Black Tide Set Release Date

PR reports: Miami rockers Black Tide are proud to announce a February 26 release date for their debut album, "Light From Above." The album will be released on Interscope Records. Black Tide recorded the album at Chicago's Groovemaster Studios, with Johnny K (Disturbed, Machine Head, Soil) producing.

Black Tide's music draws from the best hard rock and thrash from the 80s, while giving it a 21st century kick up the ass. "Shockwave," the band's calling card and the album's opening track, is an utter classic — all bloody-knuckled thrash riffs, squealing guitars, rampaging drums, in-your-face vocals and an instantly memorable chorus. - more on this story

Hellyeah, Machine Head, Nonpoint And Ankla Tour

Blabbermouth reports: Hellyeah, Machine Head, Nonpoint and Ankla will team up for a U.S. tour beginning late January. Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

Jan. 26 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
Jan. 30 - Charlotte, NC @ Amos' Southend
Feb. 02 - Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
Feb. 08 - Chicago, IL @ The Pearl Room
- more on this story

Neil Young Musical

CMJ reports: Neil Young's rock opera, Greendale (Reprise/Wea), will make its world premiere musical debut next year at the Dallas Undermain Theatre March 29 through May 3.

The opera derives from Young's 2003 album of the same name, where three generations of a family incorporate themes of media consolidation and environmentalism.

The spring run follows a series of Greendale releases
- more on this story

North Mississippi Allstars Set Release

Billboard reports: Blues-rock trio the North Mississippi Allstars will release their fifth album on January 22, a disc that took "about two weeks" to record, guitarist/vocalist Luther Dickinson said.

"Hernando," named after the Mississippi town Dickinson, his brother Cody and bass player Chris Chew grew up in, is the follow-up to 2005's Grammy-nominated "Electric Blue Watermelon."

"I really wanted to make a raw, stripped-down live record. The word we kept throwing around in the studio was 'heavy,"' Luther Dickinson said of the new disc. - more on this story

Switches Join Bravery US Tour

PR reports: London-based quartet Switches have finally set plans to bring their charismatic, hook-laden rock to the US and will head out on a full national tour with New York synth-rockers, The Bravery, in the New Year.

They're touring in support of their forthcoming debut album, Lay Down The Law, coming March 18, 2008 via Interscope.

Switches Tour Dates With The Bravery
January
16 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
17 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
18 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
19 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound (formerly Bricks)
22 Boise, ID - The Big Easy - more on this story

Final Planes Mistaken For Stars Show

Punknews.org reports: With the cancellation of their farewell tour, Planes Mistaken For Stars will now have a single show serve as their send off. Detail on that gig are now available.

The last Planes performance ever will take place on February 16th at the Marquis Theater in Denver, CO.

The band will perform alongside Mustangs and Madras and Kingdom Of Magic at the show - more on this story

UK Breeders

Gigwise reports: The Breeders have announced details of a spring 2008 UK and Ireland tour.

Kim Deal and co. will play a total of eight dates, starting at Dublin's Vicar Street on April 7th and winding up and London's KOKO on the 16th.

As previously reported, The Breeders release their 13 track album 'Mountain Battles' to coincide with the tour. The album will be with us on April 7 through 4AD Records.
- more on this story

Shawn Mullins Sets Release

PR reports: Shawn Mullins will serve up a new set of vibrant, character-driven songs with his new Vanguard Records CD honeydew on March 11, 2008. honeydew teems with humanity: railroad workers, traveling salesman , homeless troubadours, and several generations of family members, living and dead. It is a richly interwoven work, the most panoramic album of Mullins' career as well as the most intensely personal. "These songs are character sketches of people I've come across and places I've traveled through," he says.

Produced by the artist, the recording took place at Creekside Station, the rural Georgia studio of Gerry Hansen, Mullins' longtime drummer, who engineered and mixed. Along with other regulars, including bassist Patrick Blanchard, multi-instrumentalist Clay Cook, B-3/Wurlitzer specialist Marty Kearns and mandolin player Kip Conner, Mullins managed to snag guitarist Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow) during a break in his touring schedule. Also making appearances are Atlanta blues and soul legend Francine Reed (Lyle Lovett) on "Homeless Joe" and the extremely catchy first single, "All in My Head," and Australian alt-country artist Kasey Chambers on "Cabbagetown." - more on this story

Chasin Gus in Chicago

PR reports: Among the luminary musicians featured in the acclaimed music documentary "Chasin' Gus' Ghost" is Chicago bluesman Charlie Musselwhite. Musselwhite will perform at the Will Shade Gravestone Benefit Tribute Concert following the screening of "Chasin' Gus' Ghost." He is one of many to cite jug band music as a source of inspiration early in his musical career. Says Musselwhite in the film, "I think jug bands is where the later electric blues came from. It's an important part of American music."

Musselwhite is an acclaimed blues harp player from Mississippi who made his way north on Highway 51 to Chicago looking for work. In Chicago, he immersed himself in music and met legends such as Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. He has released over 20 albums, topped Billboard's blues charts, performed on Grammy-winning records and is synonymous with Chicago blues. - more on this story

Honeydripper Soundtrack

PR reports: "Honeydripper," the acclaimed new film written, directed and edited by John Sayles, revisits the genesis of rock 'n' roll – namely '50s rural blues from the Deep South. The story depicts a second chance for an aging bluesman, the kickoff to a young guitar turk's career and the rise of rock 'n' roll itself. The movie features an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen, Yaya DeCosta and Sean Patrick Thomas.

Opening in New York and Los Angeles December 28 and nationally in January and February, the soundtrack to this blues music-themed period film includes new songs by Keb' Mo', Mable John and guitar phenom Gary Clark, Jr., who appears in the film as well. The album also contains a new song by the incomparable Ruth Brown, the last recorded before her death in 2006. Rhino Records will release the soundtrack February 5 - more on this story

Heart in the Studio Release Set

PR reports: 'HEART: In the Studio', featuring exclusive interviews with Ann and Nancy Wilson, and set to be published worldwide by ECW Press in June, 2008, is now available for pre-order at amazon.com (and by extension the antiMusic store). With more Top 10 hits than any other female-fronted music group in history, beginning with such '70s classics as "Crazy on You," "Barracuda," "Magic Man," and "Straight On," Rolling Stone hailed Heart's "sister team of Nancy and Ann Wilson. . . [for] shrewdly pulling off a Led Zep role reversal," while still succeeding in mainstream Top 40 Radio.

The band rode a second wave of even greater commercial success throughout the 1980s, producing such smash hits as "These Dreams," "Who You Gonna Run To?", "Alone," "Never," "Stranded," "There's the Girl," "What About Love?", and "All I Wanna Do (Is Make Love to You)," going on to sell a cumulative 30+ million albums worldwide!

Now, for the first time, inside the pages of Heart: In the Studio, fans get the V.I.P. access behind the scenes of the writing and recording of all of Heart's hit albums and smash singles! This title features exclusive interviews with band leaders Ann and Nancy Wilson, longtime guitarist Howard Leese, as well as with producers Mike Flicker, Ron Nevison, Keith Olsen, Duane Baron, and Ritchie Zito among others. This study of Heart's hit-making process in the studio is the first of its kind, and sure to be a must-have for any Heart fan!'
- Preorder here

Former KISS Guitarist Mark St John Dies - A Top Story of 2007

antiMusic reports: For the rest of the year we are going to be looking back at the most read articles from the past year. Today we feature the biggest story from April about the untimely death of former KISS guitarist Mark St. John. Here is the story: Former KISS guitarist MARK ST JOHN passed away this morning of a brain hemorrhage. He was 51. Mark replaced KISS guitarist VINNIE VINCENT in 1984, only to shortly thereafter develop Reiters Syndrome, a form or arthritis, which left his hand too swollen at times to play guitar. Mark played on all but one of the tracks of the 1984 Animalize album.

On the subsequent tour his condition had deteriorated and was only able to play 1 full and 3 partial shows. BRUCE KULICK was called in as a temporary guitarist to play the remainder of the partial sets as well as the rest of the tour. Mark's condition was not improving and sadly had to soon step down to have Kulick take his place permanently on December 8,1985.

His musical career not over, Mark later formed the band White Tiger in 1986 and then interestingly enough teamed up with former KISS drummer PETER CRISS to record a demo in 1990. A self-produced CD entitled the MARK ST JOHN Project was released in 1999. - more on this story

.... Carole King - Love Makes The World

Never met her. Never even seen her in person. But there's something about slipping in a CD by Carole King that feels like running into an old friend in an unlikely part of the world. Only better. (4.5 stars) - Read the full Carole King - Love Makes The World review

.... Pelle Carlberg - In a Nutshell

Pelle Carlberg is earnest as they come. Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, this former Edson front man turned solo singer/songwriter's latest album, In a Nutshell, reflects much of that appeal (3 stars) - Read the full Pelle Carlberg - In a Nutshell review

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