Monday, March 15, 2010

Allman Brothers Band United Palace Updates

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Set 1
Don't Want You No More
Not My Cross To Bear
Leave My Blues At Home
Midnight Rider
Forty Four Blues
End Of The Line
Egypt
The Same Thing
Revival
Monday, March 15, 2010

Set 1
Instrumental
Can't Lose What You Never Had
Don't Trouble Me No More
Come & Go Blues
Rockin' Horse>
Gambler's Roll
Only You Know and I Know>
Les Bres in A Minor
Statesboro Blues
Black Hearted Woman

Set 2
Instrumental
The Weight
Every Hungry Woman
Jessica>
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (instrumental)>
Bass solo>
Drums>
Jessica

Encore
You Don't Love Me

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Set 1
Done Somebody Wrong
Ain't Wasting Time
Stand Back
Hoochie Coochie Man
Heart of Stone
New Instrumental (Derek)
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Whipping Post

Set 2
Little Martha>
Blue Sky>
Dreams>
No One To Run With
The Sky is Crying> *
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed> *
Bass > Drums> +
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed> *

Encore
One Way Out

* w/ Bruce Katz on keyboards
+ w/ Oteil on drums

Friday, March 12, 2010
Don't Want You No More >
It's Not My Cross To Bear
You Don't Love Me
Midnight Rider
Who's Been Talking
Trouble No More
Blind Willie McTell
Egypt
I Walk On Gilded Splinters
Woman Across The River

Set 2
Comin' Home *
Lost Lover Blues *
Revival
All My Friends
Leave My Blues at Home
Mountain Jam >
Smokestack Lightnin' >
Mountain Jam

Encore
Southbound *

* w/ Susan Tedeschi guitar and vocals


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Just Wanna Be - Your Only One

Set 1
Don’t Keep Me Wonderin'
Hot 'Lanta
Statesboro Blues
That's What Love Can Make You Do
No One Left to Run With (Derek plays Lord of Thunder)
Desdamona
Every Hungry Woman
And It Stoned Me
Kind of Bird

** set of loss and regret

Set 2
Melissa (Gregg acoustic)
Heart of the City(Ain't No Love)
Come and Go Blues
Rockin' Horse (DEREK!!!!)>
Black Hearted Woman>
Bass>
Drums w/Oteil
Jessica

Encore
Preachin' Blues - Warren & Derek duo
One Way Out

Jack Johnson to Release New Studio Album, "To The Sea," on June 1st, on Brushfire Records

Hawaiian-born singer-songwriter Jack Johnson will release his new album, entitled "To The Sea," on June 1st, 2010, on his own label, Brushfire Records. The first single from the album, "You And Your Heart," will be released to radio in early April.

"To The Sea," Johnson's fifth studio release, was co-produced by Johnson, his bandmates bassist Merlo Podlewski, keyboardist Zach Gill, and drummer Adam Topol, and Johnson's longtime engineer Robert Carranza. "To The Sea" was recorded at Johnson's two solar-powered studios: The Mango Tree in Hawaii and the Solar Powered Plastic Plant in Los Angeles. Johnson has sold more than 18 million albums worldwide, and over 9 million in the United States alone. His last album, "Sleep Through The Static" debuted at #1 and remained there for 3 weeks.

Johnson, who will embark on a world tour in support of "To The Sea," has announced dates for his upcoming summer tour in the US, which begins July 9th in Hartford CT and ends on the West Coast with two nights at the Santa Barbara Bowl on October 13th and 14th. Highlights include stops at Madison Square Garden, Jack's first headline appearance at the Hollywood Bowl, and two nights at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Tickets will go on sale to the public on April 10th. Visit www.jackjohnsonmusic.com for news and details about special ticket pre-sales.

For Johnson's "To The Sea" tour, his production team, with the support of Reverb and MusicMatters, will continue to pave the way in green touring practices and community engagement. Greening actions include fueling tour vehicles with sustainable biodiesel, offering eco-friendly tour merchandise, and promoting ride share programs. In addition, venues and fans are encouraged to reduce waste, recycle, use water refill stations and offset carbon emissions. Visit www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/greening for all tour greening details.

Johnson's tour will also collaborate with over 150 hand-chosen community groups around the world as part of Johnson's All At Once Community. This year's All At Once campaign will focus on supporting non-profit groups and engaging fans in the realms of plastic waste reduction and sustainable local food systems. As in 2008, Jack Johnson will donate 100% of his tour profits to charity. Visit www.AllAtOnce.org for additional information.

US Tour dates are as follows:
7/9 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
7/10 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
7/11 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
7/13 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/14 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
7/16 Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach Amphitheater
7/17 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
7/19 Toronto, ONT Molson Amphitheatre
7/20 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
7/21 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
7/23 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
7/24 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
7/25 Somerset, WI River's Edge
8/13 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
8/16 Bonner Springs, KS Sandstone Amphitheater
8/17 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
8/18 The Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/20 Atlanta, GA Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
8/21 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
8/22 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
8/24 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
8/25 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
8/26 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
10/1 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
10/2 George, WA The Gorge Amphitheatre
10/3 Ridgefield, WA The Amphitheater at Clark County
10/5 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre - Berkeley
10/6 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre - Berkeley
10/8 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
10/9 Chula Vista, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
10/10 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
10/12 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
10/13 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
10/14 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl

DIERKS BENTLEY TO TOUR BACKED BY THE TRAVELIN’ MCCOURYS AND SPECIAL GUEST HAYES CARLL

As a prelude to the release of his bluegrass and acoustic roots inspired new album by the same name, singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley will kick off his UP ON THE RIDGE TOUR in Portland, OR on April 21. Tickets for the run of 24 shows in 30 days go on sale this Fri., March 19. Each show will be highlighted by the scorching acoustic musicianship of Bentley’s backing band the Travelin’ McCourys and Texas based singer/songwriter Hayes Carll in the opening slot.

The UP ON THE RIDGE tour will hit venues ranging from small rock clubs to major bluegrass festivals across the country as Bentley previews new music from the upcoming album, due this summer, and reworks his biggest hits with surprising new arrangements for the run.

Much more than just a bluegrass concept album, the new disc features Bentley working with some of the finest acoustic musicians in the world, including the Del McCoury Band and Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers. The disc also features a number of vocal and instrumental contributions ranging from Alison Krauss and Miranda Lambert to Tim O’Brien and Sam Bush. Working with an award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Jon Randall Stewart and world-class recording engineer Gary Paczosa, Bentley has crafted an album with rooted familiarity as well as big surprises.

“The only way I know to explain what this new album is to all the fans is to just get out on the road and play it for them,” he adds. “I’ve been rehearsing and working on set lists already… every show is going to be different and really special. There aren’t any better acoustic musicians in the world than the Travelin’ McCourys, period. And I’ve been a big fan of Hayes for a long time. It’ll be a total blast…I’m already plotting and planning on how to fit more dates into the schedule!”

With Ron McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass, the Travelin’ McCourys are the latest incarnation of the most awarded band in the history of bluegrass -The Del McCoury Band. Known for their individual prowess on their instruments and their rapidly expanding reputation as collaborators, the Travelin’ McCourys are twenty-first century musical pilgrims and adventurers.

After a debut indie release and an acclaimed self-released sophomore album, singer/songwriter Hayes Carll found a home at Lost Highway. TROUBLE IN MIND, Carll’s Lost Highway debut released in April 2008, features a collection of songs that blend some of the finest elements of folk, country and rock with brainy, quirky lyrics. Since the release, Carll has toured almost non-stop, both with his band and solo. As a result of Carll’s patience and hard work, TROUBLE IN MIND was the #1 R&R Americana Album of 2008 and the #1 Country album at Amazon for 2008. TROUBLE IN MIND has received consistently high-praise in the press, including glorious reviews on three different NPR programs. Fans can expect a new album later this year.

UP ON THE RIDGE Tour Dates:

4/21 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
4/22 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
4/23 Colorado Springs, CO Arnold Hall Ballroom
4/24 Austin, TX The Parish
4/28 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
4/29 Greenville, SC Blind Horse Saloon
4/30 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
5/2 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theatre
5/3 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theatre
5/4 Athens, OH Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Mem Auditorium
5/5 New York, NY Highline Ballroom
5/6 Foxborough, MA Showcase Live!
5/7 Portsmouth, NH The Music Hall
5/8 South Burlington, VT Higher Ground Ballroom
5/9 Northampton, MA Calvin Theatre & Performing Arts Center
5/11 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
5/12 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
5/13 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre
5/17 State College, PA State Theatre
5/18 Richmond, VA The National
5/19 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
5/20 Washington, DC 6th & I Historic Synagogue (on sale March 26)
5/21 Charlotte, NC Coyote Joe’s
5/22 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium (on sale April 2)

Visit www.dierks.com for pre-sale info and for more on the upcoming album.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Pearl Jam Announces Spring Tour Dates, Band of Horses to Open

Pearl Jam announced today that they will play 11 Midwest and East Coast tour dates in May of 2010. The tour kicks-off on May 3rd at Sprint Center in Kansas City and wraps on May 21st at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Pearl Jam's U.S. tour follows the band's previously announced headlining appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Festival on May 1st. Band of Horses will open all shows except the May 20th Madison Square Garden engagement, where The Black Keys will open.

May 1 - New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz Festival
May 3 - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
May 4 - St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
May 6 - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
May 7 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 9 - Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
May 10 - Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
May 13 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
May 15 - Hartford, CT @ XL Center
May 17 - Boston, MA @ TD Garden
May 18 - TBD @ TBD
May 20 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
May 21 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

The Pre-Sale Scoop:



The Ten Club ticket pre-sales begin Monday, March 15th at 9 AM Pacific Time. Ten Club is offering pre-sale tickets to active members only. You must be a currently active member as of March 10th to qualify for the pre-sale. Sorry, registering and purchasing a membership now will not make you eligible for this pre-sale. Ten Club pre-sale tickets are available online only at https://www.pearljam.com/max with a Visa or Mastercard. No phone, mail, or email orders.



Ten Club tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. We will stagger ticket sales to control web traffic, so please pay attention to the corresponding pre-sale dates and times listed above as they are not in order of show. Pre-sale tickets are first-come, first-serve, while supplies last. Pre-sales for any available tickets will remain open until Thursday, March 18th at 5pm PST. Confirmations will not be sent until the pre-sale has ended. In the meantime you may view your order confirmation number in your online order history.

For wheelchair accessible seating, please contact us at 1-800-724-8038 before making a ticket purchase.

NEW PRE-SALE RULE!!!!!!! Once you have a pair of tickets in your shopping cart you must complete the check out process within 10 minutes of placing them in your shopping cart, otherwise you run the risk of those tickets being dumped back into stock and going to the next member in line.



Pre-Sale Tips:

- Test out logging in to your account in the days leading up to the pre-sale. Use this time to update old address info, add a billing address to your profile if you are using someone else's card to purchase the tickets, visit the goods page so you know the location of where you'll want to navigate when the pre-sale time arrives. For those of you extremely new to the world of online shopping, we suggest purchasing a $1 sticker to familiarize yourself with the website purchasing procedure.

- On the sale day, login to your account minutes before the specified pre-sale cuts down on the time it takes to navigate to the tickets page from the home page.

- DO NOT LOGIN USING MULTIPLE COMPUTERS!!!!! This creates a bottle neck of web traffic which can result in site failure and loss of ticket order. We can not stress this one enough.

- "Temporarily Out of Stock" means that all available tickets have been placed into shopping carts. In this situation, the best thing to do is to keep refreshing the page. Should a member decide not to complete the transaction, or should the transactions time out after 10 minutes, that pair of tickets will go back into stock and the "buy" button will reappear on that ticket page. The first person to hit the "buy" button will be able to place the tickets in their cart and complete the transaction.

- "Sold Out" means that all tickets that have been placed in carts have been purchased and the ticket sale is officially over.

- To better serve our fans: Tickets@tenclub.net and the Ten Club phone line receive an overwhelming number of inquiries during the ticket sales. Please be courteous to your fellow members and only email or call with extremely time sensitive questions pertaining to the pre-sale at hand. Hold all other questions and comments until after the pre-sales have ended.

- Confirming your ticket order went through? The phone lines get busy, so you may look this up yourself by viewing your ticket order and confirmation number in your online order history.

- Always remember to Just Breathe :)

By opting to purchase tickets, you agree to all Ten Club policies:

* All ticket sales are final. No refunds, transfers or exchanges.
* Two (2) tickets per show. No single tickets.
* Tickets are not mailed in advance. Tickets are distributed at the venue on the day of the show.
* The fan club member must collect the tickets with a valid photo identification.
* Ten Club tickets are for reserved seating and allocated by membership seniority, with the exception of rows 1-2 and rows 9-10 which will be used for random allocation.
* Seat location is not revealed in advance of the show.
* Reselling of Ten Club tickets will result in cancellation of ticket purchase and revocation of all future ticket benefits.
*

Click here http://www.pearljam.com/ten-club/tickets for information on the official rules, policies, and procedures for purchasing tickets from the Ten Club. We highly recommend that you read these details before purchasing tickets to a show so you are aware of how the ticketing system will work for you!

Questions about Ten Club tickets can be directed to tickets@tenclub.net or by calling 1-800-724-8038. Your patience is appreciated.

Public Ticket Sale: Public tickets for the Columbus, Noblesville, Hartford, Boston and Bristow shows go on sale Friday, March 19th. The remaining shows go on sale Saturday, March 20th.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Allman Brothers Band DON'T KEEP ME WONDERING 3-9-10 Jimmy Fallon Show

Former Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Mike Estes and his Band Skinny Molly to Appear on 'Huckabee'

For a southern rock group whose band members formerly played with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, you may not think they’d be passionate about politics. But it’s exactly that passion that landed the band Skinny Molly on the Fox News show ‘Huckabee’ this Saturday night.

Mike Estes, a former Skynyrd guitarist, created a song called ‘Mr. President’ as a musical commentary of the current political landscape in Washington. In the song, Estes writes “I think it's true you're outta touch sir/with all due respect/It's you who works for us Mr. President.”

The Nashville-based band will perform on the set of ‘Huckabee’ Saturday night (8pm EST/7pm CST) alongside host and former presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Justin Herndon of The Publicity Agency (http://www.thepublicityagency.com), the PR firm that landed the band on ‘Huckabee,’ says Estes will donate his writing royalties from the sale of ‘Mr. President’ (available on iTunes and on the band’s website: http://www.skinnymollyrocks.com) through April 15 to the ‘Wanna Play Fund’ – the same charity that Gov. Huckabee is a national spokesperson for and one Estes strongly believes in.

The Wanna Play Fund (http://www.wannaplaymusic.com) seeks public donations to support programs and activities that strengthen music education in schools and provide opportunities for people of all ages to learn to play music.

Skinny Molly just returned from an extensive European tour over 28 days that included stops in England, Spain, Belgium and Holland. The band is scheduled to return to Europe this fall.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

T-Bone Burnett's Songbook

Legendary music producer T-Bone Burnett was telling people at the New Yorker festival last weekend that he has signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster. He is expected to tap lots of his old charges - from Bob Dylan to Elvis Costello - to contribute to the songbook. "The gist [of the book] is top artists submit music they have never performed and will never perform - so the only way the buyer of the book can hear it is if they perform it themselves," said one knowledgeable source. T-Bone's last big hit was the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" collaboration. Burnett also scored multiple Grammy awards with the soundtrack for "O Brother, Where Art Thou."

WIDESPEAD PANIC to Unleash DIRTY SIDE DOWN On ATO RECORDS MAY 25TH


Dirty Side Down, the 11th studio album from Widespread Panic
is set for a May 25th release on ATO Records. Dirty Side Down is comprised of
12 songs that incorporate Panic’s unique blend of rock, jazz and blues inspired
textures into songs flowing with melody, rhythm and emotion.

After 24 years, Widespread Panic remain one of America’s best live bands, and
most successful touring acts. Aside from their legendary live shows, they
continue to raise the bar in their genre through their songwriting, and Dirty Side
Down is a prime example. Band members John Bell (vocals/guitar), John
Herman (keyboards/vocals), Jimmy Herring (lead guitar), Todd Nance
(drums/vocals), Domingo Ortiz (percussion) and Dave Schools (bass/vocals)
combine their efforts by writing, or co-writing, 10 of the album’s 12 tracks.
Songs, such as the dark, multi-layered opener “Saint Ex”, the boogie blues of
“Jaded Tourist” or the laid back Southern nature of “When You Comin” home
showcase Widespread Panic’s dynamic range as songwriters and musicians.

One of the highlights of Dirty Side Down is the hauntingly beautiful cover of “This
Cruel Thing” written by the late Vic Chesnutt, whose songs the band has
recorded and performed for years. Widespread Panic has previously
collaborated with Chesnutt on two albums under the name Brute. "I guess
Widespread Panic and Vic aren't quite done with each other yet.", says Panic
lead singer John Bell.

Dirty Side Down was produced John Keane along with Widespread Panic. Keane
also engineered, mixed and mastered the album, as well as contributed pedal
steel and acoustic guitar.

Allman Brothers Band Prepares for 8 Shows at New York’s United Palace

Two days before kicking off a eight-night run of shows at the United Palace Theatre in New York City, the Allman Brothers Band warmed up by treating Jimmy Fallon's Late Night show audience to a fine rendition of WHIPPING POST.

See more at -

Patty Griffin: Downtown Church


Long renown as one of Americana music's most esteemed artists, Patty Griffin has sold over a million records, was named "Artist of the Year" by the Americana Music Association, and has been the recipient of multiple Grammy nominations. Her latest release, Downtown Church, is a Gospel-inspired collection produced by longtime friend Buddy Miller and recorded live at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Griffin is joined by a host of famous friends, including Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Shawn Colvin, Mike Farris, and the McCrary Sisters, while Miller leads a band that includes his Raising Sand Review band mates Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Dennis Crouch (bass) and Jay Bellerose (drums).

This stunning group of musicians delivers a near flawless performance on Downtown Church, a disc filled with traditional covers such as “If I Had My Way" (known to Grateful Dead fans as “Samson & Delilah”), “We Shall All Be Reunited,” and the Hank Williams classic “House of Gold.” While the band works seamlessly through songs we’ve known our entire life, Griffin is at her powerful, passionate best when telling her own stories ("Wade in the Water" and "Waiting for My Child") with the mournful, yet uplifting voice that is uniquely her own.

Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide

Written by Steve Bloom, a former editor at High Times , and Shirley Halperin, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and former contributor to High Times and Rolling Stone, Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide is the new bible of all things 4:20. With a foreword written by the ultimate celebrity stoner, Tommy Chong, Pot Culture is already an overwhelming success, with pre-order sales prompting a second run of the book as soon as it was released.

Pot Culture is a compilation of more than 500 people, places, words and slang phrases (from “Acapulco Gold” to “zooted”), as well as a “how-to guide, an atlas, a book of manners, a cultural manifesto, a cookbook, and a cross-referenced history lesson on the world of weed.” The book includes top 10 lists such as classic stoner TV and stoner capitals of the world, hundreds of maps, charts, and photos, as well as quotes and photos of dozens of celebrities, including Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Dave Chappelle, Bob Marley, and Willie Nelson.

The origin of 420 is revealed in one of the books HIGH-lights. Another interesting 420 fact is unveiled about Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.″ While the songs chorus is blatantly stoner friendly, did you ever realize that if you multiply 12 by 35, you get 420?

Perhaps the most comprehensive literary work of its kind, Pot Culture is very interesting read from beginning to end, and seems destined to become an integral part of stoner culture, the definitive encyclopedia of pot.

ALO Doing What They Do

The core of the Animal Liberation Orchestra (more commonly known as ALO) began performing together at the age of 12, while still attending junior high in Saratoga, CA. After tasting early success, Zach Gill (kKeyboards/Vocalsvocals), Steve Adams (Bass Guitarguitar/Vvocals), and Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (Guitarsguitar/Ppercussion/Vvocals) knew they wanted more.

“We had our first gig at a local talent show,” Lebowitz recalls. “We won and it ended up being pretty awesome, so we thought, “’we should do that some more.’”

After several names changes and multiple attempts to find the right drummer, the band eventually evolved in to the Animal Liberation Orchestra, a nine-piece ensemble, complete with a brass section. ALO earned a reputation as a band known for an its enthusiastic live performance, and soon started drawing a great deal of attention in the Santa Barbara area. Later, when Gill, Adams and Lebowitz decided to return home to Saratoga, they dropped the brass section, and reemerged as a stripped down quartet, again featuring another a rotating casts of drummers. Finally, in 2002, the core trio reunited with college friend David Brogan, and the current version of ALO was solidified.

Lebowitz speaks with the utmost of respect for the man that rounded out his band’s roster. “Dave’s a guy that operates in the same way we do, so he really fit and settled in right away. One of the things about band is everyone is expected to write and contribute to our material. We spend a lot of our rehearsal time we spent writing, and some drummers just sit there and wait to play their parts. Dave also plays keyboards and guitar, and is constantly bringing new ideas to our songs. We love him.”
Zach Gill attended college with the popular singer-songwriter, Jack Johnson at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has spent time recently touring playing keyboards with Johnson's band. In addition to signing ALO to his Brushfire label and taking the band on tour as his opening act in 2005, Johnson often turns up unannounced at ALO shows to play his music with ALO as his backup band, using his celebrity to help promote ALO to a much wider audience.
“Back in the day,” Lebowitz recalls, “when we were in college and trying to build a fan base in our town, one of the things we would do is have Jack sit in with us. After his band had broken up, he still wanted to play his songs, so he would come and sit in with our band and we’d play a couple of his songs during a set. It was always really fun because we always liked working with him, but we were our own band and we wanted to do our own material too. We always talked doing something sometime in the future.”

In 2009, Johnson invited the band to his studio on the in Hawaii islands, where ALO spent three weeks recording with Johnson at the controls as producer. The result, Man of the World, is an album that many will consider the best work of ALO’s career.
Lebowitz says, “When we started talking about what everybody wanted to do (onfor the next album), Jack called and asked us out to his studio in Hawaii. That was great because it was his home turf. We really enjoyed writing there. We just spent three weeks recording all day. That gave us time to get things in tune and to spend time writing new music as well. It’s great to see something that’s been on the back burner for years (recording with Johnson) finally come out.”

While the songs on Man of the World still feature the laid-back California vibes for which ALO is known, the album also shows the growth of a band that continues its quest to redefine itself with each new project. As Lebowitz puts it, “It’s the next phase for ALO. Each time we do an album, we are redefining our approach, at least from the fan’s perspective. This new collection of music shows were we are right now, sort of a marker of this point in time. I feel like all albums are that way.

“One of the things that I really liked about our albums in the past is that have been a collection of several different ways of recording. We all write to some extent, some more than others, and in the past our albums each of us usually brought songs to the sessions that were mostly completed. Other times we go into a room and just start playing and then the music really comes out as a collaborative effort. This album by far has the most collaboration that we have ever had. That feels really good because it really captures the unique way the band sounds as a collective.”

Pushed to name his favorite track on Man of the World, Lebowitz is at first hesitant. Later, he concedes a special fondness for the album’s opening track, “Suspended.”

“I knew the moment we recorded that tune that the way that one came was very interesting. Within the collaborative writing process, there’s a million ways to things. ‘Suspended’ came about in a way that we never really done before. Prior to recording, we were doing preproduction and just jamming. We stumbled across this groove and had the tape running and catching everything that came out. Afterwards, when we pulled out the tapes, we all really liked this one. It was literally just a shell of a piece of music, then late one night in the studio, about half way through recording process when we were starting to get a feel for what the album was going to be like, we thought of an arrangement really quick, hit record on the machine, and played the song through. A couple of days later, some melody and lyrics got written. In some ways, this is the most pure piece of music we’ve ever done - just a band playing and some vocals, Nno editing, no overdubs. It’s pure in the sense that it was just as new a piece of music to us at the time we were playing it as it is going to be to the people hearing it for the first time. As a band, you usually work out the kinks first, but sometimes it is cool to have a pure piece of music and to just play it.


“From my perspective, because it’s something we’ve never done before, the way it caome out was just very organic and real. When it was done, we thought, ‘Let’s start the album off with this,’ because this is ALO, no bells and whistles or anything like that.”

Knowing what ALO is now, the next logical question seems to be, “What exactly is an Animal Liberation Orchestra?”

As Lebowitz tells it, “We were in college and we were shuffling through names like all the young bands do, and everyone was throwing ideas out. We thought it was funny, we were at a college and there were all these organizations going on. So we thought, “’What is our band about?” ?’ Our band is really about people getting out and having a good time, letting yourself be free, liberating your inner animal. So we called it the Animal Liberation Orchestra and in a sense, there is a lot of truth to that. That is what we we’re about, but we also thought it was funny just kind of a like parody. At a college, there’s all sorts of programs out there, and we figured this will be ours - the Animal Liberation Orchestra, come out and let you know and your inner animal out.”

When asked what the future holds in store for his band, Lebowitz speaks with much excitement. “I see us doing a lot more of what we’ve been doing all along - writing songs together, making albums, and playing shows. I’m really excited about touring to see what these songs turn in to. I would love to see a live album happen one day, not just a live show, but an actual album of choice cuts from the tour. I feel like with the last album we did it in a similar way where most the tunes hadn’t been road tested before.

“Now we’ve got like a couple of albums worth of that with this stuff and it would be fun to do a live album because a lot of those tunes on the last album really grew in different ways as they were tested on the road. I know the new songs will too, it’s inevitable with folks like us like to tinker with their songs. They will only grow from here, so I can see a really cool live album that would be like the next generation of all these songs.

“Besides that, we are just going to keep writing more songs, playing more gigs, and doing what we do.”

GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS ANNOUNCE TRACK LISTING FOR SELF-TITLED THIRD ALBUM

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the emerging Vermont-based band’s third album for Hollywood Records, will be released on June 8. Produced by Mark Batson (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band), this captivating new recording showcases the Vermont-based band’s new five-piece configuration, in which singer and Hammond B3 player Potter, lead guitarist Scott Tournet and drummer Matt Burr are joined by bassist Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Hem) and rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco, “This record is the first time it’s really been us — the first time we’ve all found each other and ourselves,” says Potter. Adds Burr, “Every record you make, you always say, ‘This is the one.’ But with this lineup we’ve cracked the code.” The track listing for the 13-track disc is as follows:

Track listing for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals:

1. “Paris”

2.“Oasis”

3. “Medicine”

4. “Goodbye Kiss”

5. “Tiny Light”

6. “Colors”

7. “Only Love”

8. “Money”

9. “One Short Night”

10. “Low Road”

11. “That Phone”

12. “Hot Summer Night”

13. “Things I Never Needed”

The first single off the album is the musically powerful and thematically resonant “Tiny Light,” one of six Potter-Batson co-writes. During its course, the track builds from a simmer to a boil and then somehow hits an even more scorching level of intensity during an extended instrumental outro.

“It’s a song about hope during the hard times we’ve been going through,” Grace explains. “One line is ‘What will come of all our pride / This house of stone has crumbled from the inside.’ It has a dramatic minor-key melody, but it opens up into a chorus that takes you to this really soaring place. As much as I loved it when we wrote it, I resisted recording it at first. But in the end I couldn’t pass it up. The chorus goes, ‘I see a tiny light / Like a flashbulb sparkle in the night / I see a tiny light / Telling everyone to hold on tight.’ It makes you wonder; it makes you look in the mirror — and I love songs like that.”

According to Potter, the producer employed one of his signature radical moves to get the optimum take: “Normally, a band and producer would fuss and poke and prod for days on a song like this, but once we got the arrangement right, Batson just brought in a belly dancer with a 15-foot python snake to perform in the studio. That seemed to light a fire under everyone's asses and we nailed it on the spot.”

The video for “Tiny Light” is being shot in L.A. this month, with Paul Minor (Muse, The Editors, Queens of The Stone Age) directing.

Additionally, GPN’s electrifying take of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" appears on the Buena Vista Records release Almost Alice, a companion release to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, hitting March 2, three days before the film’s release.

The band will showcase its new lineup and songs at SXSW, where they’ll play Antone’s March 18 as part of the Americana Music Association showcase. Potter will also perform on a string of Lilith Fair dates this summer. More details as they emerge.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals marks a quantum leap for the band, as Batson vividly captures a group of exceptional young players in the very act of becoming themselves. From the languorous “Oasis” to the deep-grooved, serrated rockers like “Medicine,” “Paris” and “Only Love,” the new model Grace Potter and the Nocturnals positively swagger. Not only that, but the hooks are humongous, from Potter’s voice as she belts, teases and soars to Tournet’s uncoiling guitar riffs, positively lethal in their aggressiveness. Potter and her cohorts are equally captivating at the other end of the dynamic and thematic spectrum, on songs like the zeitgeist-capturing widescreen ballad “Colors.”

Tour Dates for GPN are as follows:

March 11



North Adams, MA



Mass MoCa

March 12



Ridgefield, CT



Ridgefield Playhouse

March 13



Sugarloaf, ME



Sugarloaf Ski Resort

March 18



Austin, TX



Antone’s – SXSW

March 21



Aspen, CO



Snowmass Mountain

March 27



Jackson Hole, WY



Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

April 25



Phoenix, AZ



McDowell Mountain Music Festival

May 14



Richmond, VA



Browns Island

More dates to be announced.

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