Archive: 2011

David Gray launches a special acoustic tour in February featuring the singer / songwriter and his band playing intimate venues in 12 cities. Gray will be focusing on his 2010 release, Foundling, as well as serving up reinterpretations of songs from his catalog. Called the “Lost and Found” tour, the first date is at Boston’s […]

The Mountain Jam Festival expands to four days of camping and music as Warren Haynes welcomes a wide variety of acts including My Morning Jacket, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Avett Brothers and, of course, Gov’t Mule. Expands to four days of camping and music as Warren Haynes welcomes a wide variety of acts including […]

The Gorillaz have embraced one of the unique advantages of being a cartoon band — by making up a brand new band member with the help of their fans. In November, Gorillaz masterminds Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett provided a vague description of the new character called the Evangelist and invited fans to submit their […]

Prince has added another NYC show to his schedule – February 7th at Madison Square Garden. No word yet on who will open that show, but it was announced today that Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have been tapped to open The Purple One’s January 18th sold out performance at the same venue. Tickets for […]

On New Year’s Eve Fareed Haque played his final gig with Garaj Mahal. As a founding member of the group, Fareed was front man and lead guitarist alike, a jazz master at his funky finest. In the collectivist spirit of the band, they all wrote material and every night’s set list was a round robin […]

The latest installment of the Grateful Dead’s Road Trips series has been announced and features all of the band’s April 1st, 1988 show as well as much of the previous night’s performance, both from the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. 1988 has been largely ignored in previous archival releases and the choice of […]

After four full-length albums and a number of EPs released on venerable indie label Sub Pop, Sam Beam, otherwise known by his stage moniker Iron & Wine, made the jump over to the majors for his new album. On January 25, Beam will release his major label debut Kiss Each Other Clean. Last week, he […]

Legendary nutjob Gary Busey was nominated for an Academy Award for his incredible portayal of the late, great Buddy Holly in the the 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story [TVLand – Monday, 9PM]. The movie chronicles Holly’s life from young upstart until his untimely death in February 1959. Monday, January 10 [All times EST] U2: At the […]

Thanks to our pal JRapp, we can premiere a number of fantastic clips from throughout Jam Cruise 9, which finished yesterday upon the MSC Poesia’s return to Fort Lauderdale. We start with Living Colour front man Corey Glover, who was on the boat with Galactic, singing Glamour Boys with ALO…

ALO w/ Corey Glover – Glamour Boys

Next, we’ve got a short clip of a George Porter Jr.-led version of Sneakin’ Sally from the Jam Room which featured Pete Levin, Ian Neville, Raymond Weber and Tony Hall on bass…

Jam Room – Sneakin’ Sally

READ ON for more videos from Jam Cruise 9 including Bobby w/ GSW, Brock’s LCD Soundsystem cover, Lotus on the Pool Deck, JHa joined by Butler and Berg on Dawes’ When My Time Comes and much more…

Yes, I totally owe the readers a recap of the second half of Day Four on Jam Cruise 9 as well as the grand finale on Saturday, but before I go all newsy on ya, I wanted to tell the tale of my Jam Cruise performance debut.

[Photo by Tiny Rager]

At the start of the trip, one of the sets I was most excited to see was Brock Butler’s collaboration with DJ Wade “Wyllys” Wilby on the small Solar Stage at 5PM on the final day of the trip. Wyllys and Butler had teamed up back in October for a pair of gigs in the Southeast under the name AMBIENt, which gave Brock the opportunity to add textures to Wade’s music instead of the shredding that tends to happen during Perpetual Groove shows.

• Previous Jam Cruise Journals: All Aboard, Knee Deep In It, Letter to 16-Year-Old ScottyB, Nourished Soul, Day Four – Part 1,

Wade, a Hidden Track contributor and one of my BFFs, told me about an idea he had for the Wyllys/Butler set in which he’d call up to the stage a number of friends he’d met through the music of Phish to sing backup on one of that band’s early songs, Sanity. Wilby asked me to help round up some of our friends and bring them to his room at 1PM on the day of his set with Brock.

READ ON for more on my Jam Cruise debut…

Warren Haynes' 22nd Annual Christmas Jam, held December 11th, 2010 at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, NC.

Exactly 31 years later, Roger Waters arrived at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to perform a re-imagined version of “The Wall,” as part of a worldwide tour celebrating this monumental concept piece. Although there was no involvement of anybody else from Pink Floyd, this was the ultimate staging of the masterpiece, packed with over-the-top visuals, soul-stirring musical bliss, and powerful statements. For the 20,000 people in attendance, it may have been a pricy ticket, but in return they received an unparalleled live experience for the eyes, ears, and mind.

For a band to hold it together for twenty years is monumental, but for the Black Crowes it’s a miracle. After all of the head-butting with record labels, falling-outs with numerous band members, and notorious feuding between brothers Chris and Rich Robinson; one has to wonder how they made it this far. Nevertheless they survived, dignity and greatness intact, and on December 11th the touring anniversary celebration arrived at the Hollywood Palladium. As a thank-you to the fans, the band dropped two 80-minute sets of beloved favorites, tasteful covers and rare gems; a show that those in attendance will be talking about for some time.

After a seven year sabbatical taken to concentrate on family, New Jersey singer/songwriter Kate Jacobs returns with her fifth album.  Recorded with her long-time band, Paul Moschella,  James MacMillan,  and Dave Schramm, who also produced the album, Home Game is a delightful collection devoted to the art of the three minute acoustic pop song, though two of them do clock in at a comparatively long four minutes.

What made Cage the Elephant’s self-titled debut so appealing was that it had both a raw and uncompromising feel to it, while still being a very digestible album.  Matt Shultz was able to capture a live sounding, in-your-face, type of style that applied a choke hold on many a person’s first listens.  Their second record, Thank You Happy Birthday (Jive), continues to have that blend of distorted chaos that combines aggressive rhythmic chords with edgy sarcastic lyrics, though it is slightly more difficult to chew this time around.

Greetings from just off the coast of Cuba, my friends. We’ve awoke to another gorgeous day of weather on the high seas as we motor back to Fort Lauderdale. Everyone seems surprisingly alert for Day Five of this marathon adventure and we’ve got an intense day and night ahead that leads into the dreaded disembarkation calls over the PA at 7AM tomorrow morning.

I think we’re at the point in the trip, where I can officially declare Jam Cruise 9 better than last year’s event on a musical level. While the “mindblown” factor of my first trip can never be duplicated, the artists on JC9 have all put together amazing sit-ins and action packed sets. No one wants to be “that band” or “that guy” who plays a bad show. Trust me, word spreads fast on this boat.

When I first looked at the schedule, I thought yesterday might be my least favorite of the five days. Yet, Friday turned out to crush. We were docked in Costa Maya, Mexico from 8AM to 3PM and I’d love to tell you all about it, but I took that opportunity to sleep. Zs are at a premium with “once-in-a-lifetime” collaborations likely to bust out at any time. I heard great stories of those who either went to the beach, took part in the Positive Legacy excursion, visited the Mayan Ruins or made their own adventure.

Jam Cruise is all about making your own adventure. Each attendee has a completely different experience and trading tales the next day is part of the fun. My day started with Rock Star Karoake featuring ALO. This California band is near the top of the list of acts who left a big impression on me. Not only are their originals funky and boogie-fueled without being trite, but they can also handle cover tunes with the best of ’em.

READ ON on for more of Part 1 of Day 4 of Jam Cruise.

As NFL playoffs get underway later this afternoon with the start of Wild Card Weekend, last night new Rolling Stone cover boy Jimmy Fallon unveiled his first viral worthy video to this young year with a hilarious parody of the Chicago Bears 1985 rap masterpiece The Super Bowl Shuffle. Fallon, with the help of Will […]

Since we’ve spent the entire week recounting our favorite albums of 2010, and quite frankly you’re probably tired of reading about them, seemed like a no-brainer to end the week by giving a mix tape chocked full of tunes from these 25 HT approved albums. So sit back, enjoy and play it loud…

Day Three of Jam Cruise 9 continued the trend of sit-ins at nearly every set during a full night of music that followed our stop in Roatan, Honduras. Those cruisers who wanted to sleep took full advantage during the stop at port, while plenty of adventurous types partook in all sorts of excursions on the tiny island.

Once 5:30PM hit, everyone returned to the boat and Easy Star All-Stars kicked off the action on the Pool Deck. The band mixed Beatles songs with Pink Floyd songs with a few of their originals mixed in for good measure. A break for dinner followed, though a Moog Workshop headed by Bob Moog’s grand-daughter featuring Scott Metzger, Nigel Hall, Robert Walter and a few more musicians took place in the Disco.

Last night’s “atrium piano set” was led by Zach Gill of ALO and Jack Johnson’s band. Zach took requests throughout and performed a ridiculously fun mix of covers including Billy Joel’s My Life, Warren Zevon’s Lawyers, Guns and Money, Elton John’s Bennie and the Jets and I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues and Beatles medley that featured A Little Help From My Friends and Hey Jude. When Gill couldn’t remember the lyrics to Hotel California, Jam Cruise attendee JRapp stepped in and helped Gill with the words. These solo piano sets continue to be a highlight of the cruises.

Jerry Joseph, Dave Schools and Stockholm Syndrome had the plumb, prime-time spot on the Pool Deck and blasted through a few hours of heavy rock. Karl D. made his first of many sit-ins during the Stockholm set, which also featured a tribute to Vic Chesnutt in the form of Vic’s original Whoa Death. Joseph seemed to fully embrace the Jam Cruise experience this time around after he wrote a cynical song about his last trip on the boat.

READ ON for more of the recap from Jam Cruise Day 3.

We’re barely a week into 2011 and we’ve already got our first major summer festival line up announcement of the season that has us excited for the warmer months ahead. Earlier today the fine folks behind the Wakarusa Music Festival dropped a monster list of bands that will take to the variety of tents and stages over the weekend of June 2 -5 at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas.

Now in it’s seventh year, the jam-friendly festival will be headlined by the mighty My Morning Jacket, who are joined at the top of the bill by Ben Harper & Relentless7, Thievery Corporation and STS9.

Other acts set to head to Mulberry Mountain this year will be HT faves Umphrey’s McGee, Mumford & Sons, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Galactic, Dark Star Orchestra, Perpetual Groove, Those Darlins and These United States.

A variety of ticketing options for the four day festival are currently on-sale, which include an early bird full event pass for the low price of $139.

READ ON for the full initial Wakarusa 2011 line up…