Yep. The rumors were true. Blurt corralled BOH w/opener James McMurtry for a Sept. 27 benefit concert for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. Better get your tickets fast, bubba.

By Blurt Staff

SILVER SPRING, MD - Blurt Online - the new music website and digizine brought to you by the creative team behind the lauded HARP Magazine - is proud to present THE BLURT LAUNCH PARTY, featuring Band of Horses at The Parish Room in Austin, Texas on Saturday, September 27. Doors will open at 10:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the day's music at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival. Famed BLURT blogger James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards are slated to open with music beginning at 11 p.m.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Central TOMORROW, Friday, September 19, 2008 at Front Gate Tickets HERE. Tickets will be $18 in advance and $21 at the door on the night of the event.

A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide access to affordable healthcare for Austin's low-income, uninsured working musicians. For more information, please visit the Heath Alliance website.

"HAAM thanks Band of Horses, James McMurtry and the guys at BLURT very much," says Carolyn Schwarz, executive director of the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. "Beyond their generous financial support, the visibility an event like this provides helps to raise awareness of the hardships working musicians face when trying to access basic healthcare.  It's a problem we're actively working to change."

"It's tough to set aside money for health insurance when you need to pay your rent or put some gas in the van to get to the next gig," says Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell. "Organizations like the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians serve a noble purpose in helping those not fortunate enough to help themselves. We're honored to do what we can to help raise money and awareness."

"This is the first in what we hope will be a series of BLURT LIVE concerts where we team two artists together we admire, but whose audiences might not necessarily overlap, with a worthy charity that benefits the local community," says BLURT Associate Editor Andy Tennille. "All of us at BLURT are huge Austin-philes, so we figured it was high time to give back to a city that's given us so many great memories over the years. We couldn't think of anyone better to do it with than James McMurtry and Ben Bridwell and the guys in Band of Horses."

"This is BLURT's coming out party," says BLURT Editor-in-Chief and Founder Scott Crawford. "With Harp's demise in the spring and the launching of BLURT this summer, we haven't had a lot of time to catch our breath. I'm looking forward to celebrating everything the BLURT brand has to offer both as a music/culture web site and digital magazine in a town that feels like my second home."

BLURT wants to thank Chris Wilson (www.christopherwilsonphoto.com) for the poster design and the good people at The Parish Room, C3 Presents, Silva Artist Management, Vector Management, Musicmakers Pro Backline, Synaesthesiax Lighting and Excalibur Enterprises, Inc. for their collective support.

About HAAM

Health Alliance for Austin Musicians was founded in April 2005 when the Seton Family of Hospitals and St. David's Community Health Foundation Leadership joined forces with The SIMS Foundation to provide medical, dental, and mental health care to the city's hard-working, low-income musicians. More than 1,200 musicians, most 35 and younger, have been serviced. For more information, please visit: www.healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org.

About BLURT

Brought to you by the creative team behind the lauded HARP Magazine (called "America's best music magazine" by NPR's Bob Boilen and "the best music magazine in the country and the one that musicians always read" by Foo Fighter Dave Grohl), BLURT's digital magazine raises the bar for modern music and entertainment magazines by combining insightful features, irreverent interviews, relentless reviews, and first-class design standards while the site contains provocative blogs, exclusive videos and countless reviews and MP3s. Visit us at www.BLURT-ONLINE.COM.

Links

www.healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org/

www.blurt-online.com

www.myspace.com/bandofhorses

www.jamesmcmurtry.com/

www.theparishroom.com

www.excaliburmail.com

www.christopherwilsonphoto.com

For more information, contact:

Scott Crawford

Editor-in-Chief, BLURT

scrawford@blurt-online.com

Andy Tennille

Associate Editor, BLURT

atennille@blurt-online.com

Mexican Artists Urge Listeners to Take Part in Democracy

By Blurt Staff

Regional Mexican record labels Fonovisa and Disa have partnered with non-partisan voter registration organization Voto Latino for a series of public service announcements that will target newly-naturalized citizens throughout the Western and Midwestern states. Among the participating artists who appearing in bi-lingual voter registration spots: Jenni Rivera, La Arrolladora Banda El Limon, El Chapo, Yolanda Perez, El Gringo and Los Tucanes De Tijuana (pictured, above).

"We are thrilled to be working with Fonovisa and Disa on voter registration and engagement," says Maria Teresa Petersen, director of Voto Latino. "With the growth of dynamic new Latino communities in places like Colorado, Idaho, and Georgia, it's important to engage newly-naturalized citizens via the artists they cherish and respect. We are so grateful to these artists for asking their fans to make their voice heard and take part in democracy."

As part of the new initiative, Voto Latino and corporate partner Southwest Airlines are sponsoring a radio station contest. Whichever station registers the most new voters will have its host/dj flown to Los Angeles to make a cameo appearance with Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama in an upcoming parody telenovela about the importance of voting.  Voto Latino's award-winning earlier telenovela "La Pasion de la Decision" was an online series, which gained millions of views on Myspace, Youtube and Facebook.

Voto Latino is a non-partisan, nonprofit voter engagement organization that works to promote an enfranchised America by leveraging celebrity voices, multi-media platforms, and youth themselves to promote positive change. Voto Latino's mission is to engage a new generation of Americans in civic participation. For more information, please visit: www.votolatino.org.

PSA Spots for posting  http://www.votolatino.org/regional_mex_psa.zip

This is not a Jayhawks reunion.  Repeat: this is not a Jayhawks reunion.

By Brian Creech

Don’t you love it when musicians can put their differences aside and start acting like mature adults?  For Gary Louris and Mark Olson, it took 13 years for the two to quit pouting and start playing music.  As the Jayhawks Louris and Olson (along with Marc Pearlman) wrote some of the most affecting vocally harmonized country-rock of the 90’s.  Then Gary said something stupid and Mark left in a tizzy.  Louris kept the Jayhawks together, going on to release three more albums before disbanding the group in 2003.  Since then, Louris and Olson have released solo albums, toured together, and have slowly started to quit blaming the other one for problems they can’t really remember having in the first place.

Actually the conflict wasn’t that catty.  Olson just wanted to spend more time with his wife and everyone was like “cool, go do that.”  Those Midwesterners are so darn polite. 

Annnnnnnnnnyway, earlier this year, Louris and Olson got back together to record a new album’s worth of material together.  The album is called Ready for the Flood and is due January 27^th, 2009 on New West Records.  It was produced by Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) and is the first album of new material since Olson left the Jayhawks in 1995.

According to a New West press release, “Ready for the Flood captures the stripped down, fingerpicking guitar playing and  Laurel Canyon sound of an earlier time…The result is an organic, intuitive and loosely confident album with several stand out tracks including on Turn Your Pretty Name Around and Chamberlain, SD.”

Louris and Olson will tour Europe this fall with North American dates coming in the New Year. 

Urban Outfitters Fights Cancer with stellar Music Taste

by Brian Creech

Act quick, Uber-Hipster retailer (or is it post-Uber-Hipster retailer), Urban Outfitters will be selling the tres-chic compilation Give. Listen. Help. Volume 5 for a limited time only.  Arriving at retail stores on October 15th and departing for good on January 31st, the 27 track double disc collection features live versions and covers from Bloc Party, Jack Johnson, Oasis, The Decemberists, and Ra Ra Riot, as well as unreleased tracks from Garbage and The Little Ones.  Oh, and there is a Radiohead song, “House of Cards,” the same version you probably downloaded for free on In Rainbows. 

Snarkiness aside, all proceeds from the compilation will go to the Pablove Foundation, created to support Pablo Castelaz, the 5-year-old son of Dangerbird Records' co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill.  You can follow Pablo’s progress over at PABlog.

Big shout-out to Urban Outfitters and Filter Magazine for cluing you in to some “hip tunes” while also helping a really cool kid fight cancer.  Score one for music’s innate ability to bring good things to the world.

The song list reads like a veritable cool/was cool/might be cool guide for 2008, with the Dangerbird Record’s record stable kicking in a hefty set of songs for good luck:

Disc 1:

01 Garbage: "Witness to Your Love" *

02 Radiohead: "House of Cards"

03 Of Montreal: "Jimmy" (Parvati Khan/M.I.A. cover)

04 Bat for Lashes: "What's a Girl to Do? (Plaid Remix)"

05 Oasis: "Falling Down (Chemical Brothers Remix)"

06 Rilo Kiley: "Draggin' Around" *

07 Bloc Party: "Flux (JKL remix)"

08 The Faint: "The Geeks Were Right" (DIOYY Remix)"

09 CSS: "Rat Is Dead (Rage)"

10 The Decemberists: "Billy Liar" (live)

11 Ra Ra Riot: "Can You Tell (Little Ones Remix)"

12 Ladytron: "Ghosts (Modwheelmood Mix)"

13 The Little Ones: "I Don't Want to Dance " *

14 Other Lives: "Paper Cities" *

15 Two Sheds: "You"

16 Jack Johnson: "All at Once" (live at Bumbershoot 2008)

* previously unreleased

Disc 2:

01 Silversun Pickups: "Table Scraps"

02 Eulogies: "Is There Anyone Here?"

03 Darker My Love: "Blue Day"

04 The Dears: "Crisis 1 & 2"

05 Sea Wolf: "The Promise"

06 The Curse of Company: "All the Mines"

07 The One AM Radio: "Old Men"

08 Ed Laurie: "Albert"

09 Eric Avery: "All Remote and No Control"

10 Dappled Cities: "Vision Bell"

11 La Rocca: "Cross the River"

L.A.-based  maverick also to tour w/Fleet Foxes.

By Blurt Staff

Neotraditionalist Frank Fairfield, a virtuoso on banjo, fiddle and guitar, has just signed with NYC's roots-powered Tompkins Square label. He will be main support for Fleet Foxes on their US tour this fall.

The label has released a 3-song digital single, and a 7" single featuring Fairfield's take on traditional tunes "I've Always Been A Rambler" b/w "Darling Corey," samples of which can be heard at Fairfield's MySpace page (www.myspace.com/frankfairfield).

According to a spokesperson at the label, an album will follow in early 2009.

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)

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Nelly , Akon , Ashanti

9:00 AM Syndictated: The Martha Stewart Show: Terrence Howard

11:00 AM ABC: The View: Dave Stewart

1:00 PM PLD HD: AC/DC - No Bull

2:00 PM Biography: Ray Charles

2:30 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: Sunny Garcia, Chuck D, Atmosphere

5:30 PM VH1C: Classic 60 Minutes: Eric Clapton

6:00 PM Ovation: Live from the Artists Den: Aimee Mann

7:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Counting Crows and Shelby Lynne

10:00 PM RAVE HD: Soundstage: Joss Stone with Mavis Staples

11:00 PM Sundance: Iconoclasts: Batali on Stipe

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Fleet Foxes

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Hawthorne Heights

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Good Charlotte

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Southside Johnny , Willie Nelson

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Anthony Green , Good Old War

Kings Of Leon Jump the Shark!

9-18-08

Band not off to a very good start, critically speaking. Damn you, pesky critics!

By Fred Mills

In a salute to traditional British stiff-upper-lipness (or is that sheer bloody-mindedness?), the UK media - or at least the NME - is already toting big stiffies for the forthcoming Kings Of Leon album  Only By the Night, scheduled for release next week in both the UK and the U.S.

Recall that the Kings initially broke through in England, where the week-to-week hype machine of the printed media can easily maneuver next-bit-thing phenoms compared to the U.S. where, to a somewhat steadily vanishing degree, first week sales have tended to be less critical for the success of acts.

Pursuant to the foregoing, in a somewhat hyperventilating report filed this morning by the NME  we learn that tracks from the band will be previewed on NME Radio tomorrow night as the hype machine ramps up: "Songs from the band's fourth album will be played on the hour every hour from 7am (BST)," reads the account, adding, "Plus anyone who gets in touch with the station from 7am either by emailing studio@nmeradio.co.uk or by texting in (text NME followed by your message to 65065) will be automatically entered into a draw to win a signed copy of the Kings Of Leon album."

"We are extremely excited to hear what is, undoubtedly, one of the most anticipated albums of the year," declared station boss Sammy Jacob. "It will be brilliant to listen to the album together with our listeners."

Well, all right then!

In an effort to help out our British readers (we know you're out there, we can hear you sniffling from the damp air), we'd like to direct you to some recently published comments about the Kings' album, which apparently is underwhelming American reviewers. This may help temper your natural Limey overenthusiasm. Sob! Where's Maggie Thatcher when ya need her!

In a stellar Pitchfork review in which the writer awarded the band a whopping 3.8 rating (out of 10) we hear of vocalist Caleb Followil's unnaturally affected vocals and clichéd songwriting. "Even the move from "southern Strokes" to "southern U2" is way better in theory than in practice-- these are the same clunky Kings of Leon songs, just now presented in an incredibly weird context... We can do better for the platonic ideal of a rock band than four guys gunning for a spot rightfully inhabited by My Morning Jacket but instead coming up with the best songs 3 Doors Down never wrote."

Whew. Succinct, but brutal.

Speaking of succinct, your friendly neighborhood BLURT, in the new September digital magazine, gave the album a ONE STAR RATING (out of ten), an honor previously reserved only for John Mayer:

Kings of Leon have jumped the shark, gone over the edge, and wrecked the train, simultaneously, miraculously, horribly. Only By the Night is a rock ‘n' roll version of the Palin VP pick - a bad choice at a bad time. The Kings' blend of Southern rock and post-punk has reaped some wonderful results over the past few years. This, however, is a ridiculous mess of ‘80s darkwave, adult alternative, and arena rock ballads, on which Caleb Followill has replaced his gruff but melodic vocal style with a generic croon. But this is only part of the dumbing-down process the band seems to have gone through. There's no doubt that the boys thought writing sappy ballads, such as "Use Somebody," was a step towards musical maturity. The reality is that it's a damn shame, and one can only hope the Kings will learn from this blunder.

This has been a public service announcement - with guitars.

UPDATE: This press release just got slipped over the BLURT transom:

The band are confirmed to be the music guest on Saturday Night Live this Saturday night, September 20th. Actor James Franco is set to host what should be a rather raucous and hilarious 90 minutes of television. Once the party dies down, Kings of Leon will move into release day, Tuesday, September 23rd, with a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as an exclusive sold-out club date at New York's Webster Hall later that evening.

Sammy Hagar calls for change in new song/video.

By Randy Harward

Sammy Hagar's donations to George W. Bush and California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R) evidently-and insistence that he doesn't mind that McCain used his Van Halen song "Right Now" at the RNC-don't indicate he's a true redhead. The title track to his new album Cosmic Universal Fashion (Roadrunner/Loud & Proud) was an online collaboration between Hagar and an Iraqi musician name Steven Lost. The video calls for ideologues from all sides to remove heads from heinie-holes and enact real change.

The clip picks up where VH's "Right Now" video left off-in fact, it's the same concept, and they admit as much at the beginning. "In 1992, 4 minutes and 18 seconds caught the world's attention in a universal fashion," flashes onscreen before a patchwork of images and "right now" statements lament the state of the world. The war and the current administration are ostensibly taken to task over the faltering economy, exorbitant fuel prices, health care, global warming, world hunger, American gluttony, rockstar politicians/political rockstars, fear-mongering and godlessness (although he appears to be non-denominational, showing pictures of Ganesha, Buddha and Christ). True to his partyin' motherfuckerness, Hagar also bemoans spammers and the fact that strippers can't retire on tips. (Oh, and he covers the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right To Party" on the album.)

Really, though, Hagar calls for everybody to pull their heads out and get serious about the country's direction instead of continuing the red-blue slap fight. "We are light years ahead of where we thought we'd be in 1992, yet there will always be issues that continue to need our attention," Hagar says in a press release. "With the upcoming election, global and national issues are at the forefront of everyone's minds. "Cosmic Universal Fashion" is not about supporting left or right, blue or red, but rather an attempt to appeal to people on a personal level to get involved."

This notwithstanding, it's interesting to note that Dubya gets spanked twice, perhaps thrice, in the clip. When the song complains about presidential scandals, Bill Clinton is shown, then we see Bush shaking hands with Tony Blair. In another spot, a picture of the lame duck, lame-ass president is accompanied by a statement says he's more an entertainer than politician. And Hagar and ex-VH bass player Michael Anthony stand arms folded to these words: "Right now it's time to finish what you started." We assume these pertain to the Iraq War as well as Hagar's "do something" theme.

And mind you, the Red Rocker has never claimed to be overly Republican, citing a brand-conscious desire to be outwardly non-partisan. As he told USA Today last month, "I can't take the stage and preach to people, because unfortunately there will always be folks out there who'll say, ‘Oh, he thinks that, then I'll never go to his club again.' So I just do what I do, and hope I don't insult anyone.

"We're at a crossroads, for sure. If we don't make the right changes, right now, we'll have an even bigger depression and more wars. The best thing we can all do is not wait until the government does things, but instead just get involved in our own communities to help those around us."

As Autumn closes in, Merritt asks someone to "Please Break the Stillness"

By Brian Creech

Tift Merritt has had a busy year.  After recording her latest album, Another Country, in France earlier this year, she took to the road and has been there ever since.  She's taken a trek across the US, with a tour of the British Isles thrown in for good measure. She performed on Leno and Letterman, and got to sing a duet with Emmylou Harris.  As autumn sets in, you'd think Tift would be in the mood to throw on a sweater, curl up next to the fire, and take a bit of a break.

Not so.  On September 16th, Fantasy Records released an exclusive iTunes digital only 5 song EP entitled "Please Break the Stillness of the Middle of the Night". It features two unreleased Merritt originals, "Wayward and Weary" and "Last To Know," and a cover of George Harrison's "I Live for You". Also included are a remixed version of Merritt's "Morning Is My Destination" and an acoustic version of "Tell Me Something True", both from Another Country.

Given Merritt's calming vocals and her tendency to write seductively comfortable songs, this record is sure to become one of this year's best albums to get cozy too.  Merritt is on tour through October 2nd, so why don't you slide into your slippers, grab a glass of milk, and settle in for a relaxing show.

Tour Dates:

Fri Sep 19 '08 (7:30 PM)         Norfolk, VA               Attucks Theatre

 Fri Sep 26 '08 (7:30 PM)        Jackson, WY               Center Theater

 Sat Sep 27 '08 (8 PM)            Boise, ID                     The Grizzly Rose

 Mon Sep 29 '08 (7:30 PM)     Seattle, WA    The Triple Door

 Tue Sep 30 '08 (8 PM)           Bend, OR                    The Annex

 Wed Oct 1 '08 (7:30 PM)      Eugene, OR    The Shedd / John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts

 Thu Oct 2 '08 (6 PM) Santa Rosa, CA          KRSH Backyard Concert Series

Ben Kingsley rocks balls on Minor Threat cover.

By Randy Harward

You have to see this. Mean magazine got Sir Ben Kingsley to get onstage and bark Minor Threat's "Minor Threat." We're speechless, slackjawed at this new dimension to the Oscar-winning actor's talent. He truly rocks balls. Original link to the video is here, or see below.

Sir Ben Kingsley STOMPS into the shoes of Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.