2006

Bob Dylan will on May 3 unveil his XM Satellite Radio show “Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan.” The first installment will based around the theme of “weather” and will also find Dylan sharing stories and answering questions submitted by fans via email.

According to XM, future shows will be devoted to such themes as “dance,” “police,” “cars” and “whiskey,” and also feature guests such as Elvis Costello, actor Charlie Sheen and comedians Penn Jillette, Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel.

Dylan is in the midst of a spring/summer North American tour, many dates on which will feature Merle Haggard. The trek next visits St. Louis tomorrow (April 20).

Source billboard.com.

In one of the first satellite-to-terrestrial radio syndication deals, XM Satellite Radio has an agreement in place to license its Opie & Anthony Show to CBS Radio in seven markets.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the duo, whose terrestrial radio career went up in flames in 2002, will bring David Lee Roth

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, tonight (4/20) on NBC will see David Gilmour’s U.S. television debut. He’ll be performing “On An Island” with special guests David Crosby and Graham Nash plus one Pink Floyd classic with touring band mates Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera. Check your local listings for times.

If the small screen isn’t enough, Americans can head over to their local Regal Cinemas and watch the London concert in its entirety from May 15-30th.

The Fifth Annual Marty Stuart Late Night Jam will be held at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Wednesday, June 7 at 11:00PM. Doors open at 10PM. Tickets are $39.50 & $29.50. Tickets are on sale now at the Ryman Auditorium box office.

This year’s performers include Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Connie Smith, Travis Tritt, Kathy Mattea, Jim Brock, Don Chambers and GOAT, John Stone, The Legendary Shack Shakers, and the Fairfield Four.

Past performers include Montgomery Gentry, Kentucky Headhunters, Wynonna, Keith Urban, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Earl Scruggs.

The concert will benefit MusiCares. MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. In the past four years combined, the Marty Stuart Late Night Jam has raised a total of $50,000 for MusiCares.

“The LATE NIGHT JAM is five years old. I consider that a milestone,” says Stuart. “My concept from the beginning was to offer a diverse show to kick off Nashville’s Music Festival. It’s kind of become the pirate ship, sidewinder event of which I dreamed. The Ryman is the perfect setting for diversity and MusicCares is certainly the perfect cause for which to play and sing. The list of talent from previous years is stellar and this year is no different.”

As posted on the official Blue Merle website, the band is apparently calling it quits following the upcoming Rites of Spring Festival performance. Citing no particular catalyst, the band simply announced the curtain call and thanked fans for their continued support.

“Just a few weeks away from our hometown show at Vanderbilt’s Rites of Spring Festival. We need to let you all know that this will be the last Blue Merle Show. We remain close as friends and will still be collaborating together on some levels, but we feel the time is right for us to pursue individual paths in music and life. This has been a tough decision for us after such an amazing run together. We deeply thank all those who have helped us out along the way, whether it meant letting us sleep on your floor in the beginning, or stopping by our site to show us support, or coming out to a show.”

See bluemerle.com for more info

Like many corporate ad campaigns, whether a forced viral push or true “leak,” somehow the much anticipated Jack White-penned Coca-Cola advert has landed on YouTube. The White Stripes man has written and sings the advertisement’s songs which boasts an uplifting, brass-led tune and the chorus: “It’s the right thing to do, and you know it, It’s inside of you, so just show it, love is the truth.”

The clip itself kicks off with shots of a girl in an electric red wig and matching dress, skipping out of a red house, with a bottle of Coke in her hand.

The ad is currently showing on Youtube.com.

Punk icon Iggy Pop has been holed up in “a little cottage in the boonies on a little river” in Florida writing music with his old band the Stooges. The as-yet-untitled set, the legendary rock act’s first since 1973, is due out next year via Virgin and will be produced by Steve Albini. It will also feature several tracks produced by Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs).

The Stooges will also embark on their first full-blown reunion tour, having previously focused on the festival circuit and one-offs since reassembling in 2003. At deadline, the lone date confirmed is an appearance in December at the U.K.’s Nightmare Before Christmas festival, which will be curated by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore.

Source billboard.com.

After regrouping for a tour last year, Mark Olson and Gary Louris have once again reunited for brief Western U.S. swing this spring. The former principals of the now-defunct Jayhawks have 10 dates slated, beginning April 28 in Tuscon, Ariz.

“There’s obviously an audience for it and we like to do it. Sure, it’s a bit of a money-maker, it’s a job, but it’s going to be fun,” Louris tells Billboard.com. “One of the really appealing parts is to hang out with Mark and be friends again.”

While there are no official plans for the two to record again, Louris does not rule out the possibility. “I wouldn’t want it to be the record that I have to market for the next two years, but I would enjoy making a record with Mark,” the 51-year-old songwriter says. “We’d just have to find the time. But we wouldn’t do a record that requires two months in the studio. Mark likes to write and make stuff in a grassroots situation. We don’t get too fancy.”

Louris notes that the tour is not a Jayhawks reunion. Olson left the seminal alt-country band in 1995 to pursue other interests while Louris remained, eventually disbanding the group in 2003.

Louris will be supporting the new Golden Smog album, “Another Fine Day,” due July 18 via Lost Highway. The project features the talents of other artists like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Big Star’s Jody Stephens and is the first under the Golden Smog name in eight years.

Louris, who splits his time between homes in Spain and Minneapolis, is busy performing with two other side projects, the Yams and Thank You And Goodnight. He hopes to release another record, either solo or with a band, later this year.

Here are Mark Olson and Gary Louris’ tour dates:

April 28: Tuscon, Ariz. (Rialto Theater)
April 29: Flagstaff, Ariz. (Orpheum Theater)
May 1-2: Los Angeles (Troubadour)
May 3: Solana Beach, Calif. (Belly Up)
May 6: Santa Cruz, Calif. (Rio Theater)
May 7-8: San Francisco (Great American Music Hall)
May 11: Portland, Ore. (Aladdin)
May 12: Seattle (Showbox)

Source billboard.com.