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

Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup Announced

Bonnaroo has officially confirmed that Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Phish will headline the 11th version of the iconic music festival, which will take place from June 7th to June 10th in Manchester, Tennessee. The above headliners will be joined by recent Grammy winners Bon Iver and a reunited Beach Boys. More than 150 bands and almost two dozen comedians will offer attendees continuous entertainment on 13 stages over the course of four days and nights.

Remaining true to its formula, Bonnaroo's lineup breaks away from other major U.S. festivals who have often been accused of homogenous programming. This year, shock rocker Alice Cooper will join the lineup. The festival will honor its jam band roots with performances from Umphrey's McGee, ALO and Dispatch, while also making room for electronic acts with sets by Flying Lotus, Major Lazer and Big Gigantic. Hardcore group Bad Brains will make their inaugural Bonnaroo appearance as will Spectrum Road, an all-star band featuring Cream's Jack Bruce, Living Colour's Vernon Reid, Carlos Santana's wife Cindy Blackman, and MMW organist John Medeski.

When Bonnaroo first launched in 2002, it imagined itself as a cross between Phish's homegrown parties in the Northeast and the New Orlean's Jazz and Heritage Festival in Louisiana. In fact, Bonnaroo organizers brought in some of the creative team behind Phish's events, while creating a format that was directly inspired by what they saw at the fairgrounds in New Orleans. In keeping with the spirit that the festival was built upon, when Phish finally performed at Bonnaroo, in 2009, they brought out Bruce Springsteen to jam.

Tickets will go on sale this Saturday, February 18th at noon ET, at bonnaroo.com.

Here is the complete 2012 Bonnaroo lineup as announced at this time:

Radiohead

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Phish

Bon Iver

The Beach Boys (featuring Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks)

The Avett Brothers

The Shins

Foster the People

Skrillex

Aziz Ansari

Dispatch

Feist

The Roots

Alice Cooper

SuperJam

Black Star

The Word (featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph and North Mississippi Allstars)

Ludacris

Ben Folds Five

Flogging Molly

Spectrum Road (featuring Cindy Blackman Santana, Jack Bruce, John Medeski, and Vernon Reid)

Mac Miller

Childish Gambino

Major Lazer

tUnE-yArDs

Afrocubism

Flying Lotus

Umphrey's McGee

Little Dragon

St. Vincent

City and Colour

The Civil Wars

Young the Giant

Two Door Cinema Club

Punch Brothers

NEEDTOBREATHE

Fitz & the Tantrums

Bad Brains

Yelawolf

Dawes

Battles

Danny Brown

The Black Lips

SBTRKT

Phantogram

Kendrick Lamar

Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires

The Kooks

The Joy Formidable

The Antlers

Kathleen Edwards

Mimosa

Kurt Vile & the Violators

Alabama Shakes

Das Racist

Delta Spirit

Gary Clark Jr.

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk

Laura Marling

Trampled by Turtles

Mogwai

The War on Drugs

Ben Howard

Grouplove

Blind Pilot

ALO

The Devil Makes Three

White Denim

EMA

Here We Go Magic

K-Flay

The Lonely Forest

Mariachi El Bronx

Big Freedia

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

The Soul Rebels

Kvelertak

SOJA

Steven Bernstein's MTO All-Stars Play Sly

Big Gigantic

Sarah Jarosz

Orgone

Darondo

Fruit Bats

Moon Taxi

More to be announced…

Wilco on Austin City Limits

For those of you who might of missed, here is Wilco's most recent performance on the ever-awesome PBS Series, Austin City Limits.  Enjoy!