Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard Together Again?- Michael Jackson Doc's Legal Woes- T-Pain Going Christian Pop- Rihanna Going Idol- Elton Stage Collapse and more

As usual, musicians were all over April Fool's Day when it fell on Thursday. Canadian pop idol Justin Bieber posted a video on comedy website funnyordie.com saying he had purchased it and renamed it Bieberordie.com. more - more on this story

The Black Keys Announce Summer Tour

The Black Keys will support their new album, Brothers (due out May 18 on Nonesuch Records) with a summer tour beginning June 2 in Salt Lake City.

The tour will include a newly added second show at Central Park's SummerStage on July 28 that follows the band's July 27 performance, which quickly sold out.

The Black Keys will also be playing select dates in April and May, highlighted by an opening slot for Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 20, as well as performances on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on May 25 and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on May 26. - more including the dates and tracklisting

Mary Chapin Carpenter Sets New Album Release and Tour Plans

The Age of Miracles, the new album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter will be released April 27 on Zoë/Rounder Records.

Over the course of a 12-album recording career, Carpenter has won five Grammy Awards and sold over 13 million records. The new record follows 2008's acclaimed Christmas release Come Darkness, Come Light and 2007's Grammy-nominated album The Calling.

In her own words, Carpenter describes the album as, "a personal exploration of regret and resilience but also a larger, more universal expression of wonder at the times that we are living in." In support of the release, Carpenter will embark on a nationwide tour this summer. - dates

Rare Home Movie Footage of Hank Williams, Carter Family, and More Discovered

Reelin' In The Years Productions, the world's largest music footage library has uncovered a 30-minute film of home movies from the 1950s featuring the legendary Hank Williams Sr. along with Marty Robbins, the Carter Family, Merle Travis, Lefty Frizell, Hank Snow, Maddox Bothers & Rose, Bill Monroe and a host of others.

These images, shot in pristine 16mm color film, capture these classic artists in performance and in rare candid moments. Highlights include Hank Williams singing at a disc jockey convention in Nashville, Marty Robbins playing guitar on a front lawn, Kitty Wells standing in front of her tour car and Merle Travis preparing to board a small plane.

This newly recovered footage was shot by John Banks, part owner of radio station KRDU in Dinuba, CA while these artists were at the station and his home. In addition to filming these artists in California, Banks took his 16mm camera to Nashville and captured many artists backstage during a convention of disc jockeys held in the early 1950s. - more on this story

Hopscotch Music Festival

The Independent Weekly proudly announces the Hopscotch Music Festival, the Triangle's biggest music festival yet and a strong addition to the country's festival circuit. Scheduled for Sept. 9-11, 2010, in downtown Raleigh, with 120 bands in 10 venues over three days, Hopscotch offers fans high-quality local, national and international options in just about every genre you can imagine—rock, hip-hop, alt-country, heavy metal, dance, punk, classical, noise, drone, folk and more.

The festival will be headlined by two nights in Raleigh City Plaza, downtown's crown jewel, which opened last fall. Indie rock giants PANDA BEAR and BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE will headline Friday, Sept. 10, with support from Triangle favorites THE ROSEBUDS. Hip-hop's most legendary group, PUBLIC ENEMY, will headline with a rare full-band set on Saturday, Sept. 11. Los Angeles trio NO AGE and Raleigh's THE LOVE LANGUAGE will open. More than 110 bands will be spread between nine clubs throughout the festival's three days. A sample of those bands includes: Washed Out, Tortoise, Lucero, 9th Wonder, Akron/Family, Marissa Nadler, Harvey Milk, f***ed Up, Javelin, Richard Buckner, Megafaun, Kylesa, Atlas Sound, Harlem and Bear in Heaven.

Carefully assembled by Hopscotch Director Greg Lowenhagen and Curator and Independent Weekly Music Editor Grayson Currin, the lineup spotlights the core of the Triangle's rich music scene by putting it on the same stages as some of the world's best bands. - more on this story

The Glitch Mob Hitting The Road

Selling out major venues from coast to coast simply by word of mouth, The Glitch Mob has become a festival favorite, rocking crowds from Lollapalooza to Red Rocks to upcoming key slots at Coachella and Ultra with their visceral, innovative performances.

And this spring, the L.A.-based trio embarks on their first full nationwide tour in support of The Glitch Mob's debut album release Drink The Sea, due May 25 on the band's own Glass Air label. Drink The Sea represents

The Glitch Mob's transformation up from the underground into a more widescreen vision: from the cryptic cover art (courtesy Sonny Kay, famed for his work with Mars Volta) to the kaleidoscopic dimension of the music inside, Drink The Sea evokes a voyage into the unexpected—including sonic waters previously unexplored by the band itself. - more on this story

Sharon Jones' New Album Preview

Sharon Jones continues her march toward Soul-Rock domination with the release of I Learned The Hard Way next week, April 6th, on Daptone Records.

I Learned The Hard Way was produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records' House of Soul studios. This record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax.

Sharon's raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. >From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in "The Game Gets Old" at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style "Mama Don't Like My Man" at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned The Hard Way is the "Daptone Sound" at its finest. - Stream I Learned the Hard Way exclusively at NPR.org

Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp Season Finale On Monday

Bobby Brown, Jay McCarroll, KayCee Stroh, Kevin Federline, Nicole Eggert, Sebastian Bach, Shar Jackson and Tanisha Thomas all started their year off right with decisions to lose weight and make tough life choices on "Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp."

As season seven comes to a close, the competition really heats up between the celebrities as they battle it out for $200,000 in cash and prizes awarded to the winning team and $50,000 in cash and prizes awarded to the individual winner. After a grueling eight weeks filled with blood, sweat and tears, these celebs have been physically and emotionally transformed. Make sure to tune in for the 90-minute season finale of "Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp" on Monday, April 5 at 9:00 PM*.

In the final challenge, the cast revisits "The Punisher," the obstacle course designed by U.S. Marine Corps Drill Instructor Harvey Walden IV (RET) that left many of them crushed and bruised the first time around. They'll also meet with Rhonda for their concluding therapy session and last bit of inspiration. Will Kevin finally man-up and use this moment to address his past with Shar? Which celebrity will have lost the most weight? Viewers won't want to miss the final weigh in as the winners are revealed and last minute drama sends one Fit Clubber storming out. -

Roman Candle Spring Tour

Chapel Hill and Nashville's favorite sons and daughter Roman Candle are set to hit the road again for a new run of headlining dates in mid-April.

The band, who returned home to Nashville last week after playing multiple shows at this year's SXSW, will begin the tour in their former homestate at The Garage in Winston-Salem, NC, on April 13th and wrap up at the Jefferson Theatre in Charlottesville, VA, on April 23rd.

Recently Roman Candle has toured with Ravenna Colt - with whom they will play again on the Charlotte and Boone, NC, shows - and Alejandro Escovedo. - more on this story

Setting Sun Giving Away Song From Forthcoming Album

Setting Sun is releasing his new album Fantasurreal this Summer on June 1st, and is giving away the track "Driving" from the album as well as an accompanying video.

Set to Levitt's bouncy indie folk and animated by artist Charles Pieper, the video pays tribute to '90s independent animation, a la MTV's iconic "Liquid Television" series.

Watching Pieper's trippy claymation interspersed between shots of Levitt, it's hard not expect early Mike Judge and "Æon Flux" shorts to follow. Watch the video here and download the mp3 - here

The Sutter Creek Summer Music Festival

Andrei Gorbatenko, Music Director of the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, has just been appointed Inaugural Artistic Director of a new classical music festival this coming July in the heart of California's historic gold country. The Sutter Creek Summer Music Festival will take place over a two-week period, from July 11-25, in the picturesque gold rush town of Sutter Creek, California. Sutter Creek with its surrounding region is a nationally ranked visitor destination known for its premium wineries, scenic foothill landscapes, shops, restaurants, and historical sites.

The music festival will give dedicated musicians, college-age and older, the opportunity to work closely with a faculty of world- renowned professionals in the preparation and presentation of public concerts in both chamber and orchestral music.

Faculty recruited for the festival include members of several of the world's leading orchestras, including violinist Dan Carlson and cellist David Goldblatt of the San Francisco Symphony, violinist David Brubaker of the Minnesota Orchestra, violinist Eric Lee of the National Opera, violist Joy Fellows of the San Francisco Opera, and bassist Walter McTigert of the Swedish Radio Orchestra. Also joining the faculty is Gerald Robbins, international concert pianist and professor at the Manhattan School of Music. - more on this story

Nneka Joins Nas and Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley Tour

Fresh off of the release of her first US album debut Concrete Jungle, Nneka has been announced as the support act for the historic Distant Relatives Tour with Nas and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley hitting the road May 2010.

The tour will stop in major cities across the country in support of their Distant Relatives album, which is a celebration of not only to the bond between the two artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Nneka is deeply influenced by her roots. The political and social states of her home country are often prevalent in her music and live performances. It is this message of awareness, hope and love that made her a perfect fit for a collaboration with Nas and Damian Marley, both legendary artists and personal influences of Nneka's. "With this tour," Nneka explains, "we represent the fact that we are all connected to one another, all part of one entity and one source – which is love." - more on this story

Marco Benevento To Deliver Between The Needles & Nightfall in May

Back with his third full length studio album in as many years, Brooklyn-based pianist and sound sculptor Marco Benevento delivers Between The Needles & Nightfall on May 11 via his label Royal Potato Family.

Benevento has announced North American tour dates in support of his forthcoming new album, Between The Needles & Nightfall. The Brooklyn-based pianist leads his trio for the majority of a 29-night headline run that includes a handful of April appearances surrounding the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and May dates on the East Coast and Midwest that are capped off by a hometown show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom.

In June, Benevento works a double shift over three nights in the Northwest playing with both his Trio and Surprise Me Mr. Davis. He'll conclude the month with a string of Canadian jazz festivals, including a solo piano performance at Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur as part of the Montreal Jazz Festival. - more on this story

Fela Limited Edition 10" Vinyl For Record Store Day

To celebrate this year's Record Store Day and in continuation of spreading the Fela magic to new and old fans alike, Knitting Factory Records is proud to announce the release of a limited edition Fela Kuti 10" vinyl EP, available April 17.

Comprised of music from The '69 Live Sessions that were originally released on the first Fela Kuti and His Africa 70's Nigerian album release, this record perfectly bridges the transition Fela made from performing African highlife to Fela's afrobeat.

Act fast - this 33rpm, 140 gram vinyl is very limited! Head to your local independent record store on April 17 to find your copy of what is bound to be one of Record Store Day's hottest items. - more on this story