Cliff Krolick is a New Englander, and usually treats himself to a break from winter each year by heading south. This winter may have been mild, but it was still too long – so he took some friends down to Quito, Ecuador for a biking adventure.
Four years after the death of singer Layne Staley, the surviving members of Alice In Chains will tour Europe and North America with a new vocalist.
The group – guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney – has a 25-date Euro tour planned this summer, with William DuVall of Los Angeles band Comes With The Fall on vocal duties.
“However, William will not be taking on this key role alone,” the band said in a post on its official Web site. “While we can’t name names, let’s just say that some European fans are in for some very special treats.”
The Euro itinerary comprises mostly festivals, including several with Guns N’ Roses and Metallica.
Dates have not been announced for North America, but a Stateside club trek is to kick off May 18, according to aliceinchains.com. The group hinted that every city on the tour “has its own major league baseball team.”
Alice In Chains played a tsunami benefit show last year with guest vocalists including Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, Heart’s Ann Wilson, Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin, and former Damageplan vocalist Patrick Lachman.
In March, Cantrell, Inez and Kinney performed with ex-Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo during a VH1 Decades Rock Live tribute to Heart.
Despite its success in the early ’90s, Alice In Chains toured rarely in the years following 1994’s Jar Of Flies EP. The band’s last road trip was an opening stint for KISS in 1996.
Staley died of a drug overdose in April 2002.
Source pollstar.com.
Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, AFI, Hawthorne Heights and Yellowcard are among the first acts confirmed for the 2006 edition of Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival, Billboard.com can reveal. The event will be held Sept. 2-4 throughout the Seattle Center and will also feature performances by Atmosphere, Feist, Shooter Jennings, the English Beat, Deerhoof, Mates Of State and Metric.
To read more visit billboard.com.
In support of ‘Hind Hind Legs’, The Lovely Feathers have confirmed a US tour with The Spinto Band and Dr. Dog, that kicks off June 8th at The Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA. These shows follow Canada’s Pop Montreal Tour, which The Lovely Feathers will headline.
June 8: Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse Music Hall
June 9: New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
June 10: Boston, MA @ TT The Bear’s Place
June 11: Washington, DC @ The Black Cat
June 14: Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
June 15: Nashville, TN @ The Mercy Lounge
June 16: Chicago. IL: TBA
June 17: Cleveland, OH @ CMJ Rock Hall Musicfest at the Beachland Tavern
June 18: Cincinnati, OH: TB
Photos by Brian Diescher of the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on March 20, 2006.
A tribute to wounded New Orleans, Shawn Mullins
The search for a permanent bass player is finally over for A Wilhelm Scream. The band announced today through their site awilhelmscream.com that Brian Robinson has become a permanent member of the band. From the band:
THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE WILHELM FAMILY
…and it is… Brian Robinson!!! Formerly of the amazing, and (sadly) recently disbanded The Fullblast of Toronto, Brian has officially joined A Wilhelm Scream. Everyone who knows us knows he has always been our dream bassist (go listen to the Fullblast records now!). He
Scottish rock troupe Snow Patrol has announced plans to follow its U.K. tour with a month’s worth of North American tour dates throughout May and June.
The band’s new album, Eyes Open, is set for Stateside release May 9. They’ll land in Denver two weeks later, launching a 19-date tour at the Paramount Theatre.
Concerts are planned throughout the U.S., including stops in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco plus three dates in Canada. The tour wraps June 20 at The Wiltern LG in Los Angeles.
Snow Patrol opened for U2 in Europe last summer after a lengthy headlining tour in the U.S., then retreated to a studio on the Ireland coastline to record Eyes Open.
Fans at South by Southwest and in select U.S. cities got a taste of the new material this March when the band visited for a promo tour.
Source pollstar.com.
Ray LaMontagne is in the midst of finishing his next RCA studio album with hopes to release it in early August. The artist has been recording with producer Ethan Johns at Allaire Studios in Shokan, N.Y. The pair previously worked together on LaMontagne’s 2004 debut, “Trouble,” which has sold 239,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
According to a spokesperson, the as-yet-untitled effort will be preceded by a short North American tour in July, a month after he finishes a stint supporting David Gray in the United Kingdom.
Source billboard.com.
Long-time Mavericks guitar slinger Nick Kane has assembled a bare-knuckled 3-piece rock’n’roll band and re-writes the book on Instrumental Rock Music.
Nick Kane had spent several years lounging in various bands around Nashville and for most of the 90’s he traveled around the world as a member of country-pop group The Mavericks, collecting a Grammy Award and selling out 8 nights at the Royal Albert Hall along the way.
But it was Nick’s desire to play music that had its own voice, unencumbered from any commercial trappings, and in Nashville’s cold hard heart he found the perfect place to develop this dream without distraction. He was fortunate to find two like-minded cohorts in Rick Taylor, bass guitar; and Joe Scheibelhoffer, drums; and together they have formed The Balls.
The new CD “The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is a highly original piece of work. Their style has been described as ‘garage-prog’: on one hand they tackle very difficult and ambitious arrangements yet the band is driven by a raw, powerful and ferociously loud rock’n’roll spirit.
The listener will hear shades of early Deep Purple; grungy Link Wray; themes straight out of a Spaghetti Western; flat out paint-peeling Rock and even a touch of Pachelbel. And yet, it’s like you’re hearing it all for the first time.
The Balls are also known for their passionate live performance and their ability to take instrumental-music neophytes on a long and winding journey, riveting the audience and leaving them exhausted, elated and with mouths agape.
“The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is available from ballsrock.com
