Music News Archive

Music News for 1/30/2020

My Chemical Romance is gearing up for a North American tour for the first time in nine years! The tour kicks off this fall on September 9th in Detroit, and wraps up October 11th in Las Vegas. Tickets for all dates will go on sale this Friday, January 31st at 12 p.m. local time on Ticketmaster.com. Complete information is available on the band’s website. Catch the full story at RollingStone.

 

Music News for 1/13/2020

Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist for the iconic Canadian prog rock band Rush, has died. He was 67 years old.

His death was announced Friday by spokesperson Elliot Mintz, who said that Peart died on Jan. 7 in Santa Monica, Calif. Peart had been diagnosed with brain cancer three and a half years ago.

On Friday, Rush released a statement: “It is with broken hearts and the deepest sadness that we must share the terrible news that on Tuesday our friend, soul brother and bandmate of over 45 years, Neil, has lost his incredibly brave three and a half year battle with brain cancer (glioblastoma). … Rest in peace brother.”

For more information and a remembrance piece on Peart, check out NPR.

 

Music News for 6/4/2019

 

Multi-platinum recording artists TWENTY ONE PILOTS & THE KILLERS headline TWO special MLB All-Star Concerts in downtown Cleveland on Friday, July 5th and Saturday, July 6th, Major League Baseball announced today. The free outdoor shows will take place in Mall B at PLAY BALL PARK outside the Huntington Convention Center as part of the 2019 MLB All-Star Week festivities in and around the city.

Opening for Twenty One Pilots on Friday night is Cleveland’s own WELSHLY ARMS, with WHITE REAPER taking the stage ahead of The Killers for Saturday’s event. Both concerts will take place rain or shine and will be immediately followed by a choreographed firework show against the Cleveland skyline. 

Free general admission tickets can be claimed on AllStarGame.com/concerts beginning Wednesday, June 5 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Fans can request up to two tickets for either show. The site also contains information on transportation to the concert area as well as prohibited items.

 

Music News for 5/29/2019

 

It was either a bitter a sweet ending to a long dispute between The Rolling Stones and The Verve depending on your preference, but at long last the battle over the authorship of “Bitter Sweet Symphony” has been put to rest.

The Verve’s frontman and co-founder, Richard Ashcroft, announced last week the 22-year long dispute between the bands has finally ended with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards signing over their publishing rights to the song, which was first released in 1997 and launched The Verve to international stardom. The dispute stemmed from The Verve’s use of samples from an orchestral rendition of the Stones’ “The Last Time.”

Read the full story here!

 

Music News for 3/5/2019

 

Hozier’s second album Wasteland, Baby! was released on March 1, 2019. He released the single “Movement” on November 14, 2018, “Almost (Sweet Music)” on January 16, 2019 and “Dinners and Diatribes” on February 15, 2019. Two songs from the Nina Cried Power EP, the title track and “Shrike”, also appear on Wasteland, Baby! The album cover was painted by Hozier’s mother. The song “No Plan” is greatly influenced by a lecture delivered by astrophysicist, Katie Mack (astrophysicist), about the end of the universe.

Catch the full story here!

Hozier is currently on tour in the United Kingdom.

 

 

Music News for 2/26/2019

 

When sampling parts of other songs, artists have a tight line they can’t cross before their sampling becomes copyright infringement. Where is that line and how easy is it for artists to cross, though? Click the link and check out this video from The Washington Post as they dive into some recent examples of music sampling going a bit too far.

 

Music News for 2/21/2019

 

Peter Tork, the sly bass guitarist in ’60s teenpop TV sensation The Monkees, passed away today at the age of 77. Tork’s sister Anne Thorkelson, confirmed his death to the Washington Post, though no cause was specified. Tork was diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009.

Although the band was made-for-TV, both Tork and Mike Nesmith were accomplished musicians on the folk and rock scenes of the early ’60s, while Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones were child actors. Tork was the group’s flaky “lovable dummy” comic foil, sort of the Ringo of the band .,. a persona he developed during his stint as a folk musician on the Greenwich Village downtown New York scene.

‘Born in Washinton, DC, as Peter Halsten Thorkelson, Tork was originally recommended to The Monkees producers by Stephen Stills, who also auditioned for the part.but was turned down because they thought his hair and teeth wouldn’t show off well on camera. Tork actually played some guitar on the group’s first two albums, going on to contribute keyboards, bass, banjo and harpsichord, among other instruments to the band’s recordings. That’s his piano intro to “Daydream Believer,” banjo interlude in “You Told Me,” and songwriting credits on “For Pete’s Sake” and “Lady’s Baby.”

During a trip to London in 1967, he contributed banjo parts to George Harrison’s “Wonderwall” soundtrack,. then participated in several Monkees reunions in 1986 and 2011. 

In 2012, he joined Dolenz and Nesmith with a Monkees tour in honor of the album “Headquarters” and its 45th anniversary, as well as in tribute to the late Davy Jones. The trio would tour again in 2013 and 2014.

Tork documented his experiences with cancer on Facebook, encouraging his fans to support efforts of the Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation.

Tork is survived by his fourth wife Jody Babb, two daughters (Hallie Elizabeth, 49, and Erica Marie, 21) and a son (Ivan Joseph, 43).

(Story via All Access Music Group)

 

Music News for 2/20/2019

The Revivalists have released a new music video for their song “Change!” The video was shot on location at Meow Wolf.

Watch the video here!

 

Beck and Cage the Elephant have announced a co-headlining tour together with special guests Spoon. The tour includes stops at DTE Energy Music Theater in Detroit, Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati and the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Indianapolis.

For other tour dates and locations, click here!

 

Music News for 2/15/2019

Weezer has released a new video for their cover of a-Ha’s Take On Me staring Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard and his band Calpurnia.  Wolfhard steps into the role of a young Rivers Cuomo in the video inspired by the original 1985 release.
“Take On Me” is the newest single off of Weezer (The Teal Album), which was a surprise release of cover songs on January 24th.  The band is touring with the Pixies starting next month ahead of the release of their next album of original songs, Weezer (The Black Album).

 

Music News for 2/14/2019

Fantastic Negrito is celebrating his second consecutive GRAMMY® Award triumph after his acclaimed 2018 album, PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD, received the “Best Contemporary Blues Album” trophy at last night’s ceremonies in Los Angeles. PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD: DELUXE VERSION, an expanded edition of the award-winning LP, is available now for streaming and download via Cooking Vinyl and Blackball Universe.
 
“I knew I made a great record,” Fantastic Negrito, aka Xavier Dphrepaulezz, told the San Francisco Chronicle shortly after winning the award yesterday. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s pretty surreal. I’m appreciative of every moment.”
 
“It’s wonderful to see true creativity acknowledged,” says President of Cooking Vinyl America Howie Gabriel. “So happy for Xavier and the whole Blackball Universe team. This Grammy is much deserved.”
PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD is highlighted by the extraordinary singles,  “Plastic Hamburgers” and “The Duffler,” the latter of which earned fulsome praise from Rolling Stone: “With its greasy guitar stomp and falsetto vocal delivery, ‘The Duffler’ fills the middle ground between modern protest music for the political rally and sweaty, sexed-up baby-making music for the bedroom.” Both tracks are accompanied by striking companion visuals, streaming now at Fantastic Negrito’s official YouTube channel HERE.
 
Last week saw the music video premiere of “A Boy Named Andrew” as well as an interview with Esquire about his “forays into fashion, the style icons who made him, and the pieces that still move him.”
 
WATCH “THE DUFFLER“
WATCH “PLASTIC HAMBURGERS“
WATCH “A BOY NAMED ANDREW“
 
In an interview with CBS News last summer, Negrito tells Anthony Mason, “I always look at my journey like it’s the American dream.” Negrito’s performances of “The Duffler,” “Plastic Hamburgers,” “A Cold November Street,” and “Dark Windows” are available to stream on CBS This Morning‘s official website and YouTube channel.
Long hailed for his electrifying live performances, Fantastic Negrito is currently in the midst of an epic world tour, with dates scheduled through the summer. Highlights include much-anticipated visits to South America, Australia, Europe, and the United Kingdom, as well as festival appearances at such upcoming gatherings as Clearwater, FL’s Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival (February 23rd) and Floyd, VA’s FloydFest 19 – Voyage Home (July 24th). Additional dates will be announced. For complete details, updates, and ticket information, please visit fantasticnegrito.com/pages/tour.