The Thermals Now We Can See Set For March 10th
We are thrilled to announce that Kill Rock Stars will be releasing the fourth full-length by The Thermals!! The album titled Now We Can See will drop on April 7th, 2009. The release of a 7" and digital single, "Now We Can See" on March 10th and a trip to SXSW will proceed the album. […]
Coheed and Cambria Release 9 Disc Box Set
Columbia Records is excited to announce that on March 17, 2009, Coheed and Cambria will release Neverender, The Children of the Fence boxset, a release that is possibly as ambitious as the event itself. Neverender marked the triumphant culmination of the band’s four-album album cycle. The historic four-night event featured the band performing each of […]
The Hold Steady Announce U.S. Spring Dates
The Hold Steady have announced a string of dates, kicking off March 31 in Albany, NY. The band will perform at the House Of Blues in Chicago in January at a Club Charities event, but that is the only US show on their schedule before the March 31 tour launch. They are continuing to support […]
Phish, Bruce Springsteen Rumored For Bonnaroo
Phish and Bruce Springsteen are rumoured to headline next year’s Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, TN. The reunited Phish, who recently announced four gigs set to take place in March, are strongly tipped to headline two nights at the festival which takes place June 11-14. According to a report on rollingstone.com, Bruce Springsteen is on course […]
Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Bon’s Skinny Love
If you’ve been paying attention to the Best Of lists that have been rolling out these last couple of weeks the one album that seems to be floating near the top has been Bon Iver’s debut album – For Emma, Forever Ago. I previously drooled over this one when I put together my Top 6 […]
Christmas w/ Brushfire: Mason Jennings
Jack Johnson and an assortment of musicians on his Brushfire Records roster pitched in to create a debut holiday album called This Warm December.
One highlight of the holiday compilation is Mason Jennings’ interesting acoustic take on Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. With his original acoustic folk, rock, and country-influenced sound, and intellectually stimulating lyrics, Jennings has successfully cultivated an incredibly loyal base of dedicated and passionate fans over the course of his musical career. Below, Mason shares his thoughts about the holiday season.
Jack Spilberg: What’s better, naughty or nice?
Mason Jennings: I’ll take Nifty. Or Knopfler. Or Knuckley. Or Nascar.
JS: Which do you prefer, real or fake Christmas trees?
MJ: If you believe it is real, it’s real. I like our real tree, same one we’ve had for 10 years.
JS: Who personifies Scrooge the most in the world today?
MJ: I would have to say I do, at least the part about him being a man and changing his ways
READ ON for more of Jack’s interview with Mason Jennings…
Cover Wars: A Day In The Life Edition
The Dave Matthews Band continues to do well when included in Cover Wars as they have walked away the winner of last week’s edition when we looked at covers of Burning Down The House. DMB also announced their initial tour dates for 2009 yesterday to promote a new studio release. The tour begins at Madison Square Garden on April 14, which is also the release date of the as-of-now untitled album.
Moving on to this week’s edition, we’ve got the last track on The Beatles’ 1967 release, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
As always, be sure to register/login to IMEEM before starting the playlist below to ensure you listen to full-length clips.
READ ON for the tale of the tape on this week’s contestants…
Briefly: Phish to Headline Bonnaroo
As we speculated two weeks ago, Rolling Stone’s sources tell the mag that Phish will headline two nights of Bonnaroo 2009 with Bruce Springsteen set to close the festival on Sunday night. What remains to be seen is whether the soon-to-be-reunited Dead join in on the fun. We can’t wait to see what Pitchfork and […]
Gene Ween Band Tour Canceled
We were looking forward to checking out the Gene Ween Band tour on Thursday night at the Highline Ballroom, but that show and the other remaining shows have been canceled due to Gener’s sudden illness. We’ve got no further details, but Ween’s manager tells us to hold tight for more info on refunds and rescheduling. […]
Tour Dates: TNV To Cover VU
Looks like the art of the cover song may not just be a jamband thing anymore. Come this Valentine’s Day, lo-fi indie rockers Times New Viking will honor the Velvet Underground with a special tribute show to the influential band. The show will serve as the closing party for the Wexner Center For The Arts’ […]
Interview: Jimmy of The Subdudes
New Orleans’ rockers and masters of harmony The Subdudes recently did something they’ve never done since getting together way back in 1987 – put out a live concert video. If almost to make up for lost time, the sweet sounding quintet have put out an inspired double DVD documentary and concert film displaying two completely different sides of the band’s music.
Filmed over the course of three days in Annapolis Maryland, The Subdudes Live at Ram’s Head and Unplugged at Pleasant Plains two-DVD set contains 15 song selections from two nights of concerts at The Ram’s Head on the first disc. The second disc features 70 minutes of interviews, an unplugged set and original studio footage shot while creating and recording the Street Symphony album with legendary producer George Massenberg in Nashville Tennessee. We recently spoke with ‘dudes’ bassist Jimmy Messa about the band’s first DVD…
Scott Bernstein: When did the band finally decide to put out a DVD?
Jimmy Messa: Well, we met this guy, Bob Hughes, who attended a few of our shows, and he was amazed that we didn’t have a DVD out yet, and he wanted to help us produce one. He has a business partner, Jerry Jones, who lives in the Baltimore area, and by coincidence Jerry runs a film company (Biographica)…so, while we were playing in the Baltimore area (Annapolis, actually), we did those 2 shows at the Ram’s Head Tavern, and Jerry and a crew came down to record us.
SB: The Ram’s Head DVD puts you right in the middle of the action. Was it odd playing a show with cameras set up filming your every move?
JM: No, not all that odd. There are people with cameras at practically every show, you get used to it and just ignore them…
READ ON for more of Scott’s interview with Jimmy Messa…
Widespread Panic – Asheville Civic Center, Asheville NC 11.29.08
Widespread Panic performing at the Asheville CC in Asheville, NC on November 29th, 2008.
Cheap Trick: Budokan
I'll always had a tough time understanding why Cheap Trick was so popular. Sure, "Surrender" is among rock's greatest songs and they had their share of other decent tunes, but why would they stand out like they did? The answer I was told is contained in their live show and this 30th Anniversary Edition of their Budokan set, re-packaging the original At Budokan shows into one DVD and three CDs, is the best thing short of being there.
Weezer Releasing iPhone App Holiday Songs
Weezer spreads some holiday cheer for fans with the digital release of six Christmas songs on December 16. The songs were originally recorded for the recently released the #1 selling iPhone app "Tap Tap Revenge Christmas With Weezer." For the first time ever a band recorded music for an app but demand was so great […]
Perpetual Groove Make Album, Tour And Website Plans For ’09
Perpetual Groove will be holding a light schedule during the first quarter of 2009, as they begin the process of assembling their first studio album with new keyboardist John Hruby. The band will be recording in their hometown of Athens, GA, but will be popping out of the studio in February for a few select […]
Dave Matthews Band Spring Tour
On April 14th, Dave Matthews Band returns with its first studio album in four years – and they’ll celebrate with a show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden that evening. The date will mark the beginning of the band’s spring tour, which will include a stop at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival […]
Bill Kreutzmann’s Maui New Year
Bill Kreutzmann, Grateful Dead drummer for the band’s entire thirty year career, rings in the New Year in the state he calls home – Hawaii. On December 29th and 31st, Kreutzmann is joined on stage in Maui by Austin bluesman Papa Mali, James "Hutch" Hutchinson (bass guitar/Bonnie Raitt Band), and Matt Hubbard (piano/Willie Nelson Band) […]
Blips: Three Under The Radar Bands
In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these three under the radar musical groups…
The Answer
I could easily start this out by saying Ireland’s The Answer is a “mid level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom” considering they sound remarkably like Stillwater – the fictional band from Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. The Answer are the living embodiment of a modern Classic Rock band, with lead singer Cormac Neeson looking like he just stepped straight of central casting for the part with his long hair and Robert Plant meets Geddy Lee-inspired vocals. The band’s arena-ready hard rock sound derives heavy influences from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and any other number of like-minded bands from that era.
I recently caught The Answer playing an abbreviated in-store set where they rocked the place like it was MSG with blistering guitar solos and Neeson’s charismatic stage swagger. The band recently released their first stateside EP, Never Too Late, and currently have the high profile task of holding down the opening slot for AC/DC on their world tour that stretches into summer of 2009, but will also return stateside for headlining tour of their own.
READ ON for our profiles of Joe Pug and Viva…
Hors d’Oeuvres: Video Game Overload
Now that Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become big hits, video game companies are expanding their rock-game offerings. Electronic Arts has just announced the release of rock-adventure Brutal Legend. Brutal Legend “stars” Jack Black in the role of roadie Eddie Riggs, who sets on an epic quest to build an army of rockers with […]
Christmas w/ Brushfire: G. Love
Jack Johnson and an assortment of musicians on his Brushfire Records roster pitched in to create a debut holiday album called This Warm December.
G. Love was more than happy to contribute to the Brushfire holiday album with his one of a kind, infectious, blues-injected style. Since dropping his hit debut albums in the mid-nineties, G Love has built an army of loyal fans by consistently coming through with fresh material and over a dozen full-length albums. A road warrior constantly on tour, recording, and collaborating with his Brushfire colleagues- G Love truly is one of the hardest working cats in the biz. Below, G sounds off about why he is all about the Christmas season.
Jack Spilberg: What do you want for Christmas?
G Love: I want a new kitchen knife and a knife sharpener, some real fine wine, and a printer so I don’t have to keep going to Kinkos! I also just want to be with my fam and my girl. Barack Obama for president is the best gift of all.
JS: What’s better, naughty or nice?
GL: Naughty with a lil’ bit of nice
JS: Which do you prefer, real or fake Christmas trees?
GL: I was raised with real trees but now that I’m feeling more environmentally responsible I suppose I will go with a fake tree!
JS: Who in the Brushfire family most reminds you of Santa?
GL: That would be me. I like to give presents and I especially love to sing carols for whomever I can get to listen. I have a cool Christmas song on the new Brushfire holiday record called Christmas Baby, but stay tuned for the G. Love Christmas record coming next year!
READ ON for more of Jack’s interview with G. Love…