Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) Week: Equally Skilled

antiMusic reports: Jon Foreman, the frontman for Switchfoot is returning to his indie-scene roots by releasing four solo EPs over the coming months, individually titled Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. To celebrate the digital release of the first EP, Fall, we asked Jon to pick his five favorite tracks from the release and tell us a bit about each one. Here is Jon with today's song:

Equally Skilled: I read somewhere that, Good writers borrow, great writers steal. I remember reading through Dylan's lyrics one time and realizing much of their timeless power came from the fact that they were stolen directly from the Jewish scriptures. This is a song stolen from Micah. Maybe prophecy is timeless, transcendent truth breathed into a language I can understand.

My brother Tim had the great idea to reintroduce the intro after the second chorus. He's super smart. I'm glad he's on my team.

[Fansites, if you reprint please include credit and a link] Learn more about the new EPs, hear samples, read the lyrics, buy online and more - right here

Stoned Vehicle Pilot? Weiland Faces Year in Jail

SleazeRoxx.com reports: Scott Weiland was formally charged Wednesday (December 12) with driving under the influence of drugs and refusing a chemical test that is required by law, TMZ.com reports. As previously reported, the Velvet Revolver frontman -- who was arrested November 21 in Los Angeles -- will be arraigned Thursday in a court in Van Nuys, California.

Weiland faces a "maximum penalty of one year county jail and a $1,000 fine, and a minimum penalty eight days in jail," in light of his prior conviction and refusal to take a drug test, Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said in a statement, according to the site. He added that Weiland's car could be impounded for no more than 30 days.

Earlier this month, the rock star's management issued a statement denying the driving-under-the-influence charge and said he had voluntarily taken a sobriety test. "Scott Weiland was recently involved in a minor accident in Los Angeles and denies he was driving under the influence," the statement read. "He voluntarily took a Breathalyzer test, which the defense believes registers well within the legal limit. He is anxious to get to court on December 13 and clear this matter up."

Prior to the statement being released, TMZ.com posted a copy of the arrest report, which stated that Weiland was driving on a Los Angeles highway around 6:18 p.m. on November 21 when he was involved in a non-injury collision in which it was determined he was at fault. "While the police were investigating the traffic collision, Weiland exhibited signs of impairment," the report read. "The investigation officer administered a series of field sobriety tests to the driver, which he was unable to satisfactorily perform." - more on this story

Ike Turner RIP

antiMusic reports: Ike Turner who is often credited with helping craft the very first rock and roll song, 1951's "Rocket 88," died at his California home at the age of 76. Turner's biggest notoriety would come later when he paired with Tina Turner, both professionally and personally.

Here is the report from Jam!: Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock's critical architects was overshadowed by his ogrelike image as the man who brutally abused former wife Tina Turner, died Wednesday at his home in suburban San Diego. He was 76.

Turner died at his San Marcos home, Scott M. Hanover of Thrill Entertainment Group, which managed Turner's career, told The Associated Press. There was no immediate word on the cause of death, which was first reported by celebrity Web site TMZ.com. - more on this story

Fiddy Praises Filesharing

Gigwise reports: 50 Cent has urged record labels to move with the times and insists that file sharing isn't a bad thing for artists.

Speaking to Norwegian magazine Kjendis the rapper said that labels should be looking to manage "the 360 degrees around an artist".

He added: "What is important for the music industry to understand is that file-sharing doesn't hurt artists."
- more on this story

Latest Zeppelin Reunion Rumors

antiMusic reports: It's becoming harder and harder to keep up with all of the rumored gigs that Led Zeppelin are lining up after their triumphant return this week at the 02 Arena in London.Our friends at Gigwise are keeping tabs on all of the rumors.

On Tuesday they told us about the band supposedly putting Wembley Stadium on hold for two nights next summer. Gigwise didn't seem to have much faith in that report which came from the Morrissey defaming NME.

But they also have a rumored gig story that should get American fans excited with the possibilities. Apparently "Led Zeppelin have reportedly spoken privately about performing at Madison Square Garden in 2008." Of course, the source of this tidbit is The Sun so take it with a pound of salt. Then again it was unnamed sources that tipped this week's reunion gig. - Gigwise story

Rosanne Cash Recovering from Brain Surgery

Reuters reports: Singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash has undergone successful brain surgery to correct a benign condition, and is expected to make a complete recovery, her record label said on Tuesday.

The 52-year-old Grammy-winning musician, the eldest of late country icon Johnny Cash's five children, is resting at her New York home, two weeks after her operation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, said a statement from Manhattan Records.

She was diagnosed with a Type 1 Chiari malformation, a rare structural defect that affects the part of the brain that controls balance.

- more on this story

MTV on Strike

Contact Music reports: Hundreds of MTV employees are staging walkouts in protest at the lack of benefits for the company's freelance workers.

The Viacom-owned MTV Networks - which include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Logo and Spike - currently don't provide services such as health insurance for so-called 'permatemps' - staff who have been working there for many years but are only employed on freelance contracts. - thus the nature of "freelance" work. more on this story

Groban Ties Elvis and Denies Keys Top Spot

Contact Music reports: Singer JOSH GROBAN has tied ELVIS PRESLEY's festive record by claiming a third successive week at number one on the U.S. album chart with a compilation of Christmas tunes.

Groban's Noel scored an increase in sales to claim a third week at number one, keeping Alicia Keys' As I Am off the top.

The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden falls a spot to number three on the new countdown. - more on this story

Twisted Sister Axe Charity Gig

Contact Music reports: Colourful heavy rockers TWISTED SISTER have been forced to scrap a concert in California due to poor ticket sales.

The gig at the Bren Events Center in Irvine was planned by two entrepreneurial fans who took out a $100,000 (GBP50,000) bank loan to fund the 14 December (07) show.

Blabbermouth.net reports the Newport Beach, California couple stood to earn a tidy fortune for local charities and cover their loan if the show was a sell-out, but now it looks as if the pair will be left out of pocket after only 600 of the 4,300 tickets sold - more news

RIAA Say Ripping Your Own CDs a Crime?

CMJ reports: Next time you want to import a CD onto your computer, think twice. According to a recent supplementary document filed by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) in support of its motion for summary judgment in the case Atlantic vs. Howell—where a couple is being sued for sharing songs over Kazaa—converting sound recordings from a legally bought record into an MP3 format is considered "unauthorized."

"Each of these actual, unauthorized disseminations of Plaintiffs' copyrighted works violates Plaintiffs' exclusive distribution right," the document states, where in this case, Atlantic Records is the plaintiff.

It is not clear whether personal use of the MP3 converted files goes under this claim, as the document states that the files were in a shared folder, one which defendant Jeffrey Howell used for himself and his wife. - more on this story

Jay-Z Denies Universal Greed

Gigwise reports: US rapper Jay-Z has denied that contract with the Universal Music Group have stalled over his financial demands.

Reports had claimed that the rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was asking for more money in order to stay at Def Jam Records – a subsidiary of Universal.

Carter said that money was "the last thing" causing the delays, which have also raised questions about his commitment to the label. - more on this story

Britney Flakes on Legal Appearance

Jam! reports: Britney Spears was apparently too under the weather to go under oath. The pop star was a no-show at a court-ordered deposition Wednesday morning in her ongoing child custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

A throng of news media and paparazzi was waiting for the pop star to show up at 10 a.m. at attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan's office. About an hour later, Kaplan, Federline's attorney, said he had been informed that Spears was not coming.

Kaplan said he was told Spears didn't feel well. - more on this story

Fred Explains Taking Back Sunday Departure

Punknews.org reports: Fred Mascherino recently sat down to discuss his relatively sudden departure from Taking Back Sunday and his new band, The Color Fred.

He explained: I know that it comes down on me. I wish it didn't. It was ultimately my decision, but I wish it didn't seem like my fault. [The MySpace bulletin] was weird. It was kind of cold and not even from the band members. It's hard because I'm the only one speaking about it, so it's kind of all on me, and I don't know what other people want to be said as far as how much of the truth they want to come out.

The idea that I left Taking Back Sunday strictly to do The Color Fred is incorrect, I had been planning to release this record at this time. It was already set up. I was going to release it and do a tour, which I'm on now, and then go back and write the next record with them and record it. But along the line of a few months before and then on the Projekt Revolution tour, things were getting sour. I said, 'I don't want to do this anymore.' It was making me miserable. I felt like I was changing who I was.
- more on this story

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