2006

Trey Anastasio will headline the closing night of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Festival on June 25 at Rio Grande Park in downtown Aspen. Maceo Parker will open the show at 6:30PM with Trey slated for 9PM. Tickets are available now through Ticketfusion.com or charge by phone at 1.866.JAS.TIXX.

Gov’t Mule has finished recording its seventh studio album at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio near Austin, Texas. According to frontman Warren Haynes, the set is tentatively titled “High and Mighty” and slated for an Aug. 22 release on ATO Records.

It’s shaping up to be, I think, the best thing we’ve ever done,” says Haynes, who co-founded the group in 1994 with the late bassist Allen Woody as a side project to their regular gig with the Allman Brothers Band. “We’ve recorded 18 songs. We’re gonna have to narrow it down to 11 or something. There’s just a lot of diversity. It covers a lot of ground, a lot of our influences. We’re going in some new directions, but it still sounds like Mule.”

Haynes says fans will hear reggae overtones in some of the new songs, along with “a little more alt.country” and “a lot of just real groove-oriented stuff, a lot of rockers.” Produced by Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, it’s Gov’t Mule’s first studio release since 2005’s “Deja Voodoo” and the second to feature the current lineup of Haynes, founding drummer Matt Abts, bassist Andy Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis.

Source [url=http://billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002382567

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.”

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.

Many tributaries flow into the vast ocean of sound that is The CodeTalkers, who encompass the shake of New Orleans soul, the hard electric edge of real blues, fleet fingered acoustic picking, and huge scale epic rock. Founded in 1999 after a Halloween encounter between singer-multi-instrumentalist Bobby Lee Rodgers and southern alternative music legend Col. Bruce Hampton, the group makes glorious pop music infused with the spirit & technical grace of jazz.

This muscular, engaging sound is in full bloom on their new album, Now, being released on June 13, 2006. Now’s 12 tracks, all original songs written by Rodgers, run a wild gamut, from the chugging blues of “Saved By The Same Thing” to the Zappa-like “Victor The Snakeman”. There is incredible balance and nuance to Now that draws deeply from the past but also speaks to a bright future. Loud & soft, direct & elusive, the record flows in an organic, unforced manner that’s positively engaging. It’s no longer a secret – the music of Bobby Lee Rodgers will be heard.

The band’s live shows are a darn good time – vibrant and uplifting and at times downright frivolous – in all the good ways. The CodeTalkers’ unstoppable rhythm section features bassist Ted Pecchio and drummer Tyler Greenwell. And The Colonel is quick to point out that he considers this Bobby Lee’s band, even if he is there many nights jumping around & making inspired noise. “It’s time for the world to hear Bobby,” says Hampton. “Me, I may or may not be there on any given night. That’s the way I want it.”

The current list of The CodeTalkers tour dates is as follows:

May 05 Stella Blue Asheville NC
May 06 Cats Cradle Carrboro NC
May 07 Cary Street Cafe Richmond VA
May 09 Daniel Street Milford CT
May 11 The Main Pub Manchester CT
May 12 CODA New York NY
May 13 Spring Jam – Sunshine Daydream Farm Terra Alta WV
May 15 Thunderbird Pittsburgh PA
May 17 Wilbert’s Cleveland OH
May 18 The Mad Frog Cincinnati OH
May 19 Peaches Grill Yellow Springs OH
May 20 Martyr’s Chicago IL
June 09 The Pour House Charleston SC
June 18 Bonnaroo Manchester TN
June 22 Georgia Theatre Athans GA
June 23 Smith’s Old Bar Atlanta GA

More dates to be announced.

Also, look for Bobby Lee on tour with Jimmy Herring (Allman Brothers/The Dead/Aquarium Rescue Unit) and Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit/Hellborg, Lane and Sipe) in late May/June in a project currently being dubbed Herring, Sipe and Rodgers. Collaborating for the first time ever on stage, the trio will perform older Rodgers material that isn’t currently in The CodeTalkers’ repertoire.

Current Herring, Sipe and Rodgers tour dates are as follows:

May 26 The Pour House Charleston SC
May 27 Freebird Live Jacksonville Beach FL
May 28 The Bank St.Petersburgh FL
May 31 Georgia Theater Atlanta GA
June 01 Exit In Nashville TN
June 02 Workplay Theatre Birmingham AL
June 03 Smilefest 2006 Lake Toxaway NC
August 05 Jerry Garcia Birthday Bash Terra Alta WV

More dates to be announced.

For more information visit thecodetalkers.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.

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.