Nov. 17 release date followed by overseas shows but nothing confirmed for US yet.

By Blurt Staff

All those mysterious Twitters will no longer seem quite as mysterious:Them Crooked Vulture  - a/k/a Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones-just  confirmed November 17 as the release date of its eponymous debut album in the United States and Canada on DGC/Interscope Records. 

The self-produced 13-song record will feature the debut of the studio versions of the material Them Crooked Vultures unveiled at its August 9 debut at Chicago's Cabaret Metro and played on a first series of shows throughout a handful of UK and European cities and portions of the eastern U.S., wrapping up with an October 15 appearance at New York's Roseland Ballroom. 
 

Additional shows are being announced in the wake of the album's release, including but not necessarily limited to December dates in the UK and Europe and a January trip to Australia and New Zealand.   

 
Track Listing:

No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
 
 Mind Eraser, No Chaser
 
 New Fang                                                                                         
 
 Dead End Friends
 
 Elephants                                                                                     
 
 Scumbag Blues
 
 Bandoliers
 
 Reptiles
 
 Interlude With Ludes
 
 Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
 
 Caligulove
 
 Gunman
 
 Spinning In Daffodils

Elvis Costello, Little Feat and tons more will perform next May at the annual music festival.

By Fred Mills

Last night the lineup announcement was made for the 2010 edition of Doc Watson's annual MerleFest bash - the 23^rd year, in fact, held as always in Wilkesboro, NC, on the campus of Wilkes Community College. Headliners: The Avett Brothers, currently giving good face time on the cover of the new issue of Blurt. They'll be closing out the event, which will take place April 29 - May 2 next year.

Among the other heavy hitters lined up: Elvis Costello (making a return visit no less), Little Feat, the Travelin' McCourys, Jim Lauderdale, Donna the Buffalo, Brave Combo, Avetts dad Jim Avett, and of course the good Doc himself.

Said the Avetts, in a statement, "We are honored and excited to announce that our only NC performance in the first six months of 2010 will be on Sunday, May 2nd at 3:30PM closing the 23rd annual edition of MerleFest. We have attended MerleFest, as fans and as performers, since 1994. There is not a finer or more welcoming music festival in the country. Those who make their way to Wilkes Community College for the event this year will find, as they would any year, a sincere and friendly place where the music is as colorful and beautiful as the North Carolina countryside that leads them there. MerleFest offers four days of absolute quality for the music-loving family. For us, in terms of performance, it is very much like coming home."

Amen to that.

Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 2:00 pm EST, on the web at www.merlefest.org or via telephone 1-800-343-7857. (Early bird discounts thru March 12.)

Over 75 acts will perform on 15 stages throughout the festival - see the initial list, below. The Watson-hosted event is billed as "a celebration of ‘traditional-plus' music - a term Watson coined to describe the unique mix of traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including bluegrass and old-time music, and expanded to include Americana, country, ‘plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play.'"

A good mood is generally had by all, needless to say...

Doc Watson - www.docsguitar.com

Richard Watson

Susana and Timmy Abell - www.timmyabell.com

Alberti Flea Circus - www.albertifleacircus.com

The Avett Brothers - www.theavettbrothers.com

Jim Avett - www.jimavett.com

Balsam Range - www.balsamrange.com

Shana Banana - www.shanabanana.com

The Banknotes                                               

Bearfoot - www.bearfootband.com

The Belleville Outfit - www.bellevilleoutfit.com

Roy Book Binder - www.roybookbinder.com

Brave Combo - http://www.brave.com/bo/

Buffalo Barfield - www.buffalobarfield.com

Sam Bush Band - www.sambush.com

Cadillac Sky - www.cadillacsky.net

T. Michael Coleman - www.tmichaelcoleman.com

Elvis Costello - www.elviscostello.com

John Cowan Band - www.johncowan.com

Dailey & Vincent - www.daileyvincent.com

Dehlia Low - www.dehlialow.com

Donna The Buffalo - www.donnathebuffalo.com

Jerry Douglas - www.jerrydouglas.com

The Duhks - www.duhks.com

Eleanor Ellis - www.eleanorellis.com

Alice Gerrard

The Gibson Brothers - www.gibsonbrothers.com

Great Big Sea - www.greatbigsea.com

The Greencards - www.thegreencards.com

Buddy Greene - www.buddygreene.com

Mitch Greenhill - www.folkloreproductions.com/about.html

George Hamilton IV - www.georgeiv.net

John Hammond - www.johnhammond.com

Corey Harris - http://www.myspace.com/coreyharrismusic

Wayne Henderson - http://waynehenderson.org/Wayne/AboutWayne.htm       

David Holt - www.davidholt.com

The InterACTive Theater of Jef - http://www.jefthemime.com

Phil Jamison -www.swangathering.com/Catalog/OT/sgotstaff1.html

Jeni & Billy - www.jeniandbilly.com

The Kruger Brothers - www.krugerbrothers.com

Jim Lauderdale - www.jimlauderdale.com

Jack Lawrence - www.jacklawrence.com

The Lee Boys - www.leeboys.com

Little Feat - www.littlefeat.net

Jeff Little - www.jefflittle.net

The Local Boys                                  

The Lovell Sisters - www.lovellsistersband.com

Harry Manx - www.harrymanx.com

Bill Mathis

Andy May - www.andymay.com

Nashville Bluegrass Band - www.nashvillebluegrassband.net

Nation Beat - www.nationbeat.com

The Neighbors - http://www.myspace.com/theneighborspage

Ben Prestage - http://www.myspace.com/bprestage

Missy Raines & The New Hip - http://www.missyraines.com

Red Molly - http://www.redmolly.com

Tony Rice - http://www.tonyrice.com

Peter Rowan - http://www.peter-rowan.com

Scythian - http://www.scythianmusic.com/indexmain.cfm

Anne and Pete Sibley - http://www.anneandpetesibley.com

Joe Smothers - http://www.myspace.com/joehsmothers

Steep Canyon Rangers - http://www.steepcanyon.com

Tut Taylor - http://webpages.charter.net/tutbro

Happy Traum - http://www.happytraum.com

The Travelin' McCourys - http://www.myspace.com/thetravelinmccourys

Rhonda Vincent and The Rage - http://www.nemr.net/~rhondav

The Waybacks - http://www.waybacks.com

Lightnin' Wells - http://www.lightninwells.com

Pete and Joan Wernick - http://www.drbanjo.com

Shannon Whitworth - www.shannonwhitworth.net

The Wilders - http://www.wilderscountry.com

Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society    

Tony Williamson - http://www.mandolincentral.com/bio.html

W.P.A. - http://www.myspace.com/wpaband

Wylie and The Wild West - http://www.wylieww.com

Zephyr Lightning Bolts - www.zephyrlightningbolts.net     

Our latest pick in the series: erstwhile freak-folkie Devendra Banhart.

By Fred Mills

Devendra Banhart is our Band O' The Week, the sixth selection in our increasingly popular and prestigious series. Okay, so technically he's ARTIST of the week. Work with us here. Previous artists we picked - the Clean, Os Mutantes, Avett Brothers, Panther, James McMurtry - have all gained massive fame and reaped amazing riches in the BLURT afterglow, natch.

So anyway, DB has a new album out next Tuesday, Oct. 27: What Will We Be, and our intrepid reviewer from the UK, Meryl Trussler, nimbly dissected it in advance today. Writes Trussler, "Devendra has muzzled his weird syllables and upped his production values a bit. Nothing drastic, no mass-produced toothbrushes with Devendra's face at the top. Which would be scary... With that slithering voice weaving into the beats making a bitching chimaera, it's the joy of hearing him work any style that makes you want to get the man drunk and take him to a karaoke night."

Check back each Friday for the latest BLURT Band O' The Week.

[Photo Credit: Lauren Dukoff]

Gov't Mule, Ani DiFranco, Counting Crows, moe. and a slew of the usual suspects among the initial acts announced.

By Fred Mills

Well, you can see the header, above - the 21^st annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam officially kicks off today with the initial announcement of performers. While more will undoubtedly be added to the roster, for the time being the heavy hitters included Haynes' band Gov't Mule, Ani DiFranco, Counting Crowes and moe. The Jam takes place December 12 at the Civic Center in Asheville, NC, and as usual there will be related events taking place around Asheville during Jam weekend.

Among "special guests" listed in the announcement: Trombone Shorty, DJ Logic, Audley Freed, Jackie Greene, Col. Bruce Hampton, Robert Kearns, Kevn Kinney and Eric Krasno.

Go to the official Haynes Jam site for full details on this and on ticketing - VIP packages will go onsale Monday, Oct. 26, at noon, with the official Jam Pre-sale following the next day, Oct. 27, also at noon.

Last December we interviewed Haynes about having hosted 20 years of Jams (the 2008 event was a big 3-night blowout, including the pre-Jam jam), and you can read that conversation here.

Speaking of the pre-Jam, our good friends at WNCW-FM will no doubt be broadcasting that live over the airwaves on Dec. 11, so keep your eyes peeled for final word on that.

Live streaming webcast from Hollywood next Tuesday.

By Fred Mills

The Gossip, arguably one of the most compelling live acts going right now, hit Hollywood next week, and on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 6pm (PST) the band will be doing a live performance at Amoeba Records. It's in support of their recently released Music For Men album, produced by Rick Rubin.

Those of you who don't happen to be within pogoing distance of Amoeba that afternoon, don't fret: Amoeba will be streaming the trio's concert live at Amoeba.com. Go here to pick up the stream on Tuesday.

And courtesy Worn Free, natch.

By Blurt Staff

Remember that article we ran in the Fall issue of BLURT about vintage teeshirt company Worn Free? (They have cool, fully-licensed tees patterned after those previously worn by the likes of Joe Strummer, Gram Parsons, Blondie, Frank Zappa, Kurt Cobain, etc.) Well, now the company has the greatest piece of apparel, like, ever: the Muhammad Ali Luxury Robe.

We're not kidding. It's a deluxe velour boxing robe modeled precisely on the one The Champ wore - with his immortal catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" stitched on the front pocket and "Muhammad Ali" in capital letters on the back.  The robe will be accompanied by a large hangtag, printed on high-quality paper, featuring a photo of a preening Ali in his robe.  

Worn Free will also be offering six Ali-themed T-shirts (again in conjunction with No Mas), including Cassius Clay, Stardust Hotel, the Hurricane, Ali Track Meet and two versions of The Champ's Training Camp tee.  As with all Worn Free shirts, they will be accompanied by a "backstage pass" hangtag/sticker bearing a photo of Ali in the shirt and detailing its back story.   

If anyone is trying to figure out a nice Christmas gift for their favorite BLURT editor this year... we're just sayin'...
 

It's America's greatest living poet, natch.

By Blurt Staff

This just in: Smokey Robinson will deliver the keynote address at the 2010 South By Southwest Music Conference. The address will kick off SXSW activities at the Austin Convention Center on Thursday, March 18, 2010. It markes the 24^th annual SXSW.

You may have, er, heard of Smokey Robinson - Motown Sound, Kennedy Center Honors, member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy winner alongside multiple other awards. Bob Dylan called Robinson "America's greatest living poet," and his work as an executive at Motown was central in establishing a unique chapter in popular music history.

More recently, Robinson has been mentoring "American Idol" contestants in 2009 and releasing a new CD, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun," this past August on his own Robso Records and the songs sound as fresh and timeless as his pioneering work from the 60's.

For more information on South By Southwest, visit www.sxsw.com - they're already open for registrations.

Read our recent feature on Robinson and his early band The Miracles here. And for a review of Robinson on his current concert tour, go here.

First new collection of original material in 8 years from the semi-itinerant troubadour.

By Blurt Staff

Bar/None just announced it will be releasing Freedy Johnston's new rec Rain On The City on Jan. 12. It was produced in Nashville by Richard McLaurin, of Justin Townes Earle, Allison Moorer, Slaid Cleaves and Matthew Ryan fame. As the label informs us, the sound ranges from strings/keyboards-draped tunes to sensitive acoustic tunes to full-on country-rockers.

Where has Freedy Johnston been wandering in the years prior to making this album? Some folks lost track of him after his 1994 hit "Bad Reputation" and his last Elektra album, 2001's Right Between the Promises. He has moved around, living in NYC, Austin, Kansas, Madison and Nashville. Explains Johnston, "It takes a while to re-adjust one's priorities and get back on track after working with the big budget that the majors give you. I went through issues with the IRS, had a relationship go south and a touring vehicle grind to a halt but through it all I never gave up writing and gigging whenever possible."

Johnston's been around since the ‘80s, crafting literate pop while becoming a mainstay of the Hoboken scene. He's worked with uber-producers like Butch Vig and T Bone Burnett, although for most of the past decade he's kept a pretty low profile. Re-emerging, he promises to stay busy and reportedly has already been brainstorming his next album, working with other songwriters, including Silver Seas' Daniel Tashian in a side project they call the Charmers. He's also done some recording in Austin with Jon Dee Graham, and word has it he might even be working up some material in Madison with Duke Erikson and Butch Vig of Garbage in their joint cover band the Know-It-All Boyfriends

In which we explain more than we really need to explain about his fab new novel Juliet, Naked...

By Fred Mills

Nick Hornby is my new BFF. Admittedly, the celebrated English novelist (High Fidelity, duh) doesn't know that yet. But I figure if I friend him enough via Facebook, he'll come around. Plus, we've already danced together at the ball, so to speak.

You may have heard that Hornby has a new novel out, Juliet, Naked: it's outstanding, and BLURT contributor Jake Cline, in his review of the book posted to the site today, outlines many of its numerous charms. "It may read as if it's been tuned to a minor key," summarizes Cline, "but it's a major accomplishment."

Juliet, Naked concerns itself partly with reclusive American rocker Tucker Crowe, a pair of British fans, and events that follow in the wake of Crowe issuing demos from his early album Juliet - titled Juliet, Naked, natch. That's the bare bones of the plot, but there's lots more to this twisted love story.

Meanwhile, though, sharp-eyed BLURT readers may recall how back in February I interviewed John Wesley Harding for a feature titled "Songwriter, Author and... Label Owner?" - the story included details on JWH's latest album Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, of course, but it also ran down the deal on his new grassroots indie label, Popover Corps, which he established in order to release his own music as well as worthy, frequently obscure, titles from other artists that he and his "staff" of ad hoc A&R agents unearthed. Those A&R persons were drawn largely from Harding's circle of literary buddies, among them Rick Moody and Nick Hornby, both of whom were also interviewed for the article.

To make a long story short, the whole interview was a hoax that JWH and I cooked up, conducting the conversation "in character" (we semi-"outed" ourselves this past March at SXSW, but that's another story entirely). All the artists featured at the Popover Corps site are fictional save Harding - it's well worth checking the site out just to get not only a good laugh but also admire the diligence that Harding and his band of merry pranksters exercised in creating credible biographies (and record sleeves) for the non-existent bands and songwriters. Those song samples on the site? Well... listen to ‘em and decide for yourself!

Among the featured "artists" on the site? You guessed it: Tucker Crowe, whose Juliet, Naked album purported to be one of Popover Corps' key releases.

Wrote Hornby for the Popover site, about the album, "Juliet remains, along with Tunnel of Love and Blood on the Tracks, one of the great break-up albums of all time - and Tucker Crowe hasn't been seen or heard since it was released in 1986. Popover Records is proud to present Juliet, Naked, the demo versions of the songs that have been cited by Jeff Buckley, Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado and others as a crucial influence, and Crowe's first ‘new release' for nearly twenty years. You thought the electric version of ‘You And Your Perfect Life' was harrowing? Think again."

Brilliant stuff. At the time (February) I doubt many people outside of the UK had even heard about the Juliet, Naked novel yet, so it makes the whole Popover thing more than just a tad surreal... in retrospect, it was downright pre-meta. I am picturing Hornby and Harding, who I'm guessing was aware of the then-forthcoming book, having a pretty hearty, extended chuckle over what clever lads they were.

Interviewing Hornby for the JWH article led to this following exchange, equally surreal for me because there I was interviewing him "in character" with Hornby answering - and at one point scolding - me also "in character." (As I later told JWH, it was a High Fidelity moment, no less. He understood what I meant.)

***

BLURT: Nick, a lot of observers would say that, among all of Popover's A&R execs, you're the one most naturally suited to the job description. I'd be journalistically remiss if I didn't ask - have there been any High Fidelity-esque moments at the label thus far?

HORNBY: This is my first time working for a record company, and it's been much tougher than I thought - heartbreaking, sometimes. The powers that be - and you know who I'm talking about  here -  are only really interested in making money, and for  every god-like genius I've persuaded them to sign, I've had to let another nine go.  I thought I was going to be working for Seymour Stein or someone hip like that; I've ended up working for an indie Simon Cowell.

BLURT: Tucker Crowe: how did you know about Tucker, or track him down, and what is he like? Was he aware of the cult following that had built up around him since he fell off the radar? I've only seen the Juliet, Naked album once, in the early ‘90s at a record fair, and it was priced so ridiculously high I had to pass, although I later was able to buy a bootleg CDR of it...

HORNBY: I've known Tucker for a while - he got in touch after something I wrote about him, which was pretty amazing, seeing as he's been a recluse for over twenty years. Nobody even knew about Juliet, Naked, although pretty much everyone of my age owns a copy of [the original] Juliet. When you say you own a bootleg, you're lying. Showing off. Don't do that.

***

At any rate, consider this a long-winded, slightly convoluted way of a personal endorsement for Juliet, Naked (the novel).  Nick, if you're reading this, get in touch and I'll be glad to send you the FLAC files of Juliet, Naked (the album) - I downloaded them from SoulSeek.com over a decade ago, and... oops. There I go again. I'm showing off... sorry.

And Wes, if you are also reading this - happy birthday. I'll see you in the airport next March.

Muscular Noise Band Announces New Songs For the French album and European Tour; Eugene S. Robinson Publishes First Novel.

By Blurt Staff

Well, we have a ton of Oxbow news to report. First up: the band will be doing a huge UK and Euro tour staring Nov. 6 in France and running until the end of the month. Tour dates can be found  at their official website (www.theoxbow.com) or at their label Hydra Head's site (www.hydrahead.com).

Speaking of touring... there is a new vinyl-only album, New Songs For the French, the band has pressed up to be sold on tour. In typically impressionistic Oxbow fashion, they are describing it thusly: "A highly conscious effort to do things exactly as we ourselves would never do them in order to create a compelling bridgework between THE NARCOTIC STORY of yesterday and THE THIN BLACK DUKE of tomorrow. Lyrically, musically, thematically this march into intuitive mind has been Russian rouletted into existence, with Oxbow ceding control where control has never been ceded."

Ah - right. The tracklisting is as follows:

Side: HERE

Oxbow + Philippe Thiphaine
1.2 P.M.
2.Coalking
3.Well-Dressed Man

Side: THERE

Oxbow [live recordings]: Europe 2008
4.Frankly Frank [London]
5.La Luna [London]
6.The Duke: A Gentleman's Gentleman [London, Extempore]
7.Yoke [Rotterdam]

And finally, the band's Eugene S. Robinson has just published his first novel (and second book, the followup to 2007's Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Ass Kicking But Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked For Asking). It's titled A Long Slow Screw and it is described as "a two-fisted hardboiled crime saga set in 1970s New York that closely follows a diamond heist gone right and then murderously wrong. Featuring a passel of punks, tough broads, shysters and homicidal homos, it draws heavily on Robinson's real life involvement with elements partially detailed in Fight, weaving a fictional story of the chaotic pre-9/11 world of New York City.... It reads like a travelogue to the business end of a bunch of very, very bad things."

Go to Robinson's publisher Robotic Boot (www.roboticboot.com ) or to Robinson's website (www.eugenesrobinson.com ) for details on how to order. Tell ‘em BLURT sent ya...