Scott Weiland Plans Christmas Album- Pantera Confusion Addressed- Sex Pistols Smell American- Mortal Disturbed Kombat- Ozzy- CoC To Riot- New Underoath- more

This week's antiMusic sponsored "Happenin" in Beverly Hills will feature a special treat for Alice in Chains fans as original bassist Mike Starr will join the all star jam from Happenin' Harry & The Haptones who will be performing a special set of Alice In Chains song from their first three albums. Also on the bill is Ashley Red featuring members of Filter. Grab all the details here. -

Van Halen Reality Show

Van Halen News Desk has a very special treat for Van Halen fans. They have posted a 1984 MTV special, "Lost Weekend With Van Halen," that includes everything that aired on the network as well as previously unaired footage.

VHND dubs the special MTV's first reality show and had this background info: When MTV announced it's Lost Weekend With Van Halen contest, the network received over a million postcard entries for a chance to spend three days with the band during their 1984 tour. The lottery couldn't have found a more perfect average Joe than twenty-year-old Kurt Jefferis, a department store loading dock employee from Phoenixville, Pennsyvania.

Kurt's catch was the American boyhood dream, 1984-style. A couple days spent tasting the life of Van Halen! Kurt's hometown newspaper ran the headline, "Would You Let Your Son Spend A Weekend With These Guys?" His mother quipped she wished her son had won a lost weekend with Perry Como instead. - Watch it here

The Pogues Announce Farewell Tour

It sounds a bit strange but The Pogues are reuniting to say goodbye. Gibson reports: Legendary Irish folk/punk/rock outfit The Pogues will embark on a farewell Christmas tour this year.

Shane MacGowan and Co. will hit the road one last time, starting with a show at O2 Academy Glasgow on December 13. They have not played any gigs since 2002, when they also played a series of Christmas concerts.

The Pogues surfaced in 1982 in London and scored internationally with hit albums Rum Sodomy & the Lash and If I Should Fall from Grace with God. Frontman MacGowan left in 1991 and, although Joe Strummer filled in for a while, the band were unable to capture the magic of the '80s and broke up in 1996. In 2001, McGowan re-joined for a series of live shows but The Pogues have not recorded any new material since '96. - more on this story

Linkin Park To Rock The VMAs

Linkin Park is the latest top selling act added to this year's MTV Video Music Awards. According to the announcement the band will be performing their #1 single on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Songs Chart, "The Catalyst" for the first time on television.

Other performers on the show include Usher, Paramore, Eminem, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, B.o.B, Florence + The Machine, along with Travie McCoy, Jason Derulo and Robyn who will perform with this year's VMA house artist, deadmau5.

"After 2 years of working on our new album, we're looking forward to sharing our first live performance of new music with our fans around the world on the MTV Awards," said Chester Bennington, lead vocalist of Linkin Park. - more on this story

Green Day Plan Live Album

Green Day reportedly recording a new song during a recent concert which is set to be included on a new live album. Gibson has the story: During Green Day's Saturday night stop in Denver, Colorado, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong announced that the band were recording the show for a forthcoming live album.

As with all the shows on the punk-rock band's current tour, the concert at Denver's Comfort Dental Amphitheatre featured a mix of tunes from 2009's 21st Century Breakdown and well-known Green Day hits like "Minority" and "Longview." However, it also included a new song, according to PunkNews.com.

After making the announcement about the live album, Armstrong launched his band into "Cigarettes and Valentines." Actually an older song that never saw the light of day, "Cigarettes" was to be the title track of an album Green Day were working on after 2000's Warning. As Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Coolwere finishing the tracks for the record – intended as a throwback to their early punkier days – the tapes were stolen. Rather than recreate what they had done, Green Day chose to start over and ended up with the blockbuster, American Idiot. - more on this story

Switchfoot Announce Fall Tour With The Almost

Switchfoot are apparently hungry for the road. They just finished a summer run with the Goo Goo Dolls but they are turning right back around and heading out on the road again this fall. This time they'll be touring with The Almost.

The tour will kick off October 1st in Lynchberg, VA. The band will also perform at Celebrate Freedom Atlanta, the largest free one-day concert in Atlanta, on September 4th, and the Austin City Limits Festival on October 10th. (See below for itinerary.)

"The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)," the band's current single, is one of eight songs included on the new Switchfoot iTunes Session, which was released yesterday. - more on this story

Guess Who Was Robbed At Music Fest

The Guess Who was robbed at a music festival in Cincinnati, Oh this past weekend. Gibson has the story: The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that a Gibson EC-30 acoustic guitar has been stolen from Canadian rockers The Guess Who. The axe, worth more than $4,000, was snatched during the band's appearance at a Cincinnati festival over the weekend.

The Guess Who were performing at the Taste of Blue Ash food and entertainment event. According to Police, the Gibson was stolen from the backstage area on Saturday night, following the band's show. Apparently, a band assistant put the sunburst acoustic into a case and left it unattended for a few minutes. When he returned, it was gone.

The current lineup of the band includes founding members Jim Kale (bass) and Gary Peterson (drums), along with Leonard Shaw (flute, keyboards), Derek Sharp (vocals, guitar) and Laurie MacKenzie (guitar, vocals). Lately, founding guitarist Randy Bachman has been working with his Bachman Turner Overdrive bandmate Fred Turner. Founding frontman Burton Cummings has been working on his solo career. - more on this story

Axl Rose Posts Statement About Reading and Leeds Controversy

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose continues his war with the organizers of the Reading and Leeds festivals after both of his sets were cut short this past weekend after the band arrived late on stage. Rose posted a long statement on Twitlonger with his side of the dispute:

Whatever other nonsense anyone's choosing to write would appear intentionally false. Having the fans or our show penalized for how the event was ran or simply the natural flow of events those evenings and for such minimal amount of overtime along with distortions and falsehoods by media, the promoter and or event organizers regarding the events seems a bit draconian and more than unfair to the fans.

A simple question: If you are aware of our changeover time, the average length of our show and the general nature of how these types of festivals run, all of which are no big secrets... why book us? Is it simply because the lineup on our nights at both festivals sold well? So it's a cash grab with no respect for the fans or the band and somehow an unwanted inconvenience for the cities and law enforcement? - more on this story

Trey Anastasio Writing New Music, May Go Unplugged and Likes Paramore

Trey Anastasio reveals in a new interview that he is keeping busy during the down time between Phish tour legs writing songs and he may even play some unplugged shows. Oh, and he like Paramore.

Gibson reports: Having just come off the road with Phish after a successful summer tour, Trey Anastasio has every right to take a knee and get a little breather before the band hits the road again in October. But resting doesn't seem to be in the plans for Anastasio, who is already writing new material with an eye on testing it live in the near future. "I'm trying to write songs that work for both (Phish and TAB)," Anastasio told Relix. "Or I'm actually thinking, after this run of Phish shows, of maybe doing a couple of very, very small sort of acoustic shows. And I was just thinking this morning that I'm trying to get songs that work in every context."

As for inspiration, Phish fans may be surprised to hear what has caught Anastasio's ear recently: "My younger daughter got into Paramore and she took me to the Paramore concert at Webster Hall and I thought it was an incredible concert. I really liked the whole band. I loved the drummer and I thought the band was tight, the guitar players are tight and obviously the singer's just fantastic. You know, I never would have gone to see those guys if my daughter wasn't into it. I can see the world through their eyes a little bit, it's exciting." -

Jerry Lee Lewis Rockin' His Life Away Kid Rock and Slash

Jerry Lee Lewis star-packed new album includes "Rockin' My Life Away," which features Kid Rock and Slash and is currently available at iTunes. As for the title of the album, Mean Old Men, Gibson reports that it doesn't refer to Lewis.

"No, it has nothing to do with me whatsoever," the 74-year-old told Billboard. "It's named for the Kris Kristofferson song [that opens the set], which I flipped out over when I heard it. I thought it was a hit piece of material, so I cut it."

In addition to Kristofferson, the album features Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Slash, Ringo Starr, John Mayer, Ron Wood, Eric Clapton and James Burton, as previously reported on Gibson.com. The album will be released on September 7 in two editions – a 10-track, standard version and an 18-track, expanded version. The expanded Mean Old Man features songs with Shelby Lynne and Gillian Welch. - more on this story

Black Country Communion To Appear On Rockline Next Week

While you wait for Black Country Communion to release their album and announce their 2011 tour plans, you can catch them on the radio next week when they are the featured guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 8:30pm PT/11:30pm ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with the band by calling 1-800-344-ROCK(7625).

The English-American rock supergroup featuring vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin), keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) and blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa self-titled 12-track debut album will be officially released and available in stores in the UK and Europe through Mascot Records on Monday, September 20 followed by a North America release on Tuesday, September 21 through Bonamassa's own J&R Adventures label.

Fans can currently pre-order the album on the band's website www.bccommunion.com and download a free MP3 of the brand new single, "One Last Soul." - more on this story

Scale The Summit Announce Prog-Day Festival Warm Up Shows

Scale The Summit have announced some warm up shows ahead of this weekend's Prog-Day Festival in Chapel Hill, NC.

The band hits the road Thursday for shows in Nashville, TN, Atlanta, GA and Wilmington, NC before Sunday's appearance at Prog-Day.

Guitarist Chris Letchford commented, "We're all really excited about this next mini-tour starting this week, this time to the east coast as we make our way out to Prog Day Festival. A lot of very different sounding progressive bands on the bill and it's an honor to be able to play it this year! - more on this story

S.O.D's Billy Milano Joins Mastery and Yes He Will Be Singing

Instrumental thrashers Mastery not only have shuffled up their line-up (and are still looking for a guitarist), they are jumping off the cliff into music with vocals after recruiting Billy Milano (S.O.D/ M.O.D.) as their new frontman.

A new bass player has also been introduced, Tim "Tank" Casterline (M.O.D. touring bassist) joins Mastery as a much needed aspect of growth to their music. The band is still looking to fill the position of lead guitar, anyone interested can contact the band through their MySpace page.

"I am officially confirming that Billy Milano has joined Mastery as a full-time member," commented guitarist and founder Markus Armellini. "Having Billy Milano sing for Mastery is driving the band in a new direction and to a new level of performance." - more on this story

Roger McGuinn, John Cale, Michael Schenker and UFO Performances Set For Release

MIG have announced the release of classic Rockpalast performances from Roger McGuinn, John Cale, Michael Schenker and UFO, all are set to hit stores on Rocktober 26th.

Rockpalast is a world renowned German television series that began airing in 1974 on the German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). Translated into English as "Rock Palace" the television series still airs today.

Over the years countless artists and bands have appeared on the show and now MIG is pleased to present four memorable performances from some of Rock's most iconic bands and musicians. All of the recordings will be available in CD and DVD format, with the exception of the John Cale release which has a Double CD, Double DVD and an LP version and the Roger Mcguinn release which is available only on DVD. - more on this story

Get Some American Bang For Zero Bucks

Get some American Bang for zero bucks! At least their debut single, "Wild and Young" which is currently featured as iTunes' "Discovery Download".

The track some from their self-titled debut album for Reprise Records which hit stores yesterday today, August 31st. If you like what you hear, iTunes is offering the full album for just $7.99.

American Bang will continue on the road for an extensive fall trek in support of the album. The tour, which runs through mid-December, includes a visit to New York City's Fillmore @ Irving Plaza on November 3rd. - more on this story

Singled Out: Maddam Ink's Carry Me Home

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Adam Burke from Maddam Ink tells us about "Carry Me Home" from their brand new album "Inklination". We now turn it over to Adam for the story:

Hello all – We have recently released our second album titled Inklination. We originally were going to title it "A Step in the Right Direction" but settled on the one-word title for simplification. The band's meaning of the CD title is basically the same. It wasn't easy choosing the single for this record – there were so many good ones to choose from. Finally the overall consensus from all involved including our management, publicist, radio promoter, and all the guys in the band, brought us to decide on "Carry Me Home".

The story behind this song is actually a pretty funny one. I think it's funny anyhow. Now I do want to clarify something before I go on – I am not a Drunk! However, from time to time, like a lot of us, I enjoy having a few after the show. If you know what I mean – right? In the early days of the band, my Mom owned a bar. We played there often. On one occasion – or I guess I should say on two or three occasions after the show – well let's just say I had a few more than a few. The result was total unconsciousness. My band members had to carry me out and carry me home each of these times. Hence – the song title "Carry Me Home". Fitting heh?

So essentially the song is about getting drunk – passing out – and being carried out from that dark place known as an alcohol coma – for lack of a better name. Recording the song in the studio with Grammy nominated engineer and producer Dave Ivory was a blast. We had more fun recording this song than most others. We really rocked it and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album - right here!