Tiny bit of back-story, skip to the next paragraph to get the interesting part of this post. As some of you might know, I have another web site/blog. That one, makes money. Almost enough to live on. This one (RMD) makes about enough to buy a cup of coffee once a week. I do it purely for fun, and to spread what I think is good music. With all that said, there really is a huge non-financial benefit to running a rock music blog - musicians, promoters, managers and PR folks contact you all the time. They offer free CD’s, concert tickets, bribes of all sorts. My attitude has always been that if I like the music, I’ll write about it - regardless of the bribe. If I don’t like the music, I say thanks but no thanks. Kind of a “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” deal. So when Jon Regen sent me an email, and I went to his page and read “jazz-inspired pop” I immediately thought ‘yeah I’m not going to like this’. Damn I was wrong.

Before you go to much farther, head over to Jon Regens music page and give him a listen (I’m not 100% sure but it looks like his entire latest album is available to stream/download for free). After you listen to some of the music, you’ll understand exactly why Andy Summers of The Police, Martha Wainwright, Kamilla Thompson, Jimmy Vivino, and Julia Kent (Norah Jones, Antony & The Johnsons) all worked with him on Let It Go (his latest album). In fact I’m digging his music so much that if you review my Last.FM history, you’ll notice that I have the title track, Let It Go, on repeat.

Read more about Jon in this New York Times article, or visit his MySpace page.

Jon Regen Tour Dates

19 Apr 2008 UNDERGROUND CONCERTS ,Maplewood, New Jersey
5 May 2008 VOCALIA FESTIVAL, Udine, Pordenone
13 May 2008 INGOLSTADT BLUES FESTIVAL, Ingolstadt
14 May 2008 NU SPIRIT, Bratislava
15 May 2008 BIRDLAND, Vienna
22 May 2008 ABBABULA FESTIVAL, Sassari
31 May 2008 LA NOTTE BIANCA UNIVERSITARIA, Cesena

I have no problem admitting this - I’m a pretty big Filter fan. From the looks of this site you might think I’m only into jambands and southern rock, but that’s just not true. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I’m thrilled Filter has a new album coming out (May 13th), and have released a single from that album, Soldiers of Misfortune (take a listen below). AND, they’re touring soon (see current dates below). The rub? It doesn’t look like they’re going to be playing in the Pacific Northwest - where I live - any time soon. You can be sure I’ll be checking http://www.officialfilter.com/ fairly often to watch for new tour dates.

Filter - Soldiers of Misfortune (stream)

Filter Tour Dates

4/24 Austin, TX Stubb’s
4/26 Houston, TX KTBZ Buzzfest
4/27 Frisco, TX KDGE Edgefest
5/8 Ft. Lauderdale, FL The Culture Room
5/9 Jacksonville, FL WPLA Band Camp
5/10 Orlando, FL WJRR Early Birthday
5/11 Tampa, FL WXTB Rockfest
5/13 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
5/17 Columbus, OH Rock on the Range
5/18 St. Louis, MO KPNT Pointfest
5/20 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
5/21 Charlotte, NC Amos’ South End
5/22 Charleston, SC The Dive
5/24 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
5/25 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
5/27 Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore at TLA
5/29 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
6/1 Boston, MA WBCN River Rave
6/2 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
6/6 Nurnburg, Germany MTV Rock in Park
6/8 Nurnburgring, Germany MTV Rock am Ring
6/9 London, England Islington Academy

From: http://www.mule.net/tour/index.php - Gov’t Mule is pleased to announce West Coast Dates for the Mighty High Tour. The Mule will be hitting:

San Diego, CA (11.07)
Los Angeles, CA (11.08)
San Francisco, CA (11.09 and 11.10)
Portland, OR (11.14)
Vancouver, BC (11.15)
Seattle, WA (11.16)
Bozeman, MT (11.17)

Mule Tickets will be available for these shows starting on 9.13 @ Noon Pacific Time.

See you @ Portland, Vancouver and Seattle!

A number of these are from Pollstar, not the official Galatic page, so I can only hope Pollstar didn’t get my hopes up.

Thu - 10/11/07 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
Fri - 10/12/07 - West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues
Sat - 10/13/07 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
Sun - 10/14/07 - Lake Tahoe, NV - Montbleu Resort
Wed - 10/17/07 - Bellingham, WA - The Nightlight
Thu - 10/18/07 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
Fri - 10/19/07 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Sat - 10/20/07 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theatre
Wed - 10/24/07 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
Thu - 10/25/07 - Houston, TX - Meridian
Wed - 10/31/07 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Bar-B-Q

Corkscrew may be new to the scene, but they are turning heads where ever they go. Already having supported legendary performers such as Dickie Betts, modern rock bands such as Live and Rose Hill Drive, future legends such as Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Corkscrew has honed their live act for the bigger stages to a fine tuned performance. Frank (lead and slide guitar) has even had the honor of performing with Robert Randolph and the Family Band!

Breaking out of the common Jam band formulas, they are part of the sub genre moving towards progressive musical jams with emphasis on songwriting and arrangements. Their covers are re-interpretations of the originals, rearranged for Corkscrew’s groove and used as platforms for their innovative improvisational expeditions. What is Corkscrew’s style, who do they sound like? Each member brings a distinct musical style to the amalgam that is Corkscrew. Their influences include: The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Allman Brothers, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Phil Lesh and Friends, Dream Theater, Frank Zappa, Gov’t Mule and many others.

Corkscrew - Imagine Me

For more Corkcrew music, be sure to check out their MySpace page

Upcoming Corkscrew Tour Dates:

6/30 2007 Corner Pocket - Orange, CT
7/04 2007 Larry’s in Lakeside - Lakeside, CT
7/14 2007 Calf Pasture Beach - Rock The Kazbah Fest - Norwalk, CT
7/27 2007 The Corner Pocket Cafe - Orange, CT
7/28 2007 Ordinary Joe’s - Oakville, CT
8/09 2007 Seaside Park - Gathering of the Vibes - Bridgeport, CT
9/01 2007 Dittos Litchfield Tavern - Litchfield, CT
9/08 2007 Beckers Powder House Bike Night - Waterbury, CT

Yay Vancouver! I thought for sure Seattle would be the closest they’d play, and I’d finally go to the Gorge. And speaking of the Gorge, Hidden Track is having a very cool Everybody Wins When I Plug Something And In Return They Offer Me Free Shit To Give Away contest that you should check out (if you’re a Pearl Jam fan). What does that have to do w/ the Flaming Lips? Sweet f$*& all.

06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
07-03 Cork, Ireland - Live at the Marquee
07-06 Turku, Finland - Ruisrock
07-08 Brugge, Belgium - Cactus
07-13 Barcelona, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-14 Madrid, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-15 Glasgow, Scotland - Victoria Park (Indian Summer Festival)
07-27 Tulsa, OK - Diversafest
08-02 Gergen, Norway - Lost Weekend
08-04 Haldern, Norway - Down on the Farm
09-07 Chicago, IL - TBA *
09-09 Minneapolis, MN - TBA *
09-12 Kansas City, MO - TBA *
09-14-15 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Monolith Festival)
09-18 Vancouver, British Columbia - TBA *
09-19 Portland, OR - TBA *
09-20 Seattle, WA - TBA *

* with Black Moth Super Rainbow

From The Mountain Jam Blog:

The webcast will use 5 HD cameras. The video will be fed into a mobile production studio. The audio mix will come from the festival sound board. Then magically distributed to your computer via the Internet.

And you wonder why I call Gov’t Mule the most fan-friendly band of our time… I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.

ALO have added a series of dates in the Pacific Northwest, including a stop in Vancouver, BC. They’ll be playing with New Monsoon - and I’m not sure which is the headliner. I suppose it doesn’t matter, both are fun bands - but I’d love to catch a ‘full’ ALO show. The only time I’ve seen them previously was when they opened for Galactic @ the TLA in Philly (11/17/05). Oh and speaking of Galactic - they’re putting out a hip hop album. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but Galactic are certainly the type of band that could pull something like that off, so I’ll reserve judgement until I hear it.

And if you’re wondering why this is a 4:20 post, listen to the lyrics of Wasting Time (Isla Vista Song).

The recently added ALO dates are:

07/29/07 Horning’s Hideout, North Plains, OR
08/01/07 Richard’s on Richards, Vancouver, BC
08/02/07 Nightlight, Bellingham, WA
08/03/07 Neumos Seattle, WA

ALO - Wasting Time (Isla Vista Song)
Galactic w/ ALO - Yes We Can (live)

The Crowes are back on the road this summer. What’s more interesting, is that they’ve decided to put off releasing the ‘promised’ new album until 2008. From their website: The Black Crowes have decided to extend their break and release their new studio album in early 2008 to coincide with a world tour.

An another note, the new “Brothers Of A Feather” combined CD and DVD will be released later this year…keep checking Amorica for a soon to be announced release date.

Summer 2007 Dates after the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

Because I get to see Derek Trucks twice in June, I won’t complain too much about the lack of left coast dates. That and I’m crossing my fingers that more dates will be announced..

07/31/07 Rama, ON Casino Rama
08/01/07 Rama, ON Casino Rama
08/03/07 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center
08/04/07 Newport, RI Fort Adams State Park
08/05/07 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
08/07/07 Boston, MA Bank Of America Pavilion
08/08/07 Boston, MA Bank Of America Pavilion
08/10/07 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08/11/07 Raleigh, NC Deep South Acous. Stage@Alltel Pav.
08/12/07 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach
08/14/07 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion
08/15/07 Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
08/17/07 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center At The Waterfront
08/18/07 Bushkill, PA Mountain Laurel Center
08/19/07 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Theme Park Resort
08/21/07 Wantagh, NY Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
08/22/07 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
08/24/07 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
08/25/07 Boyne Falls, MI Boyne Mountain Resort
08/26/07 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theatre
08/28/07 Saint Paul, MN Minnesota State Fair
08/29/07 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre
08/31/07 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Council Bluffs
09/02/07 Aspen, CO Jazz Aspen Snowmass