Dominic Fragman plays guitar, drums and sings simultaneously on the Rush classic Tom Sawyer. Mean, mean pride.
Michael Bolton Sings Coffee Orders to Unsuspecting Customers
Michael Bolton, one guy who doesn’t mind taking one for the laughs, works as a barista and sings out the names of unsuspecting customers.
Apple New Music Series ‘Planet of the Apps’ Features Jessica Alba, will.i.am, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Gwyneth Paltrow As Panelists
Planet of the Apps celebrates the world of apps and the talented people who create them. Hosted by Zane Lowe and featuring advisers Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk and will.i.am, the series highlights developers who have the vision to shape the future, solve real problems, and inspire change within our daily lives.
Blues Legend John Lee Hooker 100th Birthday Year Celebration Begins; New Collection Due March 31
The son of a sharecropper, blues legend John Lee Hooker was one of the very first artists to break out of that genre and become a world-wide force. He based his sound on a driving boogie beat and lyrics that sometimes seemed to come from another world. To begin the centennial celebration of Hooker’s birth year, Vee-Jay Records, a division of Concord Bicycle Music, will release WHISKEY AND WIMMEN: JOHN LEE HOOKER’S FINEST on March 31. The multi-label compilation features songs from Hooker’s Vee-Jay, Specialty, Riverside and Stax Records releases, and includes many of the bluesman’s most iconic songs.
Born near Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1917, the man who would become known as the “King of the Boogie” was destined for blues royalty. Hooker’s 1948 single, “Boogie Chillun,” sold a million copies and set Hooker on his unstoppable path. Countless recordings followed, and a winding road through different labels and audiences. He was a huge influence on the burgeoning British Invasion in the early ’60s, and welcomed with open arms by the rock audience around the world. Hooker is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and won four Grammy’s. He performed with or had his music covered by music’s elite, including Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana and many more.
WHISKEY AND WIMMEN: JOHN LEE HOOKER’S FINEST is the perfect collection to honor the man. It includes many of Hooker’s most exciting and time-honored recordings, showing how an artist who started with literally nothing but his inspiration and talent was able to make such a lasting impact on music. His work for the Vee-Jay, Specialty and Riverside labels were many of the recordings his unshakeable legend is built on, and provide a sonic tour of what Hooker’s blues accomplished. Music journalist Bill Dahl contributes insightful new liner notes.
In the proud history of American music there have been a handful of blues artists who really did shape what the music became. They took the primal forces of Mississippi country blues and twisted and turned it into their very own creation. To hear how John Lee Hooker did that over the course of these 16 songs is a blood-rushing history lesson of all that he created. And to have them all on a single disc is as convincing a collection as has ever been assembled that, indeed, John Lee Hooker will remain the “King of the Boogie” forever.
“When so much music of great importance exists, it’s thrilling to continually find ways to share that history with collections like this,” says Concord Bicycle Music’s Chief Catalog Officer Sig Sigworth. “It literally sounds like America at its most exciting, and honors someone who changed the way we hear and feel forever.”
Track Listing:
1. Boom Boom
2. Boogie Chillun
3. Dimples
4. I’m in the Mood
5. I Love You Honey
6. Whiskey and Wimmen
7. I Need Some Money
8. Grinder Man
9. I’m Going Upstairs
10. Big Legs, Tight Skirt
11. No More Doggin’
12. No Shoes
13. Crawlin’ Kingsnake
14. Frisco Blues
15. It Serve Me Right to Suffer
16. Time Is Marching
Elle King thanks you for being a friend with her cover of The Golden Girls theme song
All seven seasons of The Golden Girls are now streaming on Hulu, and people are excited — people including the great Elle King. She covered the show’s theme song “Thank You For Being a Friend” — written and originally recorded by Andrew Gold in 1978, then sung by Cynthia Fee for the sitcom credits — in a video commissioned by Hulu.
https://youtu.be/6kux7EMqKlA
Metric, The Sheepdogs, Bobby Bazini and Kevin Bazinet to perform at Stanley Cup 125th Anniversary Tribute Concert
The Ottawa 2017 Bureau, the National Hockey League, Live Nation Canada and the Ottawa Senators are pleased to announce that the Stanley Cup 125th Anniversary Tribute Concert will feature musical performances by Metric, The Sheepdogs and bilingual artists Bobby Bazini and Kevin Bazinet, who will showcase their talent in both French and English. Liam Maguire, NHL historian, author and radio personality will host the event.
This original concept show, an Ottawa 2017 Signature Event, will take place at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday, March 17, as part of the celebrations in the nation’s capital surrounding the anniversary of hockey’s most treasured trophy: the Stanley Cup.
The show will include tales of Stanley Cup glory by living hockey legends, in addition to rare archival footage of some of hockey’s most historic moments. The Stanley Cup itself will be the guest of honour at this memorable multimedia experience for all ages.
Tickets for the Stanley Cup 125th Anniversary Tribute Concert will go on sale this Thursday at noon. Prices range from $39.50 to $69.50. For ticket information or to purchase tickets, visit Ottawa2017.ca or www.ticketmaster.ca.
The Most Travelled Musicians Of All Time
Package holiday specialists TravelBird have released the Most Travelled Musicians Ranking, presenting a comprehensive insight into the travel miles of the world’s most admired artists. Aiming to always find new ways to inspire travellers, TravelBird combined music, travel and curiosity within the study of 36 of the world’s favourite artists. The ranking reveals which bands and musicians have the greatest number of travel miles under their belt and who holds the title of the world’s most travelled. In addition to presenting the most travelled artists, TravelBird also calculated how much it would cost an ultimate superfan to have followed each musician throughout their career.
To create the Ranking, TravelBird began with 36 most popular performers, selected from the results of a poll on popular musicians created by TravelBird, both legends and new sensations, from a range of genres. Their total travel distance of their public engagements was then calculated, taking all national, continental and world tours in account, from the beginning of their career. This includes arena shows, festival appearances, and road trips but excludes private engagements. Using this information, TravelBird calculated exactly how many times around the world each artist could have travelled, as well as how many times they could have flown to the moon. When possible, ground miles were used, and the figures reflect city-to-city rather than venue-to-venue distances. Full methodology is available to view at the base of the press release and on the TravelBird landing page.*
Interestingly, TravelBird found that the years an artist has performed does not always mean they have travelled further, with the top two farthest-travelling performers having been active since the 90s, beating the likes of those who have been performing since the 60s, 70s or 80s.
The study revealed the ten most travelled artists in the ranking are:
| # | Musician | Career Miles Travelled | Last 12 months | Times around the world | Times to the moon |
| 1 | Tiësto | 1,557,131 | 209,773 | 62.53 | 6.52 |
| 2 | Paul van Dyk | 1,442,993 | 115,968 | 57.95 | 6.04 |
| 3 | Bob Dylan | 1,389,374 | 35,551 | 55.80 | 5.82 |
| 4 | Metallica | 1,307,842 | 31,791 | 52.52 | 5.48 |
| 5 | Aerosmith | 1,099,901 | 15,676 | 44.17 | 4.60 |
| 6 | Muse | 1,070,332 | 37,281 | 42.98 | 4.48 |
| 7 | Rolling Stones | 1,054,965 | 20,137 | 42.37 | 4.42 |
| 8 | U2 | 1,039,470 | 0 | 41.74 | 4.35 |
| 9 | Cyndi Lauper | 958,672 | 29,977 | 38.50 | 4.01 |
| 10 | Snoop Dogg | 866,234 | 40,180 | 34.79 | 3.63 |
True North Records Welcomes Leeroy Stagger To Roster, Announces “Love Verses” Album Out April 7
It’s been said before that love is a battlefield, and on his latest album Love Versus (out April 7, 2017 through True North Records), Leeroy Stagger comes well armed. The eleventh studio release by the Western Canadian native is also a milestone, marking the first recording made at Stagger’s home studio in southern Alberta. But more significantly, his ever-evolving fusion of roots, rock and pop reaches new heights on Love Versus, resulting in 10 tracks that confirm his status as one of Canada’s best contemporary singer/songwriters.
“Leeroy is one of the most insightful songwriters I have ever come across. He has a gift for distilling complex images, commentary and concepts into brilliantly succinct lyrical one liners,” says Geoff Kulawick, President, True North Records.
It’s not that Stagger needed much more validation; after working with acclaimed producers Russell Broom (Sam Roberts) and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) on his previous two albums, Stagger teamed up with Colin Stewart (Dan Mangan, Black Mountain, Yukon Blonde) to produce Love Versus, and put together a dream band for the project. Longtime friend and collaborator Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, The Mounties) remixed and ‘reimagined’, as Stagger would say, the title song and single in Vancouver.
The cornerstone was Pete Thomas, longtime drummer for Elvis Costello, who came up from L.A. for the sessions, joining guitarist Paul Rigby (Neko Case), keyboardist Geoff Hilhorst (The Deep Dark Woods), and Stagger’s longtime bassist Tyson Maiko. Over the course of three weeks, they christened Stagger’s new studio, and in the process changed his perspective on his art.
What is most striking about Love Versus overall is the wisdom at the foundation of each track, and indeed, for anyone who has followed Stagger’s career to this point, it should be apparent that this is the album he’s been destined to make. Since first making his mark on the Canadian independent music scene at the turn of this century, Leeroy Stagger has toured the world, both on his own and with the likes of Steve Earle, Pixies, Modest Mouse and Evan Dando. After almost two decades of consistent output, Stagger certainly does have the respect of both his peers and Canada’s music industry tastemakers. However, the addition of Love Versus to his (ahem) staggering body of work opens a new chapter, promising to reach many more ears.
Stagger has also announced a 10-date Western Canadian tour, kicking off March 17 at Panorama, BC and ending in Vancouver on April 22. Dates are below.
Mar 17 | 8:00pm Panorama Ski Resort Panorama, BC
Mar 18 | 8:00pm Panorama Ski Resort Panorama, BC
Mar 24 | 8:00pm St. Basil’s Cultural Centre Edmonton, AB
Mar 25 | 8:00pm The Bailey Theatre Camrose, AB
Mar 26 | 8:00pm Tavern 1883 Canmore, AB
Apr 19 | 9:00pm The Queens Nanaimo, BC
Apr 20 | 8:00pm The Waverly Hotel Cumberland, BC
Apr 21 | 8:00pm Sugar Nightclub Victoria, BC
Apr 22 | 9:30pm Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC
Postmodern Jukebox And Straight No Chaser Announce 25-city Summer US Tour
Fans of retro pop sounds with a cheeky modern twist are in for the experience of a lifetime this summer as Postmodern Jukebox and Straight No Chaser join forces for a co-headlining tour of the United States. Produced exclusively by Live Nation, the 25-city jaunt kicks off in Chicago on July 13 and will include stops in Cleveland, Boston, Nashville and Los Angeles for the two classic-meets-contemporary sensations, both of whom mash up classic pop stylings and modern pop hits in their own unique fashions. Complete itinerary below.
Presale for both fan clubs begin on Wednesday, February 15th at 10am local time through 10pm.
As the official credit card for the tour, Citi / AAdvantage cardmembers will have access to purchase presale tickets beginning Thursday, February 16th at 10am local time through Friday, February 17th at 10pm local time. For complete details, please visit citiprivatepass.com.
General on sale begins February 18 at 10am local time at livenation.com.
Both bands deliver contemporary pop songs with timeless flair – the stylistic diversity, real musical and vocal skill, and dedication to craft of a bygone era. Straight No Chaser shirk the blazers and khakis of campus a cappella groups for something far less strait-laced (or straight-faced), training their jaw-dropping vocal prowess and soulful harmonies on past and current hits. Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox reimagines contemporary pop, rock and R&B hits in the style of various yesteryears, from swing to doo-wop, ragtime to Motown – or, as Bradlee himself puts it, “pop music in a time machine.”
In the process, both groups have found remarkable success and attracted dedicated fanbase who appreciate their unmanufactured talents and joyous energies. Since Bradlee created PMJ in 2009, the project has amassed more than 650 million YouTube views and 2.5 million subscribers, chalked up more than 1 million likes on Facebook, performed on “Good Morning America,” topped iTunes charts with all 14 of their releases since 2014, caught the attention of NPR Music and NBC News, and played hundreds of shows to sold-out houses around the world.
SNC have themselves garnered more than 80 million views on YouTube, made numerous national TV appearances including NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “World News,” “Watch What Happens Live,” CNN, “Fox & Friends,” “20/20” and more. The group has played to countless sold-out audiences, making them continuously one of the top 25 touring artists in North America according to Pollstar magazine. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016 with a successful world tour and the release of its third full-length holiday collection, I’ll Have Another…Christmas Album. The album, which blended beloved carols with holiday favorites made famous by Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder, followed their now-classic 2008 debut, Holiday Spirits, and its smash 2009 follow-up Christmas Cheers, both of which topped both the iTunes and Amazon sales charts and were certified gold by the RIAA.
Despite finding such success for the project on the road, Bradlee continues to arrange and record new arrangements every week for PMJ’s legion of fans. The multi-talented collective has interpreted hits by Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, The White Stripes, Lorde, Outkast, Radiohead, Maroon 5 and many more. Last year, PMJ collected 18 favorites from among their hundreds of songs to compile The Essentials for Concord Records. The album included the song that put the band on the map, a vaudevillian distressing of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” and their ’50s doo-wop version of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop,” which garnered more than 19.5 million views and was named one of the “9 Best Viral Cover Videos of 2015” by People magazine.
Straight No Chaser originally came together in the fall of 1996 at Indiana University, quickly setting itself apart from other a cappella groups with its contemporary repertoire and dynamic approach while reinventing the idea of a cappella on the modern pop landscape. SNC has released six full-length albums, split between their three collections of holiday favorites and three that take on classic songs by artists like Elton John and Marvin Gaye as well as current megahits from Hozier, The Weeknd and Meghan Trainor. A host of music-world giants have shown their admiration by recording with the ensemble – iconic names including Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Seal, Phil Collins, Dolly Parton, Sara Bareilles and Jason Mraz.
Don’t miss your chance to catch Postmodern Jukebox and Straight No Chaser live. Dates are as follows:
|
Thu July 13 |
Chicago, IL |
Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island |
|
Fri July 14 |
Toledo, OH |
Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre |
|
Sat July 15 |
Rochester Hills, MI |
Meadow Brook Amphitheatre |
|
Sun July 16 |
Cleveland, OH |
Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica |
|
Wed July 19 |
Saratoga Springs, NY |
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) |
|
Fri July 21 |
Holmdel, NJ |
PNC Bank Arts Center |
|
Sat July 22 |
Boston, MA |
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion |
|
Sun July 23 |
Wallingford, CT |
Toyota Oakdale Theatre |
|
Tue July 25 |
Philadelphia, PA |
BB&T Pavilion |
|
Thu July 27 |
Baltimore, MD |
Pier Six Pavilion |
|
Fri July 28 |
Raleigh, NC |
Red Hat Amphitheater |
|
Sat July 29 |
Greensboro, NC |
White Oak Amphitheatre |
|
Sun July 30 |
Charlotte, NC |
Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre |
|
Tue Aug. 1 |
Boca Raton, FL |
Mizner Park Amphitheatre |
|
Wed Aug. 2 |
Jacksonville, FL |
Daily’s Place |
|
Fri Aug. 4 |
Atlanta, GA |
Chastain Park Amphitheatre (**Onsale date pending) |
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Sat Aug. 5 |
Nashville, TN |
Ascend Amphitheatre |
|
Sun Aug. 6 |
Rogers, AR |
Walmart Amphitheatre |
|
Tue Aug. 8 |
Dallas, TX |
Starplex Pavilion |
|
Wed Aug. 9 |
Houston, TX |
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion |
|
Fri Aug. 11 |
Phoenix, AZ |
Comerica Theatre |
|
Sat Aug. 12 |
Los Angeles, CA |
Greek Theatre |
|
Sun Aug. 13 |
San Diego, CA |
Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre |
|
Wed Aug. 16 |
Concord, CA |
Concord Pavilion |
|
Wed Oct. 4 |
Denver, CO |
Red Rocks Amphitheatre |
Mother of Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler releases book “Sweet Child of Mine: How I Lost My Son to Guns N’ Roses”
Guns N’ Roses has been heralded as the greatest rock n roll band on the planet. During the late 80’s and 90’s the hedonistic rock gods Axl, Slash, Izzy, Steven and Duff scored sold out stadium concerts on the way to multi-platinum success. During it all, original drummer Steven Adler stole hearts and headlines with his insane antics. But Steven was soon crippled by a tragic heroin addiction that led to him to being kicked out of the band he helped found. At the center of this maelstrom stood Steven’s mother, Deanna Adler, the GNR-proclaimed “first fan” of the group. Deanna was there at the beginning in 1983, when school chums Steven and Slash were building their street cred on the Sunset Strip. Deanna witnessed it all but has never told her incredible story, until now.
In honest, direct prose, Deanna gives an unflinching account of her son Steven’s drug fueled ascent to becoming the co-founder of Guns N’ Roses, and his subsequent fall to drugs and alcohol in the book “Sweet Child of Mine: How I Lost My Son to Guns N’ Roses.” In one of the most brutally raw, revealing books written on substance abuse, Deanna delivers a powerful, inspirational message of hope to anyone dealing with opioid addition.
In addition to Deanna’s incredible story of a mother’s devotion to her infamously self-destructive son, “Sweet Child of Mine” exposes the growing widespread abuse of prescription drugs, a dangerous national epidemic. Readers will discover that Dr. Howard Kornfeld, Steven’s Opioid Rehab doctor in 1995, prescribed dozens of drugs, including anti-anxiety, and sleeping and pain pills that totaled over $2,000.00 a month. Deanna confronts Dr. Kornfeld, the pharmacist, and Big Pharma but is politely stonewalled. She shows us the doctor’s prescription print-out as evidence of the staggering number of drugs prescribed to Steven. The final shock is when we discover that Dr. Kornfeld is the same doctor who is brought in, over 20 years later, by music legend Prince at the time of his passing.
Through over 25 failed rehab attempts, multiple suicide attempts, two heart attacks, and a debilitating stroke, Deanna refused to give up on Steven. Today Steven is clean and sober, back on the road and triumphantly touring with Slash, Duff, and Axl on the newly reunited Guns N’ Roses tour. “Sweet Child of Mine’s” message is simple and clear: one can despair but never lose hope, and never quit. Deanna believes the best is always yet to come and for readers, the inspirational rewards are immediate, and real.