Still bangin' and twangin' after 22 memorable years. Salute, Doc!

By Fred Mills

Last night during a special broadcast over WNCW-FM in North Carolina the organizers of the beloved annual Merlefest informally announced the lineup of artists scheduled to play the 2009 festival - the 22^nd such event. Among the big names: Emmylou Harris, Tift Merritt, the Del McCoury Band, the Waybacks, Rory Block, BeauSoleil, David Bromberg, the Duhks, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Grascals, Jim Lauderdale, Ollabelle, festival perennials Sam Bush, John Cowan, Peter Rowan, and Donna the Buffalo, and of course founder Doc Watson, whose late son Merle Watson is the festival's namesake.

The 2009 Merlefest will take place Aprill 23-26 at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, NC. Go to the official website for complete details about the festival and the full lineup, along with the tentative day-by-day performance schedules. Over 90 acts are scheduled to play, and a tantalizing "TBA" appears in the headlining spot for the closing Sunday night set.

During the Merlefest special John Adair, who handles artist relations for the festival, and Wilkes Community College Public Information Officer Christie Hutchens, joined WNCW host Martin Anderson in talking about some of the artists who will, in the organizers' words, "deliver the eclectic mix of traditional, acoustic and roots-oriented sounds that are the hallmark of the event." Selected tunes by the artists were also aired.

Merlefest is a big deal in Western North Carolina, of course. It's been a mainstay of the region since the elder Watson started it in 1988 using the flatbed of a truck as a makeshift stage. It's also a mecca for roots music fans - not just bluegrass fans either, as evidenced by the occasional wild card such as Elvis Costello that lands on the bill. In 2008 the paid attendance, according to the official website fact sheet, was over 38,000.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 11 at the festival website or by phone at 1-800-343-7857.

List of performers (as of Oct.29):

Doc Watson (http://www.docsguitar.com/)

Richard Watson

Susana and Timmy Abell (http://www.timmyabell.com/)

The Alberti Flea Circus (http://albertifleacircus.com/)

Angel Band (http://www.angelband.net/)

Banknotes

Buffalo Barfield (http://www.buffalobarfield.com)

Bearfoot (http://www.bearfootbluegrass.com/)

BeauSoleil (http://www.rosebudus.com/beausoleil/)

Rory Block (http://www.roryblock.com/)

Blue Highway (http://www.bluehighwayband.com/)

Roy Book Binder (http://www.roybookbinder.com/)

Laura Boosinger (http://www.lauraboosinger.com/)

Bob Bovee and Gail Heil (http://www.boveeheil.com/)

Broken Wire (http://www.brokenwireband.com/)

David Bromberg (http://www.davidbromberg.net/)

Sam Bush http://www.sambush.com/)

Cadillac Sky (http://www.cadillacsky.net/)

The Carolina Chocolate Drops (http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/)

The Circuit Riders (http://www.thecircuitriders.com/)

Clack Mountain String Band (http://www.clackmountain.com/)

T. Michael Coleman (http://www.tmichaelcoleman.com/Home.html)

The John Cowan Band (http://johncowan.com/site.php)

Dailey & Vincent (http://www.daileyvincent.com/)

The Dixie Beeliners (http://www.dixiebeeliners.com/)

Donna The Buffalo (http://www.donnathebuffalo.com/)

Pat Donohue (http://www.patdonohue.com/)

Robert Dotson

The Duhks (http://www.duhks.com/)

The Farewell Drifters http://thefarewelldrifters.com/)

Benton Flippen Band

Full Throttle Bluegrass Band (http://www.fullthrottlebluegrass.com/index.cfm)

Rayna and Dan Gellert (http://www.rayna.utopiandesign.com/)

The Grascals (http://www.grascals.com/)

The Gravy Boys (http://www.gravyboys.com/)

Great Big Sea (http://www.greatbigsea.com/)

The Greencards (http://www.thegreencards.com/)

Mitch Greenhill (http://www.thegreencards.com/)

George Hamilton IV (http://www.georgeiv.net/home.html)

Emmylou Harris (http://www.emmylouharris.com/)

Wayne Henderson (http://www.waynehenderson.org/Wayne/AboutWayne.htm)

Violet Hensley (http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-9/9-5/violet_hensley.html)

Willette Hinton and Family

Jimmy "Duck" Holmes (http://www.arts.state.ms.us/folklife/artist.php?dirname=holmes_jimmy)

David Holt (http://www.davidholt.com/)

Sierra Hull and Highway 111 (http://www.sierrahull.com/)

The InterACTive Theater of Jef (http://jefthemime.com/index.shtml)

Phil Jamison (http://www.oldtimeherald.org/dare-to-be-square/index.html)

The Kruger Brothers (http://www.krugerbrothers.com/)

Jim Lauderdale (http://www.jimlauderdale.com/)

Jack Lawrence (http://www.jacklawrence.com/)

Mark Lippard (http://www.marklippard.com/)

Jeff Little (http://www.jefflittle.net/)

The Local Boys

The Lovell Sisters (http://www.lovellsistersband.com/)

Doug MacLeod (http://www.doug-macleod.com/)

Andy May (http://www.andymay.com/bio/)

Del McCoury Band (http://www.delmccouryband.com/)

Tift Merritt (http://tiftmerritt.com/)

Mountain Heart (http://www.mountainheart.com/)

Nashville Bluegrass Band (http://www.keithcase.com/profiles/Nash/bio.html)

The Neighbors (http://www.myspace.com/theneighborspage)

New North Carolina Ramblers

Ollabelle (http://www.ollabelle.net/index.cfm)

Out on the Ocean

Polecat Creek (http://www.polecatcreek.net/)

Missy Raines and the New Hip (http://www.missyraines.com/)

Loretta and Lindsay Rice

Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater among the initial confirmations.

By Blurt Staff

For next year's South by Southwest (SXSW) Film  Conference & Festival - which takes place March 13-21, partly overlapping with the Music Conference on March 18-22 - the first round of speakers has been confirmed. The event will feature acclaimed writer/directors Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater in conversation together, as well 
as a rare appearance by Col Needham, Founder and Vice President of  IMDb Service Limited to discuss the nature of information in the  entertainment industry.  Longtime Stanley Kubrick producer, Jan Harlan rounds out the group and will speak on his vast filmmaking  experience.

"I couldn't be more pleased with this first round of speaker announcements, "said Janet Pierson, Producer of SXSW Film Conference and Festival, in a statement. "These are vital innovators, and true ambassadors for  the spirit of SXSW.  In these turbulent times we feel this is more  important than ever as we head further and faster into unknown territory."

This will be the 16^th SXSW Film Conference & Festival, and the usual Call for Entries is currently open with an early deadline of November 14, 2008 and a final deadline of December 12, 2008. More information can be found at: sxsw.com/film.

What's that sound outside the house, ma? Why, it's that cute little Koster boy from down the street...

By Blurt Staff

Julian Koster of the Music Tapes and Neutral Milk Hotel wants to come to your house and sing Christmas carols. Specifically, he's taking his Singing Saw Symphony on the road in two weeks and is soliciting invites from YOU, gentle readers. It's all part of an intriguing promotion for the SSS's holiday album, The Singing Saw at Christmastime, which dropped recently courtesy Merge.

If you sign up for the tour, Koster & Co. will literally carol you into a state of ecstatic Christmas Cheer - all you have to do is invite them.  He'll play songs of The Music Tapes and the Saws will play their holiday favorites for hosts and their assembled guests.

Households who would like to invite Julian and his friends to come carol may do so by sending an invitation to musictapescaroling@gmail.com  or by mailing a written invitation to:  

MUSIC TAPES CAROLING

C.O. G.Stewart

175 Talmadge St

Apt 1

Athens, GA 30605

Written invitations will be given priority, as well as invitations where the invitees indicate that they would be willing to entertain outside guests on caroling night.  Once the limit on houses on a given night has been reached, the addresses of each of the houses that will welcome guests will be distributed via email to all others who wish to attend. The addresses of the houses will not be posted online.

Check orbitinghumancircus.com for updates and further details.

Tentative list of cities:

November 14th   Atlanta, GA

November 15th   Savannah, GA

November 16th   Northern Florida

November 18th   Baton Rouge / New Orleans, LA

November 19th   Houston, TX

November 20th   Austin, TX

November 21st   Denton, TX

November 22nd   Oklahoma City, OK

November 24th   Lawrence / Kansas City, KS

November 25th   Ames, IA / Iowa City, IA

November 26th   Minneapolis, MN

November 28th   Madison, WI

November 30th   Ann Arbor, MI

December 1st    Toronto, ON

December 4th    Montreal, QC

December 6th    Bennington, VT

December 7th    Providence, RI

December 8th    Tivoli, NY

December 10th   Northhampton, MA

December 12th   New York City, NY 

December 14th   Philadelphia, PA

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

7:00 AM NBC: Today: Pink

8:00 AM Rave HD Concerts: The Rapture - Live at the Trabendo in Paris

9:30 AM Noggin: Jack's Big Music Show: Laurie Berkner

10:00 AM PBS: Sesame Street: Sugarland

10:30 AM Comedy Central: The Colbert Report: Yo-Yo Ma

11:00 AM ABC: The View: Duffy

12:00 PM VH1C: Classic 60 Minutes: U2

12:30 PM VH1C: Rock Fest: U2

1:00 PM VH1C: Classic 60 Minutes: Bruce Springsteen

1:30 PM VH1C: Rock Fest: Bruce Springsteen

2:00 PM FUSE: Steven's Untitled Rock Show: Taking Back Sunday

4:35 PM Starz Edge: Across the Universe (2007)

5:30 PM Noggin: Yo Gabba Gabba!: Sugarland , Biz Markie

6:00 PM BET: 106 & Park: Isaac Hayes

6:00 PM VH1C: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

9:00 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: Darker My Love

9:15 PM IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: Marilyn Manson , Peaches

11:30 PM PBS: Tavis Smiley: Raphael Saadiq

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: James Taylor

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Cold War Kids

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Alkaline Trio

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: The Black Crowes

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: X

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: The Knux

3:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: Minnie Driver

Musician/visual artist promotes album with shows

By Mandy Rodgers

Joseph Arthur has hit the road this week for a short tour promoting Temporary People, released in September. The album is the second with Arthur's backing band, The Lonely Astronauts. Four EPs were released before the album dropped: "Could We Survive," "Crazy Rain," "Vagabond Skies" and Foreign Girls. "Could We Survive" played during TV's popular medical drama, House last week. The single is available on iTunes for downloading.

Arthur and The Lonely Astronauts are touring this fall solo and then join Tracy Chapman's tour through December opening for the singer, which Arthur first did in 2003. Said to connect expressionism and graffiti, along with the music tour, Arthur plans to show a collection of paintings called "Wig" in Montreal through Nov. 16.

Joseph Arthur and The Lonely Astronauts Tour Dates:

Oct 26         Covington, KY         Molly Malone's
Oct 28-29    Chicago, IL               Schubas
Oct 30         Milwaukee, WI         Shank Hall
Oct 31         Akron, OH                 Musica
Nov 1          Toronto, ONT            Lee's Palace
Nov 5          Boston, MA               Middle East
Nov 6          Brooklyn, NY            Music Hall of Williamsburg

Joseph Arthur Videos at Blurt:

"Temporary People":  www.blurt-online.com/video/view/122/

"Second Sight": www.blurt-online.com/video/view/70/

"She Paints Me Gold": www.blurt-online.com/video/view/71/

Shara Worden sharpens her shark's teeth once again...

By Mandy Rodgers

My Brightest Diamond's first record was released in August of 2006 on Asthmatic Kitty Records, Bring Me the Workhorse. This year, the band followed their debut with A Thousand Shark's Teeth, a more classical-sounding album with harps, clarinets, French horns and vibraphones. The critically acclaimed album has created a need for touring, so My Brightest Diamond kicks off its cross-country set of shows on Oct. 27 in Hamden, CT and ending in founding member Shara Worden's home town of New York on Dec. 13. Clara and The Reasons is set join the group on tour. My Brightest Diamond's new single, "From the Top of the World" is available on iTunes. For more information on the band, check out the feature on Blurt: www.blurt-online.com/features/view/38/

My Brightest Diamond Tour Dates:

10/28/08            Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall
10/30/08            Portland, ME @ Space

10/31/08            Fall River, MA @ Narrows Center for the Arts
11/2/08             Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit's Soundlab

11/3/08              Oberlin, OH @ Oberlin College
11/5/08             Grand Rapids, MI @ The Ladies Literary Club
11/6/08             Danville, IN @ Royal Theater

11/7/08            Chicago, IL @ Schubas
11/8/08             Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre - Stage Door
11/11/08            St. Louis, MO @ Cicero's
11/13/08            Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
11/14/08            Paonia, CO @ Paradise Theater
11/15/08            Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/16/08            Boise, ID @ Neurolux
11/17/08            Kennewick, WA @ The Red Room
11/19/08            Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
11/20/08            Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/21/08            Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
11/22/08            San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
11/24/08            Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre
11/25/08            San Diego, CA @ Casbah
11/26/08            Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Cafe
11/29/08            Flagstaff, AZ @ TBA
11/30/08            Albuquerque, NM @ The Cooperage
12/3/08             Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
12/4/08             Little Rock, AR @ TBA
12/5/08             Memphis, TN @ TBA
12/6/08             Birmingham, AL @ TBA
12/7/08             Atlanta, GA @ TBA
12/9/08             Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
12/10/08            Charlottesville, VA @ Gravity Lounge
12/11/08            Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
12/12/08            Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
12/13/08            New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

Music, via Hep Cat Records, testifies for the blues once again...

By Mandy Rodgers

Founded in 1981 by Nauman S. Scott III and Hammond Scott, Black Top Records has been an influential blues and R&B record label since its inception, issuing more than a hundred albums. The label eventually folded in 1999, and three years after that Nauman Scott passed away. Since then some of the back catalog has been picked up for reissue, but now Hep Cat Records, an imprint of reissue specialists Collectors' Choice, aims for a comprehensive resurrection of the label.

As Black Top's first release was Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets' Talk to You By Hand (1981), the  new reissue series begins, fittingly, with that album and others from James Harman Band, Rick "LA Holmes" Holmstrom, Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers and Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters.

On October 28, five more singles are joining the list of those reissued. Some of the albums set to be reissued are Do Not Disturb (James Harman Band), She Knocks Me Out (Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets), Soul Searching (Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters) and My Love is Here to Stay (Sam Myers & Anson Funderburgh).

You can pick up the reissues at the Collectors' Choice website. Just go to the Hep Cat page.

All the concert news ‘n' reviews that's fit to print.

By Blurt Staff

More concert coverage from your friendly neighborhood BLURT - this time, we've got Laika & the Cosmonauts in San Francisco and Magnetic Fields in Washington, DC.

• *Jud Cost pulled up his rickshaw at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco Oct. 16 to catch Finnish surf demons Laika & the Cosmonauts on their farewell tour. Writes Cost, "With a dramatically executed set-list played by a band that, after two decades on the road, is tighter than a well-digger's sphincter, the two hours flew by in a gorgeous Mercury 7 exhaust plume."

• *And just two nights ago, on Oct. 26, Zach Herrmann was at DC's George Washington University Lisner Auditorium to see Stephin Merritt & Co. (otherwise known as the Magnetic Fields) for a rare live performance. "The band sticks to a soft, acoustic format, sans percussion," observes Herrman. "The five-piece band, including vocalist Sally Simms, had little trouble filling out the reasonably small theater. But especially with each member spaced out across the entire stage, everything aurally and visually evident suggested a larger imaginable presence."

Check ‘em out at the provided links, or simply scroll down the BLURT front page to the reviews section. We've also got new book, DVD and CD reviews being added daily.

It takes a village of black Rasta punks to build a nation....

By Fred Mills

As previously announced in this space, Rasta punks the Bad Brains will be playing in D.C. on Nov. 4, election night. You can bet they'll be working up fresh versions of "Banned In D.C." and "Pay to Cum." The group's also announced additional dates, including two California shows in early December - see below for more info.

The group's still flying high from the release of Build A Nation, and is as uncompromising as ever. That's vocalist H.R., guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jennifer and drummer Earl, in case you haven't been paying attention. And incidentally, check the November digital magazine issue of BLURT, scheduled to go live on the site this Thursday - we've got a very special interview with H.R. that may raise a few eyebrows.

Bad Brains Tour Dates:

November 4 - 9:30 Club, Washington D.C.

November 5 - Irving Plaza, NYC

November 6 - Irving Plaza, NYC

Novermber 9 - Waterloo Park, Austin TX

December 6 - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA

December 7 - House Of Blues, San Diego CA