Justin Townes Earle Drops Tour For Rehab- Band Robbed at Gunpoint- Tyler Claims Aerosmith Jealous of Idol Gig- Almost Divorced- Bono Aids Trouble- more

On this day in 1991, Nirvana's album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at #144 on its first week, peaking at #1 in January 1992. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here -

Bret Michaels Heart Surgery

Bret Michaels' health troubles are not over. Gibson has the story: It's already been a rough year from Poison frontman and reality star Bret Michaels – and it just got worse. The singer will be heading back into the hospital in January for heart surgery, according to RadarOnline.com. The operation will repair a hole in his heart that he's unknowingly had since birth.

The rock star was in the hospital a few times earlier this year – once in intensive care. Michaels suffered a brain hemorrhage in April, but was able to recover.

A month later, he suffered a "warning stroke" that put him back in the hospital. However, he was well enough to show up at the Celebrity Apprentice finale in May, where he won $250,000 for the American Diabetes Association.
- more on this story

Metallica Considering Massive Scale Show and Tour With Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax

Metallica are just wrapping up their epic world tour behind "Death Magnetic" but Lars is already looking at ahead at what they should do next. Gibson reports: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has confirmed what the band's co-manager Peter Mensch hinted at back in March, that the band has been circling the idea of putting on a massive show on par with Pink Floyd's The Wall production. The show could potentially be so massive that it might be limited to just 10 dates.

Ulrich told New Zealand radio station The Rock FM, "We have been kicking some ideas around about doing some stuff that – how shall I say it – is pretty theatrical. We might incorporate a lot of different ideas instead of it being one particular thing. It would be a multitude of theatrical elements, maybe as an idea for a one-off tour or something."

Ulrich also confirmed that more "Big Four" (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth) shows, including tours of both Europe and North America, could take place in the next year or two. "The vibe on this thing is so big, we'd be stupid to ignore it," he recently told Classic Rock magazine. "I would champion trying to do [the "Big Four" tour] in 2011 or 2012, obviously in England and the United States. It's just a matter of logistics." -

Duff Left Jane's Addiction For Velvet Revolver Reformation

Slash isn't the only one indicating that Velvet Revolver is planning to regroup and find a new singer. Dave Navarro says in an in interview he believes Duff McKagan recent departure Jane's Addiction was due to Velvet Revolver getting it back in gear.

Navarro tells Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, "Duff was with us for a little while. We wrote some songs with him, did a handful of shows... It was great; he's an amazing writer and an amazing player.

"At the end of the day, I think his band, Velvet Revolver, is trying to get their thing back together and they're auditioning singers (again)." - Jam! has more here

Bad Company RIP?

(Gibson) In a new interview with the Southwest Times Record, Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers hinted that the band he helped found in 1973 might be nearing the end of the road.

"After this Tulsa show, there will be no further plans for Bad Company beyond dates in Japan," said Rodgers. "I'm working on new solo material in the studio, and I've got a solo U.K. tour planned later, so I'm just seeing how it goes."

"We aren't saying never - we never want to say never," the 60-year-old singer continued. "We aren't putting Bad Company to bed, as they say, but the band definitely is something that will be placed onto the back burner."
- more on this story

Slipknot Announce Free Clown's Director's Cut of (sic)nesses Screenings

Slipknot had some big news for their maggots (a.k.a. fans) on Thursday. They have just confirmed three special screenings of Clown's Director's Cut of (sic)nesses! There will be screenings taking place in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Clown himself will be attending the NYC showing making it a very special event definitely not to be missed. New York and Chicago will take place on September 27th while LA will be happening on release day the 28th.

All three screenings will be free to the public, but space is limited so make sure to get there early to ensure that you won't miss out. - more on this story

Weezer Announce Initial Blinkerton Dates

Weezer have announced the first official dates of their Blinkerton Tour (the band is calling it the Memories Tour), in which each city on the tour gets 2 nights of shows: a complete Blue Album set + greatest hits set, and a complete Pinkerton set + Greatest Hits set.

The band's Epitaph Records debut, Hurley, entered the Billboard 200 at #6 this week.

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo said, "I'm super-pleasantly-surprised and stoked that Hurley charted at #6 this week. 'Thanks' to all the Weezer fans who are spreading the word via Twitter and Facebook."

- The initial dates are here

Singer Warns If You Illegally Download Music You Are Going to Hell

(Gibson) Guy Garvey, the frontman for British rock band Elbow, said that fans who are illegally downloading music have special accommodations reserved for them in the afterlife.

"If you genuinely can't afford music, then of course you're going to rip it," Garvey told BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat. "If you can afford it and you don't pay for it, then you're going to hell and you've got your own room. Especially when it's a smaller band. There's no excuse."

Garvey made the comments after being asked about if he was concerned about the next Elbow album being leaked online. - more on this story

Visions of Chevelle's Shameful Metaphors

Chevelle have premiered the video for their new single Shameful Metaphors off of their recent album Sci-fi Crimes.

The video was shot and directed by Frankie Nasso (Mudvayne, All That Remains, Hell Yeah) at the Dallas Texas stop of this year's Carnival of Madness Tour.

Drummer Sam Loeffler said, "We really wanted the fans to be apart of this new video, and we were really excited that everyone came down to the show and had a blast with us. This video shows us in our rawest form and it truly comes out during our performances and this video captures that." - Watch it here

Alice In Chains Release Lesson Learned Video

Alice In Chain have released their new music video for the song "Lesson Learned," from their latest album "Black Gives Way To Blue".

The Clip was conceived and directed by Paul Matthaeus, known for his groundbreaking main titles on the award-winning series "Dexter", "True Blood", and "Six Feet Under."

The video is comprised of over 6,000 still pictures stitched together to create a visually stunning stop-frame animated clip.
- Check it out here

Nickleback Reluctant To Record Next Album?

Billboard caught up with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger who they report is ready to get to work on the band's next album, but he says he may face a "strike" from his bandmates.

"You don't want to bring that up around the band members, I can tell you that," Kroeger tells Billboard.com with a laugh. "Everyone's at a really comfortable stage in their lives with their relationships and...kids. They're just enjoying life, y'know? Instead of always being on the road or in the studio or shooting videos, it's nice to just kick back and be able to go Trick-or-Treating with your kids. So they're going to want me to focus my creative juices in a different direction, I'm sure."

The Billboard report as says that Kroeger expects to start writing in earnest around February and says he'd like to work with "Dark Horse" co-producer Mutt Lange again, but most likely "only in a writing capacity."
- Read the Billboard report for a lot more

Mushroomhead Fight Club

Mushroomhead's new album "Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children" is set to hit stores next Tuesday September 28, 2010 and the band are currently on a headlining tour.

The band has finished work on its new video for the first single "Come On." The clip was directed by "House" of Precinct 13 and features "fight club" type scenes and a bloody combat shot.

"Conceptually, it's about having the opportunity to vent your rage," says Mushroomhead's Skinny. "The song 'Come On' is a sucker punch and it's a metaphor for everything that's gone wrong. It's a modern day anthem for everyone who is fed up with everything, just like us." - more on this story

New Found Glory Planning Next Album

New Found Glory just wrapped up a run on this year's Honda Civic Tour with Paramore and Tegan and Sara but are already looking ahead at their next move. Culture Brats caught up with drummer Cyrus Bolooki to discuss the tour, their special relationship with the fans, their favorite 80s bands (it's Culture Brats after all) and more.

Here is what Cyrus said about their immediate plans following the tour, "Well, we're back home now, and plan to take a few months off, then we're going to begin recording the follow up to our last LP, Not Without A Fight. We hope to have this next record out by the middle of 2011, and, of course, we'll be touring a bunch next year as well, both here in the US and also overseas."

You know you want to know the answer to the 80s band question, check that out along with the rest of the interview - here.

Red Hot Chili Heartbreaker for Kid Rock

(Gibson) Producer Rick Rubin took Kid Rock out of his comfort zone for the star's new album, Born Free, due in November. Not only does the album features collaborations with Bob Seger, Sheryl Crow, Zac Brown, Trace Adkins and Martina McBride but Rubin assembled a heavyweight studio band that included Los Lobos singer/guitarist David Hidalgo, Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Kid Rock says he was excited to let Rick Rubin try something new: "I got a pretty good comfort zone: made all my records in Detroit, right by my house, and it's worked out pretty well so far. And to be pulled out of there, and go to L.A., and record this whole record there with these phenomenal musicians in a studio [was different].

"I'd play the song on acoustic guitar, we'd chart it out, we'd sit in a room as a band, play it three, four times, listen back, come out, play it three, four more times – done," he said.
-

Carl Palmer To Tour North and South America

Next month Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake & Palmer and Asia fame will kick off his first extensive solo band tour since 2006. Here is the official word:

Entitled: "Carl Palmer & His Band - Celebrates The Music of Emerson Lake & Palmer," the show features bold new arrangements of many of the best-loved instrumental music of ELP.

The tour runs from October 12th through November 21, 2010, and will include 29 shows in Canada, the U.S., and South America. - more on this story

Singled Out: Mick Rhodes' Sapulpa

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today roots rocker Mick Rhodes tells us about "Sapulpa" from his new album "'Til I am Dust". We now turn it over to Mick for the story:

"Sapulpa" is a small town just south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is where my family comes from. My maternal grandfather, Carl, was 21 years old in 1935, and he'd just sent his 19-year-old bride, my grandmother, and their baby daughter, my aunt Peggy, on ahead to California in a car. They had just enough money to pay for grandma and Peg to share a ride in a car with a businessman who was heading West. This was common in those days, when nobody had anything, a train ticket was a real luxury and cheap commercial airline travel was off in the future. Grandma and Peg made it safely to Los Angeles in three days.

Grandpa had 85 cents to his name when he kissed his baby girl goodbye. He got a ride from his brother from Tulsa to Sapulpa, then he stuck out his thumb and hoped for the best.

After spending a little more than a month on the road - doing odd jobs for money to eat, picking cotton, working on a cattle ranch and sleeping outdoors - he made it to L.A. and to his bride and baby girl.

"Sapulpa" is the true story of that journey. It originally had seven verses (!), but I condensed it down to three in the interest of not having a 9-minute song! I've always loved story songs, and have written a few over the years, but this is the first one I've really liked all the way through. Brian Hall's guitar playing just kills me on this one. He's so damn good and soulful. I'm quite a lucky man to have this great band with me. All of 'em are world class.

Grandpa died in May of this year, at 95. He never heard the song. But I think he would have appreciated the details. He told me that story of his journey from Oklahoma a hundred times over the years. Until I was grown I didn't appreciate the wildness of the whole thing; A 21-year-old traveling across the country by himself, starting off with essentially a day's worth of cash, his smarts and the clothes on his back ... that's a real cinematic story. And it means so much to me because it's true, and because it's about this man that I loved so much ...

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and preview more tracks from the album at - iTunes.

Tiger Army To Give Fans A Special Treat on Halloween

Epitaph has announced that Tiger Army will be giving fans a special treat on Halloween. The band will perform their classic album II: Power of Moonlite from beginning to end during the second night of Octoberflame III at The Grove of Anaheim Sunday, October 31 2010. The set will include other Tiger Army classics as well. A completely different set of Tiger Army songs will be performed the night before.

While the band did an "Early Years" set during 2008's inaugural Octoberflame event, this will be the first time Tiger Army has performed any album sequentially. This coming summer marks the tenth anniversary of Moonlite's release. It remains one of the most popular and beloved albums in the band's catalog.

"We did the 'Early Years' set at the first Octoberflame and the debut of my solo project at the second Octoberflame last year," frontman Nick 13 says. "We wanted to keep the tradition going by doing something that even the band's most avid followers haven't seen from us before. That's one of the things Octoberflame is about and there's no better time to do it than Halloween night." - more on this story

Styx Streaming New Release Online and Band To Perform Full The Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight Albums On Tour

Styx are streaming their new seven-song EP 'Regeneration, Volume 1' on their official Facebook page.

The EP contains six newly re-recorded classics – ""Come Sail Away," "Crystal Ball," "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)," "Lorelei," "The Grand Illusion" and "Sing For The Day", along with a brand new track "Difference In The World". 'Regeneration, Volume 1' is available exclusively at the band's dates on "The Grand Illusion/Pieces Of Eight" tour.

STYX--Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitars), James "JY" Young (vocals, guitars), Lawrence Gowan (vocals, keyboards), Todd Sucherman (drums) and Ricky Phillips (bass), along with the occasional surprise appearance by original bassist Chuck Panozzo—are getting ready to head out on the U.S. concert trail again this year. However, for this round of dates, the band has an extra-special treat planned - it won't be a typical STYX show. Along with the classic hits, the band will be performing 1977's THE GRAND ILLUSION and 1978's PIECES OF EIGHT in their entirety. Both albums spawned such hit singles and Classic Rock radio standards as "Come Sail Away," "Renegade," "Blue Collar Man" and "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)." - more on this story

100 Club To Go The Way of CBGBs?

(Gibson) The London Evening Standard is reporting that famed London music venue the 100 Club may be forced to close its doors because of rapidly rising overheads that have led to rent fees of around $250,000 a year.

The club has seen London debuts from numerous classic bands including The Sex Pistols, Oasis, The Clash and The Buzzcocks.

The 100 Club's Jeff Horton, whose father began running the club in 1964, is distressed at the developments saying, "In 1985, when I took over, the rent was barely £11,000. In the U.S. the rents are frozen at certain venues that have a bit of heritage. Here, it's a total free-for-all. What the 100 Club needs is a buyer or major sponsor to step forward. Barring that, we're closing at Christmas despite being as popular as ever. It really is insane." -

My Chemical Romance Set New Album Release

Reprise Records will release My Chemical Romance's fourth studio album, entitled Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, on November 22nd, 2010.

New Warner Bros. Records Chairman Rob Cavallo, who produced MCR's platinum-selling album The Black Parade as well as albums by Dave Matthews Band, Jawbreaker, and The Goo Goo Dolls, among many others, produced the album.

Danger Days' first official single, "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)," will be available from all digital retailers on Tuesday, September 28th. - more on this story

Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues Movie

(Gibson) Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues, the new 90-minute documentary by music filmmaker Robert Mugge starring contemporary juke joint blues band Scissormen, is hitting the big screen.

The movie will premiere at the Starz Denver International Film Festival on November 5 and 6, and preview at sea on the West Coast Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise on October 20. After these initial screenings, the film will continue on to other festivals and show at various cultural institutions, including Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Scissormen will perform at selected screenings.

Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues was shot during a Scissormen tour of the Midwest in February 2010 and is part road movie, part concert film, part history lesson and part state-of-the-genre report. - more on this story

Ignominious Incarceration Now Soulless

Ignominious Incarceration is changing its name to The Soulless. The band explains: "The band started in the pits of hell that was Sam's basement. We were just playing heavy music and having fun. When we decided on the name Ignominious Incarceration, we never anticipated the level we would get to. Had we known, I'm sure we would have chosen a simpler name. The band started to get gigs and we started to take the band way more seriously as we discovered how much fun we could have. We did our first tour with Trigger The Bloodshed and this was when we were first approached by Earache Records. This was a real turning point for the band and we realised we could make something of it. We debated changing the name whilst recording 'Of Winter Born', but chose to stick with it. We don't regret doing this as it is what represented the band at the time.

"Over the last couple of years since 'Of Winter Born', we have matured as people as well as a band. When we came to write the second album, we decided we wanted to do something different from the last one. Not a huge alteration in style, but more a progression of what we enjoy most and feel we can write the best. This then led to the discussion of our name. Obviously the name is very long and hard to pronounce. As a band, you're trying to promote yourselves and get your music to the people. We wanted a new name which was easy to remember and say, and to get ourselves out there. With the change in music, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to change our name as well. This almost 're-launching' of the band has given us new life and we are so motivated towards the new project.

"As for the name-choosing itself, this was no easy task! As we were changing the name, we had to be 100% happy with it this time. We found it really hard to find a name bang-on-the-money. In the end, we wrote down thousands of names and set ourselves a deadline to pick the best one. We all liked 'The Soulless', which was in fact a working title for a new song. We feel the name has a dark, edgy feel to it, but is not instantly recognisable as metal and it's easy to say! We feel this represents us a lot better, as well as our new music. - more on this story

Eisley Announce Fall Tour

Eisley will be hitting the road this fall for the "Over the River and Through the Wood Tour" on October 9.

The run will circle the U.S., first hitting the Southeast, then East Coast, Midwest and West Coast before cycling back to North Texas for a final date in Dallas on November 27.

Ives The Band and Christie DuPree -- younger sister of Eisley's Chauntelle, Sherri, Stacy and Weston DuPree, and cousin of bassist Garron DuPree -- will support all dates - more on this story

Rock For The Coast Benefit

(PR) The first ever "Rock For The Coast' Benefit will be held at Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, Fl on Saturday, September 25th 2010.

11 Local rock, metal and punk bands, including Below the Stitch, featuring Queensryche's American Soldier AJ Fratto on vocals, and Indianola Records recording artists This Day Will Tell, have come together to lend their talents to raise funding for Emerald Coastkeeper ( www.emeraldcoastkeeper.org ), a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping the Gulf Coast beautiful from Perdido to Panama City, in Florida.

The object of this show is not only to raise money for our non-profit, but also to tear down the walls between musical genres and scenes as we all join each other to rock out for a good cause and to enjoy music from various spectrums of the rock world. All of the bands playing have their own diverse sound, which will make for an amazing show. There will also be some great raffles and other fundraisers. - more on this story

Neal Avron Mixes Three Weeks Of Consecutive No 1 Albums From Disturbed, Linking Park and Sara Bareilles

We thought this announcement was noteworthy and would interest some readers: In a truly unique occurrence on the Billboard Album Charts, noted producer/mixer Neal Avron has mixed and/or produced each #1 debuting album for the past three consecutive weeks.

Neal's impressive discography now has a new highlight with three #1 LPs Debuting in a row on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart. Avron mixed the Disturbed LP "Asylum" (Warner Bros.), which debuted at #1; produced and mixed the Sara Bareilles LP "Kaleidoscope Heart" (Epic), which also debuted at #1; and mixed Linkin Park's LP "A Thousand Suns" (Warner Bros.), which also enjoyed top charting debut.

Neal noted, "Obviously charting three #1 debut albums in a row is something no producer/mixer could imagine happening. It's such an honor to be able to work creatively with such widely diverse talents as Disturbed, Sara and Linkin Park." - more on this story