Try as it might, Blue Eyed in the Red Room ends up as a collection of near-miss electro instrumentals which could have advanced past golf-cart-cruise-music status with just a little improvement on the arrangements. It
As several hundred enthusiastic supporters rallied to keep CBGB’s open, the landlord of the venerable punk club announced Wednesday that the lease on the 32-year-old landmark will not be renewed.
The Bowery Residents’ Committee, landlord of the building on the Bowery, “believes it is in the best interest of our clients
Blues veteran R.L. Burnside, who experienced a late career renaissance after being rediscovered by Fat Possum Records in the 1990s, died today in a Memphis hospital. He was 78. Fans wishing to make a donation can write the Freeland & Freeland Trust Account at P.O. Box 269, Oxford, MS 38655. All proceeds will benefit Burnside’s widow, Alice Mae. Burnside is also survived by 12 children and numerous grandchildren.
“His health was declining,” Fat Possum founder Matthew Johnson tells Billboard.com. “I’m trying to get an official cause of death, but the hospital can’t get it out. He was our man. He was the first artist we signed, and our biggest. We were lucky to have a relationship.”
Born in Harmontown, Miss., on Nov. 21, 1926, Burnside worked as a farmer in nearby Coldwater, Miss. As a youth, he was exposed to the blues of such local masters as Fred McDowell and Joe Callicott and began playing in his late teens.
“I watched him,” Burnside said of McDowell in a 1996 interview with Billboard. “We lived pretty close to him at one time. I watched him and picked up a lot of stuff from him (and guitarist) Ranie Barnett. They was guys that was all around, close. I watched them play, and I kinda put my style with it.’
In 1967, fife-and-drum bandleader Othar Turner led folklorist George Mitchell to Burnside, who recorded several performances released by Arhoolie Records in 1968. For many years thereafter, he performed regularly in local juke joints, including one run by bluesman (and future labelmate) Junior Kimbrough.
By the ’70s, his notoriety had spread to the point that he toured in Europe and recorded for Swing Master in the Netherlands and Arion in France.
It wasn’t until the ’90s that Burnside gained fame in the U.S. He appeared in director Robert Mugge’s 1991 documentary “Deep Blues” and on the 1992 Atlantic soundtrack album. He cut two acclaimed albums for Fat Possum; the records, “Bad Luck City” (1993) and “Too Bad Jim” (1994), were produced by writer Robert Palmer, whose 1981 book was the basis for Mugge’s film. In 1996, he also recorded an album with underground rock act Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Ass Pocket of Whiskey” (Matador).
After 1999 heart surgery, Burnside kept his appearance schedule to a minimum, but continued to release music for Fat Possum, including last year’s “A Bothered Mind,” which debuted at No. 6 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart.
Source billboard.com.
Dave Matthews Band is the first act to come forward with a benefit show for Hurricane Katrina victims, Billboard.com has learned. It is expected to be announced tomorrow (Sept. 1) that DMB will add a fourth date to its Sept. 9-11 sellouts at Red Rocks near Denver, with proceeds from the Sept. 12 show to benefit Katrina victims. Tickets will go on sale next week.
Source: billboard
In a very rare U..S. club show to kick off a northeast tour featuring fellow Dead co-conspirators Bruce Hornsby and Steve Miller, Ratdog loaded their 18 wheeler full of gear into South Burlington
The Central Square Business Association in Cambridge, MA is hosting ArtsCentral, the FIRST EVER arts festival in Central Square on Sunday September 18th from 12PM to 6 PM (with many events occurring the evening of Saturday the 17th). The goal is to shine a spotlight on the many accomplished artists living and working in Cambridge’s Central Square. It will be an art-infused weekend with over 100 local artists and performers made possible by the support of area businesses, community organizations and property owners.
Mediate, a Digital Video and Multi-Channel Sound Installation by Brian Knoth and Theta State Collective #1 is a spiritually and sociopolitically charged thirty-minute looping multimedia installation intended for alternative art spaces will be displayed. Mixed-media sculptor Sharon LaFrenaye, performer/vocalist Kerry Schneider and video artist Ed Guild were Knoth’s collaborative partners.
Knoth is an artist specializing in the use of multi-channel sound and moving image in abstract works exploring the transformation of consciousness and perception. Brian considers nature
Ohio-based jamband ekoostik hookah has announced that following it’s year end shows, the band will “take a much-deserved rest.”
The band recently noted:
“As you’re probably aware, it’s been increasingly popular in the music community as of late to declare a formal hiatus from playing. Having never been into conformity, we’ve decided to not go down that particular road. We have, however, decided as a band that we are in need of a much-deserved rest. After more than 13 years on the road without a significant break from playing, we are looking forward to spending a few months with our families and friends as well as reflecting on where we’ve been and where we’re headed next. By no means should this be viewed as an end to ekoostik hookah and the incredible community that you all have helped us build over the last decade. Instead, we hope you will join us in seeing this opportunity as a new beginning for us and our music as we move forward, refreshed and inspired, into the years to come.
Following our New Year’s Eve shows at the end of the year, we will take a short break from playing as ekoostik hookah before returning in early Spring ’06. We sincerely appreciate your continued support, and will undoubtedly be seeing you”
For more info see http://www.ekoostik.com/
Since the release of his debut album, Tapestry, in 1970, Don McLean has had a singular career of incredible breadth and scope. He has over 40 gold and platinum records worldwide, including the number one hit, “American Pie,” which has become a bedrock recording in the history of American popular music. This was recently affirmed when it was voted the fifth greatest song of the 20th century in a joint poll done by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment For The Arts. “American Pie” along with other McLean hits, “Vincent,” “Empty Chairs” and “And I Love You So” have been played more than three million times on American radio over the last 35 years, while his songs have been recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Madonna, George Michael, Guns & Roses, Josh Groban, Perry Como and Fred Astaire to name but a few.
In 2005, Don McLean continues to steadily tour and record. This Fall will be no exception. In September, he’ll launch a string of U.S. tour dates that will stretch through the year’s end. And on October 11th, almost to the day of his 60th birthday on October 2nd, HYENA Records will release, Rearview Mirror, the first ever Don McLean retrospective of its kind. A stunning collection of Don’s timeless body of work, the album is comprised primarily of rarities and never before released recordings from his own personal archive. The 18 tracks on Rearview Mirror feature the original hit recording of “American Pie,” a previously unreleased “live” version of “Vincent,” studio tracks from Don’s self-produced “cowboy” albums, a duet with Nanci Griffith on “And I Love You So” and Don’s brand new song, “Run Diana Run.” Rearview Mirror is produced by Don along with Grammy Award-winning producer Joel Dorn, who previously worked with McLean on his 1974 album, Homeless Brother. Rearview Mirror will also include a bonus DVD that provides never before seen home video footage of McLean rehearsing with the legendary vocal group, The Jordanaires, for their annual Christmas Concert at Carnegie Hall in 1984. Also included on the DVD is the video for “Headroom,” the only video Don has ever made.
Don McLean’s concert appearances in Fall 2005 include:
September 9 / Utah State Fair / Salt Lake City, UT
September 10 / The Bosque River Stage / Waco, TX
September 24 / Central Missouri State University / Warrensburg, MO
October 1 / Lackawanna Junior College / Scranton, PA
October 6 / Ameristar Casino / Saint Charles, MO
October 14 / St. George Theater / Staten Island, NY
October 15 / Biggs Theater / Ada, OH
October 27 / Arcada Theater / St. Charles, IL
October 28 / Weill Center / Sheboygan, WI
October 29 / Edison College Lee Campus / Ft. Myers, FL
November 12 / Freemont Street Experience / Las Vegas, NV
December 3 / Paramount Theater / Peekskill, NY
December 16 / The State Theater / Falls Church, VA
December 17 / Bergen Performing Arts Center / Englewood, NJ
They’ve already been out on two tours this year, but don’t expect the five young men of O.A.R. to take much of a break.
They’ve recorded a new album, Stories Of A Stranger, and will support it with a 30-date outing beginning October 14 at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre.
The trek hits most of the country’s major markets and includes a couple Canadian dates, with most shows taking place at arenas and large theatres. It will wrap November 26 at Camden, N.J.’s Tweeter Center.
O.A.R. (the name stands for “Of A Revolution”) proved long ago that it could sell out thousands of seats, and this year’s tours have been no exception. This past April, for example, the band sold out Boston University’s 7,291-seat Agganis Arena and both the next two nights at Upper Darby, Pa.’s 3,000-capacity Tower Theatre.
The group is living up to its name and embracing the digital revolution through partnerships with MySpace and iTunes. The latter will offer the band’s new single exclusively starting August 30.
Stories Of A Stranger, the band’s seventh studio album, was recorded in Virginia, California and New York City and produced by former Talking Head Jerry Harrison. It’s set for an October 4 release on Everfine/Lava.
Source pollstar.com.
A long-delayed cell phone from Apple Computer and Motorola that can play iTunes music downloads is finally set to debut through Cingular Wireless, a research analyst said.
The new phone will be equipped with software that would allow it to play songs purchased at Apple’s iTunes Web site, according to Roger Entner, an analyst for research firm Ovum who said he learned of the plans from an industry executive.
Representatives from Apple, Cingular and Motorola declined to comment, but the three companies are expected to roll out the device at a Sept. 7 event in San Francisco.
It was unclear whether the new phone will allow users to download music directly over a cellular Internet connection or if they would have to download songs to a computer and then transfer them to the handset.
Just about every major cell phone maker has been working to launch a music phone that could compete with the iPod, Apple’s popular digital music player.
Motorola originally planned to unveil the iTunes phone at a trade show in February but the debut was scrubbed at the last minute with no explanation. Some observers speculated that the event was blocked by Apple’s famously secretive management. Others postulated that one or more wireless operators objected to the possibility that such a device would undercut their efforts to sell music to cell users.
Analysts have predicted that music-playing phones could threaten iPod’s grip on the market for digital music players.
Although battery life is a major impediment, tech companies have long vied to create an all-in-one product that would encompass all the utility of cell phones, handheld computers, music players, cameras and videogame machines.
The move into cell phones is seen by industry experts as a way for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple to hedge its bets. “It’s a win for all three companies,” Entner said. “Apple gets into the wireless space, Motorola associates itself with a wow brand and Cingular aligns itself with an iconic music-device company.”
Source billboard.com.
