Thursday

Poison Claim EMI Ripped Them Off

TMZ reports: Poison is set for a new tour this summer, but first they're getting the band back together to sue their record label!

According to a lawsuit filed today in L.A. Superior Court, the band claims Capitol Records stiffed 'em -- underpaying them royalties for years.

They also claim they were shortchanged by EMI Music Marketing over a deal they made in 2005 for their greatest hits album, which featured a new track entitled "We're An American Band." - more on this story

Aerosmith Singer Out of Rehab and Onto The Court

BW&BK reports: According to Sfgate.com, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has completed his stint in rehab, celebrating his release by grabbing courtside seats for the Boston Celtics' basketball game on Tuesday.

The singer checked into a facility in Pasadena, Calif., last month, prompting speculation he had slipped from sobriety, 20 years after he kicked hard drugs.

Tyler later revealed he was in rehab on doctor's orders because of a foot injury. But he appears to be recovering well, and looked happy and healthy as he cheered on his team - more on this story

Young Jeezy Busted

TMZ reports: TMZ has learned rapper Young Jeezy was popped early this morning in Atlanta driving like a crazy person!

Cops arrested the Jeez around 2:30 AM on a whole mess o' charges, including DUI, speeding, reckless driving, no tags, driving with an open container and no proof of insurance. Somebody get Geico on the phone!

Jeezy -- whose real name is Jay Jenkins -- was released this morning on bail. He'll be back in court in July 17. - Read his response to this

Just When You Thought VH1's Celebretardity Couldn't Get Any Worse

antiMusic reports: Before we get to this, we want to give you an update about a quality show that's actually worth watching. We heard from Showtime today that Dexter will be back this Fall for a third season. No more details yet, but we wanted to offset the following IQ dropping news with something positive. Here is the news about VH1's latest installment of "celebretardity" (maybe we can get Dexter to take care of the "contestants"?):

Contestants from VH1's series "Rock of Love," "I Love New York" and "Flavor of Love" are set to star in the network's newest 'celebreality' series, "I Love Money" premiering on Sunday, July 6 at 9:00 PM.*

Hosted by Craig J. Jackson, the 12-episode series will pit 17 all-star contestants against one another for a chance to win a $250,000 grand prize.

Infamous cast members including 12 Pack, Chance, Heat, Midget Mac, Mr. Boston, Real, The Entertainer, Whiteboy, Brandi C., Destiney, Heather, Hoopz, Megan, Nibblz, Pumkin, Rodeo and Toastee will travel to Mexico where they will participate in outrageous challenges to test their determination to get rich. For this group of men and women competing for a chance at love is nothing compared to competing for their true heart's desire, money. - more on this story

Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and Coldplay for Pemberton Festival

PR reports: Last week we told you about the Pemberton Festival side stage acts, which unless you're into that kind of music might not have been that appealing, but today we present you with the info on the main-stage headliners and acts and they make it worth the price of admission.

The inaugural Pemberton Festival to be held July 25-27 with headliners Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and Coldplay is quickly coming upon us. Here is the complete line-up (main and side stage)

The complete line up for Pemberton is: Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Coldplay, Interpol, The Tragically Hip, Jay-Z, Serj Tankian, The Flaming Lips, N.E.R.D., Wolfmother, My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend, Kathleen Edwards, Sam Roberts Band, Matisyahu, The Secret Machines, Black Mountain, Wintersleep, Shearwater, Buck 65, Inward Eye, Minus the Bear, Brazilian Girls, The Fiery Furnaces, Grand Ole Party, Mates Of State, The Airborne Toxic Event, Monte Negro, Carolina Liar, Low Vs Diamond, Annie Stela - more

Portugal. The Man Tour Plans

HER reports: Few modern rock bands fit the phrase "diamond in the rough" as well as Wasilla, Alaska's finest sons, Portugal. The Man, and with the late summer/early fall release of "Censored Colors," the band's third full-length CD, this should be made all the more evident.

So, the countdown has begun until they premiere the new tunes on a concert stage, as they will be embarking on a tour with RX Bandits this summer before headlining a European trek, and then returning for a U.S. Fall headline jaunt.

"Censored Colors" was recorded and mostly written in a frantic two and a half week period in Seattle with the aid of producers Phil Peterson and Kirk Huffman of The House of Breaking Glass. Paul Kolderie (Pixies, Radiohead, Throwing Muses) did additional production and mixed the album. Gourley admits the group was armed with some ideas for "Censored Colors," but not nearly as much as the average rock band. "Throughout the year, we're constantly writing and there were little ideas here and there. I think we went into the studio with two songs that we had demoed before and part of another song we had been jamming live - that was it. We went in, and realized, we have to start doing a song a night to even get 15 songs done in two and a half weeks." - more on this story

John Mayer Live Releases Set

PR reports: On July 1st a brand new 2CD, DVD & Blu-Ray package hits stores entitled Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles filmed last December at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles and directed by Danny Clinch.

The special Columbia Records release includes three distinct sets: an acoustic performance, a rare set with John Mayer Trio (John Mayer, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino), as well as a Continuum set featuring Mayer's full-band.

Additionally, John Mayer will embark on an amphitheatre tour this summer with Brett Dennen, Colbie Caillat, OneRepublic and Paramore as supporting acts on various stops. Tickets for Mayercraft Carrier 2, setting sail on March 27, 2009 from Los Angeles, went on sale June 16th. - more on this story

The Funeral Pyre and Antagonist Team Up For Tour

PR reports: Fresh upon returning from a three week tour in support of the release of the band's new album, 'Wounds,' Los Angeles' The Funeral Pyre will again head out on the road in July with labelmates, and fellow Southern Californians, Antagonist for a two and-a-half week tour across the Southwest and West Coast.

The Funeral Pyre will continue to support their May 27 release of 'Wounds,' while Antagonist will be on tour in anticipation of the band's Prosthetic Records debut, 'Exist,' due for a fall release through the label.

The Funeral Pyre's frontman chimed in on the band's upcoming tour plans and has also issued several updates from the road in June at the band's online weblog. "So, I didn't really manage to find time to write about what happened in the last few shows," the band says. "Just know that they were all really good, we had a fun time and then the tour ended. Yeah, I know, not a good wrap up. Oh well. But I'll wrap the rest of this up. We had a fun three week tour in support of our new record 'Wounds' which came out on May 27. If you haven't checked it out, please do. We'll be hitting the road here in a few weeks with our best friends in Antagonist and we'll be teaming up with Sea Of Treachery. This will be another 2 1/2 week tour or so, so if you didn't manage to catch us on the last run, come out to these shows. We're pretty busy at the moment! Come check out the shows, have a good time. I'm sure we'll be on tour sometime in September as well." - more on this story

Santogold Supporting Coldplay in North America

PR reports: Santogold will support Coldplay on part of their North American arena tour this summer.

These will be the first Santogold live dates in the US since SXSW and Coachella where her performances became highlights of the festivals. She will also perform at this year's Lollapalooza and Central Park SummerStage.

Downtown/Lizard King released Santogold's self-titled debut album in April and it instantly became one of 2008's most acclaimed albums. (they include a quote but it's from the same pub that called Moose Elliot a genius, so we didn't want to prejudice anyone reading this, until they hear for themselves). - more on this story

Talking Chaos

PR reports: The latest episode of "Talking Metal" features an interview hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy conducted with Amen mainman Casey Chaos and guitarist Duke Decter.

Topics include the state of Flordia, skateboarding, Casey's health, the Angry Brigade, the Henry Rollins Show, Franz Stahl, Ronnie James Dio, The Damned, Scum, Samoth, Faust, Emperor, Black Metal, the System of a Down track, "B.Y.O.B.," Scars On Broadway, Attila Csihar, and Cheap Trick.

Additional podcast topics include Iron Maiden, Dan Lorenzo, and Bumblefoot.The 70-minute podcast can be downloaded at this - location

Video Trapt Online

PR reports: Trapt's new music video, "Who's Going Home With You Tonight" debuted as a free download on Xbox LIVE last week and can be viewed online (sorry we'd link direct but the asshats at ASCAP prevent this... see link at the end of the story which has some behind the scenes stuff too).

The video to "Who's Going Home With You Tonight" was directed by Paul Brown (Motley Crue, Marilyn Manson) and features Chris Taylor Brown exposing his cheating girlfriend with three different men. It's a raw and unique male perspective on romance, relationships, and the nuances in between, keeping Trapt's rock edge while displaying their songwriting abilities.

As an exciting twist, three "video trailers" have been produced by Paul Brown to give a backstory to the actual music video, creating a viral sensation over the internet. Each of these trailers showcase a different, torrid affair. They are currently featured at the albums official website - www.onlythroughthepain.com

Marie Digby Joins Gavin DeGraw Tour

PR reports: On the heels of her first co-headlining national tour, breakthrough artist Marie Digby is joining singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw on the first leg of his summer tour.

Marié's video for her current single, "Say It Again," will air on TRL's First Look this Thursday, June 19 at 4 PM ET. The single continues to be a Top 25 hit across the country at Hot AC radio and was recently featured on the season finale of NBC's popular drama "ER." Marié is currently number seven on the list of top 10 music artists of all time on YouTube with over 32 million views. The video for "Say It Again" has over one million views after only a few months on YouTube. - more on this story

Rotation Is What They Aim For

PR reports: Cute Is What We Aim For have revealed details of their sophomore outing. Entitled "Rotation," the album will arrive in stores and at all digital retailers on June 24th.

"Rotation" is currently available for pre-order via the Fueled By Ramen web store, along with a special Limited Edition CD/DVD package that includes an "In The Studio" documentary, bonus tracks, acoustic performances, photo gallery, and more .

Cute Is What We Aim For will introduce fans to their new songs on a coast-to-coast summer headline jaunt. The tour hit the ground running on June 15th at Pittsburgh's Diesel Club Lounge, with dates continuing through late-August. Support acts include Ace Enders, Danger Radio, and labelmates Powerspace.
- more on this story

Small Places Tour

PR reports: Amnesty International marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the 'Small Places Tour,' and is now looking for musicians and bands to raise their voices in song and action in hundreds of concerts held around the world in fall 2008.

For nearly half a century, Amnesty International has been fighting the good fight on behalf of the underdog and the oppressed. And from Pete Townsend's "Won't Get Fooled Again" at the first Amnesty International 'Secret Policeman's Ball" gala in 1979 to Green Day's stirring rendition of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" for Amnesty's 2007 Darfur campaign, musicians have always answered Amnesty's call, and have been willing to stand on the front lines of the war to counter terror with justice and human rights.

Now musicians are being asked by longtime Amnesty supporters such as Peter Gabriel and The Edge to answer that call again. Starting on September 10th and running until the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR") on December 10th, Amnesty International will be running the Small Places Tour, its most ambitious global music and human rights project since the Human Rights Now! Tour in 1988. - more on this story

Wanna Play The Projekt Revolution Tour?

PR reports: MTV2 is giving local bands and artists the chance of a lifetime to perform at Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution Tour and get featured on MTV2 in select markets!

Three top bands from Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, St. Louis, San Francisco Bay Area, and Ohio will open the Revolution Stage on their hometown's date. MTV2 will review the top 12 artists in each city who receive the most online votes and then select three to represent on the Revolution Stage.

Bands residing in the select markets can follow the links below to a local registration page. Band registration ends June 25th. - more on this story

Bruce Kulick Roasted By Maul Stanley

PR reports: Guitarist Bruce Kulick was recently interviewed live onstage at the 22nd annual NY/NJ Kiss Expo by the mysterious Maul Stanley (a parody hybrid of Star Wars character Darth Maul and Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley). Part serious interview and part comedy roast, the exchange has been transcribed and is now available online. In the first half of this two-part feature, Bruce discusses his dismissal from Kiss, his work on the "Carnival of Souls" album and his memories of late Kiss guitarist Mark St. John. An excerpt from the interview follow:

Maul Stanley: Gene Simmons has always maintained that he has never once been drunk or high. If that is true, how did he ever agree to let you sing a lead vocal on "Carnival of Souls?"

Bruce Kulick: Well, I didn't really drug him... although it did take a fair amount of prodding! I think by then, Gene and Paul already knew that the reunion would be happening so they just kind of threw me a bone! For whatever reason, I just never wanted to let go of that song, "I Walk Alone." First I sang on the demo, so we'd have a point of reference. We tried the song a couple of different ways and even worked on a version with Bob Ezrin. It was nuts! Our producer on "Carnival of Souls" was Toby Wright, who had previously worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. He was actually the one who thought it would be cool if I sang the song. Even though it might not sound like a typical Kiss track, he liked it when everyone in Kiss would sing a song on the records. So Toby was the one who really pushed for me to record the vocals. And believe me, I was petrified! Obviously, I've learned to sing a lot better since then but thankfully my voice seemed to work for the track.

I do love that song, by the way. The lyrics are actually very appropriate. Since the reunion happened shortly thereafter, I truly did walk alone! So I suppose it all made sense in the grand scheme of things - Go read more

Los Lonely Boys and Los Lobos Team Up For The Brotherhood Tour

PR reports: Hosted by Los Lonely Boys who are joined by co-headliners Los Lobos, The Brotherhood Tour will stop in cities across the United States to bring that special Latin flavor for which they are both renowned.

Since they began as Los Lobos Del Este Los Angeles in 1973, Los Lobos has evolved into a respected artistic entity using eclectic musical molds built on the blues, rockabilly, jazz, Latin and their own Mexican-American heritage. In September 2006, Los Lobos released The Town and the City to much critical acclaim. The album's lyrics deal with vocalist/guitarist/drummer Louis Perez's childhood in East Los Angeles while the music portrays complex and original soundscapes.

Since their worldwide breakout three years ago, Texican trio Los Lonely Boys - brothers Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza - have achieved multi-platinum album sales, a Grammy Award (their monster hit "Heaven" won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 2005), and widespread acclaim from critics, fans and other musicians. Look for The Boys' third album, Forgiven, to hit streets on July 1 st. - more on this story

Band Against MS Awards Research Scholarship

PR reports: Clay Walker's Band Against MS (BAMS) Foundation recently awarded a $5000 Summer Research Scholarship to one outstanding University of Texas at Houston Medical School student. The scholarship, issued through The Foundation of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (FCMSC), was awarded to UT Houston Medical School student, Stephanie Tran, a sophomore at the university.

As result of being awarded the scholarship, Tran will be working directly with Walker's personal physician, Dr. Jerry Wolinsky during the summer months ahead. Tran and Wolinsky will work together on her own project, "Cortical Lesion in Multiple Sclerosis." After she completes her summer study, she will present her studies and findings at the May 2009 FCMSC annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. - more on this story

The Dex Romweber Duo

Bloodshot reports: Bloodshot Records and Dex Romweber announce the signing of a multi-album deal – a match made in heaven between two arbiters of the edgy side of rock, R&B and country.

The first album, as yet untitled, will feature duets between Dex and Cat Power, Neko Case and Exene Cervenka. Recording commences in mid-August at Overdub Lane in Durham, NC; John Plymale (Meat Puppets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Corrosion Of Conformity) is producing.

Said Nan Warshaw, Bloodshot co-owner, "Dexter's reputation as a musician's musician is well-established and so deserved, but we here at Bloodshot are also in awe of the unbridled fury and raw soul he has unleashed for decades." - more on this story

Stigma to Tour Europe With Trigger The Bloodshed

PR reports: Italian deathcore specialists Stigma will join UK death/grinders Trigger The Bloodshed (Metal Blade Records) for an extensive European tour this fall.

French death metal act Kronos will also be on the bill. The following dates are already confirmed, with more to come:

20.10.2008 UK Exeter, The Hub
21.10.2008 UK Nottingham, Junktion 7
24.10.2008 UK Peterborough, The Park
- more

A Coastline Ending Lineup CD and Tour

PR reports: A Coastline Ending's debut album "In the Name of Progression" will be released July 15, 2008.

The album was produced by Chris Badami (The Early November, Midtown, The Starting Line) and is for fans of Saosin, Anberlin and Circa Survive.

They are set to start touring June 20, 2008 with the first show taking place in Hartford, CT. - dates

Sweet Taste of Summer

Altsounds reports: Haverfordwest quartet Winch House make their UK debut with the August 18th release of the single 'Sweet Taste of Summer' that will be released on Altsounds Records.

Equally crafted around guitar-based melody, a raw pop punk edge and vocalist/guitarist Alex Williams' emotive vocals, 'Sweet Taste of Summer' was produced by Chris Maguire (Fightstar, Ben's Brother).

The single is taken from their debut and as yet untitled that follows later in 2008. Winch House are touring all over the UK in support of this single release. - dates

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