Music News Net

INTERLOCKEN Fest Announced for Central Virginia; Neil Young, Further and Others

MUSIC NEWS - Interlocken, a 4-day music festival, with an emphasis on world class music, locally
sourced food and sustainability, is confirmed for 2013 to run September 5 through 8 at Oak Ridge Farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge in Arlington, Virginia. Arlington is in central VA,  just  35 miles south of Charlottesville, and approximately 100 miles from both Washington, DC, and Richmond,VA.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Furthur, Zac Brown, The String Cheese Incident, and The Black Crowes have been booked.  Many of the artists will be performing at Interlocken several times over multiple days, and will be featured in artist pairings; with additional performers yet to be announced. Artist pre-sale tickets will be available beginning May 22 at 10am EST and general "early bird" tickets will go on sale May 23 at 10am EST. All Tickets will be sold via interlockenfestival.com.

Noted Music Producer and Engineer, ANDY JOHNS Dies

MUSIC NEWS- Noted music producer/engineer Andy Johns, who worked on classic rock albums as Led Zeppelin IV and the Rolling Stones ‘Exile On Main Street’, has died.  He was 61.  The news was confirmed to Billboard by guitarist Stacy Blades, who had been working on a as yet untitled project with Johns until the producer was hospitalized last week.  Johns was part of a family of sound engineers. His older brother, Glyn Johns, is well known for his work with The Who, The Eagles, Rolling Stones as well as Led Zeppelin and his nephew is Ethan Johns, who's worked with Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, Rufus Wainwright).

He was born in Surrey and latera student at the King's School in Gloucester.  He put aside an early ambition "to be the next greatest bass player of all time" to follow his brother into the studio world. "It looked a lot better than working," Johns told Universal Audio.   Andy Johns began his music tech career as a tape operator in Olympic Studios in London where he worked with Rod Stewart, Jethro Tull and Humble Pie.  Johns worked with the Rolling Stones from 1968-1973 and captured the sounds for ‘Exile On Main Street’ at Keith Richards’ mansion in the South of France in the early 70s.  Johns later moved to Los Angeles and worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Satriani and Van Halen.  His more recent work includes Steve Miller Band's 2011 ‘Let Your Hair Down’ and the 2009 Chickenfoot album.

Johns' sons also went into music; singer-songwriter Will Johns has released a pair of albums, including "Hooks and Lines" in 2012 and Evan Johns played drums in the band Hurt.

Funeral arrangements are still pending.

Legendary Music Producer, Phil Ramone, Dead at 72

MUSIC NEWS - Phil Ramone, noted music producer whose music mixing mastery for Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Paul Simon and Billy Joel and many others, who helped fashion some of the most lucious and top-selling albums of his era, has died in NYC at age 72.

A 14-time Grammy winner and thirty three time nominee who picked up the nickname,  “The Pope of Pop” was hospitalized in NYC on March 1 with an aortic aneurysm died March 30 at New York Presbyterian Hospital, according to his son, Matt.

A South African native who at 10 years old performed as a violinist for Queen Elizabeth II, Ramone worked years as a songwriter, music engineer and acoustics expert in New York City.  Among the albums he directed were Barbra Streisand’s 1967 live A Happening in Central Park; Sir Paul & Linda McCartney’s Ram (1971),  Bob Dylan’s  1975 Blood on the Tracks; Paul Simon’s pop classic Still Crazy After All These Years (1975); Billy Joel’s commercial breakthrough The Stranger (1977); Frank Sinatra’s Duets (1993), and Ray Charles’ final album, the best-selling 2004's  Genius Loves Company.  Recently active, he had completed Glee's Matthew Morrison's upcoming Where It All Began album.

Dave Grohl Delivers SXSW 2013 Keynote Address

MUSIC NEWS- This year at South By Southwest, the keynote address was ably handled  by Dave Grohl the Nirvana, Foo Fighters and, now, Sound City Players member.

Below check out the full speech from Mr Grohl, and as he says, it his “musical life’s greatest honor.”  The speech tracks Grohl’s personal story and his theme, that “the musician comes first.”

Enjoy.

 

Mumford & Sons, Sting, Elton John, Patti Smith and More Headline Springsteen Tribute Concer

MUSIC NEWS- The red-hot Mumford and Sons, Elton John and Neil Young will perform at a tribute concert honoring Bruce Springsteen in Los Angeles next month.  The MusiCares concert event will take place in L.A. on February 8, two days before the 2012 Grammy Awards.  The show will feature performances from Sting, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, John Legend and Tom Morello.  Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Alabama Shakes, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney and Juanes will also perform at the show.  The Daily Show's Jon Stewart will host.

The all-star show will celebrate Springsteen, who was previously named as MusiCares Person of the Year for his combination of artistic contributions and charity work.

Speaking about The Boss, MusiCares CEO Neil Portnow said: "Bruce Springsteen is a truly gifted and Renaissance artist of our time, a national treasure, and an exemplary humanitarian. His career is a testament to the power of creative excellence, and his contributions as a philanthropist speak to the tenacity of the human spirit."

2012 Top 50 Touring Acts Chart Released

MUSIC NEWS - Touring database/website Pollstar has released their exclusive 2012 Top 50 Worldwide Tours Chart as a preview to its full year-end research coming in early January. 

All revebye figures have been converted to USA dollars and represent the total face-value gross ticket sales for all dates played. The Pollstar database includes specific sales figures for nearly 90 percent of all shows worked by the top attractions and projections were made for any of the unreported dates. 

Madonna grossed $296.1 million to easily claim the #1 spot on the chart. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band grabbed #2 with $210.2 million. Both acts played to more than 2 million fans in 2012. Pik Floyd's Roger Waters generated a hefty $186.4 million to come in at # 3. He is also the highest ranking hold-over from the 2011 chart where he placed #5 with a gross of $103.6 million.

Legendary Rock Talent Agent Frank Barsalona Passes Away at 74

MUSIC NEWS - Frank Barsalona, a pioneering music agent who began Premier Talent agency in 1964, forever changing the rock music touring business, passed away early Thursday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.  His death was originally reported in a post on the Steve Hoffman Music Forum, saying he 'died peacefully in his sleep".    

Mr Barsalona is credited with revolutionizing the rock concert business which he told the     Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was regarded "lower than the rodeo".   Before he founded Premier Talent in NYC, Barsalona, who was born in 1938, began his career at GAC, a New  York-based talent agency where he booked the first USA appearances by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds.  He launched his own agency with the Who, Herman's Hermits and Mitch Ryder and moved the shows to larger venues with full-length shows.  Before then, most rock  shows were presented as package tours and variety shows with short 15-minute sets by each act.     

Brandi Carlile Announces Fall Tour, "Conan" Appearance

MUSIC NEWS - Brandi Carlile has revealed she'll give her new single, "Keep Your Heart Young," its television debut on "Conan" on Thursday, November 8^th. "Keep Your Heart Young" is the second single from her Top 10 album, Bear Creek (out iva Columbia Records), and follows the Top 5 Triple A radio hit "That Wasn't Me."  

"Hard Way Home," another track from Bear Creek was selected for a recent episode of The CW's "Hart of Dixie" and "Raise Hell" was featured in the Travel Channel's "No Reservations" with host Anthony Bourdain. 

MUMFORD & SONS Tie Chart Record Set by The Beatles

MUSIC NEWS- MUMFORD & SONS have achieved a record set by The Beatles by placing six songs in the Billboard Hot 100.  The band, who this week beat Justin Bieber's 'Believe' by smashing the 2012 US album sales record with their second album 'Babel', have added  another amazing achievement by having six singles in the Hot 100, according to music publication, Billboard.

Mumford & Sons are the first band to chart as many as six concurrent titles in the chart since The Beatles did it 48 years ago. All tracks are from their new album, and include 'I Will Wait' (# 57), 'Babel (60), 'Lover's Eyes' (85), 'Whispers In The Dark' (No 86), 'Holland Road' (92) and 'Ghosts That We Knew' (94).

28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

MUSIC NEWS - This year's nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's upcoming class of 2013 were announced today.  This time, with a new twist, as for the first time fans will get a say in who will be inducted.

First-time nominees Deep Purple, Rush, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Albert King, The Marvelettes and Procol Harum join previously nominated acts Chic, Heart, Donna Summer, Kraftwerk, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Randy Newman, Paul Butterfield Blues Band and The Meters.

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.

 

 

U2 Tops 2011 Concert Tour List With $231.9M in Sales Worldwide

MUSIC NEWS- Irish rockers, U2 are #1 for concert touring this year! The band won the honor with their highest-grossing tour both in North America and around the globe in 2011.   The band grossed $156M in USA/Canada from over 1.7 million tickets sold, according to the music site Pollstar. The group grossed $231.9M worldwide on 2.39 million tickets sold.

In the top five highest-grossing touring acts in North America were Taylor Swift ($97.7M), Kenny Chesney ($84.6M), Lady Gaga ($63.7M) and at #5, NJ's Bon Jovi ($57.1M).   For the worldwide top five, U2 were followed by the reunited Take That ($224M), Bon Jovi ($148.8M), Ms Swift ($104.2M) and former Pink Floyd man Roger Waters ($103.6M) . Tickets on U2's 360 Degrees tour sold for an average price of $97.15 worldwide and $91.67 in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

BEN KWELLER's Own "Noise Company" Label to Release His New GO FLY A KITE

MUSIC NEWS - After 15 years of releasing records through both major and independent labels, Ben Kweller has announced the formation of his own label, The Noise Company. The Austin, TX-based label will be home to all future Kweller releases, beginning with his infectious new album, Go Fly A Kite, set to hit stores February 7, 2012. The Noise Company has signed on with the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) to distribute all of its releases.

Signed to Mercury Records when he was 15, and then ATO when he was 20, Kweller, now 30, is interested in being in a situation in which he has complete control. Kiko Velez, Head of A&R at The Noise Company recently said, "Ben has released successful records with a variety of inspiring partners and has gained a great deal of wisdom and experience." Velez continues, "That experience combined with a large and loyal fanbase, puts him in an ideal position to take advantage of the unique landscape of today's music industry."  

THE DOOR PR Firm Looks to Expand Music Efforts

MUSIC NEWS- Ex-Island Def Jam publicist Karen Wiessen has joined New York City based indie PR firm The Door, where she's charged wtth developing the firm's music and entertainment division.  Started up just back in 2007 by experienced record company PR executive Lois Najarian O'Neill and Charlie Dougiello (longtime publicist for Rachael Ray), The Door has music performers Alicia Keys, Il Divo, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Kingston, and J. Roddy Walston as clients in an interesting mix with food personalities such as Ms Ray and Iron Chef Marc Forgione.

Gibson Guitar Facilities Raided by Feds Again, Company Will Fight Charges

MUSIC NEWS-  The chief executive of Gibson Guitar company has gone on record that the firm would fight a federal investigation of the guitar maker's wood imports.  This comes after federal agents raided the company for the second time in two years.

Agents entered Gibson's facilities in Nashville and Memphis, TN, on Wednesday, seizing wood imported from India and sending company workers home.  In an affidavit, authorities indicated they are considering charges against the company and/or its executives for illegally importing wood under a US law that bars importation of endangered plants and woods. The company's sued to recover its property.