Music News Net

PAUL McCARTNEY Joined On Stage by Roger Daltrey, Ronnie Wood and Paul Weller

MUSIC NEWS-  This week, Sir Paul McCartney played the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust UK charity gigs and was joined on stage by Paul Weller, Ronnie Wood and Roger Daltrey. They all joined Paul to perform 'Get Back' on Thursday night.

The evening marked the end of the European dates for his 'On The Run' tour. He now travels down to South America for the tour's final leg as he promotes his Kisses on the Bottom album.

SQUEEZE Makes Spring USA Tour Run

MUSIC NEWS- The reunited and rejuvinated SQUEEZE will make another USA tour run this Spring with dates throughout the country (itinerary below). The Chris Gifford / Glenn Tilbrook team are still together and will be bringing their rock & pop hits to our shores, with the English Beat on board at a number of gigs.  And these shows will be your chance to pick up their LIVE AT THE FILLMORE release.  Don't miss out --

 

Now, Now Set for FUN. Tour

MUSIC NEWS-  Now, Now and Trans- Records have announced that the Minneapolis trio have been added as sole support act for FUN.'s upcoming summer 2012 tour dates in late May and June. The band are currently on a national tour with The Naked & Famous supporting the release of their sophomore album Threads .

 

On April 21st Now, Now will celebrate Record Store Day with a Trans- Records 7" split featuring Now, Now's b-side "Shifting" and label mates The Lonely Forest's "Woe Is Me" as a limited edition 500 pressing. A full list of stores carrying the 7" (while supplies last) may be found HERE.

Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass Legend, Dead at 88

MUSIC NEWS - Bluegrass music legend and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs died this morning at 88.  Scruggs, who helped change country music with Bill Monroe and later with guitarist Lester Flatt died in a Nashville, TN hospital of natural causes announced his son, Gary.

Mr Scruggs was an innovator and pioneered the modern banjo sound. His use of three fingers rather than the clawhammer style raised up the banjo from a part of the rhythm section, or a comedian’s prop, to a lead instrument.  His unique string-bending and lead runs became known around the globee as “the Scruggs picking style” and was perhaps most prominently displayed on the theme from the TV show, “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

SILVERSUN PICKUPS Reveal New Album News

MUSIC NEWS - Dangerbird Records has announced the release of the new record by the Grammy-nominated Silversun Pickups, Neck of the Woods, on May 8. The record was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Jacknife Lee (U2, Weezer, REM, Snow Patrol), and the song "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" will be the first single. The band is confirmed to perform from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! outdoor stage on release day, May 8.

 

Lead singer/guitarist Brian Aubert recently told Spin magazine that the songs sound "like a horror movie." He continued, "[2009's] Swoon was more about what I was feeling at that particular time, whereas with this one, I wanted to see what built me. It was learning why I am the way I am." When discussing the sound of Neck of the Woods, Aubert told Spin that drummer Christopher Guanlao steals the show. "We really wanted to play with drums as textures. We played around with drums coming in here and there and building atmosphere, which guitars usually do." But he went on to joke, "I'm not going to let the others have all the fun. It's still a rock record. We wanted to have moments of explosions like we've done in the past, but we didn't want them to carry the whole song. There's something a little bit psychotic sounding that we really like and we didn't want to fill it entirely with big guitars."

RONNIE MONTROSE Celebration Concert Announced; Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Others

MUSIC NEWS - The Bay Area music community will come together to produce "A Concert for Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" for the legendary San Francisco guitarist, who passed away last month from complications of prostate cancer.  The will be held at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, CA on Friday, April 27. Tickets will go on sale on March 30 at 10:00 am.  A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the Ronnie Montrose Fund for San Francisco Bay Area Musicians through SweetRelief.org.

"A Concert For Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" will feature the original Montrose lineup (Sammy Hagar, vocals; Bill Church, bass; and Denny Carmassi, drums), performing the landmark first Montrose album, with special guest Joe Satriani on lead guitar.  The original Gamma lineup (Davey Pattison, vocals; Glenn Letsch, bass; Denny Carmassi, drums) will also be on hand, with special guest Marc Bonilla on lead guitar. There will also be an All-Star band, comprised of many of the great musicians that Ronnie played with over the years. Some of the confirmed artists include: Neal Schon from Journey, Steve Smith formerly from Journey, members of Tesla, Eric Martin from Mr. Big, Rickie Philips from Styx, Eric Singer from KISS, Tommy Thayer of KISS and Jimmy DeGrasso from Y & T and Alice Cooper.

SIGUR ROS Back With "Valtari"

MUSIC NEWS - Sigur Rós [Jón Þór Birgisson (vocals, guitar), Georg Holm (bass), Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboards/piano), Orri Páll Dýrason (drums)] will return with their sixth studio album, Valtari, on XL Recordings on May 29, 2012. The first track from Valtari, entitled “Ekki Múkk,” is now streaming on the band’s website.  To make it even more exciting, Valtari will be released on double LP, CD and digital download and will be their first studio album since 2008’s acclaimed Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, and fortunately marks the end of their indefinite hiatus and was recorded by the band at Sundlaugin Studio, Mosfellbaer, Iceland.

Btw, in English, Valtari translates as “steamroller,” and there is something right about the title in terms of the process of its creation.  In 2011, the band, alongside mixer Alex Somers, started the painstaking forensic task of piecing together a cohesive and magical work from disparate constituent parts.  

KEANE to Tour USA for "Strangeland" Album

MUSIC NEWS - Brit rockers Keane (singer Tom Chaplin, drummer Richard Hughes, keyboardist Rice-Oxley and bassist Quin) will kick off a North American tour in support of their fourth studio album Strangeland in Boston, MA on June 12th (full itinerary below) with Mystery Jets supporting (except Nashville, Chicago and Milwaukee).   The new Strangeland was produced by Dan Grech (Radiohead, The Vaccines, Howling Bells), recorded at Sea Fog, Keane songwriter/pianist Tim Rice-Oxley's studio in South Downs, UK, and will be released May 8th on Cherrytree/Interscope Records.

Fan presale will begin March 28th at 10am local time with public on sale set for March 30 at keanemusic.com ,  The acclaimed band debuted first single "Silenced By The Night" on Jimmy Kimmel Live March 12 followed by their first ever play at the SXSW music festival where they performed to packed audiences throughout the festival.  Give a listen to the tune, below.

 

AEROSMITH Reveals "Global Warming" North American Tour Plans

MUSIC NEWS- Aerosmith, has confirmed rumors of a 2012 North American concert tour now that they're done in South America and Japan, and Mr Tyler will be on a break from his American Idol duties. The band will embark on their curiously named The Global Warming Tour and perfrom in eighteen cities beginning on June 16 in Minneapolis, MN.

"The old Aerosmith is back with a new vengeance and we will kick your ass and make out with yur mothers," said Steven Tyler of the tour.   Joe Perry added, "Can't wait to bring this band back home. It feels like we've been away too long."

GOLDENVOICE Buys Eldorado Polo Club; Land Near Coachella & Stagecoach Fests Site

MUSIC NEWS- Concert promoters, Goldenvoice, a division of the music mega-corp AEG and the organizers of the annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival, today announced that the purchased the two hundred and eighty acres of land that comprise the Eldorado Polo Club, Triangle Bar Farms, Fish Creek and Ambassador Glen Holden's property, site near the location of their festivals.  

The terms of transaction were not disclosed and Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, has not said what the property would be used for, but it is land all around the festival site at the Empire Polo Club.  The sale does likely assure the future of Coachella and Stagecoach in the area.

 

 

The MARS VOLTA Streaming New NOCTOURNIQUET, Now

MUSIC NEWS- The Mars Volta are set to release their sixth musical odyssey Noctourniquet and to celebrate they’re streaming it online before the March 26 release.  Noctourniquet is their first full-length album since 2009’s Octahedron and was inspired by Greek tragedies and even the Superman saga.

Listen to all thirteen tracks and 65 minutes of the epic, here and let us know what you think, below.

NICK LOWE Adds Concert Dates

MUSIC NEWS - Nick Lowe has added additional dates to his first headlining, full-band [Geraint Watkins (keyboards), Robert Trehern (drums), Johnny Scott (guitar), and Matt Radford (bass)] USA tour since the release of his critically acclaimed new album 'The Old Magic' (out via Yep Roc), including an April 28 performance at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, NY with Graham Parker. See updated tour itinerary below.

Watch Nick's first new video in 18 years for "Sensitive Man", starring Wilco, Robyn Hitchcock, Tim Heidecker, Marc Maron + more:

Tegan and Sara Back in the Studio

MUSIC NEWS - Canadian pop-rock icons Tegan and Sara are back in the studio, this time recording their as-yet-untitled seventh studio album.  The set will be the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2009 album Sainthood. The Quin sisters are working with three separate producers on the album: Greg Kurstin (The Shins, Lily Allen, Sia), Mike Elizondo (Regina Spektor, Mastodon, Rilo Kiley), and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Neon Trees, M83, Moving Units). 

"Sara and I are trying to step outside of our comfort zones and push ourselves to the extreme with this one so get ready for a whole new T+S sound!" Tegan said recently. "We strive to keep things fresh and exciting with each new record and I definitely feel like we're accomplishing that so far."

Tegan and Sara have already finished up with Elizondo and are currently working with Kurstin before starting sessions with Meldal-Johnsen in early May. You can keep up with their progress via an online web series "Carpool Confessional," which captures them in the car as they travel to and from the studio each day. New episodes (which have featured such special guests as fun., Sia, and AFI's Hunter Burgan) are posted every Tuesday at teganandsara.com.

ROD STEWART To Re-Join THE FACES

MUSIC NEWS- Rod Stewart will rejoin The Faces for the group's performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, when the band gets inducted.  Stewart will sing with the band for the first time in 19 years at the event in Cleveland, OH says The Faces' drummer Kenney Jones.

It is the first time the surviving members have played live in public since Stewart was awarded the Lifetime Achievement honor at the Brit awards in 1993.  The band previously reunited to headline the Vintage at Goodwood festival in 2010, but with Mick Hucknall on vocals. Jones told the press that Stewart had rehearsed with the band around the festival date, but rehearsals didn't go well due to Stewart's vocal problems.

Paul & Linda McCartney's RAM Gets Deluxe Edition Release

MUSIC NEWS- RAM, Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 memorable album will be released on a variety of formats with new and exclusive content including a beautifully packaged Deluxe Edition Box Set - the ultimate collectable!

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that is part of my history - it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was formed. It's an album called RAM. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was created. I hope you're going to like it, because I do!" said Sir Paul McCartney of the release.