aaron lewis to release 'town line'

After scoring countless hits with his rock band Staind, lead singer Aaron Lewis has decided to dive head-first into country music with  "Town Line," that hits stores 1 March 2011.
"It just kind of seemed like the natural progression, the way I tend to write," said Lewis. "The songs over the years that I've written by myself and brought it to the band, songs like 'Outside,' 'It's Been Awhile,' 'So Far Away,' 'Everything Changes' 'Epiphany,' 'Tangled Up in You,' if you took those songs and put country accompaniment to them, they would fit on this solo record that I'm putting out."
Staind songs as well as those for "Town Line" were written on an acoustic guitar, Lewis said. Songs that are written that way — if penned simply — usually can be turned into anything" he added.
And so far Lewis has garnered much respect from the country music fanbase with the first single "Country Boy."
In the first week, it sold more than 20,000 digital singles, debuting at No. 9 on the Billboard Country Digital Singles sales chart. The striking video for "Country Boy" quickly hit No. 1 on the CMT.com chart, receiving more than 200,000 views during its first 10 days on the website.
Lewis admitted that he questioned his abilities before "Country Boy" hit the charts.
"I've always been quite self-doubting," he said. "you try to do your best to avoid the negativity. And it seems like anytime you have success in this business it doesn't matter what genre it is, you've sold out. I've heard it all before. Well, it may be true in some instances but it hurts my feelings because it's not true for me. I've always written every single song. I've written all the lyrics. I have a hard time unless it is claimed as a cover — I love playing covers. I would have a hard time playing a song that somebody else wrote and claiming it as my own.  This new song, the single that's out right now, is definitely the most straightforward, autobiographical. Every single thing that I say is completely, 100 percent true song that I've written. Not that there's untruths to other songs. I'm just saying this one is the most straightforward by far."
Lewis tells his story on "Country Boy" over a slide guitar.  Featuring a fiery fiddle lead from Charlie Daniels and a booming verse from George Jones, "Country Boy" strikes a balance between classic and modern country. The collaborations came about organically, he said.
"They heard the song and I'm very lucky that (producer) James Stroud, who helped me produce the record, knows a lot of people," Lewis said.
"He's been doing this an awful long time. He asked me who I was thinking of to be on the song with me. I was like, well, just kind of shooting for the stars, 'It would be amazing if Charlie could come in and lay down some sort of fiddle track.' He was like, 'That's a great idea.'
“He picked up his phone — he didn't go into his directory — he dialed the number just off the top of his head. 'Hey Charlie, what's up. I got a guy in the studio he's a big fan. He would love to have you come and play something on the record.' He was like, 'Thursday, 10:30?' and said 'I'll see you then.' He hung up the phone and it was done. I caught my breath."
Stroud asked if there were other performers on his wish list. Lewis mentioned Jones.
"He is the Rolls Royce of country music," Lewis said with a laugh. "I said, 'It would be amazing if he came in and sang the voice of the devil.' And, James picks up his phone and hand dials George's number. Almost word-for-word the same thing happened. They came in, listened to the song and they were all about it."
"My whole childhood had country music in the background," Lewis said. "All of my family on the Lewis side is a bunch of hillbillies. They're just from Vermont. That's the only difference. They all talk like the Pepperidge Farm cookie guy."
Lewis admitted that he's having somewhat of a difficult time promoting "Town Line." He said the album should have come out months ago instead of during a time when he's working on a new Staind collection.
"Yeah, nothing like leaving yourself negative time in your schedule," he said with a laugh. "But, oh, it's (the Staind music) going to be good. It's going to be good. It's some of the heaviest stuff we've ever done."
"It's going to be me and my bus driver," Lewis said. "He actually drives my tour bus. He is this unbelievable musician. He plays all sorts of different stringed acoustic instruments and he plays the piano and he plays the pedal steel and he plays all this stuff as good as anybody. So he's going to be out with me and he's going to pick up a different instrument depending on what the song calls for.
"I'm definitely going to play Staind songs. I'm not really sure how that's going to work. It's going to be two different things I guess; it's going to be the Aaron Lewis solo thing where I would have to assume that when I go out and tour that record, I'm going to put together a country band and go out and play them and add in some new songs that I didn't put on the record. Those will be songs that will be on the full length that inevitably will be coming. And then do this other thing as what it is."

the xx ~ islands

music teacher ~ pawns student instruments

A Florida music teacher has been charged with pawning instruments that belonged to students and the school where he worked.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said that 26-year-old James Morris was arrested Wednesday and charged with 14 counts of dealing in stolen property. He was later released on bail.
Deputies began investigating after six students at University High School in Orange City reported their guitars stolen. Two guitars, two violins and other equipment belonging to the school also went missing.
The sheriff's office says Morris, who claimed to have a gambling problem, confessed to taking the instruments earlier this month and resigned from his job. Investigators say Morris made $825 between October 2010 and January 2011.

the script ~ the man who can't be moved

The Script: a band from Dublin, Ireland. Based in London, the band released their self-entitled debut album in August 2008. Their music has been featured in video games and the popular programmes 90210, Ghost Whisperer, The Hills, Waterloo Road, Eastenders and The Vampire Diaries.

snow patrol ~ take back the city

rufus wainwright daughter born

A daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen was born on 2 February 2011 in Los Angeles, California to proud parents Lorca Cohen, Rufus Wainwright and Deputy Dad Jorn Weisbrodt. 

Daddy #1 would like to offer everyone a digital cigar and welcome the little lady in with a French phrase from his favorite folk song, A La Claire Fontaine : "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai."

NOTE: In many of the articles announcing the birth of Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, Lorca Cohen is characterized as "the surrogate." Of course, she is no such thing. She did not carry the child for someone else. Lorca Cohen is the mother of the baby and Rufus Wainwright is the father.
 

foo fighters ~ wasting light

The Foo Fighters have announced the details of the band's upcoming seventh album, titled Wasting Light, is due out 12 April 2011.  The first single, "Rope" is due to debut on radio 23 Feb 2011 and digital retailers shortly after.
Produced by Butch Vig and mixed by Alan Moulder, Wasting Light was recorded entirely on analog tape in the garage of Grohl's home in California's San Fernando Valley during the fall of 2010. The no computers/no software back to basics approach has reportedly resulted in arguably the strongest and most cohesive effort of the band's 15-year-plus career.

Wasting Light Tracklist:
1. Bridge Burning
2. Rope
3. Dear Rosemary
4. White Limo
5. Arlandria
6. These Days
7. Back & Forth
8. A Matter Of Time
9. Miss The Misery
10. I Should Have Known
11. Walk

owl city announce release date

Owl City, aka Adam Young, has announced that the new record, All Things Bright And Beautiful,  will be coming out on 24 May 2011. This will be Owl City's third LP and second on Universal Republic.

neon trees ~ 1983

Neon Trees will fill the support slot for MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE on the first leg of their 2011 north American tour.....

Thu 03/31/11 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Fri 04/01/11 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
Sat 04/02/11 Vancouver, BC The Centre In Vancouver For Performing Arts

Sun 04/03/11 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo

Tue 04/05/11 Edmonton, AB Edmonton Event Centre
Wed 04/06/11 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
Fri 04/08/11 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
Sat 04/09/11 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium

Sun 04/10/11 West Des Moines, IA Val Air Ballroom
Tue 04/12/11 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Wed 04/13/11 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom

Fri 04/15/11 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom

Tue 04/19/11 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
Wed 04/20/11 Montreal, QC Metropolis
Sat 04/23/11 New York, NY Terminal 5

radiohead 'king of the limbs'

Radiohead unveiled the tree that inspired their new album, ‘The King Of Limbs’.

The Oxford band announced on 14 February 2011 that they would be releasing their eighth studio album on 19 February 2011.

The tree is an oak in Wiltshire's Savernake Forest, thought to be around 1,000 years old. The forest lies around three miles away from Tottenham House, a listed country house where Radiohead recorded part of 2007’s 'In Rainbows'.

The new album is released for download on 19 February 2011 and on CD and vinyl on 28 March 2011. It will also be released as what the band are calling a 'newspaper album' package on 9 May 2011. The set includes the album on CD and vinyl plus artwork sheets.

‘The King Of Limbs’ is tipped to feature eight songs, but the band have said that they will not release tracklisting details before it is released. 

hugo ~ 99 problems

no reservation

Guest Written:
Authored by Leandro Delgado
Traveling has always been one of my passions. I spend a year studying in Italy in college, have taken numerous backpacking trips to exotic local such as the Netherlands and Europe and even did a 2 year stint in the Peace Corps where I worked with the locals in Malawi, Africa. Now that I am married with a little one on the way I do not do nearly as much traveling as I use to. I am lucky if I can get home for Christmas and that is only 2 states away! Fortunately my dear husband recently got us directv so that I can watch all my favorite travel shows during my last month of maternity bed rest. So far my favorite has been Anthony Bourdain and his hit show “No Reservations”. This show is perfect for since it includes traveling, which I love, and food, which I have come to love more. The plot is this: Anthony travels all over the world to exotic locations and tries out local cuisine. Simple and entertaining right? You bet it is. This show is so oddly captivating. Every time there is something exotic and kind of gross I get kind of exciting. It is like I am traveling and eating vicariously though him. The eating gross stuff maybe party blamed on my pregnancy hormones, but the travel jealousy is all me.

lcd shoundsystem add 4 more nyc shows

 

LCD Soundsystem have announced details of four extra New York shows after selling-out their 2 April 2011 show at Madison Square Garden.

Writing on the band's official website LCDSoundsystem.com, James Murphy revealed that they would play the Terminal 5 venue on 28-31 March 2011.

As previously reported, Murphy told chiefs at a supposed fan ticket exchange website to "eat shit" for selling tickets for the final LCD Soundsystem show at inflated prices.

"I bought two tickets to my own show for three times the value like an idiot to see if real tickets showed up," he explained in the blog. "My family got burned. It was, to say the least, weird."

Now the group are set to "look seriously at the way we sell these tickets", adding that they "just want to give people who actually want to see us a chance to see us for a reasonable ticket price. And I want to drop the price of the Madison Square Garden tickets being sold by piece of shit scalpers".

In closing Murphy thanked fans before saying "don't let the shitbags win".

young the giant ~ my body

Young the Giant is an American indie rock band that formed in Irvine, California, in 2004. The band's line-up is Sameer Gadhia (lead vocals, auxiliary percussion), Jacob Tilley (guitars), Eric Cannata (guitars), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and François Comtois (drums). Young the Giant was signed by Roadrunner Records in 2009 and released its debut album October 26, 2010 (digital), January 25, 2011 (physical).

afi ~ medicate

AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California, formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998, lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute backup vocals.

songs about snow / ice

songs about snow / ice

1. The White Stripes - In The Cold Cold Night
2. Doors - Wintertime Love
3. My Bloody Valentine - Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)
4. Tori Amos - Icicle
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Sees - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow
6. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band -Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
7. XTC- Snowman
8. Devo - Snowball
9. Concrete Blonde - Cold Part Of Town
10. Sisters Of Mercy - Driven Like The Snow
11. Aztec Camera -Walk Out To Winter
12. Sarah McLachlan - Ice
13. Superchunk - Silverleaf and Snowy Tears
14. Curve - Frozen
15. Frank Zappa - Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
16. Fountains of Wayne - Valley Winter Song
17. Elvis Costello - I Felt The Chill Before The Winter Came
18. Kate Bush - Under Ice
19. Stars - What The Snowman Learned About Love

the thermals ~ i don't believe you

TOUR MARCH/APRIL 2011 EUROPE
**All shows with The Coathangers except Garorock Festival
30.03 Manchester (UK), Roadhouse
31.03 Bristol (UK), The Fleece
01.04 London (UK), XOYO
02.04 Brussels (BE), BeursKafee
03.04 Cologne (DE), Gebaeude 9
05.04 Evreux (FR), L'Abordage
06.04 Paris (FR), La Maroquinerie
07.04 Lyon-Oullins (FR), Le Clacson
09.04 Marmande (FR), Garorock Festival
12.04 Munich (DE), Hansa 39
13.04 Wien (AT), Flex
14.04 Nuernberg (DE), K4 Festsaal
15.04 Frankfurt (DE), Sinkkasten Artsclub
16.04 Dresden (DE), Beatpol
17.04 Berlin (DE), Lido
19.04 Hamburg (DE), Knust
20.04 Groningen (NL), Vera
21.04 Amsterdam (NL), Trouw
22.04 Eindhoven (NL), Effenaar

the used ~ the bird and the worm

The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year.

Current members
* Quinn Allman — guitars, backing vocals (2001–present)
* Jeph Howard — bass, backing vocals (2001–present)
* Bert McCracken — lead vocals, piano, keyboards (2001–present)
* Dan Whitesides — drums, percussion (2006–present)

amy winehouse in hospital

Singer Amy Winehouse has checked into a private medical facility in London after falling ill with influenza, according to her publicist.

The 'Rehab' singer has been admitted to a clinic in Harley Street. It is the same facility where she had a breast augmentation in 2009, reports dailystar.co.uk.

The 27-year old singer returned to the clinic several times during 2010 due to complications following the procedure, as well as checking in after injuring herself in a drunken fall.

Now, she is back under doctors care after getting influenza following her recent shows in Brazil.

'It's nothing serious - she's just got a virus,' said her spokesperson.