Davy Jones (1945-2012)

Davy Jones, the mop-topped leader of 1960s pop band The Monkees, died Wednesday of a massive heart attack. Jones was 66.

His publicist, Helen Kensick, said the singer died in Indiantown, Fla., where he lived.

With an infectious smile and easy humor, the diminutive Briton played the Paul McCartney role in the Beatles-inspired quartet, which also included Peter Tosh, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith.

Jones sang lead on some of the group's biggest hits, including Last Train to Clarksville and I'm a Believer.

Jones, who like his bandmates had continued to perform, had dates scheduled for March.

Formed in 1966 by Hollywood producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, The Monkess quickly stormed radio and TV airwaves with a string of chart-topping songs that went on to sell an estimated 65 million copies worldwide.

"There were certain indelible images we had of The Monkees, and that was Mike's cap, Micky's goofy looks and Davy's cuteness," says Phil Gallo, senior correspondent at Billboard. "Of all of them, Davy's character was the softest. He was the nice guy, the crowd pleaser."

Gallo recalls being a kid in the 1960s, "collecting Batman cards, then graduating to Monkees cards, way before I got into baseball cards. They were the very first boy band, when you think about it."

Jones was born Dec. 30, 1945, in Manchester, England. His long hair and British accent helped him achieve heartthrob status in the United States.

According to The Monkees website, Monkees.com, he left the band in late 1970. In the summer of 1971, he recorded a solo hit Rainy Jane and made a series of appearances on American variety and television shows, including Love American Style and The Brady Bunch.

By the mid-1980s, Jones teamed up Tork, Dolenz and promoter David Fishof for a reunion tour. Their popularity prompted MTV to re-air The Monkees series, introducing the group to a new audience.

In 1989, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the late 1990s, the group filmed a special called Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees.

Jones is survived by his wife Jessica and four daughters from previous marriages.

Contributing: Associated Press

Radiohead Debut Two New Songs in Miami

Radiohead kicked off their US 2012 tour in Miami, FL on Monday night with a setlist mostly comprising of newer material from last year's The King of Limbs and two new tracks, "Cut A Hole" and "Identikit." 

Spectrum Road announce debut album

Spectrum Road, a new collaboration between Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski and Cindy Blackman Santana, will release their self-titled debut album on June 5 through Palmetto Records. Just days after the release, Spectrum Road will perform at Bonnaroo on June 9. More dates are expected to be announced in the coming weeks...

Born from a shared passion for the music of legendary drummer Tony Williams, the band takes their name from one of the tracks on the original Tony Williams Lifetime album.

“The band takes the electrifying music of Tony Williams as its starting point and turns it into something totally its own,” says Reid. “There’s a vibe from end to end, a certain type of force and ambience that I’ve never experienced before as an artist.”

Keith Richards Performs Onstage at Hubert Sumlin Tribute

Close to midnight, Friday night at New York's Apollo Theater, Eric Clapton had just finished his take on the classic blues number "Forty Four" when Keith Richards stumbled onstage, needing no introduction. Wearing a dark blazer, long green scarf, fedora and a huge grin, he embraced Clapton and stood center stage to massive applause, then delivered his take on Howlin' Wolf’s "Going Down Slow," a chronicle of a frail man who has savored life’s greatest pleasures. "Man, I've had things that kings and queens will never have," Richards growled. "In fact, they don't even know about them, let alone get ’em. And good times? Mmmm...."


There were many highlights on Friday night's Howlin for Hubert – a tribute to guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who played in Howlin’ Wolf’s band for decades and passed away on December 4th due to heart failure. It was Richards’ first major musical appearance since the Rolling Stones last toured five years ago. 


After "Going Down Slow,"  he sat down and played metallic 12-string slide while singing "Little Red Rooster," and then strapped on a Gibson electric guitar to sing and trade licks with Clapton on "Spoonful." "It’s good to be back," Richards said, peering up to the balcony before breaking into a cackle.


The entire show, which featured all-stars including Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Jimmie Vaughan, Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II and Elvis Costello –  plus overlooked legends like Wolf’s former bandmates, harmonica player James Cotton, guitarist Jody Williams and saxophonist Eddie Shaw – was one for the history books. The event originated while Sumlin was still alive as a celebration to mark his 80th birthday. It stayed that way; Guest after guest recounted Sumlin’s unfaltering positivity and passion for his instrument.


The night began with a film featuring classic Sumlin performance footage and a recent interview with him, where Sumlin humorously described how he found his own piercing signature sound after Wolf strongly urged him to lose the guitar pick. The stage lights then revealed two massive portraits of Sumlin behind the stage. His sunburst Stratocaster sat on a stand at center stage, with his trademark feathered cap hanging off of it. Clapton emerged – with short, slicked-back hair and wearing a blazer – with Cotton, Sumlin’s old musical partner.  Clapton kicked the night off howling an acoustic, stomping "Key to the Highway," complemented by Cotton’s razor-sharp harp fills.

On the turntable this Sunday...Icky Thump

Icky Thump is the sixth and final studio album by US alternative rock band The White Stripes. It was released June 15, 2007 in Germany, June 18, 2007 in the rest of Europe, and June 19, 2007 in the rest of the world. It was the band's only album on Warner Bros. Records.

Icky Thump entered the UK Albums Chart at number one and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 223,000 copies sold.  By late July, Icky Thump was certified gold in the United States. As of March 8, 2008, the album has sold 725,125 copies in the US. On February 10, 2008, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

Recording and production

After Get Behind Me Satan, Icky Thump marks a return to the punk, garage rock and blues influences for which the band is known. Additionally, the album introduces Scottish folk music, avant-garde, trumpet, and bagpipes into the formula, whilst simultaneously reintroducing older characteristics such as the first studio recording of the early White Stripes song "Little Cream Soda".

Icky Thump was recorded and mixed entirely in analog at Nashville's Blackbird Studio by Joe Chiccarelli.  According to Chiccarelli in an interview with HitQuarters, the band had already rehearsed and demoed around half the album, with the rest being conceived in the studio. The album took almost three weeks to record—the longest of any White Stripes album. The recording differed from previous albums in that White had the comparative luxury of recording to 16-track analog rather than his usual 8-track.  Also, Chiccarelli said: "We spent a little more time than he is used to experimenting and trying different things on that album, whether it was different ways to record the drums or the vocals, or different arrangements, or cutting takes together." Trumpet player Regulo Aldama, who appears on "Conquest", was discovered by Jack White at a local mexican restaurant.

Jack White said that the album would appeal to fans of the band's self-titled debut, suggesting a stripped-down garage rock sound. 

A video of The Stripes in the studio working on the album can also be found at their site, although the aforementioned statement has this to say about the song: "The actual music has been replaced with mid eighties sampling keyboard technology to prevent what industry analysts are now calling 'song poaching.'"

Entertainment Weekly's online site had an interview with Michel Gondry in which he said he would be directing a video for "I'm Slowly Turning Into You".  He mentions the idea for the video. Gondry also says that the video idea came first, and after mentioning the idea to Jack White, White wrote the song to fit that idea.

Several tracks from the album were leaked, and on May 30, 2007, Chicago radio station Q101 aired the entire album without the band's permission. Jack called into the station and reacted angrily about them playing it.  There is speculation that the label supplied the album to the station in order to promote its release.  In the liner notes of Icky Thump, "Electra" is thanked on the second line, just after God. According to Ben Blackwell, Jack White's nephew, this is not directed towards the radio DJ, Electra, but to a pet Jack and Meg White used to have.

The White Stripes announced the completion of Icky Thump on February 28, 2007. The title is derived from "ecky thump", a Lancashire colloquial response of surprise, popularized by an episode of the 1970s UK comedy series The Goodies. On Later with Jools Holland (broadcast June 1, 2007) Jack attributed the album's name to its use as an exclamation by his wife, who is from Lancashire. He added that the deliberate misspelling was to make it easier for an American audience to identify with.  The liner notes for Icky Thump also suggest the spelling variation was due to concerns over copyright infringement.

Ironically, the Pearly Kings and Queens costume theme that the band used for this album is a traditional Cockney outfit, somewhat contrary to the Northern dialect of the title.

Theme

Like all White Stripes album, there is a central yet loose theme to the songs and album. Jack White told Blender in July 2007 that "[Icky Thump] is about feeling positive about being alive, taking deep breaths and just being really happy."

Promotion and release

The album artwork features Jack and Meg dressed as Pearlies.

To promote Icky Thump before its release, the band distributed custom-designed boxes and previewed tracks from the record through Ice Cream Man. The ice cream promotion focused on the Coachella, Sasquatch, and Bonnaroo festivals and culminated in the band's release show on June 20, 2007 at the site of the former West Hollywood Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., temporarily rechristened Icky Thump. 

In addition to being released on CD and 180 gram vinyl, the band released the album on a limited edition 512 MB USB drive. There are two versions, one of which depicts Jack, the other depicting Meg. The pressing was limited to 3,333 of each, and were shipped the week of the U.S. release. Each drive contained the album in Apple lossless format.

The 180g vinyl edition contains alternate versions of both "Icky Thump" and "Rag and Bone". "Icky Thump" is a slightly different mix to the digital version and is also edited to be 14 seconds shorter. "Rag and Bone" is also a different mix but in addition contains totally different vocals for each verse (possibly the original guide vocals and there are no vocals from Meg) and is missing the harmonies from the last chorus.

The sound quality of the digital versions has been criticized for being mastered too loudly and with excessive peak limiting. Critics claim this results in clipping or "digital distortion" which can be heard as crackling, particularly during bass drum hits. The vinyl version was mastered by Steve Hoffman. A special mono mix of Icky Thump was available on 180 gram vinyl for a short time to Third Man Vault Premium Account subscribers.

The album received very positive reviews, with an overall average rating of 80/100 at Metacritic. Barry Nicolson with British magazine NME wrote, "Icky Thump is brilliant, there's no way around that."[ Commenting on the album's "fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy," Heather Phares, with AMG, said "Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy" album, and that "it's just great fun to hear the band play." Jon Dolon, a critic for Blender magazine, remarked "It's the sound of a band not stretching out so much as digging in: burrowing deeper into loamy soil they know well." In one of the more negative reviews, Josh Tyrangiel with TIME magazine remarked, "The White Stripes are too weird and talented to be boring, but it sounds like they might be a little bored."  Ultimately giving the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and giving an (A-) on his website, Robert Christgau, with Rolling Stone, summed up the return album this way "Although the new constructions don't entice as consistently as they should, their noise stays with you. And what that noise stands for is itself." He added, "Like his sometime heroes Led Zeppelin, Jack White builds monuments. They're suitable for awestruck visits. But they're no place to settle down."

On December 6, 2007, Icky Thump was nominated for four 2007 Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the single "Icky Thump", winning Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Q Magazine named Icky Thump as the 2nd best album of 2007. Furthermore, the album placed #17 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

Track listing

All songs by Jack White, except where noted.

1. "Icky Thump" – 4:17
2. "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)" – 3:54
3. "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues"  (Jack White, Meg White) – 5:28
4. "Conquest" (Corky Robbins) – 2:48
5. "Bone Broke" – 3:14
6. "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" – 3:05
7. "St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)" – 1:49
8. "Little Cream Soda" – 3:45
9. "Rag and Bone" – 3:48
10. "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" – 4:34
11. "A Martyr for My Love for You" – 4:19
12. "Catch Hell Blues" – 4:18
13. "Effect and Cause" – 3:00

Bonus tracks

1. "Baby Brother" (bonus track on the Japanese and iTunes edition) – 2:10
2. "Tennessee Border" (Hank Williams) (live, bonus track on iTunes pre-order edition) – 2:09

Bruce Springsteen to take over Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Bruce Springsteen is set to appear on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon next week. On Monday, February 27th, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform two songs on the show – and on Friday March 2nd (the show's 3rd anniversary) Springsteen will be the sole guest for the evening. He'll be interviewed by Fallon, and also perform multiple songs. On Tuesday's show Kenny Chesney will perform "I'm On Fire," which he previously released back in 2004. Elvis Costello will perform "Brilliant Disguise" with the Roots on Thursday.

The two appearances on Fallon's show are Springsteen's only planned late night appearances for the time being. He kicks off the Wrecking Ball world tour on March 18th in Atlanta, though on March 9th he's performing a private show at New York's Apollo Theater to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Sirius. 

George Harrison: The Guitar Collection

It would be George's 69th birthday tomorrow and he would have been proud of what his son Dhani helped create.  This new app is available on iTunes and its an intimate way to explore some of George's actual guitars and his history with them.  
I just bought it last night and have barely skimmed the surface of all the information here.  One of my most favorites features of the app is you can hear actual recordings of George re-telling the history of the particular guitar.  You can see the rosewood Fender guitar seen on the rooftops of Abbey Road while playing "Get Back."  Or zoom in and rotate hi-res photos and see all the scratches and wear on his Gibson J-160E from many tunes on Beatles For Sale. 
The app is worth the $9.99 so go to iTunes and check it out.

Happy early birthday George!

Mike Smith, The Showbiz Kids

Widespread Panic Begins Hiatus "Vacation" in Aspen

Originally Published on Jambands.com
by Mike Greenhaus and Amy Jacques

“God bless you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, everyone,” said Widespread Panic front man John Bell at the end of his band’s final pre-hiatus show last night. “Aspen and Beyond.” The remark closed the band’s three-night run at Aspen, Colo.’s Belly Up, the final stop on their acoustic Wood Tour. In bassist Dave Schools’ estimation, the 450-capacity room is the smallest that the band has played since a 1999 gig in Switzerland. Despite a steep ticket price and area snowfall, the venue was packed with locals and hardcore fans who made the pilgrimage for the band’s final show of 2012.

Though the members of Widespread Panic chose not to harp on their upcoming break, they dotted their set list with reflective and time-focused songs such as “Time Waits,” “Vacation,” “Postcard” and Talking Heads’ “City of Dreams.” Keeping their eyes focused on the future, the group also debuted three new covers—all of which dealt with the themes of time and travel: Alan Price’s “Sell Sell,” The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and Los Lobos’ “Somewhere in Time.” (On Friday night, Widespread also busted out their rarely played cover of Willis Alan Ramsey’s “Geraldine And The Honeybee” for the first time since the band’s acoustic Myrtle Beach, SC set on November 8, 2003).

As if to offer the run’s final credits, Bell nodded to two of Panic’s longtime songwriting companions by performing both Vic Chesnutt’s recently debuted “Degenerate” and Jerry Joseph’s “North.” The members of the band smiled throughout the show and, at one point, Schools happily received a rose from a fan.

Just as time was central theme that ran throughout the night lyrically, time is what the band is looking forward to during their hiatus. “Time to recharge,” Schools told the Aspen Times earlier in the week. He also mentioned that the members of the group are thinking of their hiatus as a vacation: Schools plans to tour with Mickey Hart Band and Stockholm Syndrome, keyboardist JoJo Hermann will play with his Missing Cats project and Bell will focus on his wellness center. “We don’t know how long the break will be. Certainly not forever, “ Schools told the local paper on February 17. “But it will be a chance for people to see their kids graduate high school, get married, run a wellness center. Time to recharge.”

Huddled together on the venue’s small stage, the group performed in front of a celestial, star-like backdrop. As Schools told the same Aspen Times reporter, Herring even played a special guitar custom-made by a Denver artisan. Like the other stops on the Wood Tour, last night’s show was entirely acoustic but contained a number of the band’s signature rock songs. Instead of simply focusing on their mellower songs or playing at a lower decibel, the group powered through a set that included “Tall Boy” The Beatles’ “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” “Climb to Safety”, “Walkin’ (For Your Love)” and “Papa’s Home.”

Widespread Panic’s encore kicked off with one of their most recognizable songs, “Blue Indian,” before moving into the Don’t Tell the Band gem “Big Wooly Mammoth.” The latter song has special significance to local fans since the nearby ski town of Snowmass, Colo. recently adopted the number as its official town song. Bell then switched from guitar to banjo as the band brought their 25th anniversary celebration to a close with a rowdy take on their classic “Ain’t Life Grand.” The crowd then slowly left the venue as David Allan Coe’s “Take This Job and Shove It” and the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time” were played over the club’s PA.

Here’s a look at Sunday night’s set list via PanicStream.com

Belly Up, Aspen, Colo., February 19

Set I: Send Your Mind, Tall Boy, Ballad of John & Yoko, True To My Nature, This Part of Town, Time Waits (Body & Soul), Saint Ex, Sell Sell (^) > Who Do You Belong To?, Carmelita, Degenerate > Climb To Safety
Set 2: City of Dreams, Tail Dragger, Walkin’ (For Your Love) > Papa’s Home > Vacation, Across The Universe (^^), North, Contentment Blues > JAM > Jack, Postcard, Porch Song, Somewhere In Time(^^^)
E: Blue Indian, Big Wooly Mammoth > Ain’t Life Grand

(^) FTP Alan Price
(^^) FTP Beatles
(^^^) FTP Los Lobos

Jack White to Perform on SNL

Jack White is the scheduled Saturday Night Live musical guest on March 3rd and will be debuting two songs from his upcoming album Blunderbuss.  Additionally, Third Man Records just unveiled Blunderbuss in an advance listening party for 20 lucky contest winners at the label’s Nashville HQ. The contest was exclusive to The Vault, Third Man Records’ subscription service offering members-only limited edition vinyl, exclusive ticket pre-sales, contests, and other Vault-only giveaways and events.

The Complete track listing is below:

1. Missing Pieces
2. Sixteen Saltines
3. Freedom At 21
4. Love Interruption
5. Blunderbuss
6. Hypocritical Kiss
7. Weep Themselves To Sleep
8. I’m Shakin’
9. Trash Tongue Talker
10. Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
11. I Guess I Should Go To Sleep
12. On And On And On
13. Take Me With You When You Go

New Music Tuesdays...Dirty Ghosts Metal Moon

 Honestly I knew nothing of these guys until very recently,but apparently that's because Metal Moon is Dirty Ghosts debut album.  The band is made up of Allyson Baker and Carson Binks  from a San Francisco rock band called Parchman Farm.  Also Allyson's husband Aesop Rock co-produced the album.

© Charlie Homo

Listen to the first track "Ropes That Way," which I really liked, off the album and then move on to the first single released on the new album Metal Moon.  You can see the video of it here.

I will say that this is a departure from what I normally listen to or we review but these two songs caught my interest and I'm gonna leave with making no comparisons.  Give these guys a second to get their album released and open yourself up to new music.

Mike Smith,The Showbiz Kids

Monday Funnies

Justin Timberlake dressed up as Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, to do an impression of the Grammy winning indie rocker.

In the skit – which saw host Maya Rudolph playing Beyonce and Jay Pharoah playing her husband Jay-Z – Justin Timberlake did an impression of Vernon being welcomed into the hip hop couple's home to greet their newborn child, Blue Ivy Carter.

The sketch saw Timberlake's Vernon arrive after visits from cast members playing Prince, Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj, reports CNN, and then proceed to serenade the baby. Timberlake said his character was late because he had been "wandering barefoot through the woods of Wisconsin" and making a "guitar out of a canoe." He then proceeds to put himself to sleep with his own performance.

After the skit, Vernon tweeted: "Holy s***, i was just watching SNL and JT did a Bon Iver hilarious thing! Also, Maya Rudolph saying "bon iver" is enough. I can die now!!!"

On the turntable this Sunday...Love Gun

Love Gun is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss. Love Gun is notable for being the first Kiss album to feature a lead vocal performance from Ace Frehley. This marks the first album for the group to feature lead vocal performances from all four band members. It was also the last studio album to feature the entire original lineup of Kiss on every track, as drummer Peter Criss was replaced by session drummer Anton Fig for most of 1979's Dynasty.

A cardboard "Love Gun" (assembly required) was included inside the album, along with a Kiss merchandise order form. Before Love Gun was completed, a Gallup poll indicated that Kiss was the most popular band in the US, beating Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles. On August 25–26, 1977, Kiss recorded 2 shows at the LA Forum to be used as live material for their next release Alive II.

The album cover was painted by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, who previously did the cover for 1976's Destroyer. The album art of shock rock band GWAR's 2009 album Lust in Space is a homage/parody of Love Gun's album art. The back cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind features a photograph of a rubber monkey in front of a collage created by Kurt Cobain. The collage features photos of raw beef from a supermarket advertisement, images from Dante's Inferno, and pictures of diseased vaginas from Cobain's collection of medical photos. He noted, "If you look real close, there is a picture of Kiss' Love Gun cover in the back standing on a slab of beef."

“I Stole Your Love” Written by Paul Stanley, "I Stole Your Love" is in the same vein as songs like "Makin' Love" and "C'mon and Love Me".

"Christine Sixteen" Then-unknown guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex Van Halen played on the demo of this song.  The meaning of the lyrics are similar to "Goin' Blind" from Hotter Than Hell, as "Christine Sixteen" is about a man who fell in love with a 16 year old girl named Christine and "Goin' Blind" is about a 93 year old man who fell in love with a girl who is also 16 years old.

"Shock Me" The song was inspired by an event that took place during Kiss' Rock and Roll Over tour, when Frehley suffered an electric shock. On December 12, 1976, Kiss performed a concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida. During the opening number, Frehley touched a metal staircase railing, which was ungrounded. He was knocked to the ground, and the concert was delayed for 30 minutes. The show was eventually completed, and he claimed to have lost feeling in his hand for the remainder of the concert.

"Tomorrow and Tonight" The song was written to try to recapture the feeling of "Rock and Roll All Nite", but never reached the success of the original.  A sound check recording of it appears on Alive II.

"Love Gun" The title song has been played on every Kiss tour since its release. Paul Stanley has cited it as one of his favorite Kiss songs.

"Plaster Caster" The song was inspired by Cynthia Plaster Caster, a former groupie famous for casting penises of famous rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix, as well as breasts of female musicians.

"Then She Kissed Me" The song is a gender-reversed cover of The Crystals' 1963 pop classic "Then He Kissed Me".  It is one of many gender-reversed cover versions of the song.

Paul Stanley - vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar on "Love Gun"

Gene Simmons - vocals, bass guitar

Ace Frehley - lead guitar, vocals

Peter Criss - drums, percussion, vocals

Erick Baker..."He's some kind of wonderful..."

In the words of Grand Funk Railroad..."Don't ya know that he is." Man...What a voice! 

Our talented hometown boy,Erick Baker, is back and put on a great show at The Bijou last night.  This man has got a firm hold on his songwriting and his voice just gets better and better.  Erick was joined by Clint Mullican on upright bass,Paul Jones on a few piano riffs, and Donnie Reese on violin and keyboards.

Erick snuck in some new songs off the upcoming album on May 1st called Goodbye June. Listen to a bit of the title track here on the listening bar on Erick's website. An added note is that the album was produced by Ken Coomer (Wilco,Uncle Tupelo).
Goodbye June is the sound of a singer/songwriter growing in his craft.  The songs on this album will blow you away and are timeless.

Thanks for a great night of music and we look forward to the release of Goodbye June.

Mike Smith & Will Fisher, The Showbiz Kids

The Beach Boys Announce Reunion Tour Dates

Written By Andy Greene, Rolling Stone


The Beach Boys have announced tour dates for an extensive reunion tour. It kicks off April 24th in Tucson, Arizona, and wraps up August 7th in Lokeren, Belgium - though more dates will likely be added. The tour will hit a large number of outdoor amphitheaters, casinos, indoor theaters as well Jazz Fest and Bonnaroo. The group made their first appearance this past weekend at The Grammy Awards. They performed "Good Vibrations" along with Maroon 5 and Foster The People.

The Beach Boys split apart in the late 1990s, shortly after the death of Carl Wilson. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston continued to tour under the Beach Boys name, while Brian Wilson toured solo and Al Jardine hit the road with the Endless Summer Band. During much of this time relations within the band were extremely poor. Lawsuits flew between various members, and bitter words were spoken in the press. Things began to thaw in 2006 when Al Jardine briefly toured with Brian Wilson on his Pet Sounds tour, and that same year the surviving members of the band posed for photos together on the rooftop of Capitol Records. In February of 2011, Jardine put aside his differences with Mike Love and performed with his line-up of the Beach Boys at the Ronald Reagan Library.

Rumors of a reunion tour of the surviving members of the original line-up have been circulating for years, but nothing was confirmed until last December when the band announced plans for a reunion tour and new album. "We haven't played together in a long time," Jardine said in a statement. "The fans are going to want to hear the hits. But there should also be lesser-known ones that are so important."

This exact line-up of the Beach Boys has never performed together in the past. It will include Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, Mike Love and early guitarist David Marks, who left the group in 1963 when he was just 15. 

4/24 Tucson, AZ - Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater 

4/26 Grand Prairie, TX - Verizon Theatre 

4/27 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 

4/28 Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheater 

4/29 Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheater 

5/2 St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheater 

5/4 Hollywood, FL - Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 

5/5 Tampa, FL - Stratz Center for the Performing Arts 

5/8 New York, NY - Beacon Theater 

5/9 New York, NY - Beacon Theater 

5/11 Pittsburgh, PA - Benedum Hall 

5/12 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena 

5/13 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena 

5/15 White Plains, NY - Westchester County Center 

5/17 Bethlehem, PA - Sands Bethlehem Events Center 

5/19 Atlantic City, NJ - The Borgata Hotel Casino 

5/21 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre 

5/27 Las Vegas, NV - Red Rock Casino 

6/1 Berkeley, CA - The Greek Theatre

6/2 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl 

6/8 The Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 

6/10 Manchester, TN - Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival 

6/13 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center 

6/15 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion 

6/16 Camden, NJ - Susquahanna Bank Center 

6/17 Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts 

6/22 Bangor, ME - Waterfront Park

6/23 Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center 

6/26 Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion 

6/29 Darien Lakes, NY - Darien Lakes Performing Arts Center 

6/30 Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre 

7/1 Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheater 

7/3 Virginia Beach, VA - Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach 

7/10 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre 

7/13 Woodinville, WA - Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery 

7/14 Eugene, OR - Cuthbert Amphitheater 

7/15 Stateline, NV - Harvey's Lake Tahoe Amphitheater 

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-beach-boys-announce-dates-for-extensive-reunion-tour-20120215#ixzz1mZwIAh15

Sugar + the Hi-Lows

You've just got to take a listen to these guys...I'm kicking myself that I missed them last week in Knoxville when they opened for Marc Broussard.  

The beauty is Sugar and the Hi-Lows sounds new and refreshing but has plenty of nostalgic pillars of vintage amps to make you feel warm and cozy. The sparseness of their sound gives the instruments and vocals room to move and breathe. Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup already had their own singer/songwriter careers,but something different evolved out of a session together that became Sugar and the Hi-Lows.   

Go here to their website and get to know them.  Then...go here to buy or download their CD that released on February 14th.  You want something to get your leg shakin' and  put  a smile on your face, don't you?

Tour Dates

2.16    JACKSON, MS       Duling Hall W/ DREW HOLCOMB & JILLIAN EDWARDS 

2.17    RUSTON, LA         3 Docs Brew House*  

2.18    LAFAYETTE, LA  Mardi Gras Festival 

2.19   MOBILE, AL           Soul Kitchen*  

2.20   LAFAYETTE, LA    Blue Moon Saloon*  

2.24  ATLANTA, GA        Eddie's Attic  

2.25  BIRMINGHAM, AL  Moonlight on the Mountain  

2.26  NASHVILLE, TN     3rd & Lindsley 

3.13-17 AUSTIN, TX         SXSW 2012 (details TBA)

*=opening for Marc Broussard

Mike Smith, The Showbiz Kids