Miley Cyrus

People who submit questions can have them automatically posted to Twitter with the copy “Vote for my question to be answered by Miley Cyrus live.” Help by making this a giant Twitter trend using the hash tag #mileychat. What are you waiting for? Head over to www.HannahChat.com to start posting your questions!

About “A Looking In View,” Alice In Chains vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell says, “The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on.”

On July 18th, Alice In Chains will be sharing the stage with Kid Rock at Comerica Park in Detroit, to be followed by festival shows with Metallica overseas, including an August 1 date at Marlay Park in Dublin and an August 2 show at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth. They’ll wrap up the international trip with a string of headlining dates, set to kick off August 4th with a sold-out performance at London’s Scala. On August 22, they’ll join Tool and Linkin Park for the first-ever Epicenter show at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, to be followed by a headlining tour set to kick off September 4th at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. Tickets for the U.S. shows will be available Friday, July 10th. For information, please visit www.aliceinchains.com.

“Black Gives Way to Blue” is the band’s first new studio release in more than 10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

Over the course of their remarkable career, Alice In Chains has garnered multiple Grammy nominations, sold more than 17 million albums worldwide, wrote and recorded 11 top 10 hit singles and stood atop Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart with two No. 1 records.

Tour dates are as follows (additional shows to be confirmed):

Date City Venue
July 18 Detroit, MI Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)
Aug 1 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
Aug 2 Stevenage, GB Knebworth House – Sonisphere
Aug 4 London, GB Scala
August 6 Cologne, DE Essigfabrik
August 8 Berlin, DE Columbia Club
August 10 Hamburg, DE Grunspan
August 12 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
August 22 Pomona, CA Epicenter
Sept. 4 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Sept. 5 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
Sept. 7 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
Sept. 8 New York, NY The Fillmore
Sept. 15 Toronto, ON The Opera House
Sept. 16 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Sept. 19 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Sept. 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
Sept. 21 Minneapolis, MN First Ave
Sept. 26 Portland, OR Roseland Grill
Sept. 28 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

Jayhawks Anthology

The good news just keeps coming with the announcement of a Jayhawks reunion with bassist Marc Perlman (plus drummer/­vocalist Tim O’Reagan, and Karen Grotberg on keyboards and vocals) – the first time they have performed together in the U.S. since 1995. The band has been booked for shows in Europe during the spring and summer 2009 (including Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival, May 30th). Topping the schedule will be a homecoming reunion gig at the Basilica Block Party outdoor festival in Minneapolis on Friday, July 10th.

The historic Twin Cities reunion show will serve as the official launch party for MUSIC FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY: THE JAYHAWKS ANTHOLOGY, which will be available July 7th at all physical and digital retail outlets through American/ Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. The magnificent vocal harmonies of Mark Olson and Gary Louris, the shimmering and intuitive layers of guitars, and above all the consummate songwriting bears witness to one of the most incandescent bands in the American country-rock tradition – be it labeled “alt country,” “Americana,” “No Depression” or any comparable genre.

Under the guidance of Gary Louris, the first compilation ever released on the Jayhawks is a career-spanning assemblage of 20 signature singles and album tracks – from their 1989 debut album on Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone Records, Blue Earth, through all five of their albums on the American Recordings label: the breakthrough Hollywood Town Hall (1992), Tomorrow The Green Grass (1995), Sound Of Lies (1997), Smile (2000), and Rainy Day Music (2003).

Adding provenance to the collection is an insightful liner notes essay by PD Larson, a Minneapolis-based writer who’s been a fan since witnes­sing the first-ever Jayhawks concert in 1985. Larson sets the scene by laying out the roots and branches of the Jayhawks influences in folk, rock and country – Bob Dylan, the Hawks (the source of the Jayhawks’ name, the backup group for Ronnie Hawkins and later Dylan, as they became the Band), the Flying Burrito Brothers, “the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, anything involving Gram Parsons, connoisseur-grade country, folk and blues sources.”

The 20-song career overview will be released separately as a single CD on its own, and as the cornerstone of a deluxe three-disc set. The eco-friendly three-panel paper foldout “soft pack” (no plastic jewelcase) will contain an additional CD of Jayhawks rarities – out-of-print tracks, demos, outtakes, alternate versions, single B-sides, live material, and one cut from their indie self-released, self-titled debut album of 1986 on the Bunkhouse label (referred to as The Bunkhouse Album).

Fourteen of the 20 tracks on this rarities CD are previously unreleased. All are extensively annotated by Larson, whose knowledge of the Jayhawks sheds light throughout.

The third disc in the deluxe package is a DVD highlighted by six music video clips produced for the Jayhawks: “Waiting For The Sun,” “Settled Down Like Rain,” “Take Me With You (When You Go),” “Blue,” “Big Star,” and “Save It For A Rainy Day.” Additional video content for the DVD includes two EPKs (electronic press kits) produced for Hollywood Town Hall in 1992 (20 minutes, with full live versions of “Settled Down Like Rain,” Tim Hardin’s “Reason To Believe,” and “Take Me With You (When You Go),” filmed at the Metro in Chicago on Valentine’s Day, 1993) and for Sound Of Lies in 1997 (seven minutes). All DVD content is being released commercially for the first time. Final track listing TBD.

Larson astutely lays out the “career arc” of the Jayhawks as a three-act play, in which Act I covers the years after Olson, Louris and Perlman first got together in 1985. The singing, songwriting and performing began to coalesce and early demos poured out from the band. After The Bunkhouse Album (“Falling Star”), interest and attention from indie labels and major labels never quite came to a boil, so the Jayhawks signed with Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone. The small company gathered the demos, which were “spruced up” and released in 1988 as Blue Earth, the band’s first nationally-distributed album (“Two Angels,” “Ain’t No End,” “Old Woman From Red Clay”).

Act II began in 1988, with Louris recovering from a near-fatal car accident and the band limping along without him. Rick Rubin’s Def American label (later to morph into American Recordings) entered the picture in 1989, in the form of producer/A&R rep George Drakoulias. Legend has it that he was intrigued when he heard Blue Earth playing in the background during a long-distance phone call to Twin/Tone. By 1991, the band was signed to American by Drakoulias, who produced their next two albums, two of the most influential classics of the ’90s: Hollywood Town Hall (1992, source of “Waiting For The Sun,” “Martin’s Song,” Clouds,” “Settled Down Like Rain”); and Tomorrow The Green Grass (1995, with “Blue,” “I’d Run Away,” “Over My Shoulder,” and “Miss Williams’ Guitar,” homage to Olson’s girlfriend and later wife, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams). These were high times for the Jayhawks, with appearances at Farm Aid, on The Late Show with David Letterman, and on tours with Bob Dylan and fellow American Recordings artist Johnny Cash.

Act III can be described as the post-Olson era, following his abrupt departure from the band in 1995, moving to California to follow his wife’s folksy leanings in the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers. Jayhawks stalwarts Louris and Perlman carried on, however, with singer/keyboardist Karen Grotberg (a member since 1993) and new drummer Tim O’Reagan, who turned out to be a gifted songwriter in his own right, and whose vocals with Louris were uncannily resonant of the Louris-Olson combo. To para­phrase Larson, the Jayhawks took off again on their next three albums that veered from the darkly modern mélange of Sound of Lies (1997, with “Trouble,” “Big Star,” “The Man Who Loved Life”), to the Bob Ezrin-produced orchestral pop of Smile (2000, with “Smile,” “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” “What Led Me To This Town”), and back to the more traditional Ethan Johns-produced Rainy Day Music (2003, with “Tailspin,” “All The Right Reasons,” “Save It For A Rainy Day,” “Angelyne”). Rainy Day Music gave the Jayhawks their highest Billboard chart debut (#52), but top-rung success still eluded them, so the decision was made to “call it a day” in 2005.

Ironically, Olson and Louris reestablished their connection that same year, writing together again, and touring in 2005-2006. Louris, Olson and O’Reagan all released solo albums that were well-received by the press and Americana radio, and Perlman also “got around to working on some of his own compositions that had been piling up.” Olson and Louris first ventured into the studio in 2007, with “old friend and road buddy” Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes) in the producer’s chair. Louris and Olson’s first major studio collaboration in over a decade, Ready For the Flood (on the New West label) sounded nothing like a Jayhawks album, critics and programmers agreed, yet the acoustic guitars and crystalline harmonies are unmistakable. The magic has been just as evident on their most recent 2009 touring.

“Over their long career,” Larson concludes, “the Jayhawks created an impressive body of work, rivaling the best music from anyone in the post-punk era. Only time will tell if the Jayhawks will rise again and reclaim their title as a living, breathing American musical treasure.”

MUSIC FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY: THE JAYHAWKS ANTHOLOGY

CD One

Title From album Label Year

1. Two Angels Blue Earth Rhino/Ryko/Twin/Tone 1989

2. Ain’t No End Blue Earth Rhino/Ryko/Twin/Tone 1989

3. Waiting For The Sun Hollywood Town Hall American Recordings 1992

4. Martin’s Song Hollywood Town Hall American Recordings 1992

5. Clouds Hollywood Town Hall American Recordings 1992

6. Settled Down Like Rain Hollywood Town Hall American Recordings 1992

7. Blue Tomorrow The Green Grass American Recordings 1995

8. I’d Run Away Tomorrow The Green Grass American Recordings 1995

9. Over My Shoulder Tomorrow The Green Grass American Recordings 1995

10. Miss Williams’ Guitar Tomorrow The Green Grass American Recordings 1995

11. Trouble Sound Of Lies American Recordings 1997

12. Big Star Sound Of Lies American Recordings 1997

13. The Man Who Loved Life Sound Of Lies American Recordings 1997

14. Smile Smile Columbia/American 2000

15. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me Smile Columbia/American 2000

16. What Led Me To This Town Smile Columbia/American 2000

17. Tailspin Rainy Day Music American 2003

18. All The Right Reasons Rainy Day Music American 2003

19. Save It For A Rainy Day Rainy Day Music American 2003

20. Angelyne Rainy Day Music American 2003

CD Two – Rarities (with Deluxe package only)

Title Source notes Rec.

1. Falling Star from The Jayhawks (aka The Bunkhouse Album) 1986

2. * Old Woman From Red Clay alternate version (from Blue Earth sessions) 1988

3. * That’s The Bag I’m In KFAI radio session – Minneapolis 1989

4. * Won’ Be Coming Home demo 1991

5. * Stone Cold Mess outtake from Hollywood Town Hall sessions 1992

6. * Mission On 2nd demo 1994

7. Lights from Sweet Relief: A Benefit For Victoria Williams 1993

8. Darling Today from Blown Away movie soundtrack 1994

9. Break My Mind B-side of “Bad Time” CD single 1995

10. Get The Load Out B-side of “Bad Time” European CD single 1995

11.* Poor Little Fish early version (from Sound Of Lies) 1996

12. Someone Will demo (from The Jayhawks – Live From The Women’s 1998

Club official bootleg, 2003)

13.* Cure For This demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 1999

14.* I Can Make It On My Own demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 1998-99

15.* Rotterdam demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 1999

16.* Follow Me demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 2001

17.* In The Canyon demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 2001

18.* Tailspin (early version) demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 2001

19.* I Think I’ve Had Enough demo recorded at Louris home 2001

20.* Help Me Forget demo recorded at Jayhawks rehearsal space 2001

* Previously Unreleased

DVD (with Deluxe package only) – FINAL TRACK LISTING TBD

• Waiting For The Sun (music video)

• Settled Down Like Rain (music video)

• Take Me With You (When You Go) (music video)

• Hollywood Town Hall EPK (20 minutes) – includes full live versions of “Settled Down Like Rain,” “Reason To Believe” and “Take Me With You (When You Go),” filmed at the Metro in Chicago on February 14, 1993.

• Blue (music video)

• Big Star (music video)

• Sound Of Lies EPK (7 minutes)

• Save It For A Rainy Day (music video)

(all DVD content is previously unreleased commercially)

Rene Lopez

On September 8, 2009, Rene Lopez will unveil to the world People Are Just People, a collection of thirteen tracks that nods its head to the soul and funk music Prince opened Rene’s eyes to. This album is a tribute to Rene’s musical roots. It took him years to come full circle and his journey was long.

Born in August 6, 1969 in the Bronx, Rene Lopez was born a week and a half before Woodstock. He grew up with an Italian mother and a Puerto Rican salsa musician father. His parents brought him to shows at the Corso Lounge, the Cheetah and Barney Googles. When he was a little boy, he watched his father play all over big venues in New York City: Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, even Madison SquareGarden.

“As nurturing as it was,” says Rene, “you gotta realize that every kid rebels against what his parents are listening to.” Up in his room and out on the street, “it was all rock and roll – Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Queen, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, the Who, that’s what we listened to. When I was playing drums, that’s what I would play. And any of the guys in my neighbor-hood come into my room and play, and those are the songs we would try to play.” No matter what, Rene’s parents were 100% supportive of his music.

Into high school, Rene’s drumming ability excelled, taking him to the school band and eventually to the All-County Jazz Band. During a competition in senior year, Arnie Lawrence (also a Rockland County resident then) showed up as guest conductor. Impressed by Rene’s playing, he encouraged him to audition for the New School program. He found himself in the first wave of students circa 1987 – Popper, Schenkman and the Spin Doctors, Brad Mehldau, Jesse Davis, Chris Carter, and many others.

The rest is history. Rene left school to start the group The Authority, where he was the lead vocalist for seven years. In 1998, Rene and Roger Stevens (of Blind Melon) began to write songs together for the band that became Extra Virgin (including Pat Sansone on bass and keyboards). Extra Virgin lasted about two years before Rene and Rogers moved on, though they have stayed close friends as well as workmates in The Tender Trio.

Finally, Rene focused on his solo career. I Know What I See, his debut EP released in 2003 and produced by bassist Pat Sansone, was a stripped-down acoustic-based collection of four songs that found a following in the triple-A Americana format. In 2005, Rene released One Man’s Year, a dark culmination of more than a dozen years of shedding in his own bands and others, and numerous studio assignments.

Rene was finished with music. He went on to pursue an acting career until last year when a dear friend introduced Rene to The Document Room Recording Studios in Malibu, California. He was told he would have a week to himself with the legendary studio tucked away in the hills by the Pacific Ocean. For kicks, he set on to write and record one song per day. In the middle of his genius, he realized he still had writing in him.

With his musical confidence soaring, Rene brought the songs with him to his studio in Williamsburg. People are Just People was finished in two months. The result is a true funk and soul record, completely pure that sonically captures everything he cherished as a teenager.

Kamaal the Abstract is an intensely idiosyncratic and revealing record. To that end, Q-Tip produced the entire album himself, even playing several instruments. What comes from Kamaal is a daring mélange of soul, supa-cool jazz, headnodding hip-hop, and organic pop magic in the vein of Stevie Wonder or Prince. Check for the superlative figures of saxophonist Kenny Garrett, a one-time member of Miles Davis’ ensemble, on the breathy “Abstractionisms.” Or the fluid flute lines of Gary Thomas, another Davis sideman, on “Do U Dig U.” Elsewhere, note Tip’s ambitious production, arrangements, and even sung stylings.

But make no mistake: Kamaal the Abstract still boasts all the earmarks of Q-Tip’s inimitable mic control. Listen to him blaze through a spiced narrative on “Even If It Is So.” Or paint vivid images on “Blue Girl.” The album has been re-mixed and re-mastered for sonic impact, though it retains the original album artwork. Neil Levine SVP/GM of Battery Records is proud to release this buried treasure from Q-Tip: “Kamaal the Abstract/Q-Tip is a true visionary and ahead of his time. These songs sound more contemporary now than when they were first recorded”. Kamaal the Abstract drops September 15th. Better late than never.

Along with NPR, Q Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Mojo, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian UK and many others around the world, The New York Times raves far is “[Spektor's] most ambitious work sonically and her storytelling is as elliptical as ever” while The UK Sunday Times agrees this is “her most accomplished, mystifying, eclectic and beautiful release to date. It doesn’t just fly, it soars.” Spin Magazine goes on to say “far snuggles between her previous efforts, linking the heady sweep of 2003’s Soviet Kitsch to the roundabout pop treats of Begin To Hope” and People Magazine adds, “[Spektor's] eclectic, breathtakingly gorgeous songs will be good company wherever you go.” Sweden’s Smålandsposten hails far as a “modern classic” and Rolling Stone exclaims far as “the sweet spot between her screwball humor and her pop sensibility.”

TOUR DATES:

* More North American dates to be announced shortly

September 11th Myth St. Paul, Minnesota
September 12th Chicago Theatre Chicago, Illinois
September 15th Michigan Theater Ann Arbor, Michigan
September 16th Sound Academy Toronto, Ontario
September 17th Metropolis Montreal, Quebec
September 21st House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
September 22nd Orpheum Theatre Boston, Massachusetts
September 24th Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Insane Clown Posse

Whether a long time fan or new to the ride, go “Behind The Hatchet” with a short video look at one of the most successful underground bands in the world. And, for a taste of Bang! Pow! Boom!, which hits stores September 1, check out the freshly unveiled audio album sampler.

Watch “Behind The Hatchet”

Chris Young - The Man I want To Be

Helmed by veteran producer James Stroud, The Man I Want to Be delivers a powerhouse showcase for Young’s inviting baritone, whether singing a duet with Willie Nelson on the Waylon Jennings classic “Rose in Paradise,” capturing the essence of brotherly love in “The Dashboard,” or giving voice to the title track, a beautiful Brett James/Tim Nichols-penned plea for a chance at a fresh beginning.

Other highlights include Chris’ soulful, first-take reading on the timeless Brook Benton hit, “Rainy Night in Georgia,” in addition to three songs Young co-wrote, one of which is the playfully sexy “Gettin’ You Home,” which jumps to #25 on the country airplay charts this week.

“Gettin’ You Home” has caught fire on the airwaves, becoming the most-added new song at country radio last week, and the story continues to build, with more new airplay across the country, including such major markets as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Portland, and Phoenix.

The sultry groove of “Gettin’ You Home” has also been driving listeners to Chris’ MySpace page (www.myspace.com/chrisyoung), where the song has racked up more than 800,000 plays.

The Man I Want to Be is the follow-up to Chris’ self-titled debut album that launched the smash, “Drinkin’ Me Lonely,” and earned Young the highest selling album debut by any new male country artist in 2006.

Our Lady Peace

Our Lady Peace – Burn Burn Official Track Listing
CD:
1. All You Did Was Save My Life
2. Dreamland
3. Monkey Brains
4. The End Is Where We Begin
5. Escape Artist
6. Refuge
7. Never Get Over You
8. White Flags
9. Signs of Life
10. Paper Moon
11. Time Bomb (*Deluxe Only)
12. The Right Stuff (*Deluxe Only)

DVD (*Deluxe Only):
All You Did Was Save My Life (*Live In Studio)
Dreamland (*Live In Studio)
Monkey Brains (*Live In Studio)
Never Get Over You (*Live In Studio)
Refuge (*Live In Studio)
The Right Stuff (*Live In Studio)
All You Did Was Save My Life (Music Video)
The Right Stuff (Music Video)

Upcoming Tour Dates: (US Dates in Bold)
7/3/09 Buffalo, NY Molson Canal Series
7/8/09 Calgary, AB Stampede Roundup
7/9/09 Grand Praririe, AB Summerslam
7/11/09 Sarnia, ON Rogers Bayfest
7/14/09 Ottawa, ON Bluesfest@ Lebreton Flats
7/18/09 Grand Falls, NFLD Centennial Park
7/21/09 New York, NY Irving Plaza
7/23/09 Edmonton, AB Edfest
7/24/09 Regina, SK Summer Invasion
7/25/09 Vancouver, BC Virgin Fest
7/28/09 Los Angeles, CA Troubador
8/2/09 Halifax, VS Rockfest @ Citadel Hill
8/8/09 Brandon, MB X fest
8/10/09 Dallas, TX House of Blues
8/11/09 Austin, TX Antone’s
8/12/09 Houston, TX House of Blues
8/14/09 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
8/18/09 Boston, MA Paradise Rock
8/22/09 Chicago, IL The Vic