2006

From rollingstone.com

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Following the abrupt departure earlier this week of guitarist George McConnell, Widespread Panic has moved quickly in naming a new member to the band. As posted on the official WSP website:

“Widespread Panic is happy to announce that Jimmy Herring will be joining the band as lead guitarist. Jimmy, who in the past, has toured with The Dead and Aquarium Rescue Unit, said he is extremely excited to join his old friends on stage this fall. The tour will start September 14th with a three day run in New York City at the legendary Radio City Music Hall.”

Heavy Trash, the new project of Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray, will co-headline clubs for six weeks with Canadian country rockers The Sadies.

The tour runs from August 25 to October 8. The two bands will start in Bearsville, N.Y., head down into the deep South, and come back up the coast to wrap at Joe’s Pub in New York City. The itinerary includes three nights in a row in Montreal, with one show at Cafe Campus and two at the El Paso Saloon.

This isn’t the first time the two bands have collaborated: The groups toured together last year, with The Sadies serving as backup band for Spencer and Verta-Ray. Heavy Trash also appeared on The Sadies’ upcoming live album, The Sadies: In Concert Volume 1.

Source pollstar.com.

Arthur Lee, the eccentric singer/guitarist with influential 1960s rock band Love, has died in a Memphis hospital after a battle with leukemia, his manager said on Friday. He was 61.

“His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception,” Mark Linn said in an email to Reuters. “He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall.”

Lee died on Thursday at about 5 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) at Methodist University Hospital with his wife Diane at his side, Linn added.

Lee, a Memphis native who referred to himself as “the first so-called black hippie,” formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965, emerging from the same scene as groups like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors and the Mamas and Papas.

The first multiracial rock band of the psychedelic era, Love recorded three groundbreaking albums fusing traditional folk rock and blues with symphonic suites and early punk.

Bands as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Siouxsie and the Banshees cited Love as an influence.

The band’s self-titled 1966 debut yielded the hit single “My Little Red Book,” written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. The 1967 follow-up, “Da Capo,” was one of the first rock albums to feature a song, “Revelation,” that took up an entire side. “Da Capo” featured Love’s only other Top 40 hit, “Seven & Seven Is.”

The group’s third release, 1967’s “Forever Changes,” which boasted adventurous horn and string arrangements, is considered Love’s bold response to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s” album. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at No. 40 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Source CNN.com.

Confirming numerous rumors over the past few weeks, Widespread Panic guitarist George McConnell has officially parted with the band. The following was posted on the WSP website:

When co-founding band member

Texas indie rock group Okkervil River has booked another round of concerts, this time focusing on the Midwest, South and East Coast.
The band has several shows planned in its home state prior to the tour, including a pair of mid-August gigs and an appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival September 15.
They’ll launch the road trip October 3 in Little Rock, Ark. The 17-date trip will take them to New York City for two shows at the Bowery Ballroom, then back through the South to finish in Houston October 22.
Unsigned folk-rocker Elvis Perkins will open at most October shows.
Okkervil River toured Europe this spring, and wrapped a North American headlining run last November.
The group also spent time on the road last year with Rilo Kiley and the Decemberists, in addition to releasing a much-heralded album, Black Sheep Boy, and a companion EP titled Black Sheep Boy Appendix.

Source pollstar.com.