T.I. Makes Secret Comeback

"AXE is known for delivering unexpected and memorable experiences that help bring guys and girls together," said Mike Dwyer, AXE marketing director. "The 'One Night Only' concert series delivers in signature style by partnering with some of today's top artists to headline secret, exclusive shows that promise to be unforgettable." - more info

CMA Awards Nominations Announcement To Be Strung Out

Fans wanting to know who has landed CMA Awards Nominations this year will have to practice a little patience as the organizers are rolling out the announcement over two days. Here is a quick rundown with the details:

Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert Announce Five Categories Live From New York City On ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Sept. 1

Justin Moore and Chris Young Announce the Finalists in Seven Categories At the Historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Aug. 31 - more on this story

Snow Patrol Side Project Tired Pony (featuring members of R.E.M. and Belle and Sebastian) Announce Exclusive Dates

U.S. fans will only have two chances to see Tired Pony live. Tired Pony, spearheaded by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, is a collaborative project featuring the talents of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn, acclaimed producer Jacknife Lee and more.

Following the huge demand for tickets for Tired Pony's debut U.S. show in New York City on October 1st, Tired Pony will not only be moving their show to a larger venue – NYC's Irving Plaza – but will also be adding a second U.S. date in Los Angeles for their west coast fans. The L.A. show will take place on October 4th at the El Rey Theatre.

Tired Pony's debut U.S. show in New York City on October 1st, Tired Pony will not only be moving their show to a larger venue – NYC's Irving Plaza – but will also be adding a second U.S. date in Los Angeles for their west coast fans. The L.A. show will take place on October 4th at the El Rey Theatre. - more on this story

Blind Pilot Announce New Dates Including Austin City Limits

Blind Pilot are hitting the road for a handful of headlining dates and a performance at this year's Austin City Limits music festival.

These will be the first dates for the band in 2010. Blind Pilot toured for much of 2009, supporting bands like The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, and The Hold Steady, as well as playing a sold-out US headlining club tour, and appearing at festivals including Lollapalooza, Sasquatch, and Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival.

Comprised of founding members Israel Nebeker (vocals, guitar) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums), Blind Pilot is rounded out with Luke Ydstie (upright bass, backing vocals), Kati Claborn (banjo, dulcimer, ukulele, backing vocals), Ian Krist (vibraphone) and Dave Jorgensen (keyboard, trumpet). - more on this story

Singled Out: Mayday's I'll Be Gone

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Mayday tell us about "I'll Be Gone" from their forthcoming new album "Stuck on an Island," which is set to hit in October. We now turn it over to Mayday for the story:

Plex Luthor: (Producer, Keys, Guitar) "I'll Be Gone" started with the vocoder part... I was just messing around with the vocoder and some Jack Daniels and ended up with that simple rhythm part that made me want to add to it... the rest of the intro just fell in line after that, the piano riff was freestyle one take. The verse part just came from a need to juxtapose musical ideas or moods I guess, it's more relaxed and sparse than the intro until it builds back up to the chorus so the energy of the song has a storyline. That's pretty much it, sorry I can't be deeper, it's hard to describe these feelings or musical motivations in words. These things just come out how they do, sometimes your hands have a mind of their own and they create without instruction.

Bernz: (Vocals) What's memorable about "I'll be Gone" for me was the fact its one of the few tracks we actually all kind of worked on together...at the same time! Since usually our process is layered with time in between each addition to the song, it was cool to get to the studio and hear an almost finished version of the beat already playing. The vibe was sick in the lab and Me and Wreko got to work pretty quickly. The whole time I heard it, I imagined something dramatic for the chorus. I knew what I wanted to say before I actually knew how to say it. I blurted out versions of the hook "you'll miss me" etc. etc. Till finally threw some form primitive yelling and sentence building we finally get the chorus line "by the time you hear this...I'll be gone". I hopped in the booth to reference it and what I did is actually what you hear in the final hook version.

Wrekonize: (Vocals) When we started writing the lyrics for "I'll Be Gone" I told Bernz that I wanted to do a hook that was limited to one phrase. We had been writing very big melodic pop hooks and I wanted to switch our approach. I didn't know what I wanted to say yet, but I knew I wanted it to be a short phrase and let the beat breathe after that. Once Bernz started into that train of thought about "not appreciating things until they are missing" we started toying with ways to approach that. I don't remember now how we got there, but once we came upon the exact words it clicked. We both knew we couldn't leave it at that so we started layering the choir part with a melody I had in my head that the beat really wrote for me. What I dig most about this track is the intro. When I first heard the way Plex had the intro I knew right away that I did not want to intrude upon it with lyrics. I felt right away that the intro of the whole song needed to remain as it was and stand alone. I'm a sucker for the dramatics. Either way, it ended up being a great intro for an album.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, check out the video - right here!

Never Shout Never Fall Tour Plans

Never Shout Never will hit the road this fall on The Harmony Tour, named after their new album which hits stores next week.

The tour starts October 19th in Seattle and criss-crosses the U.S. before winding up on November 27th in Chicago.

Also on the bill are special guests The Maine, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business and Carter Hulsey. - more on this story

Jenny and Johnny Preview New Song

Jenny and Johnny [Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) and Johnathan Rice] have released their newest single, Switchblade and are offering fans a chance to listen via an online player.

Check out the Jenny and Johnny player for the ONLY place to hear Switchblade! Listen here

Separate they are Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice, but together they are the Los Angeles-based band, Jenny and Johnny. The coupled duo will be releasing their debut, I'm Having Fun Now, August 31 on Warner Bros. Records. Moreover, the pair, who have performed together - but separate - before, have announced their first official tour as Jenny and Johnny beginning this September with shows spanning across the US. - more on this story

Hey Monday Late Night

Yesterday Hey Monday released their new EP, Beneath It All, and today they announce that they will perform their new single, "I Don't Wanna Dance," for Jimmy Kimmel Live! which will air in September.

Hey Monday is made up of Cassadee Pope (lead vocals/guitar,) Mike Gentile (lead guitar/vocals,) Alex Lipshaw (rhythm guitar/vocals) and Michael "Jersey" Moriarty (bass/vocals.)

Since releasing their debut album Hold on Tight two years ago, the band has sold nearly 500,000 songs, graced the cover of several magazines in the U.S. and overseas, and have received more than 28 million plays on MySpace. - more on this story

Billy Currington Sets Album Release

Billy Currington will release his forth album, Enjoy Yourself, on September 21 via Mercury Nashville

The album includes the crooner's Top 5 smash hit "Pretty Good At Drinkin' Beer" written by Troy Jones. Enjoy Yourself, featuring the Georgia native's trademark mix of country, R&B and beach music, is produced by Currington and Carson Chamberlain.

"It's a great mix. It reflects who I am," Currington says about the collection of 10 songs. "I'm definitely not just one thing. I'm the beach guy, I'm the country guy, I love my dirt roads and fishin', but I love New York City and L.A. and Miami, too." - more on this story

Danbert Nobacon Announces New Album and Book

Danbert Nobacon will release a new album and book this fall. Backed by Seattle's gypsy punks The Bad Things, Nobacon recorded a song cycle called Woebegone, available October 19th. Never one to relax, his first novel will arrive on October 1st! "Three Dead Princes – An Anarchist Fairytale" is illustrated by film-maker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid and Nancy). Nobacon will hit the road in October to do readings and play gigs across this great land, with a record release party in Seattle on Halloween.

Woebegone is a fictional musical noir tracking the early years of Johnny Woebegone and Lilithiana Red, through songs of oil, sex, death with an otherworldliness we cannot quite put our finger on. Set in the rapidly decaying world of the mid-2020s, with Nobacon in character as Woebegone, the album charts yet to be discovered hidden depths. The pairing Nobaconian lounge noir and other country blues, with the majesty of The Bad Things' junkyard cabaret provides a musical feast for delinquents and degenerates everywhere.

Johnny Woebegone is a character in a novel Nobacon will write someday as Bebon Condorant; he is a time travelling roots musician trapped in a poisonous police state sometime in the future. Nobacon is a student of science, nature, art and history as well as being a dedicated anarchist; his dystopian future has a raucous, piratical sound when put to music. In "Johnny Woebegone" Nobacon sings, "Gangsters, G-men, raptors and ghosts, sharpening their various claws, arms trade profiteers, government yes-men, a war tailor made for double agents." While in "Evolution 9" he describes Woebegone as a broken man, singing "To H.G. Wells, who once wrote, when the lights were going out all over Europe, that human history is a race between education and the catastrophe that embraces us now. - more on this story

Ashtar Command Release Deadman's Gun Video

You've heard their music everywhere - including "Grey's Anatomy," "The OC," "Ugly Betty" and television ad campaigns for Nissan and Microsoft. Now Chris Holmes and Brian Liesegang step out front with Ashtar Command's first-ever video, "Deadman's Gun."

Ashtar Command penned "Deadman's Gun" for Rockstar Games' critically acclaimed, Western-themed video game, "Red Dead Redemption" and the song is also featured on the Red Dead Redemption Original Soundtrack. So check out the embeddable video here

Chris Holmes and Brian Liesegang met while studying at the University of Chicago, where Chris hosted a UFO-themed radio show - sort of an academic Art Bell meets Ira Glass' "This American Life." The band, in fact, takes its name from a concept that emerged in the 1950's of an intergalactic U.N. (Ashtar Command), devoted to assisting the human race in a time of crisis. Think evolution by enlightenment, which makes the name a fitting metaphor for the band. - more on this story