2006

Even in death, Johnny Cash is still mighty enough to top The Billboard 200. “American V: A Hundred Highways” earns the Man in Black his first No. 1 album since 1969’s “Johnny Cash at San Quentin” with 88,000 copies sold in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

The American Recordings/Lost Highway effort also crowns the Top Country Albums tally, knocking the Dixie Chicks’ “Taking the Long Way” (Columbia) to No. 2 after seven weeks on top.

Though the top debut is a great posthumous achievement, the Rick Rubin-produced “American V” sold the fewest copies of a No. 1 debut since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. The previous low for a No. 1 debut belonged to Destiny’s Child’s “#1’s” in 2005, which started with 113,000.

Tool has expanded the itinerary for its next round of North American touring, which, as previously reported, will begin Aug. 5 with a performance at the San Diego Street Scene festival. Dates are now on tap through Sept. 29 in Mansfield, Mass.

Tool is out in support of its new album, “10,000 Days,” which has already sold 1.1 million copies in the United States since its May release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The single “Vicarious” remains in the top 5 of Billboard’s Modern Rock chart after 11 weeks.

Instrumental rock act Isis has been drafted as the opening act for all but the first four shows of the tour. The group’s as-yet-untitled new album features eight songs spread out over nearly an hour of music, according to Isis’ Web site. It will arrive Oct. 31 via Ipecac.

Here are Tool’s tour dates:

Aug. 5: San Diego (Street Scene Festival)
Aug. 6: Fresno, Calif. (Selland Arena)

Aug. 18-19: Honolulu (Blaisdell Center)
Aug. 22: Vancouver (GM Place)
Aug. 24: Calgary, Alberta (Pengrowth Saddledome)
Aug. 25: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
Aug. 27: George, Wash. (Gorge Amphitheatre)
Aug. 29: West Valley, Utah (E Center)
Aug. 30: Englewood, Colo. (Coors Amphitheatre)
Sept. 1: Las Vegas (Theatre Under the Stars)
Sept. 2: Marysville, Calif. (Sleep Train Amphitheatre)
Sept. 3: Oakland, Calif. (Oakland Arena)
Sept. 5: Bakersfield, Calif. (Rabobank Arena)
Sept. 7: Los Angeles (Staples Center)
Sept. 11: Woodlands, Texas (Mitchell Pavilion)
Sept. 12: San Antonio (AT&T Center)
Sept. 14: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
Sept. 15: Kansas City, Mo. (Kemper Arena)
Sept. 16: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Sept. 18: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
Sept. 21: Columbus, Ohio (Nationwide Arena)
Sept. 22: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Sept. 23: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre)
Sept. 25: Cleveland (Wolstein Center)
Sept. 28: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
Sept. 29: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)

Source billboard.com.

Big riffs, massive grooves, expansive improvisations, and well-crafted songwriting are Gov’t Mule’s calling cards, and all come to the fore on August 22 when ATO Records releases the band’s latest studio recording, “High & Mighty”.

Featuring twelve new songs from Haynes’ pen, “High & Mighty” features the band’s trademark high-energy rock ‘n roll. At the same time it expands into the realms of reggae, folk, blues, soul and jazz with a universal appeal that stubbornly refuses to be categorized.

For over a decade, the band – guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, keyboard player Danny Louis, and bassist Andy Hess – have earned the respect of their peers, fans, and critics with their thunderous live shows and acclaimed CD’s. HIGH & MIGHTY, produced by Haynes and Gordie Johnson (former leader of Canada’s Big Sugar), continues that tradition, showcasing group improvisations within the structure of memorable original songs.

“We took the interplay that happens on stage and utilized it to create something magical in the studio,” says Haynes. “Even within the structures of some of the more straight-ahead rock songs, this band plays with a jazz sensibility.”

That responsiveness makes “High & Mighty” big in both scope and sound. The disc boasts an urgent, in-your-face sound that befits Haynes’ lyrical tales of characters encumbered by guilt, pain and regret. In a world where music often sounds calculated, Gov’t Mule’s songs are jam-packed with heart and soul.

With the release of “High & Mighty”, Gov’t Mule will take to the road, with dates with the Allman Brothers Band through Labor Day Weekend. Headlining dates on the “High & Mighty” tour will include opening acts Wolfmother and Donovan Frankenreiter. Below is a complete list of Gov’t Mule tour dates, including a European leg, dates with the Dave Matthews Band, and headlining famed Colorado venue Red Rocks for the third time.

GOV’T MULE: EUROPEAN TOUR
Sun 7/9 Bospop Festival Weert, Holland
Tue 7/11 Kaufleuten Festival Zurich, Switzerland
Wed 7/12 Palladium Club Warsaw, Poland
Fri 7/14 Pistoia Blues Festival Pistoia, Italy
Sat 7/15 Vittoriale Degli Italiani Gardone Riviera, Italy
Sun 7/16 Parco Delia Musica Rome, Italy

GOV’T MULE: TAKE IT HIGHER TOUR – US
Fri 7/28 Bele Chere Music Festival Asheville, NC
Sat 7/29 NE Dodge Music Center w/Dave Matthews Band Hartford, CT
Sun 7/30 Erie Basin Marina Buffalo, NY
Tue 8/1 The Riverbend w/DMB Cincinnati, OH
Wed 8/2 The Blossom w/DMB Cleveland, OH
Sat 8/5 Randalls Island w/DMB New York, NY
Tue 8/22 PNC Arts Center w/Allman Brothers Band Holmdel, NJ
Wed 8/23 Verizon Wireless Amph w/ABB Virginia Beach, VA
Fri 8/25 Meadowbrook Farms w/ABB Guilford, NH
Sat 8/26 Tweeter Center w/ABB Mansfield, MA
Sun 8/27 Toyota Pavilion w/ABB Scranton, PA
Tue 8/29 Oneida Casino w/ABB Green Bay, WI
Wed 8/30 Rosemont Theatre w/ABB Chicago, IL
Thu 8/31 Rococo Theatre Lincoln, NE
Sat 9/2 Red Rocks Amphetheatre w/Yonder Mtn String Band & Jackie Green
Morrison, CO
Sat 9/9 Rockin’ the Burro at The McCarren Pool w/ Wolfmother & Two
Gallants Brooklyn, NY
Fri 9/15 Warner Theatre Washington, DC
Sun 9/17 The Pavilion Charlottesville, VA

More tour dates to be announced.

With just over two weeks left until FloydFest 5 takes flight on July 27-30, the official weekend schedule has been posted at floydfest.com. For the first time in its five-year history, FloydFest will host a Thursday night line-up, with the music starting at 8 pm and headliners Railroad Earth taking the stage at 10. Friday highlights include a late-afternoon set by Garaj Mahal, two sets each by Tim O

Syd Barrett, who founded Pink Floyd but later lived as a recluse, has died at the age of 60, according to a spokeswoman for the band.

A spokeswoman for Pink Floyd told the Press Association: “He died very peacefully a couple of days ago. There will be a private family funeral.”

The singer and guitarist, born Roger Keith Barrett, wrote many of the early hits for the avant-garde rock band, including the 1967 album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” and the band’s first hit singles, “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play.”

His behavior became erratic, though, and he left the band in 1968. He was replaced by David Gilmour, who had joined the band as its fifth member earlier that year.

Barrett also put out two noted solo albums, “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett,” both in 1970.

In 1975, during the recording of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” album, Barrett showed up unannounced at the studio — ironically, during the recording of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a song about him. He had become overweight and shaved his eyebrows; the other members didn’t recognize him at first.

Much of British psychedelic music was influenced by Barrett, and a number of musicians have credited him, according to Allmusic.com.

Barrett had since lived in anonymity in the eastern English city of Cambridge.

The spokeswoman said a low-key, private funeral would be held. She did not disclose the cause of death.

Source CNN.com.

On September 26, Indirecto Records releases “Out Louder”, the improvisation-fueled date from John Medeski, John Scofield, Billy Martin, & Chris Wood. It is the inaugural release for Medeski Martin & Wood’s Indirecto label. “Out Louder” is jam-packed with irresistible grooves and spontaneous improvisation, music made not above nor below, but rather in some altogether hipper place.

Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood first recorded together on Scofield’s “A Go Go” (Verve 1998), a disc that has become a must-have classic. That project united jazz guitarist Scofield with the eclectic improvisational jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood on material composed by Scofield and interpreted by all four musicians.

“Out Louder”, however, is a genuine four-way collaboration between Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood. “‘A Go Go'” was John’s record and we were essentially sidemen, where “Out Louder” musically comes from all of us” explains Wood.

Scofield adds that much of the material was composed when the foursome “would play free stuff, listen back, make a song out of it, and then go back with that idea in mind and play free again.”

Recorded in under a week at Shacklyn, MMW’s fabled downtown Brooklyn studio, “Out Louder” reeks of the scruffy, spirited basement in which it was created. There’s the undeniably funky “Little Walter Rides Again,” the free jazz excursions of “Miles Behind,” and the improvisation-rich take on Peter Tosh’s reggae anthem “Legalize It.” This is music not of this world, yet rooted in the earth tones of jazz, funk, and blues. Music from the heart, for the mind, and made to shake the earth, not to mention the body.

And there is more to come, as Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood embark on their first-ever tour (dates to come), showcasing their collaborative, instinctive sound. Look for them to perform music from “Out Louder” and “A Go Go, with several yet-to-be-released tunes poised to be thrown into the mix.