The Dear Hunter Hitting The Road

In video news, Casey Crescenzo is hard at work in his home studio in Providence, RI directing and producing the animated video for "What It Means To Be Alone," which will be ready for TV and Internet consumption by the time the tour begins. To quench their fans' thirst for new video footage, The Dear Hunter will release a live clip of "He Said He Had A Story," which was shot last month at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. - more on this story

All Time Low Unplugged

ESM reports: Baltimore pop-punk band All Time Low recently stripped down their songs to just an essential heart beat, exclusively for MTV Unplugged.

The performance was shot in New York City, and had the band take their high-energy performance down a notch in the candle-lit studio for some very fortunate fans who intently sung along.

Watch All Time Low play two new songs off their latest album Nothing Personal, "Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don't" and "Weightless". Also don't miss live performances from their previous releases "So Wrong ,It's Right" and "Put Up Or Shut Up" including "Dear Maria, Count Me In," "Coffee Shop Soundtrack," "Jasey Rae" and a surprise duet with Kate Voegele on "Remembering Sunday." - Watch the performance here

Ray Charles' The Genius Hits The Road

conqueroo reports: When Ray Charles left Atlantic Records for ABC-Paramount, his first move was to gather up a dozen vintage songs about U.S. destinations. The resulting album, The Genius Hits the Road, in turn gave Charles his first No. 1 hit, a soulful reading of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind." The album, which also contains such travel songs as "Alabamy Bound," "California, Here I Come," "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and "Blue Hawaii," marked the start of Charles' long association with producer Sid Feller and featured band longtime accompanists saxmen David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford, plus the Raeletts.

A deluxe reissue of The Genius Hits the Road, augmented by six bonus tracks, digital re-mastering and new liner notes by Bill Dahl alongside original notes by Rick Ward, will be released September 22, 2009, on the eve of what would have been the late icon's 79th birthday.

"This was the first album we made together," said late producer Feller. "(Ray) wanted to do songs either about states or cities. A lot of the material he knew himself. He'd give me some titles and then check through catalogs and publishers for other ones that had names of cities or states." - more on this story

Harptallica Crossing the Pond

PR reports: Answering the call from fans across the ocean, Classical Harp duo Harptallica has announced a three week tour comprising dates in Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium and United Kingdom.

Harpists Ashley Toman and Mollie Marcuson, collectively known as "Harptallica," will be showcasing arrangements of Metallica songs from their album "Harptallica - A Tribute" as well as previews from a planned followup release.

Harptallica hopes to find European audiences as receptive as those they have seen in the course of their 3 stateside tours over the last 2 years. The girls aim both to introduce audiences to new and original combinations of musical styles and to of course give tribute to a band they were individually introduced to as a 'musical giant': Metallica. - more on this story

The Happy Hollows Announce Rocktober Release

PR reports: Acclaimed Los Angeles trio The Happy Hollows have announced the release of their debut full length in October. The album, Spells is a culmination of their work with producer and former Mighty Lemon Drops guitarist David Newton (The Little Ones, The Blood Arm), who also produced the group's 2008 EP Imaginary.

The young group's infectious and irreverent noise-pop has earned considerable following up and down the west coast, with their energetic and charismatic performances.

Vocalist/guitarist Sarah Negahdari wields ominous riffs and finger-tapped arpeggios while singing with a cherubic-yet-mischievous grin. Meanwhile, the agile rhythm section of Charles Mahoney (bass/vocals) and Chris Hernandez (drums/vocals) vault and lunge with precision. - Stream the full album here

Skeletonwitch To Crush Full Metal Jackie

Adrenaline reports: "Crushed Beyond Dust," from Skeletonwitch's upcoming release, Breathing the Fire, (October 13, Prosthetic Records) will premiere, exclusively this weekend on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show.

Leader singer Chance Garnette commented about the track: "This song is simply about killing someone with nothing but your bare hands! Plus, I was stoked I could find a home for the word "quashed.""

The Athens, Ohio based band recorded their new full length in Seattle with producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, High on Fire). They will be supporting Children of Bodom and Black Dahlia Murder in September and October. - more on this story

Hollywood Undead Go Gold

PR reports: Maple Jam Music Group's management client, Hollywood Undead, have reached a major music milestone. Their debut album, Swan Songs, has just been certified Gold!

MJMG is proud of the hard work and efforts of the band, their label A&M/Octone, and their management representatives in promoting this special group's music to beyond half a million copies sold.

Continuing to build on the success of their debut album this year, Hollywood Undead will be flying to Japan in August, taking the main stage at the Summer Sonic Festival in both Tokyo and Osaka with Linkin Park headlining both dates. - more on this story

Brendan Benson Hitting The Road

Red reports: American singer-songwriter Brendan Benson embarks on a North American tour August 17th starting at New York City's Bowery Ballroom.

The tour advances the release of Benson's critically acclaimed fourth full-length album, My Old, Familiar Friend (August 18, ATO Records). The first leg of the tour will also make stops in Chicago, Ann Arbor, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.

On August 4, two weeks prior to album release, NPR.com will stream My Old, Familiar Friend in its entirety as All Songs Considered's "First Listen" giving fans all over North American the chance to hear the album critics have been raving about. - more on this story

A New Frontier for Cain's Offering

Mazur reports: Frontiers Records is excited to announce the release of the newest addition to its roster of artists, Cain's Offering from Finland.

Cain's Offering's debut album "Gather the Faithful" will be released September 11th in the USA.

The band is the new artistic creation of Jani Liimatainen, the guitarist/songwriter formerly of Sonata Arctica and Altaria. In 2007, Jani parted ways with Finnish power metal act Sonata Arctica, a band he has contributed to and founded in 1996, and to which he devoted his full time and energy for more than 10 years. - more on this story

. Metallica's Hall of Humanity

The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame has always been a conformist institution, full of holier than thou posturing that have kept the likes of Alice Cooper, KISS, Neil Diamond, Rush and Peter Gabriel out for years. But the force with which Metallica invaded the music landscape was so colossal that no one could deny them entry. - Read the full Metallica's Hall of Humanity review

. IQ - Frequency

IQ have been touted by various sources as worthy of the title legendary progressive rock band. But based on this CD I feel like legendary is being a bit... generous. (3 stars) - Read the full IQ - Frequency review

Wait There is More!

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days
 

Submit news or a press release to the Day In Rock report