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MUSIC NEWS
Commentary: Gibson Guitar Raid
Alan Jackson Street Party In Nashville
Bob Seger Joins iTunes - Fall Tour 2011
Foo Fighters Announce Tour
National Folk Festival In Nashville
R.E.M. Announces Break-Up
Greatest Covers Song List
Lady Antebellum Goes Number One
VanHalen Switches Labels
Metillica Considered Bassist
Aerosmith New Album Update
Rock In Rio Festival
Haggar Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash
Guns N' Roses Add Fall Tour Dates
Ozzy Book Signing Dates Announced
Bakersfield Sound Exihibit Announced
DECEMBER, 2011
COMMENTARY
GIBSON GUITAR RAID SHOWS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES OUT OF CONTROL...
By JW Davis - MusicWire Magazine
09.08.11 - Nashville, TN - The recent US government raid of Gibson Guitars’ Tennessee manufacturing facility is nothing short of an outrage. Every one of us red blooded Americans who believe in free enterprise and the right to conduct our own business as we see fit has suffered a major blow at the hands of a bureaucracy that is WAY out of control.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) used the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Lacey Act of 2008 to justify the Gibson raid is an outrage that each of us should be very very concerned about. This action sets a chilling precedent for out of control environmental police to do what they would like to do to others including each and every one of us, who may be in possession of wood products deemed unacceptable, even if such wood products were obtained legally.
When will the American people stand up and demand government to STOP this kind of insanity? Not only are government agencies out of control, but government regulations have destroyed our companies and driven our jobs oversea's. It is time for our country to repeal any and ALL regulations that have destroyed our job market. It is time to hold our so called 'elected represenatives' to their responsibility for killing our jobs.
FOO FIGHTERS ANNOUNCE
AMERICAN TOUR DATES
Rock-N-Roll masters and rock solid US icon's
Foo Fighters took a much different approach in unveiling the remainder of their upcoming two-month tour of North America. Press releases aside—this is the age of virtual marketing, and the Foo Fighters are making sure they will be noticed.
In a recently presented “music video,” of a song called “Hot Buns,” Dave Grohl and his bandmates (Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel) are pictured hanging out at a truck stop in outrageous trucker dress laughing about their food. Suddenly they all stand up, promptly toss some dollars down and head single-file to the bathroom. The door sign reads “Hot Shower: Wash the road off!” — so you probably have an idea where things go from there.
Here are the tour dates so far...
September
14 — St. Paul, Minn. @ Xcel Center
16 — Kansas City, Mo. @ Spring Center
17 — St. Louis, Mo. @ Scottrade Center
19 — Detroit, Mich. @ The Palace of Auburn Hills
20 — Cleveland, Ohio @ Quicken Loans Arena
22 — Columbus, Ohio @ Nationwide Arena
23 — Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Consol Energy Center
24 — Buffalo, N.Y. @ First Niagara Center
26 — East Rutherford, N.J. @ Izod Center
October
9 — Denver, Colo. @ Pepsi Center
11 — Salt Lake City, Utah @ Maverik Center
13 — Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Forum
14 — Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Forum
16 — Phoenix, Ariz. @ U.S. Airways Center
17 — San Diego, Calif. @ Viejas Arena
19 — Oakland, Calif. @ Oracle Center
20 — Sacramento, Calif. @ Power Balance Pavillion
25 — Vancouver, B.C. @ Rogers Arena
27 — Calgary, Alberta @ Scotiabank Saddledome
28 — Edmonton, Alberta @ Rexall Place
November
7 — Duluth, Ga. @ Arena at Gwinnett Center
8 — Charlotte, N.C. @ Time Warner Cable Arena
10 — Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wells Fargo Center
11 — Washington, D.C. @ Verizon Center
13 — New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
14 — Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center
16 — Boston, Mass. @ TD Garden
A GREAT AMERICAN FESTIVAL COMES TO AMERICA'S
"MUSIC CITY"
One of the most prestigious and longest-running celebrations of the arts, the National Folk Festival, is coming to Nashville for a three-year tenure beginning in September of 2011. The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the organization that created and has produced the National Folk Festival since 1934, recognized Nashville's unique cultural assets and strong community spirit in choosing Nashville as the National Folk Festival Host City for 2011, 2012 and 2013, the festival's 75th anniversary year.
A large-scale three-day outdoor event presented free to the public, the National Folk Festival celebrates the roots, richness and variety of American culture. It features a broad array of music and dance performances, participatory dancing, workshops, children's activities, regional and ethnic foods, storytelling, parades, craft exhibits and demonstrations, and more. A "movable feast of the deeply traditional folk arts," the National Folk Festival brings a jubilant and dizzying array of offerings that appeal to audiences of all ages. more
Rock In Rio is a Music Festival held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and occasionally in Portugal and Spain. There may be additional festivals in either Mexico, Argentina or Colombia in the future.
In 2011, Rock in Rio is taking place in its original home, Rio de Janeiro.
Rock in Rio has been the largest music festival in the world, with 1.5 million people in the first edition, 700,000 in the second, about 1.2 million in the third, and about 350,000 people in each of the 3 Lisbon editions.
Some of the major acts for this years Festival are Coldplay, Elton John, Guns-N- Roses, Jay-Z, Joss Stone, Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, Motorhead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, System Of A Down and many, many others.
The Festival runs from September 23-29, 2011.
BOB SEGER JOINS iTUNES,
OFFERS FREE EP
iTunes, meet Bob Seger
MusicWire Magazine - It’s been a long time coming for fans, but the Detroit rocker is making some of his classic material available digitally via iTunes for the first time.
“We’re finally doing it,” Bob Seger tells the Detroit Free Press. “We’re going digital.”
Available now are Seger’s two multiplatinum concert albums — “Live Bullet” (1976) and “Nine Tonight” (1981) — released for download at iTunes and Amazon. Also making its iTunes debut is “Early Seger Vol. 1,” a collection of spruced-up tracks and previously unreleased fare from the early 1970s.
With 16 studio albums to his name, and a new one to come next year, the 66-year-old Michigan icon has only cracked the surface, and says his remaining catalog "will come out in dribs and drabs."
Seger, who has never released a boxed set, says he’ll use iTunes to unveil songs from his sizable backlog of unreleased material. “There’s just so much of that stuff,” he says. “I’d love people to finally hear it.”
In the decade since Apple launched iTunes, Seger was one of the most prominent holdouts, part of a stubborn but shrinking cast that still includes AC/DC, Garth Brooks, and fellow Detroit star Kid Rock.
Other recent joiners include the Beatles, and the Supreme Court may have paved the way for more: In March, it acted in favor of Eminem in a lawsuit over digital royalty rates — a longtime sticking point for many acts.
"From a business standpoint, we wanted to make sure artists are getting what we consider a fair shake,” says Ed "Punch" Andrews, who has managed Seger since the mid-1960s.
For Seger, who emerged during the era of album-oriented rock, there were other challenges. Concerned about audio fidelity and the emphasis on singles over albums, his team watched the rise of online music stores with a wary eye.
“It’s probably the best delivery system ever invented, but the industry gave up a lot of quality to have that system,” Andrews says. “At some point, if this is what everybody is accepting, we know we have to keep current. But if we were going to do this, we needed to make sure it was as great as we could make it.”
"Live Bullet” and “Nine Tonight” underwent more than a year of remastering to ensure top sonic quality for the downloadable versions. “It wasn’t about doing this quickly, but doing it right,” Andrews says.
Andrews also frets that by serving up track downloads on the fly, the online services have eroded the artistic integrity of albums. “This delivery system is about singles,” said Andrews. “Something like ‘Turn the Page’ would never have occurred if this had been the way of the world back then.”
But Seger and his camp know there’s one undeniable advantage to the digital realm: flexibility.
This week’s releases will each include a bonus track: “Live Bullet” will feature a version of Albert King’s “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s House,” performed in 1976 by Seger and his Silver Bullet Band at the Pontiac Silverdome. “Nine Tonight” will come with a 1980 version of his own “Brave Strangers.”
To celebrate Seger’s introduction to iTunes, a digital ‘Bonus EP’ will be available for "Live Bullet" and "Nine Tonight" download for one week only exclusively through iTunes. The disc includes tunes such as "Mainstreet" and live versions of "Hollywood Nights" and "Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man."
Last week, Seger announced dates for his fall North American tour, kicking off November 2 at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
2011 TOUR
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band will go back out on the road this Fall for a second leg to their 2011 North American Tour. The new dates will extend from coast to coast with stops expected in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, Denver, Vancouver and more. The first leg of Seger's 2011 Tour drew rave reviews from critics and played to over 350,000 fans.
Presales for performances in: Ypsilanti, Columbus, Greenville, Birmingham, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Worcester, New York.
The schedule is:
Presale is Thurs Sep 22 from 10AM to 5PM.
Onsale is Sat Sep 17 10AM.
To participate in this week's presales as a paid member of the BobSeger.com you will need to log in and your unique presale access code will be displayed on this Tour page.
GUNS N' ROSES:
FOUR MORE US DATES ANNOUNCED
Monday, September 19, 2011
09.19.11-MusicWire Magazine - Here Today…Gone Tomorrow! Reports tickets go on sale later this week for GNR dates in Greenville, Atlanta, Dallas and Hartford.
Here’s the ticket details:
• Oct 31 - Greenville, SC @ BI-LO Center (On sale Sep 23 @ 10:00 AM EDT)
• Nov 2 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena (On sale Sep 23 @ 10:00 AM)
• Nov 5 - Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion (On Sale Sep 24 @ 10 AM)
• Nov 19 - Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre (On sale Sep 23 @ 10:00 AM EDT)
The new dates now mean the GNR US tour is up to 9 shows so far, and you can bet more are expected to be added.
Guns N’ Roses
2011 Fall tour: North America
Oct 28 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center
Oct 29 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
Oct 31 – Greenville, SC - BI-LO Center
Nov 02 – Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
Nov 05 – Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
Nov 12 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
Nov 13 – Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
Nov 15 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate
R.E.M. ANNOUNCES BREAK-UP
It’s the end of R.E.M.’s
world as we know it.
09.21.11-MusicWire Magazine - "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." - R.E.M.
And with that announcement Wednesday, 80’s college rock darlings cum 90’s alt-rock mainstream heroes cum 2000’s alt-rock elder statesmen have completed a 31-year run.
The band members say the time was right to call it a day, as they evaluated their career while putting together a Greatest Hits album due this November.
"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective; we started to ask ourselves 'what next?'," commented Mike Mills. "Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together. The time just feels right."
R.E.M. is unique in that they are very much still the group of friends from Athens, Georgia that they've been since the band formed in 1979. While their career has spanned 15 studio albums and huge global success, the band itself only ever comprised the four original members. The one person to leave this tight-knit group was drummer Bill Berry, who retired two years after suffering a brain aneurysm on-stage during 1995's "Monster" tour. But not before extracting a promise from his band mates that they would continue on as R.E.M.: "Bill insisted he would stay, if his leaving meant breaking the band up," remembers Michael Stipe.
Mills adds: "We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love and respect each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this -- there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart."
"A wise man once said -- 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave," agrees Stipe. "We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it. I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end; and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way. We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years, our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."
Buck picks up on his thoughts: "One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M., was the fact that the records we made and the songs we wrote, meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by them. Being a part of their lives has been an unbelievable gift.
"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone that has followed and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of a club; watching a group of 19-year-olds trying to change the world."
JIMI HENDRIX, BEATLES AMOUNG GREATEST COVER SONGS LIST
Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles have made the list of the Greatest Cover Songs Of All Time, as selected by the staff at Pop Dose.
Monday, September 19, 2011-MusicWire
I know, lists are made to be created, dissected and debated, and this is yet another list to add to the list of lists.
The Pop Dose collection covers a wide range of musical styles, with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (original by Otis Redding) landing at #1, followed by Jimi Hendrix’ version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” at #2, with covers by Elvis Costello, Jeff Buckley and Johnny Cash rounding out the top 5.
Music fans will undoubtedly recognize most, if not all, songs on the list, with the performance and profile of some tracks outweighing the originals from whence they came.
For rockers, there’s plenty to chew on, including works by The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Nirvana, The Clash, Cream and Van Halen all appearing in the top 25 alone.
.
Greatest Cover Songs Of All Time
As selected by Pop Dose - September 2011
Top 10 of 100
01. ‘Respect,’ Aretha Franklin – Originally performed by Otis Redding
02. ‘All Along The Watchtower,’ Jimi Hendrix – Originally performed by Bob Dylan
03. ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding,’ Elvis Costello – Originally by Brinsley Schwarz
04. ‘Hallelujah,’ Jeff Buckley – Originally performed by Leonard Cohen
05. ‘Hurt,’ Johnny Cash – Originally performed by Nine Inch Nails
06. ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ Sinead O’Connor – Originally performed by The Family
07. ‘Twist And Shout,’ The Beatles – Originally performed by The Isley Brothers
08. ‘Piece Of My Heart,’ Big Brother And The Holding Company – Originally performed by Erma Franklin
09. ‘Sweet Jane,’ Cowboy Junkies – Originally performed by The Velvet Underground
10. ‘Hazy Shade Of Winter,’ The Bangles – Originally performed by Simon & Garfunkel
VAN HALEN SWITCHES LABELS AFTER 35 YEARS
Album Due Next Year
Saturday, September 17, 2011-MusicWire
Music industry website HitsDailyDouble reports after spending its entire 35-year career at Warner Brothers, Van Halen, with David Lee Roth back in the fold, recently completed work on its first album for new label Columbia, coming early next year.
What remains to be seen is the official announcement from Columbia and/or the band, so hopefully that will be released shortly, now that the news has leaked.
If the HDD report is accurate, fans now know it will be a few more months before they’ll get the new VH, the most-anticipated rock record in years.
Fan website the Van Halen News Desk, who often seem to take on the role as unofficial spokespeople for the band, recently reported that VH completed mixing their new album last month.
The VHND rumor has it the album will begin the mastering process in mid-September with the intention of having that stage completed by the end of the month.
The recording will be VH’s first with Roth since 1984 (recorded in ’83), their first new music with Roth since ’96, the first effort with new bassist Wolfgang VH, and their first studio album since 1998’s “Van Halen III.”
METALLICA CONSIDERED
HIRING MEGADETH BASSIST
According to Dave Mustaine, following the tragic death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus accident in 1986, Megadeth's David Ellefson was on a list of potential replacements.
Troy Gregory (Prong), Les Claypool (Primus) and Joey Vera (Armored Saint) were among forty bassists considered for the gig, but ultimately Jason Newsted of Flotsam And Jetsam got the job.
"When Cliff died, there was a moment where Dave's name had come up, and I was a little concerned," Mustaine tells CBS. "I didn't want to lose my bassist and I certainly didn't want to have another reason to be upset. God knows I had my reasons, even though they weren't all real. A lot of them were caused by myself."
AEROSMITH: NEW ALBUM UPDATE 2
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Last week, Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton checked in with an update on the band’s new project in a video message for fans.
He’s back with another update.
"We're at the point now where Jack [Douglas], our producer, and our engineer, Warren [Huart], are compiling all kinds of stuff from all summer, just taking all the bits and pieces that we recorded for the last two and a half months and assembling it, so we can then go and put more guitars on, and more vocals and whatever else we think [we may need to do],” says Tom.
“I know I have a couple of little things to do before I'm done, but I'm mostly finished and I'm looking forward to the whole thing being put together and the vocals going on,” he continues. “Next spring, baby — that's what we want. I know you've been waiting a long time; we've been waiting. We're excited. A lot of people that we know and trust who have come and heard what we're working on think we're doing something really cool. So I hope you'll think the same thing."
Aerosmith continues to work on their 14th studio album, their first since 2004.
SAMMY HAGGAR BIRTHDAY BASH
Sammy announced the dates for his annual birthday bash at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Hagar and The Wabos will play October 8, 9, 11 and 13 (Sam’s bday) to mark the Red Rocker’s 63rd birthday.
The birthday bash has been an annual tradition for Sammy and his "Redheads" for years. Fans line up out front of the Cantina all day to get one of the spots inside for these shows, and there’s an interesting twist/buzz about this year’s setup. Sammy has been surveying fans for the past few weeks about the possibility of selling advance tickets to the shows, partly to solve the ‘sleeping in the rain’ issue and partly because some fans have let him know that they haven’t even tried to attend the birthday week bashes for fear of travelling all that way and not getting in.
Here’s a July 16 post to Sammy’s blog:
Redheads,
Thank you for the overwhelming response to the Birthday Bash question. Most of you want us to presell tickets. I'd say 3 or 4 to 1. It was gratifying so many of you talked about how many times you have come down to Cabo but what was equally interesting was the fans that said they have never come to Cabo because they couldn't be sure they would get in. If selling tickets will let someone have the experience for the first time, you know I'm down for that. There were lots of good ideas that you offered, and we are going through them all to find the best way to move forward. If you haven't sent your opinion, it's not too late but the pattern is so obvious that I think I know what we have to do. Next week we will tell you the details of the plan that we are working on now.
Peace
Sammy
So, stay tuned to see what happens with Cabo birthday bash tickets.
Sammy has also posted a new video clip to his site from the upcoming DVD “Go There Once, Be There Twice”; the title is a line from Van Halen’s “Cabo Wabo.” No release date has been announced yet. The clip for the song “Red” compiles four decades of Hagar footage.
OZZY OSBOURNE: MORE BOOK SIGNING DATES ANNOUNCED
09.20.11-MusicWire Magazine - Black Sabbath is touring this fall…well, half of the band is.
Guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ozzy Osbourne are both doing book tours, each plugging the launch of new reading material for fans.
Iommi’s doing in-store book signings in the UK and New York for his upcoming autobiography, “Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath.”
Ozzy, on the hand, has already done the bio thing, but he’s pushing his new book, "Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy," a health advice collection of the best of his columns from Rolling Stone (U.S.) and the Sunday Times (U.K.), with some additional material thrown in.
Ozzy has just announced two additions to his book-signing event schedule: one in Texas and the other in San Francisco, as follows:
Ozzy Osbourne
“Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy” book signings
Tuesday, October 11, 7:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Avenue
Huntington, CA
Thursday, October 13, 7:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
10775 Westview Parkway
San Diego, CA
Friday, October 14, 7:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
3490 Tyler Street
Riverside, CA
Saturday, October 15, 3:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
189 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, October 18, 7:00 p.m.
(** NEW ADD **)
Hastings
1306 West Davis
Conroe, TX
Wednesday October 19, 6:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
5130 East Broadway
Tucson, AZ
Thursday October 20, 6:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
2191 North Rainbow Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV
Friday October 21, 7:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
1725 Arden Way
Sacramento, CA
Saturday October 22, 3:00 p.m.
(** NEW ADD **)
Booksmith with Amoeba Music
1644 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA
LADY ANTEBELLUM
ALBUM GOES NUMBER ONE
Lady Antebellum's new album, Own the Night, sold a whopping 347,479 copies this past week to plant it solidly atop both Billboard's country albums chart and its all-genres listing, the Billboard 200. Congratulation's to Lady A, no one can sale 347,479 besides Taylor Swift with over 1 million but 347,479 is GREAT!!
"BAKERSFIELD SOUND"
EXHIBIT WILL OPEN IN 2012
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Honors Buck Owens, Merle Haggard
09.25.11-MusicWire Magazine - The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's major new exhibition, titled "The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and California Country," opens on March 24, 2012, for a near two-year run.
Narrated by Dwight Yoakam, the exhibit will explore the roots, heyday and impact of the Bakersfield Sound, the loud, stripped-down and radio-ready music most closely identified with the careers of Country Music Hall of Fame members Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.
The story begins during the Great Depression when the farms and oilfields of Bakersfield, Calif., attracted a mass migration of Dust Bowl refugees from Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. Born in Texas in 1929, Owens moved with his sharecropping parents to Arizona before heading to Bakersfield in 1951. Haggard's family, driven to the area from their East Oklahoma farm, lived in an old converted railroad boxcar where Haggard was born on April 6, 1937.
As they came to prominence in the 1960s, both Owens and Haggard remained faithful to the classic honky-tonk style and, at the same time, gave country music a harder, rockabilly edge in keeping with the drinking, loud talking, fist fighting and romancing that characterized the nightclub culture of Bakersfield.
Owens and his top-notch band, the Buckaroos, first popularized Bakersfield's amped-up hybrid of honky-tonk, rockabilly and western swing with 1960s chart-toppers like "Act Naturally," "Love's Gonna Live Here," "Together Again," "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" and "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line."
Haggard and his equally-stellar band, the Strangers, soon followed with the unforgettable Bakersfield Sound gems "Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried," "Hungry Eyes," "Workin' Man Blues" and "The Fightin' Side of Me." Owens and Haggard scored nearly 60 No. 1 hits between them. Many of their songs have entered the American popular music canon and continue to be recorded by a wide variety of country, rock and pop artists.
Including publishing houses, recording studios, booking and management agencies and performance venues, the exhibit will focus on the Bakersfield music businesses that evolved in the 1960s, particularly Buck Owens Enterprises, the music empire owned and operated by Owens. It will also explore the enduring impact of the Bakersfield Sound on subsequent generations of musicians, singers and songwriters, from country-rock pioneers the Flying Burrito Brothers to Dwight Yoakam and many others.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Bakersfield sported a plethora of dance halls and honky-tonks (most notably the Blackboard Café), the payday respite for wall-to-wall rambunctious workers eager for the honky-tonk of the Maddox Brothers & Rose or the eclectic swing sound of Bob Wills.
Also on the bandstands were enormously-influential musicians Wynn Stewart and Tommy Collins, whose classic honky-tonk songs Owens and Haggard would later record and for whom they worked as sidemen before launching a solo career. The story also includes Bill Woods, widely regarded as the "Father of the Bakersfield Sound," and the city's other musical
architects: "Cousin" Herb Henson, Billy
Mize, Fuzzy Owen, Bonnie Owens, Red Simpson and Lewis Talley, among others.
Among other narrative elements, visitors will learn about the importance of Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson, who recorded numerous Bakersfield classics, including many of Owens' and Haggard's major hits, and who was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The exhibit will also emphasize the role of the Buckaroos and the Strangers in developing the Bakersfield Sound, with emphasis on key sidemen such as steel guitar innovator Ralph Mooney, guitarist Roy Nichols and lead guitarist-harmony vocalist Don Rich.
The Bakersfield Sound exhibit runs through Dec. 31, 2013. It will follow the four-year run of "Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy," which closes on Dec. 31, 2011
ALAN JACKSON DRAWS HUGE CROWD TO CAPITOL STREET
PARTY IN NASHVILLE
Left, Jon Pardi, Alan Jackson and Eric Paslay.
Photo credit: Capitol Records Nashville
10.01.11-MusicWire Magazine -
Alan Jackson provided an awesome appearance to the end of the Fourth Annual Capitol Street Party on Wednesday night (Sept. 21) in Nashville. Held in the middle of Demonbreun Street, a nightlife district near downtown Nashville near Music Row,
Estimates put the crowd near 20,000 fans. This was Jackson's first appearance at the event after forming a joint venture with EMI/Capitol Records Nashville this spring.
On Wednesday he weaved in all the big ones. He played "Don't Rock the Jukebox," "Chattahoochee" and "It's Five O' Clock Somewhere" and also offered "Remember When," "Drive (for Daddy Gene)" and "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)."
He seemed to get a little choked up during "Small Town Southern Man," the 2007 hit about the simple joy of a long life filled with love and hard work.
Jackson focused on upbeat tunes and had the crowd dancing in no time.
He arrived to a video montage of 34 of his No. 1 singles. He stepped out in his trademark white cowboy hat and launched straight into "Gone Country." Saying it's "always fun to play at home here in Nashville, especially right here where it all starts on Music Row," Jackson reminisced about cutting his first record "just up the street" and revealed it was not exactly a success.
"We sent it to radio, and it died a horrible, painful death," he said with a grin. Jackson noted his next song took off and he "hasn't worked a day since." That song, as he told the crowd, was "Here in the Real World."
Later in the show, he described "Livin' on Love" as "one of my favorite songs I ever wrote," claimed that it's alright to be "Little Bitty" and got a hug from his daughter Ali onstage.
He also treated fans to some of his newer material, including "Good Time," "Long Way to Go" and a portion of "As She's Walking Away," his hit collaboration with the Zac Brown Band. Since Brown wasn't on hand, a member of Jackson's excellent band, the Strayhorns, filled in for him.
The show closed just after 11 p.m. with "Where I Come From" and another video montage of the sights in and around Nashville,
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