The Black Crowes announced some big news. First, their new record, Warpaint, will hit stores on March 4, 2008. The record will be the first studio effort of all new material since 2001. The record will also mark the first release on the band's newly formed label "Silver Arrow Records." In addition to starting their own label, the Crowes will unveil a revamped lineup for 2008. Luther Dickinson has never been a stranger to the Black Crowes: he and the North Mississippi Allstars have shared the bill and the stage with the Southern rock superstars on numerous occasions, the spectacled guitarist makes regular appearances with Crowes' axeman Rich Robinson in his Circle Sound side project and, in the words of Chris Robinson, Dickinson is "all over" Warpaint.
Coinciding with the March 4th release date, Dickinson and new keyboardist Adam MacDougall will make their debut as official Crowes during a series of "One Night Only" shows that will see the band play Warpaint in its entirety. Following that run, the Crowes will kick off their world tour in Australia on March 24th. The dates and locations for the U.S. shows are expected to be announced shortly.
North Mississippi Allstar fans need not worry. The trio will briefly reform The Word, their southern gospel jam project with John Medeski and Robert Randolph, for a series of four December shows and their fifth studio album, Hernando, will be released on January 22.
Van Halen announced 28 new dates that will see the band extend this year's successful reunion tour into 2008. The additional dates aren't too much of a surprise given how much cash the band raked in and the steady stream of 
U2 says it has not scheduled a London Residency. Reports had put the band in the footsteps of Prince who did a long stint at a London arena to much fanfare and claimed to lads were set to do several nights at the O2 Arena in June. The 14 shows were even listed on a U.K. concert ticket website.
If you were channel surfing in a turkey haze last night and passed by Grey's Anatomy you may have thought you heard some familiar voices in one of the songs. It wasn't just the tryptophan playing tricks, you did. Last night's Grey's featured the song "Some Surprise" from The Cake Sale that counts Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody among its high profile members. 
A Led Zeppelin U.S. tour would no doubt be one of the biggest ticket sellers in 2008. Given the way Van Halen tickets sold this year, a Zeppelin reunion tour would sell like golden hot cakes. Of course, Zeppelin reunion tours are often rumor fodder. But, there is an inkling of hope for this one to be real.
The Romantics may just be sentimental or maybe in need of some cash? The one hit wonders are back in the limelight after filing suit against one of the most popular video games on the market. Activision uses the Romantics' "What I Like About You" in their wildly successful game Guitar Hero. The game makers say they got permission to use the song. However, according to reports, it is not any copyright issue that has the Romantics up in arms.
In Parental Advisory, Eric Nuzum's excellent compilation on censorship, he points out that censorship has less to do with defining appropriate expression than it does with defining appropriate people. Nuzum has found an unlikely ally for this view in 50 Cent. As you probably have heard, the rapper/actor, who is still fuming over American TV stations changing the title of his latest single from "I Still Kill" to "I Still Will," has expressed disbelief that no one has raised a fuss over Britney Spears welcoming people to her comeback single "Gimme More" with the phrase, "It's Britney, bitch." It appears we have focused so much of our attention on her parenting skills and driving ability that we've stopped listening to the words that are coming out of her mouth. Given the recent sensitivity to misogynistic lyrics in rap and hip/hop, 50 makes a fair point. Why is it acceptable for a white girl from Tennessee to use the word "bitch" when a black man from Compton would be sharply rebuked? Would everyone sit silent if Spears decided to use Nas' proposed title for her latest album?
Ever since the availability of the first mp3, the music industry has wrestled with the philosophical changes foisted upon them by the new technology. In the latest stage of the wholesale rethinking going on with respect to the business of music, Thom Yorke and Radiohead’s decision to sell In Rainbows via an optional pricing system has kickstarted the debate on how music will be and should be sold. It wasn’t that long ago that the prevalent question involved marketing music in an online world. Although still discussed, labels, publicists and even the musicians themselves have mastered the art of promoting their music, becoming skillful at enlisting support of influential music blogs as well as using Myspace for quick and easy exposure. As everyone charted new territory, 
In an e-mail sent out to Tea Leaf Green's fan base, bassist Ben Chambers announced he was leaving the band to pursue other interests. "After ten great years on the road as a touring musician, I have come to the realization that this life is not for me," says Chambers in the e-mail. "As a result, I have decided to leave Tea Leaf Green to pursue some of my life's other passions. I wish my brothers in the band only the best."
Christmas season is on the horizon and Van Halen’s reunion, Led Zeppelin’s one-off (for now) monster concert in London and the recently announced Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood shows at Madison Square Garden have visions of classic rock sugarplums dancing in everyone’s head. Impatient fans of hard-pulsing, Seventies-era rock don’t need to wait for the dinosaurs to lumber into their town, they can look to Colorado based 
Tom Morello has always been outspoken about his support for unions and The Nightwatchman acts on his beliefs. This past Friday, Morello entertained close to 3,000 protesters outside of the Fox Studios in Century City, California to show his support for the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike for just over a week. The strike has shut down the late night talk shows which resulted in the cancellation of Conan O'Brien appearances by Grizzly Bear and a Jackie Greene led performance by Phil Lesh & Friends.
For many of a certain age, uttering the phrase “menomena,” especially in a deep and scratchy voice, will not only provoke a smile but a high pitched response of “do doo do do do” as well. For the record, the artsy trio from Portland, Oregon that shares a name with the compulsively addictive song bears no resemblance to Jim Henson’s take on dirty hippies that appeared 
Nights of improvisational music require a higher level of trust from the audience than your average performance. It’s near impossible to anticipate what you’re going to hear but you can guarantee that it will be unrehearsed since it’s inherent to the concept. For these evenings you put your faith in the musicians and rely on their instincts. In the case of the 
Radiohead's management has refuted the reports that more than 60% of the people who downloaded In Rainbows opted against paying anything for the album. “In response to purely speculative figures announced in the press regarding the number of downloads and the price paid for the album, the group’s representatives would like to remind people that, as the album could only be downloaded from the band’s website, it is impossible for outside organisations to have accurate figures on sales.” Radiohead further claims that the figures quoted by comScore are inaccurate and and fail to reflect the true market intelligence of their innovative pricing system.
The Poison Control Center are an indie pop outfit from Ames, Iowa creating some buzz of late. If you haven't hear them yet, they are taking their jangly post-punk tunes on the road with dates ranging from Chicago to Atlanta.
Cary Brothers is popping up all over the place these days. He's still riding the wave of being anointed by Zach Braff as indie cool (or was that the other way around?) and Cary will reach the masses next week when his song "The Last One" is featured in Grey's Anatomy. I've never seen the show, but they seem to be the "it spot" for song licensing these days.
Of course, if this came to pass, this wouldn't be the first time the Killers paired up with a legend. Lou Reed recently joined the band to record the tune "Tranquilizer." Reed says he liked the song right away upon hearing it and was pleased the way his voice meshed with Flowers'. The song appears on 
As I've written before, sometimes having loads of talent isn't enough to be a prime time professional musician and Amy Winehouse seems to be a prime example. Obviously this woman has a big time voice and if she chooses can have a huge career. But, her offstage problems may curb or, if things get really ugly, squash her career in it's infancy.
In their glory days, a multiple night run of Grateful Dead shows at Madison Square Garden used to change the landscape of New York City. Deadheads from all over would flock to the City in droves and throw a tie-dyed gloss over the entire area. The days of the Dead may be a thing of the past but the spirit lives on with 
Even Timothy Leary came to realize that his infamous catch phrase from the sixties might have been sending the wrong message. Leary later explained that "drop out" was not meant for people to "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity." Today, some key love generation veterans are putting Leary's clarification into action.
As Tall As Lions were a buzz band heading into this year's SXSW and they smartly are looking to keep the conversation going by releasing new music and debuting it on one of the most estblished "new media" sites. The band is releasing a new digital EP recorded with Mike Watts later this month and the title track "Into the Flood" is a 
The Cowboy Junkies produced one of my all time favorite records in 
British tabloids feed on pop star peer bashing, which for some reason seems to be 
Mainly due to efforts of John Skehan (mandolin), Johnny Grubb (standup bass), Andy Goessling (banjo, lap steel and more) and Corey Harmon (drums), it’s not immediately evident that everyone in Railroad Earth plays an acoustic instrument. However, their instrumental choices surely don’t hinder them while they touch upon timeless musical themes. For stretches of the show, all that was missing from making it the most happening barn dance in town was a liberal sprinkling of sawdust on the floor. Tim Carbone, the shaggiest violin player you may ever come across, skillfully pulled the crowd in many directions. When the spotlight shines on guitarist and lead vocalist Todd Sheaffer, Carbone provides a poignant, sometimes melancholic, counterpoint. At other times, he brings the crowd to its boiling point, giving a hoedown atmosphere to instrumental raves like “Old Dangerfield” and “Ragtime Annie Lee.”
For Halloween, New York City was blessed with a bounty of options that offered something for everyone: for spectacle, The Police played Madison Square Garden; for musicianship, Zappa Plays Zappa was at the Beacon Theater; for nostalgia, Phil Lesh & Friends began their two week residency at the Nokia Theater and for hipness, Ryan Adams graced the Hammerstein Ballroom. Those who wanted a little bit of everything got their wish too: 
From the floor seats under the balcony, which nicely trapped the mingled smells of concert smokables and incense, Robinson’s normally crisp vocals were muddied and buried in the sound mix. Originally, I thought this was simply due to the acoustics of the theater but on the next night, whatever issues there were had been solved and Robinson’s vocals were much clearer. The view from the seats also provided some small humor. Seated behind a small stack of keyboards draped with an Peace symbol adorned American flag, Adam MacDougall looked a bit like Rowlf the Muppet as only his head and shoulders could be seen bouncing up and down while he played the bottom keys, tossing his hair to and fro during an encore rendition of Marvin Gaye/The Band’s “Don’t Do It.”
On Halloween, they were more prone to freaky folk rock like “Ain’t No Cane On The Brazos” and “Polly,” which, disappointingly, had them playing at a slower and without their characteristic bluesy steam. Given the true power that the Crowes can unleash, their kick-ass version of “Another Roadside Tragedy” and smoldering reading of “Sister Luck” were oases in the valley that was the earlier portion of the show. In finishing the set with “Soul Singing,” “Wiser Time” and “Thorn In My Pride,” they recreated their performances from the night before right down to the Gorman drum solo that led to the Stones-drenched jam . For their encore, they gave the crowd the classic rock cover they yearned for, although their run through “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’” wrapped up just when it started to gather steam.
Below the Mason-Dixon Line, 
When you've waited more than a quarter century to see a full-blown Led Zeppelin reunion concert, what's another couple weeks. That will have to be everybody's mindset after the postponement of the November 26th show at London's O2 Arena to December 10th. Over the weekend, Jimmy Page broke a finger rendering him unable to properly rehearse for the gig. "I am disappointed that we are forced to postpone the concert by two weeks," said the legendary guitarist. "However, Led Zeppelin have always set very high standards for ourselves, and we feel that this postponement will enable my injury to properly heal, and permit us to perform at the level that both the band and our fans have always been accustomed to."
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