May 2006

A worldwide community of super-sensitive, highly emotional music fans have been holding vigil since September 2005 for the announcement of the 2006 ACL Music Festival lineup. Their wait is finally over. With a head-spinning display of diversity and poundage, the 2006 Festival features Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Massive Attack, Ben Harper, The String Cheese Incident, Flaming Lips, The Raconteurs, Los Lonely Boys, The Shins, Ween, and about 100 more acts. Producers offer the lineup announcement as a service to overworked music journalists everywhere, delivering a powerful and newsworthy story that any monkey with a mouse could file.

The super-heavyweights on the lineup are reason enough to put the event in a position to repeat its Pollstar Festival of the Year Award, but the remaining two-thirds of the talent offers an array of shooting stars and blooming fruit. More acts include Thievery Corporation, Matisyahu, Iron & Wine, Son Volt, Guster, Damien Rice, Calexico, the New Pornographers, to name a few.

The full lineup is available at www.austincitylimits.com, along with a colorful, action-packed video version of the lineup coming to life in the park, complete with local critters.

Artists scheduled to appear:
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Wolf Parade
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness…
Van Morrison
Sparklehorse
Centro-matic
Willie Nelson
Paolo Nutini
Marah
Massive Attack
Nada Surf
Sam Roberts
String Cheese Incident
Los Amigos Invisibles
Rocky Votolato
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Feist
Murder by Death
The Flaming Lips
Phoenix
The Black Angels
John Mayer
KT Tunstall
Anathallo
The Raconteurs
Goldfrapp
The Rocket Summer
Los Lonely Boys
Donavon Frankenreiter
Sara Hickman
The Shins
Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits
Sylvia St. James and The Gospel Stars
Ween
Asleep at the Wheel
Terri Hendrix
Thievery Corporation
Buckwheat Zydeco
Trish Murphy
Ben Kweller
Husky Rescue
Patrice Pike
G. Love & Special Sauce
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
The Durdens
Matisyahu
The Subdudes
The Jones Family Singers
Gnarls Barkley
BoDeans
Sterling Lands and The Warrior Gospel Band
Damien Rice
The Greencards
Joe McDermott and the Smart Little Creatures
Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band
Guy Clark
The Biscuit Brothers
Ray Lamontagne
Kathleen Edwards
Imagination Movers
Nickel Creek
The Long Winters
Elvis Perkins
Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley
The Stills
The New Soul Invaders
The Tragically Hip
Charlie Sexton
South Austin Jug Band
Kings of Leon
Alexi Murdoch
Greyhounds
Iron & Wine
Pierre Guimard
Star Kids Yoga
Kasey Chambers
Matt Costa
Joy Davis
Aimee Mann
Matt Nathanson
Daniella Cotton
Galactic
Okkervil River
Troy Campbell Band
The New Orleans Social Club
Ted Leo/Pharmacists
The Palm Elementary School Choir
Calexico
Benevento Russo Duo
Asheba
The New Pornographers
Randy Rogers Band
The White Ghost Shivers
Son Volt
Federico Aubele
The Gospel Silvertones
Guster
What Made Milwaukee Famous
The Anointed Voicez
Explosions in the Sky
Jose Gonzalez
Ghandaia
deadboy & The Elephantmen
Ian McLagan and The Bump Band
Melissa Reaves
The Secret Machines
New Monsoon
Claire Small
Jack Ingram
Del Castillo
Eli Young Band
Brazilian Girls
Fields
Rodney Hayden
Gomez
Lou Ann Barton
Robyn Ludwick
Stars
Beto y los Fairlanes
Peter Dawson

With their debut album having hit stores on May 16, the Raconteurs have lined up a summer North American tour kicking off July 16 in Denver. The trek in support of the Third Man/V2 set “Broken Boy Soldiers” also includes a previously announced Aug. 4 appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Beforehand, the Raconteurs will play a one-off June 7 show in Los Angeles and a host of European summer festival dates, beginning June 21 at the Wireless Festival in London. In addition, the group will greet fans Thursday at Tower Records in New York’s East Village.

“Broken Boy Soldiers” is led by the single “Steady, As She Goes,” which rises 5-4 this week on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart.

Here are the Raconteurs’ tour dates:

June 7: Los Angeles (Music Box)
June 21: London (Hyde Park)
June 24: Scheesel, Germany (Hurricane Festival)
July 1: Werchter, Belgium (Rock Werchter Festival)
July 5: Kristiansand, Norway (Quart Festival)
July 16: Denver (Fillmore Auditorium)
July 18: Tempe, Ariz. (Marquee Theatre)
July 19: San Diego (Soma)
July 21: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre
July 23: San Francisco (Warfield Theatre)
July 25: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theatre)
July 26: Vancouver (Malkin Bowl)
July 27: Seattle (Moore Theatre)
Aug. 3: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
Aug. 4: Chicago (Lollapalooza)
Aug. 5: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Theatre)
Aug. 6: Cleveland (House of Blues)
Aug. 26: Reading, England (Reading Festival)
Aug. 27: Leeds, England (Leeds Festival)

Source billboard.com.

A typically eclectic crew of artists will perform in the coming months as part of the SummerStage series in New York’s Central Park. Among the acts set for free performances are Rhett Miller with Teddy Thompson and Ollabelle, Feist, Antibalas and Seu Jorge with Jose Gonzalez and DJ Cut Chemist.

Other highlights of the free series include a July 16 triple-bill with Amadou & Mariam, Daby Toure and Birdy Nam Nam, a July 19 visit from the Upright Citizens Brigade with appearances by Todd Barry, David Cross and Amy Pohler, a rare live set from Edie Brickell and New Bohemians (July 28) and a star-studded July 30 hip-hop show with Lady Sovereign, Jean Grae and Pete Rock.

SummerStage will also host several high-profile benefits, beginning June 28 with Bonnie Raitt and Keb’ Mo’. Shows will follow from Ani DiFranco (July 13), Galactic and Umphrey’s McGee (July 20), Fiona Apple and Damien Rice (July 26) and Calexico, the New Pornographers and the Frames (Aug. 3).

Source billboard.com.

Riverside has set a June 27 release date for a double-disc collection featuring the brief 1957 studio collaboration between Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. “The Complete 1957 Riverside gs” boasts 20 tracks, including previously unreleased alternate takes of “Abide With Me” and “Crepuscle With Nellie.”

Also featured is the first stereo version of “Blues for Tomorrow,” which has previously only been available in mono. There are two versions of “Ruby, My Dear,” one with a solo from Coltrane and the other featuring tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.

The album will come with a sheet of promotional collectable stamps as well as liner notes from original session producer Orin Keepnews.

Monk and Coltrane’s six-month stint together is regarded as one of the most important in jazz history, but the recorded evidence of it is sparse at best. Last year, an oft-bootlegged concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall was released by Blue Note after the master tapes were discovered in the Library of Congress.

Here is the track list for “The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings”:

Disc one:
“Monk’s Mood” (false start)
“Monk’s Mood”
“Crepuscle With Nellie” (take 1)
“Crepuscle With Nellie” (take 2)
“Crepuscle With Nellie” (breakdown)
“Blues for Tomorrow” (stereo)
“Crepuscle With Nellie” (edited: re-takes 4 and 5)
“Crepuscle With Nellie” (re-take 6)
“Off Minor” (take 4)
“Off Minor” (take 5)

Disc two:
“Abide With Me” (take 1)
“Abide With Me”
“Epistrophy” (short version)
“Epistrophy”
“Well, You Needn’t” (opening)
“Well, You Needn’t”
“Ruby, My Dear” (with Coleman Hawkins)
“Ruby, My Dear” (with John Coltrane)
“Nutty”
“Trinkle, Tinkle”

Source billboard.com.

Originally due last December, the Pink Floyd live DVD “Pulse” will now hit stores June 27 via Columbia. The project was originally released on home video in 1995 in conjunction with a double-disc CD set of the same name. The film chronicles the band’s 1994 tour in support of the album “The Division Bell,” which turned out to be its last.

The material here was taped during a 14-night run at London’s Earl’s Court and is highlighted by the first complete performance of the 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon,” which can be found on the second disc. The first disc features a blend of older hits (“Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2,” “Learning To Fly”) and material from “The Division Bell” (“Keep Talking,” “Take It Back”).

Among the bonus features are the back-screen stage projections used during the 1994 and 1987 tours, plus music videos for a host of “Division Bell” tracks, the off-stage documentary “Goodbye To Life As We Know It” and Floyd’s performance of “Wish You Were Here” with Billy Corgan at its 1996 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour will tape a live DVD of his own during his May 29-30 stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The project is expected to be out before the end of the year.

Source billboard.com.

According to ET, after almost four years of marriage, Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills have separated.

The former couple released the following statement Wednesday, “Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.

Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter is immensely stressful. We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period.”
Source: et.tv.yahoo.com

Umphrey’s McGee will perform on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, May 18th. The band will be joined by veteran rocker Huey Lewis, who also appears on Umphrey’s McGee’s new studio album ‘Safety in Numbers.’

‘Safety In Numbers,’ which just hit stores in April, is the third studio album by the musically muscular and relentlessly inventive Umphrey’s McGee. The highly anticipated album brought Umphrey’s Mcgee to #186 in Billboard’s Top 200, and the band debuted #11 on the coveted Heatseakers Chart.