June 2005

Pearl Jam will cap a slate of fall tour dates with a Sept. 30-Oct. 1 stand at the 3,700-capacity Borgata in Atlantic City, N.J. Sleater-Kinney, which previously toured with Pearl Jam in 2003, will open both shows, tickets for which go on sale July 9.

The Atlantic City stand will come at the end of Pearl Jam’s three-week tour of Canada, which kicks off Sept. 2 in Vancouver and will close Sept. 25 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The band will also open a Sept. 28 show for the Rolling Stones in Pittsburgh.

Source billboard.com.

Settle down lovers, Bloodshot’s newest signing, THE DETROIT COBRAS, have announced their fall US tour — They’ll be on the road supporting their Bloodshot debut and the band’s first US release in four years.

Baby,” The Detroit Cobra’s first release on Bloodshot Records, is a detour off the beaten path, a collection of 20 inimitable, rocked-out renditions of mostly obscure R&B songs that pay homage to Detroit’s thick musical background reflecting back to Fortune Records and D-Town’s back catalog.

10-08-05 — Beachland Tavern — Cleveland OH
10-11-05 — North Star Bar — Philadelphia PA
10-12-05 — The Mercury Lounge — New York NY
10-13-05 — Southpaw — Brooklyn, NY
10-14-05 — Middle East — Cambridge MA
10-15-05 — Maxwell’s — Hoboken NJ
10-22-05 — Culture Room — Ft. Lauderdale FL
10-25-05 — The Parish @ HOB — New Orleans LA
10-27-05 — Rudyard’s Beer Bar — Houston, TX
10-28-05 — Gypsy Tea Room — Dallas, TX
10-29-05 — Emo’s — Austin, TX
10-31-05 — Plush — Tuscon, AZ
11-01-05 — The Clubhouse — Tempe, AZ
11-03-05 — The Casbah — San Diego, CA
11-04-05 — Troubadour — West Hollywood, CA
11-05-05 — Bottom Of The Hill — San Francisco, CA
11-07-05 — Sabala’s — Portland, OR
11-08-05 — Chop Suey — Seattle, WA
11-10-05 — The Velvet Room — Salt Lake City, UT
11-11-05 — Bluebird Theater — Denver, CO
11-16-05 — The High Noon Saloon — Madison, WI
11-17-05 — Mad Planet — Milwaukee, WI
11-18-05 — Triple Rock — Minneapolis, MN

Gang Of Four has finalized the track list for its new album, “Whitey’s Gift,” which features 14 new versions of classic tracks from its back catalog. Due Sept. 20 via V2, the album will also be available with a second disc of remixes from such acts as Hot Hot Heat, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Dandy Warhols, No Doubt’s Tony Kanal, Faultline and Ladytron.

In October, a selection of those tracks will be released separately with other new remixes and covers for the U.S. market. The full rundown has yet to be finalized.

“Whitey’s Gift” focuses on Gang Of Four’s first two seminal albums: 1979’s “Entertainment!” and 1981’s “Solid Gold,” via such cuts as “Damaged Goods,” “Natural’s Not in It,” “Anthrax,” “At Home He’s a Tourist” and “Paralysed.” Also featured are a handful of tracks from 1982’s “Songs of the Free,” such as “I Love a Man in Uniform” and “We Live As We Dream, Alone.”

Gang Of Four recently concluded its first spate of touring with its four original members in more than 20 years. The lone upcoming date on its schedule is Sept. 24 at London’s Barbican, at which it will perform “Entertainment!” in its entirety.

The band’s willingness to offer its music up for remixing to a new generation of artists is striking a chord with longtime fans. “It’s a really gracious thing to do,” Slint/Papa M principal David Pajo tells Billboard.com. “Isn’t it cool to see a band like Gang Of Four and realize that so much time has passed, but there is still nobody who sounds like them and does it like that?”

Here is the track list for disc one of “Whitey’s Gift”:

“Not Great Men”
“To Hell With Poverty”
“Damaged Goods”
“I Love a Man in Uniform”
“Natural’s Not in It”
“Ether”
“Paralysed”
“What We All Want”
“Why Theory?
“Anthrax”
“At Home He’s a Tourist”
“Capital”
“He’d Send in the Army”
“We Live As We Dream, Alone”

Source billboard.com.

On August 2nd, 2005, the Atlanta-based Terminus Records will release Get Myself Together, the latest solo effort from bluegrass legend Danny Barnes. Get Myself Together, a collection of 13 originals and select covers, is the follow up to Danny’s highly acclaimed 2003 release, Dirt On The Angel. The album is a showcase for the multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Barnes, who plays banjo, tuba, guitars, harmonicas, and more.

On this record, Grammy winning bassist/producer/engineer Garey Shelton, who also produced the record at his Seattle-based studio, Gary Shelton Productions, accompanies Barnes. Shelton also plays bass with The Believers and Bo Didley. Joining Barnes and Shelton is 19-year-old violin prodigy Brittany Hass (Darol Angers, Republic of Strings, Bruce Molsky, The Waybacks), who often performs with Barnes in the Yonder Mountain String Band.

Prior to the release of the record, Barnes will contribute banjo on Bill Frisell’s Canadian tour, which kicks off July 7th in Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and culminates with two shows in Chicago on August 8th at the Old Town School of Folk Music. In addition to performing with Frisell, Danny will open both shows to celebrate the release of Get Myself Together. Both Bill and Danny’s shows will be taped and played on a later date on XM Radio as part of Robbie Fulks’ Secret Country Radio Hour.

Barnes will celebrate the release of Get Myself Together with two CD release shows in the Pacific Northwest, including Friday, September 16th at Imbibe in Portland and Saturday, September 17 at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle.

This fall, Barnes will hit the road as a sideman for Tim O’Brien, opening on select dates.

In other news, earlier this year Barnes contributed banjo on Robert Earl Keens new CD What I Really Mean and recently accompanied him on several West Coast tour dates. He also produced Robyn Ludwick’s new CD For So Long, which will be released on July 12, 2005

More information and full tour schedules may be found at dannybarnes.com