of his solo band the Catholics. He also recorded duets on the country oldie “Dirty Old Town” with Marty Brown and Cowboy Jack Clement on the original “Golden Shore,” the latter of which he describes as “very James Taylor-ish.”

Black has even revived an outtake from “Honeycomb,” an old traditional song called “Been All Around the World.” The artist says, “Dylan and the Dead have done it. I sort of updated the lyrics and that one is also James Taylor-ish.”

Among the other cuts in consideration for the album are “You Can’t Crucify Yourself,” “I’m Not Dead, I’m in Pittsburgh” (co-written with Reid Paley), “Elijah,” “If Your Poison Gets You,” “My Terrible Ways,” “Fitzgerald” and “Holland Town.”

Black was finally able to present some of the Nashville material live during a one-off show when he was in the city earlier this fall, and he’s still hoping to mount a tour at some point. “It makes sense if I put out a couple of records on Back Porch with various lineups, I’d be more comfortable doing a tour with whoever I can get,” he says.

“Whereas with just ‘Honeycomb,’ that band was such a classic lineup and it was the only record representing my so-called ‘Nashville’ period, that I felt under a little pressure to have that band,” Black continues. “I didn’t want to go out with some young buck alternative rock guys. But now that there’s a second record with different people, I could find some alt-country guys. A lot of the ‘Honeycomb’ guys have expressed interest in going on tour, but half the time they’re flying around with Neil Young!”

Source billboard.com.

Dinosaur Jr. – who has never before released a DVD – has finally announced plans to issue an official Dinosaur Jr. DVD release. This full length concert DVD, which will feature the band in its original line-up, will be filmed at New York’s legendary Irving Plaza during the bands upcoming two night stand on December 2-3, 2005. The DVD will be directed by Gold In Berlin, which is run by Mascis’ own brother in-law, German filmmaker Phillip Virus. With unfettered access to this famously elusive band, fans can expect complete backstage access to Dinosaur Jr.’s recent reunion tour, one-on-one interviews, behind the scenes goings-on and a full set of performances of Dinosaur Jr. favorites. The DVD will be packed with bonus materials that any fan of the band -seasoned or brand new – will find thrilling and entertaining. Look for the DVD to be released during the first half of 2006.

In spring of 2005 the original members of Dinosaur Jr. – J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph – announced they would play their first shows together in fifteen years; one of music’s most celebrated alternative rock pioneers, who split abruptly after only three albums, would roam again. Avid fans of the band knew that the impossible had happened – the reunion of J and Lou seemed as likely as aliens landing, music lovers quietly anticipated a rare second chance to see the legendary live show they had regretfully missed over a decade before, and young listeners, too young to have been there for the first time around, lined up for venue entrance like the generation before them.

There’s a fine line between Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. The groups share several members, including frontman David Lowery, and they often perform together.

This fall, each band has its own tour booked, starting with Cracker’s Midwest run from October 27 to November 4. The gigs are billed as “Cracker Acoustic,” a stripped-down version of the band comprising Lowery and Johnny Hickman.

After a Chicago show at Martyrs’, Lowery will round up his Camper Van Beethoven bandmates and set out on what looks to be a week’s worth of West Coast shows. The current schedule spans November 14-19, staying mostly in the Northern California area, along with a Reno, Nev., gig.

The two bands have done several co-headlining tours together over the last couple of years, including some East Coast dates this past spring.

Source pollstar.com.

British singer/songwriter James Blunt is pairing with Jason Mraz for select tour dates this fall during his first North American tour. His run is set to open Oct. 24 in Denver with dates confirmed through Nov. 26 and more expected.

The tour comes in support of Blunt’s debut album, “Back To Bedlam,” released Tuesday in the United States via Atlantic. The album was previously issued in the United Kingdom in October 2004, and spent nine non-consecutive weeks in the No. 1 slot on the U.K. album chart. The set also spawned the No. 1 single “You

A bomb threat halted a Rolling Stones concert in Charlottesville, Va., last night, but police found nothing and the band returned to the stage about 45 minutes later, officials said on Friday.

The threat was made in a phone call just before 9 p.m. and was “specific to the stage area” of the concert at the University of Virginia’s Scott stadium, which was packed with 50,000 fans, said university spokesperson Carol Wood.

“Word was got to [Stones frontman] Mick Jagger and he announced that the band would take a 10-minute break,” Wood said.

The band, which had performed eight songs, left the stage and police with sniffer dogs, already in the stadium for checks before the concert, searched the area.

When the all-clear was given, the Stones went back on stage and played past midnight to complete the concert.

Source: Billboard

Phish and the city of New Orleans have a long relationship. Since the band first played the city in 1990, Phish performed there semi- regularly and have been adopted with typical local hospitality. Keyboardist Page McConnell’s father co-founded the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic for local musicians in 1998, funded in part with money raised by the sale of a collaborative CD titled “Get You A Healin'” on which Page appears, along with bassist Mike Gordon and an all-star NOLA cast. Page also recorded Vida Blue’s self-titled first album there and drummer Jon Fishman has played there with a variety of bands. The city also provided the backdrop for the formation of Oysterhead, guitarist Trey Anastasio’s collaboration with Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland. All the band members have enjoyed working and playing in New Orleans, collaborating with local musicians, in Phish and other projects over the years. From the early Tipitina’s shows to State Palace Theater and ultimately to the Jazz and Heritage Festival and beyond, Phish has soaked up the bayou’s unparalleled taste for exploratory music and next-level reveling. By the time they arrived at the 27th annual Jazzfest in 1996, Phish was welcomed with open arms and they played in a manner befitting the occasion.

Phish’s “New Orleans Relief” consists of the entire April 26, 1996 performance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and is available now at livephish.com in both MP3 and lossless FLAC format. “New Orleans Relief” is rounded out with filler consisting of the entire second set from November 7, 1991 at Tipitina’s where Phish was joined by special guests from Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, who opened the show. The master cassette of set I of the Tip’s show is missing, so “New Orleans Relief” provides a perfect chance to highlight the magic that occurred when Phish and ARU combined their talents to the great appreciation of those sufficiently “out-erested” to follow along. Both shows were mastered from the original 2-track soundboard recordings and were mastered by Fred Kevorkian.

In addition to this very special download release, Phish Dry Goods is offering a special “New Orleans Relief” T-Shirt and a brand new, limited edition poster by Jim Pollock. The t-shirt and poster are available for pre-order now at drygoods.phish.com/nola .

All artists and vendors involved in the project donated their time to the cause and ALL proceeds from “New Orleans Relief” downloads, t-shirt and poster sales will be donated directly to Tipitina’s Foundation and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation has earmarked their funds for “Raisin’ The Roof”; a program that builds affordable housing for New Orleans musicians, and to fund 2nd Line Parades.