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Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms Team Up for American Idol Finale and 36-Date Co-Headlining Summer Tour

Eric Alper
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Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms Team Up for American Idol Finale and 36-Date Co-Headlining Summer Tour

Two of alternative rock’s most enduring acts are about to remind everyone exactly why they’ve never gone away.

Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms appear together on the American Idol season finale Monday, May 11 at 8:00 PM ET on ABC and Disney+, performing alongside finalists in what shapes up as one of the stronger musical moments of this season’s closing night. The episode streams the following day on Disney+ and Hulu.

That appearance is the warm-up. On July 6, the two bands launch a 36-date co-headlining summer tour with special guest Spin Doctors, hitting iconic venues including the Hollywood Bowl and SummerStage in Central Park. The run builds on last summer’s co-headlining tour, which included a joint takeover of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that underscored just how naturally these two acts share a stage.

Blues Traveler have been at it for nearly four decades, releasing 14 studio albums, selling more than 10 million combined units worldwide and playing over 2,000 shows in front of 30 million people. “Run-Around” remains the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history and earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Their Grammy-nominated 2021 release ‘Traveler’s Blues’ and 2023’s ‘Traveler’s Soul’ showed a band still pushing their sound forward, working through blues and classic R&B with the same energy they brought to those early Princeton basement sessions.

Gin Blossoms built their legacy out of Tempe, Arizona, where their 1992 major-label debut ‘New Miserable Experience’ sold more than four million copies on the strength of “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road” and “Until I Fall Away.” Their follow-up ‘Congratulations I’m Sorry’ went platinum and delivered the Grammy-nominated “As Long as It Matters.” Inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2017, the band has never stopped touring and never stopped writing. Their latest album ‘Mixed Reality,’ produced by Don Dixon and engineered by Mitch Easter, delivers 15 new tracks that carry the same jangly, hook-driven energy that made them essential in the first place.

Together, Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms with Spin Doctors in tow make for a summer tour that delivers genuine catalog depth alongside real momentum.

Motion City Soundtrack, Ber and Rocket Club Lead All-Minnesotan Opening Night at Mystic Lake Amphitheater

Eric Alper
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Motion City Soundtrack, Ber and Rocket Club Lead All-Minnesotan Opening Night at Mystic Lake Amphitheater

Minnesota’s summer concert landscape just got a major new address.

Mystic Lake Amphitheater opens its doors on June 20 in Shakopee with an all-Minnesotan celebration, and at $20 a ticket, it’s one of the better deals of the summer. Motion City Soundtrack, Ber and Rocket Club headline the opening night lineup, with School of Rock taking the stage first as the venue’s very first performing act. St. Paul native and Saturday Night Live cast member Tommy Brennan hosts. A headliner is still to be announced. Festivities run from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m., with a portion of proceeds benefiting The Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund, supporting Minnesota’s restaurant workers and businesses. Presale opens Thursday, May 7 at 10:00 a.m., with general on-sale Friday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m.

The venue itself is built to impress. The 19,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater was purpose-built for live music, featuring state-of-the-art production, exceptional acoustics and unobstructed sightlines overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. Concessions lean local, with Red Lake Walleye, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and rotating food trucks on the menu, alongside $2 hot dogs, $5 beer and $3 snacks. Premium options include first-of-its-kind bunker suites just 125 feet from the stage, VIP club access and The Backyard, a pre-show social space with food, drinks, lawn games and live music.

The economic footprint is significant too. Mystic Lake Amphitheater projects a $138 million annual regional impact, including $73 million in local spending and $11 million in tax revenue, with more than 800 local roles created across operations, hospitality and security. “Our fans in Minnesota will soon have a world-class outdoor amphitheater they can call their own,” says Josh Lacey, Minnesota Market President at Live Nation. “With $20 tickets and an eclectic lineup of homegrown talent, it’s a night designed to bring fans together and give back locally.”

The inaugural season that follows is stacked. More than 35 concerts are scheduled spanning rock, country, hip-hop, pop and beyond, opening with mgk on June 22. The summer run includes Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Lil Wayne with 2 Chainz, Hilary Duff, Chris Stapleton, Kesha, Guns N’ Roses, Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Festival, Mötley Crüe, Wu-Tang Clan, Iron Maiden and Pitbull with Lil Jon, among many more. Full schedule at MysticLakeAmp.com.

Mystic Lake Amphitheater 2026 Season Highlights:

June 20 — Opening Night Celebration featuring Motion City Soundtrack, Ber, Rocket Club, School of Rock (hosted by Tommy Brennan)

June 22 — mgk

June 23 — Dave Matthews Band

July 6 — Bob Dylan

July 18 — Lil Wayne with 2 Chainz

July 25 — Hilary Duff

July 29–30 — Chris Stapleton

August 3 — Kesha

August 8 — Guns N’ Roses

August 19 — Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Festival

August 21 — Mötley Crüe

September 1 — Wu-Tang Clan

September 19 — Iron Maiden

September 26 — Pitbull with Lil Jon

Country Music’s Gentle Giant Don Williams Returns With Unearthed Single “How Can I Miss What I Never Had”

Eric Alper
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Country Music’s Gentle Giant Don Williams Returns With Unearthed Single “How Can I Miss What I Never Had”

Don Williams never really left. He just had more music waiting to be found.

“How Can I Miss What I Never Had” is out today, the latest single from ‘EPILOGUE: The Cellar Tapes,’ the newly unearthed 12-song collection arriving May 29 via Craft Recordings. Written by Bob McDill, one of Williams’ most trusted collaborators and a fellow Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, the track carries all the understated warmth and emotional clarity that defined Williams’ best work. His unmistakably warm baritone is front and center, unhurried and deeply felt, exactly as it should be. Listen here.

McDill and Williams built one of Nashville’s great creative partnerships. McDill penned “Amanda,” “It Must Be Love,” “Good Ole Boys Like Me” and “(Turn Out the Light And) Love Me Tonight,” all central pieces of Williams’ catalog and all reflective of a shared instinct for restraint and timeless storytelling. “How Can I Miss What I Never Had” fits naturally alongside that body of work. Longtime co-producer Garth Fundis, who collaborated with Williams for more than four decades and played a central role in restoring and completing this collection, puts it plainly: “The sincerity shines through in this CLASSIC vocal performance by Don matched with the songwriting of Bob McDill. For the life of me I cannot recall how this track could have been overlooked, never before included on an album. Almost lost…but not now.”

Drawn from recordings captured during Williams’ defining 1979 to 1984 era, ‘EPILOGUE: The Cellar Tapes’ is a 12-track archive that fills in a remarkable chapter of country music history. Williams charted 56 singles across his career, including 17 number ones, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010. He passed away in 2017, but his influence runs deep through every generation of artists drawn to authenticity and genuine songcraft.

‘EPILOGUE: The Cellar Tapes’ Tracklist:

  1. Try Me Again
  2. You Came True
  3. I’m The One (Alternate Version)
  4. Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight
  5. I Wish I Was Crazy Again
  6. I’m In Love For My Last Time
  7. Spinning Around
  8. A Matter Of Time
  9. I’m The One (Original Version)
  10. How Can I Miss What I Never Had
  11. Goldy’s Gone From Golden
  12. Growing On Me

Hard Rock Powerhouse Jasmine Cain Drops Fierce New Lyric Video for “Are You Ready”

Eric Alper
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Hard Rock Powerhouse Jasmine Cain Drops Fierce New Lyric Video for “Are You Ready”

Jasmine Cain has a new lyric video out for “Are You Ready,” and it means business.

The hard rock powerhouse has built her reputation on gritty riffs, powerhouse vocals and a live presence that doesn’t leave room for half-measures, and “Are You Ready” is a direct extension of everything that’s made her a force in the rock scene. The track is a full-throttle anthem, crushing riffs up front, unapologetic attitude throughout, and a vocal delivery that drives every line home with authority.

The lyric video matches the song’s energy, bringing every word front and center with the same raw, rebellious spirit that runs through Cain’s catalog. It’s the kind of release that rewards volume, built for speakers pushed hard and listeners who want something with real conviction behind it.

Cain has spent years carving out her space in modern hard rock through relentless work and a growing catalog that balances strength with genuine emotional range. “Are You Ready” adds another sharp entry to that body of work.

Video: Post-Punk Firebrands Fontaines D.C. Tear Through a St. Patrick’s Day Set at Dublin’s The Complex

Eric Alper
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Video: Post-Punk Firebrands Fontaines D.C. Tear Through a St. Patrick’s Day Set at Dublin’s The Complex

Dublin’s own Fontaines D.C. played their hometown on St. Patrick’s Day 2022 at The Complex, and the result is exactly what you’d want from one of modern post-punk’s most electrifying live acts: raw, poetic, confrontational and deeply alive. Part of the Jameson Unplugged series, the set moves through “Too Real,” “Televised Mind,” the anthemic “Jackie Down The Line” and “A Hero’s Death,” with a standout cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” woven in, Grian Chatten’s distinctive delivery making it feel entirely their own.

Bluegrass Legends Boone Creek Return With Restored 1977 Debut and Four Unearthed Recordings

Eric Alper
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Bluegrass Legends Boone Creek Return With Restored 1977 Debut and Four Unearthed Recordings

The tapes were moldy, badly damaged, and missing for nearly five decades. What came back from that recovery is one of the most compelling archival stories in roots music this year.

Boone Creek’s self-titled 1977 debut arrives June 26 via Craft Recordings and HighTone Records, reissued on vinyl for the first time since its original pressing and making its CD and streaming debut. The album features four previously unreleased bonus tracks salvaged from session tapes that had been stolen by an engineer, tracked down decades later, and painstakingly restored. Lead single “I’m Gonna Settle Down,” a soul-stirring take on the Flatt & Scruggs classic, is streaming now. Pre-order now here.

Boone Creek formed in 1976 when Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas, fresh off their tenure with J.D. Crowe & the New South, joined forces with guitarist Wes Golding and banjoist Terry Baucom. The band pulled from jam-band looseness, timeless pop craft and the soft-rock textures of the era, incorporating electric guitar, drums, piano, horns and synthesizers while keeping their tight bluegrass-inspired harmonies front and center. Rounder initially found portions of the debut “too commercial,” prompting additional sessions in a more traditional vein. The resulting album combined both sets of recordings into something that pushed well past the accepted boundaries of bluegrass in 1977.

The four recovered bonus tracks push even further. “Hitchhiking to California” is freewheeling and loose, while the horn-laced “Dream Song” drifts into subtly psychedelic territory. “Misty Wind” features a harmony vocal from a then-unknown bass player named Vince Gill. Grammy-winning reissue producer Scott Billington oversaw the restoration. “The recovery of the four new tracks was a years-long research and restoration project,” Billington says. “The end result was worth it, because we get a glimpse into the creative minds of these four outstanding musicians that will surprise and delight many listeners.”

Skaggs went on to earn 15 Grammy Awards and played a defining role in multiple waves of American roots revival. Douglas has collected 16 Grammys and remains one of the most influential instrumentalists of his generation, currently with Alison Krauss and Union Station. Baucom, a founding member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and IIIrd Tyme Out, passed away in December 2023 and received a Distinguished Achievement Award at that year’s IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards. “We thank everyone involved for their tenacity and forward thinking in bringing this remastered lost treasure back into the light,” Douglas says.

“It’s been over 50 years since Boone Creek made these recordings and it’s great to hear them remastered,” Skaggs adds. “They sound better than ever, and I never thought the previously unreleased cuts would see the light of day.”

Boone Creek is available for pre-order and pre-save now ahead of its June 26 release.

Vinyl Tracklist:

Side A

  1. Dixieland
  2. Dark Is The Night
  3. Walkin’ In Jerusalem
  4. Gonna Settle Down
  5. Drifting Too Far From The Shore
  6. White House Blues
  7. Boone Creek
  8. The Memory of Your Smile

Side B

  1. Intro
  2. Satisfy My Mind
  3. Sugar Daddy
  4. Ain’t Nobody Gonna Miss Me
  5. Hitchhiking to California*
  6. Misty Wind*
  7. Georgia Sunrise*
  8. Dream Song*

*Previously unreleased

CD/Digital Tracklist:

  1. Dixieland
  2. Dark Is The Night
  3. Walkin’ In Jerusalem
  4. Gonna Settle Down
  5. Drifting Too Far From The Shore
  6. White House Blues
  7. Boone Creek
  8. The Memory of Your Smile
  9. Intro
  10. Satisfy My Mind
  11. Sugar Daddy
  12. Ain’t Nobody Gonna Miss Me
  13. Hitchhiking to California*
  14. Misty Wind*
  15. Georgia Sunrise*
  16. Dream Song*

*Previously unreleased

Atlanta Alternative Hip-Hop Trailblazer BKTHERULA Takes the N5ON Tour Across Europe This Summer

Eric Alper
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Atlanta Alternative Hip-Hop Trailblazer BKTHERULA Takes the N5ON Tour Across Europe This Summer

BKTHERULA is bringing her world to Europe, and the timing couldn’t be sharper.

The Atlanta artist has announced THE N5ON TOUR, a run of headline shows and major festival appearances across Europe and the UK this July. Paris, London and Amsterdam are all on the itinerary, alongside festival slots at Splash! Festival in Germany and Openair Frauenfeld in Switzerland. Artist presale opens Thursday, May 7 at 10pm local time, with general on-sale Friday, May 9 at 10am local time.

The tour arrives as BKTHERULA steps into a new era. Her upcoming single “I Go Punk,” produced by Whethan, is due soon, followed by her EP N5ON. The new music leans into a dance-forward, club-inspired energy, hip-hop, EDM and alternative sounds colliding in a live setting built for movement. Anyone who’s caught her on a festival stage already knows what that looks like in practice.

The numbers behind BKTHERULA are hard to argue with. Over 480 million global streams, a Forbes 30 Under 30 nod, and a footprint that now spans music, fashion and lifestyle. Her latest project ‘LUCY’ is streaming now and makes a strong case for where this new chapter is headed.

THE N5ON TOUR Dates:

Friday, July 3 — Gräfenhainichen, Germany — Splash! Festival

Sunday, July 5 — Paris, France — La Bellevilloise

Monday, July 6 — London, England — Scala

Thursday, July 9 — Amsterdam, Netherlands — Bitterzoet

Saturday, July 11 — Frauenfeld, Switzerland — Openair Frauenfeld

Grand Ole Opry Member T. Graham Brown Brings Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown to LIVE WIRE on SiriusXM

Eric Alper
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Grand Ole Opry Member T. Graham Brown Brings Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown to LIVE WIRE on SiriusXM

T. Graham Brown’s monthly SiriusXM showcase just got a marquee guest. The latest episode of LIVE WIRE on Prime Country Channel 58 features an exclusive interview with Mark Miller, the longtime frontman of Sawyer Brown, the group that won Star Search in 1983 and went on to rack up more than 20 Top 10 hits including “Some Girls Do,” “Dirt Road” and “Six Days On The Road.” The episode airs May 6 at 10/9 p.m. CT, with additional airings continuing throughout May, and is available on demand anytime through the SiriusXM app and Pandora NOW.

Brown, a Grammy-nominated, CMA and Emmy Award-winner, has hosted LIVE WIRE since 2019, and this episode is one of the stronger lineups the show has assembled. Alongside the Miller interview, the episode features live cuts from The Kentucky Headhunters, EXILE, The Judds, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr. and America, plus Brown’s signature wild card closing song. “I’ll be visiting with brother Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown and playing some of the greatest live country music ever recorded,” Brown says.

This spring also marks two years since Brown’s induction as a Grand Ole Opry member, officially welcomed into the circle on May 3, 2024 by Vince Gill. “Becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry is one of the greatest honors of my life,” Brown shares, “and two years later, it still feels just as humbling as the night Vince Gill welcomed me into the family.” Brown has recorded 15 studio albums, charted more than 20 Billboard singles, and his Grammy-nominated album ‘Forever Changed’ featured collaborations with Gill, The Oak Ridge Boys and Jimmy Fortune. His most recent release, ‘From Memphis To Muscle Shoals,’ debuted at number one on the iTunes Blues Album Chart.

LIVE WIRE airs on SiriusXM Prime Country Channel 58 and streams via the SiriusXM app across smart TVs, mobile devices and connected home systems.

T. Graham Brown Upcoming Tour Dates:

May 9 — Berlin, OH — The Amish Country Theater

May 16 — Riverside, IA — Riverside Casino & Golf Resort (with Lorrie Morgan)

August 7 — Elizabeth, IN — Caesars Event Center at Caesars Southern Indiana

August 8 — Elizabeth, IN — Caesars Event Center at Caesars Southern Indiana (with Lorrie Morgan)

October 9 — Branson, MO — Clay Cooper Theatre (with The Malpass Brothers)

October 17 — Dadeville, AL — Auburn vs. Georgia Party

Juno-Nominated Harpist Lara Somogyi Announces Second Album ‘a [time] patterned’ With Lead Single “sojourn”

Eric Alper
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Juno-Nominated Harpist Lara Somogyi Announces Second Album ‘a [time] patterned’ With Lead Single “sojourn”

Lara Somogyi has announced her second album, and it’s one of the most quietly ambitious records of 2026.

‘a [time] patterned’ arrives August 28 via Mercury KX, and lead single “sojourn” is out now with a video that makes an immediate case for the record’s world. Written for harp, strings and electronics, the track opens with extended pedal technique blurring tonality before a melodic thread gradually surfaces, granular processing fracturing and reconfiguring time around it while strings provide a subtle architecture underneath. It’s fluid, alive and deeply immersive.

Somogyi is a Juno nominee and Royal Academy of Music graduate, awarded an honorary Associate (ARAM) for her innovations in the field. Her credits include Spike Lee’s Oscar-nominated Da 5 Bloods, Hans Zimmer’s Blue Planet II featuring Radiohead, and Ari Aster’s Eddington for A24. She’s collaborated with Bonobo, Ólafur Arnalds, the London Symphony Orchestra and Bat For Lashes, bringing a compositional range to the harp that consistently pushes past the instrument’s traditional boundaries.

‘a [time] patterned’ was written with producer Cyrus Reynolds and shaped through tape loops, delay and repetition, a process that became deeply personal following the loss of her father. The album reframes time as an emotional landscape rather than a linear sequence, examining how joy, grief and healing each carry their own structural logic. Somogyi describes the eleven compositions as “rooms” the listener moves through, with field recordings including birdsong from her birthplace of Kauai sitting alongside string arrangements and textural experimentation.

Featuring contributions from Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens) and Clarice Jensen (Max Richter), the record draws on architectural theory and the idea of pattern as structure. “sojourn opens in the in-between,” Somogyi says, “in that first step forward, tracing a quiet shift toward something open and free. It’s not a beginning, even though it was the first piece I wrote for the record. To me, it feels like an opening to the next chapter.”

Somogyi brings the album to three headline shows this August and September. ‘a [time] patterned’ is available for pre-order now.

‘a [time] patterned’ Tracklist:

  1. fingerprints
  2. sojourn
  3. mirabel
  4. open fields
  5. elsewhere
  6. overture of
  7. highway nocturne 40 ft. Clarice Jensen
  8. sitting circle ft. Rob Moose
  9. intimacy gradient
  10. holding suite
  11. alloy IX

Lara Somogyi Live:

Sat. August 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Live at Glass Hill

Wed. September 9 – Chicago, IL @ Constellation

Fri. September 11 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust

Grammy-Nominated Toronto Powerhouse Jessie Reyez Announces Fourth Album ‘A Little Vengeance’

Eric Alper
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0
Grammy-Nominated Toronto Powerhouse Jessie Reyez Announces Fourth Album ‘A Little Vengeance’

Jessie Reyez has been moving fast in 2026, and she’s not slowing down.

The Grammy-nominated, 6x Juno-winning Toronto singer-songwriter has announced her fourth studio album ‘A Little Vengeance,’ due June 12 via FMLY / Island Records. The announcement lands in the middle of one of the most prolific stretches of her career, with two sharp new singles already out and an EP dropped as a surprise earlier this year.

“Ain’t U Tired?” featuring Muni Long is the most recent release, and it’s a stunning piece of work. Two of modern R&B’s most compelling voices, lush piano, and a shared emotional frequency that’s difficult to shake. It follows “N.Y.F.F.,” a rap-sung kiss-off to a lying ex that showcases exactly what makes Reyez so magnetic: raw, unguarded precision that makes her stories feel personal to anyone listening.

Before those two singles, Reyez surprised fans with the ‘$TILL PAID’ EP, a five-track expansion of her critically acclaimed 2025 album ‘PAID IN MEMORIES,’ featuring a remix with BRIT Award-winning rapper Stormzy. That album was already a milestone, spanning 20-plus tracks with collaborations alongside Ari Lennox, Big Sean, Miguel, Lil Yachty, 6LACK, Lil Wayne and Deyaz, and it followed a sold-out ‘PAID IN MEMORIES’ headline world tour that confirmed her status as one of the most compelling live artists working right now.

The Reyez catalog runs deep and keeps getting stronger. Her debut album ‘Before Love Came to Kill Us’ is RIAA Gold-certified. ‘Yessie’ was longlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. “Imported” featuring 6LACK and “Figures” are both RIAA 2x Platinum. She’s penned songs for Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Kehlani, LISA of BLACKPINK and Calvin Harris, won a Grammy for her contribution to the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack, and was recognized by Billboard Canada with its Women in Music Trailblazer Award in 2024. That’s not a résumé, that’s a statement.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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