GRAMMY® Nominees Coldplay and Rihanna to Perform Live Together for the First Time

NOMINEE AND 2012 MUSICARES PERSON OF THE YEAR PAUL MCCARTNEY ALSO SET TO PERFORM ON THE 54TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS®

Music's Biggest Night® — Hosted by Rapper/Actor LL COOL J — Airs Live on CBS Sunday, Feb. 12, 8 ET/PT

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Current GRAMMY^® nominees Coldplay and Rihanna will perform live together for the first time, and nominee and 2012 MusiCares^® Person of the Year Paul McCartney is set to perform as part of the stellar lineup for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards ( www.grammy.com ). Music's Biggest Night^® — hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J — takes place live on Sunday, Feb. 12 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high definition and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys . Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy^®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys , www.facebook.com/thegrammys .

Four-time GRAMMY winner Rihanna has four nominations: Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Loud; and two nods in Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "What's My Name?" (with Drake), and "All Of The Lights" (with Kanye West, Kid Cudi & Fergie).
Seven-time GRAMMY-winning group Coldplay is up for three awards: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Paradise," and Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for "Every Teardop Is A Waterfall."
14-time GRAMMY winner and 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year McCartney is nominated for Best Historical Album for Band On The Run (Paul McCartney Archive Collection — Deluxe Edition).
Previously announced performers for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards include current GRAMMY nominees Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson , Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars , Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift . Aldean and Minaj will perform on the GRAMMY telecast for the first time, while Clarkson, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Mars, McCartney, Rihanna, and Swift are returning to the GRAMMY stage. LL COOL J has hosted "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception in December 2008, and this is his first time hosting the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast.
The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, Louis J. Horvitz is director, and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com . For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.


SOURCE The Recording Academy

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Announces Its Newest Featured Exhibit: Grateful Dead: The Long, Strange Trip

CLEVELAND, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is proud to present a major exhibition devoted to a truly unique American rock and roll band, Grateful Dead: The Long, Strange Trip. The exhibit will open to the public on Thursday, April 12, as a part of the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Week events.  The Mickey Hart Band, featuring the Grateful Dead drummer, will perform on the Rock Hall's Main Stage for an exhibit opening event on Wednesday, April 11. 

"The Grateful Dead is a band that is identified with a remarkable era in American history, and, inasmuch as they embody that era, their work is timeless," says Jim Henke, vice president of Exhibits and Curatorial Affairs. "They've inspired many performers and bands, but none has exhibited their musical depth and cultural resonance. In a 30-year career, this group wrote their own rules and created a community unlike any band before or since."
Grateful Dead: The Long, Strange Trip explores the band from a non-linear point of view. Individual sections within the exhibit will be devoted to Grateful Dead as a recording group and a touring band, the fans who devotedly followed them, tapers and fellow travelers (people who were important to the band). It will include finished and working manuscripts for classic songs, handwritten notes from legendary taper Dick Latvala, artifacts from original sound designer Owsley "Bear" Stanley, and promoter Bill Graham's Father Time robe and Grateful Dead Hotline answering machine.
Art and design have always been closely associated with Grateful Dead, and this exhibit will include an unprecedented collection of original artwork that is immediately recognizable from the band's album covers and posters. It will feature numerous instruments used by the Grateful Dead over the years, including keyboards, drums, percussion, guitars and elements from the legendary Wall of Sound PA system. The Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California-Santa Cruz has loaned a significant number of items from their extraordinary collection, which will open to the public in spring 2012.
Additional highlights include:

• Five Jerry Garcia guitars, including his Travis Bean TB5
• Mickey Hart's custom-painted drum kit
• Two Bob Weir guitars, including his first Ibanez "cowboy" custom guitar
• Several original lyric manuscripts, including "Truckin'," "Box of Rain" and "Sugaree"
• Several original Grateful Dead-related artworks, including images from Workingman's Dead, Without a Net and Fillmore Auditorium poster art
• Bill Graham's "Father Time" robe

Formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965 from a previous incarnation as a bar band called the Warlocks, the Grateful Dead were at the epicenter of the sweeping cultural event that was San Francisco in the Sixties. Their music was informed by a diverse set of influences – contemporary classical composition, bluegrass, rhythm & blues, free jazz, rock and roll and the blues. Fueled by a cultural underground of writers, poets and bohemians that stretched from Oakland and Berkeley in the East Bay to Palo Alto on the peninsula, the Grateful Dead developed an ethos that embraced true artistic pursuits over commercial concerns, improvisation over rote arrangements and mind expansion through the use of psychedelic drugs.
At the exhibit opening event on the 11th, Mickey Hart Band will perform new songs from his forthcoming album to be released this spring as well as Grateful Dead classics.  Hart will be touring this spring in support of his new album which he told Rolling Stone features samples of "light waves from the cosmos, starting 13.7 billion years ago with the Big Bang."
This exhibit will be open through December 2012.
About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs.
The Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Wednesdays (and Saturdays through Labor Day), the Museum is open until 9 p.m. Museum admission is $22 for adults, $18 for adult residents of Greater Cleveland, $17 for seniors (65+), $13 for youth (9-12). Children under eight (8) and museum members always free, for information or to join the membership program call 216. 515.8425. For general inquiries, please call 216.781.ROCK (7625) or visit www.rockhall.com.  The Museum is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

SOURCE The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Web Site: http://www.rockhall.com

Foster the People to Perform at 20th Annual Elton John Aids Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party

This Year's Event Sponsored by Chopard, Neuro Drinks and Wells Fargo

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) announced today that the 20th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, hosted by Sir Elton John and David Furnish, will feature a special performance by the Grammy® Nominated and Billboard chart-topping band, Foster the People. This year's event will be sponsored by Chopard, Neuro Drinks and Wells Fargo.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100203/LA48779LOGO )
Best known for their edgy smash single, "Pumped Up Kicks," off their debut album "Torches" (Sony Music Entertainment), Foster the People is one of the hottest young indie bands in the country. The group will briefly take a break from their world tour just in time to perform at the EJAF Academy Awards Viewing Party to be held on February 26, 2012.
"We were thrilled when Sir Elton John asked us to play his Academy Awards party," said Foster the People front-man Mark Foster.  "His foundation has globally impacted the lives of millions of people suffering from HIV/AIDS and we're honored to be involved in any way we can."
"'Torches' by Foster the People is one of my favorite albums of 2011 and 'Pumped Up Kicks' was my favorite single," says Sir Elton John. "I'm so thrilled that they are playing at our 20th anniversary Oscar party and I'm so impressed that they want to give back so early in their career."
In the fall of 2009, Mark Foster joined forces with Cubbie Fink and Mark Pontius to form Foster the People. Shortly after releasing their first single "Pumped Up Kicks," the band received numerous accolades from high-profile print publications helping to send the track to the top of the charts. The song reached number one on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, number three on the Rock Songs chart, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
The band is currently nominated for two GRAMMY Awards®: Best Pop/Duo Group Performance for their single "Pumped Up Kicks" and Best Alternative Album for "Torches."
ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION - The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) was established as a nonprofit organization in the United States in 1992 and as a registered charity in the United Kingdom in 1993 by Sir Elton John. Together, both entities have raised more than $225 million for worthy programs in 55 countries around the globe since inception. Today, the Foundation is one of the world's leading nonprofit HIV/AIDS organizations supporting innovative HIV prevention programs, efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and direct care and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS. The U.S. organization's current grant-making priorities target HIV prevention programs throughout the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean; HIV prevention and care services for highly marginalized and vulnerable populations; and HIV/AIDS prevention education and the promotion of sexual health for adolescents.  For more information, please visit www.ejaf.org.
CHOPARD – Founded in 1860, the House of Chopard is represented around the world through 1,600 points of sale and over 130 boutiques. Owned and headed by the Scheufele family since 1963, Chopard currently operates three production sites – Geneva and Fleurier in Switzerland, and Pforzheim in Germany – and employs 1,900 people worldwide. This Scheufele family is profoundly dedicated to core values of independence, innovation, creativity, quality, knowledge preservation and social commitment. A privileged partner of the cinema and closely involved with the world of classic car races, Chopard has built its reputation on iconic lines such as "Happy Diamonds" and "Mille Miglia." In the past twenty years, Chopard has further developed its expertise in Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie. Every year, around 75,000 jewelry creations and 75,000 watches emerge from the company's workshops, each crafted in-house by gifted artisans.
For more information, please visit: www.chopard.com
NEURO DRINKS - Neuro delivers a system of drinks developed to upgrade your life.  Each drink is formulated by leading experts in the areas of nutrition & food science, neurocognitive research, and clinical nutrition, to include a blend of essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proprietary dietary ingredients to enhance specific aspects of our lives: When life is boring, NeuroPassion; When we're mentally foggy, NeuroSonic; When we're tossing and turning, NeuroSleep; When the clouds take over, NeuroSun; When our thirst can't be quenched, NeuroAqua; When we're stressed, NeuroBliss; When we sweat it all out, NeuroSport; When we slack on our diets, NeuroTrim.
Neuro is the convergence of true function and flavor that creates an operating system for life optimizing everything from brainpower to willpower. To satisfy your thirst for perfection, Neuro is available at premium retailers nationwide and in the United Kingdom. For more information please visit www.drinkneuro.com.
WELLS FARGO – Wells Fargo & Company is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. We want to help all of our customers succeed financially and create long-term economic growth and quality of life for everyone in our communities. In 2011, the Company invested $213 million in grants in 19,000 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.3 million volunteer hours around the country.  For more information, please visit: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr
AMERICAN AIRLINES – American Airlines, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® carrier serve 260 airports in more than 50 countries and territories with, on average, more than 3,300 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's award-winning website, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members and members-elect serve more than 900 destinations with more than 10,000 daily flights to 149 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, and AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc.

Two-Time GRAMMY® Winner LL COOL J to Host 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards®

Rapper/Actor Will Be First Host in Seven Years of the Music Industry's Premier Event Music's Biggest Night® Airs Live on CBS Sunday, Feb. 12, 8 ET/PT

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Two-time GRAMMY® winner LL COOL J is set to host the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards ( www.grammy.com ), marking the first time in seven years that the music industry's premier event will have an official host. Music's Biggest Night® takes place live on Sunday, Feb. 12 , at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high definition and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Westwood One/Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys . Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys , www.facebook.com/thegrammys .
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111116/LA07792LOGO)
"I'm thrilled to be part of Music's Biggest Night," said LL COOL J. "I will always have fond memories of my first GRAMMY Awards and to now be hosting the GRAMMY show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true. Great performances and great music — it's gonna be a great night!"
LL COOL J has hosted "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception in December 2008, and this will be his first time hosting the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast. Recent past hosts include Queen Latifah at the 47th GRAMMY Awards and Jon Stewart for the 43rd and 44th GRAMMY telecasts. Over the years, additional GRAMMY hosts include Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell, among others.
LL COOL J joins previously announced performers and current GRAMMY nominees Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson , Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars , Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift . Aldean and Minaj will perform on the GRAMMY telecast for the first time, while Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Mars, and Swift are returning to the GRAMMY stage.
The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, Louis J. Horvitz is director, and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com . For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.

RAP PHENOM Mac Miller brings independent rOOTS to chaifetz arena APRIL 11

tickets on-sale  at metrotix.com

(St. Louis – January 24, 2012) Twenty-year-old rap phenom Mac Miller comes to Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University with his Macadelic Tour on Wednesday, April 11 at 8 p.m.  The Cool Kids and The Come Up are also scheduled to perform.

All tickets are general admission at $31 and went on-sale on Friday, January 27 at 10 a.m. at MetroTix.com, charge by phone at             314-534-1111       and the Chaifetz Arena Box Office.

In November 2011, Malcolm “Mac Miller” McCormick released his debut album Blue Slide Park at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart becoming the first artist to independently release a debut album to the top of the chart since 1995. The Pittsburgh-native also broke on to the Billboard Top 100 singles chart when “Smile Back” peaked at No. 55. Last year, Miller supported fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa on the Campus Consciousness Tour.

Miller, who turned 20 years-old last week, uses a unique business model for building his fan base. Instead of using the powerhouse of a more traditional label, Miller signed to independent label Rostrum Records and uses social media to directly reach his core fans that range between middle school and college. The social media mogul has released a new song for every 100,000 Twitter followers, a number which now surpasses 1.67 million fans and has had more than 44 million views for his viral song “Donald Trump.”

These new media strategies that propelled Miller to the mainstream stage were recognized by Forbes Magazine, who not only included Miller as the feature for the Top 30 Under 30 in the music category with artists such as Adele and Lady Gaga, but who also wrote an article titled “Mac Miller: Indie Music Savior?” about his unusual, rapid rise to fame and how well he engages his young audience.

Also scheduled to perform are Chicago hip-hop duo The Cool Kids who have collaborated with the likes of Drake, Lil Wayne and Ludacris and released their debut studio album When Fish Ride Bicycles in 2011. This show also features fellow Pittsburgh rappers, The Come Up.

Kellie Pickler: Tough and True on “100 Proof”
By Bob Doerschuk

© 2012 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
“I was born in the wrong generation,” said Kellie Pickler, looking through the windows at Sony Music Nashville’s offices toward somewhere far south of town. “I wish I would have been in the generation before Twitter and cell phones, when there was that mysteriousness about being an artist. I wish I could have been a part of that generation where you’d go to the Ryman and sing and then walk out the back door and go honky-tonkin’. Well, we do that anyway, but because it’s on YouTube the next day, you can’t really completely cut loose.”
It’s not just the life that beckons toward Pickler. As she demonstrates on 100 Proof, her latest album on 19 Recordings Limited/BNA Records, it’s the music too. Maybe it’s the music most of all. In the opening seconds of the very first track, “Where’s Tammy Wynette” (written by Jimmy Ritchey, Don Poythress and Leslie Satcher), she kicks back and sings passionately, mashing anger and pain together in just a few notes: “I stay torn between killin’ him and lovin’ him. He stays torn between neon lights and home.” And just like that, we’re in a world lit by jukeboxes and perfumed by worn leather and spilled beer.
Where is Tammy Wynette? Maybe she lives somewhere in Pickler’s soul, nurtured by the young singer’s Southern roots and difficult early years. “Based on some of the things that I’ve recorded in the past, you wouldn’t know that the biggest reason why I fell in love with Country Music is because of Kitty Wells and Tammy Wynette and Loretta and Dolly,” she said. “I know that music has changed so much; the music today is so different than the music I listened to. And I guess everyone’s definition of Country Music is different. But I’m excited about the sound that we have.”
That sound is traditional, all the way down to mixing spoons into the rhythm track on the album’s first single, “Tough” (written by Leslie Satcher). For fans drawn by the infectious pop flavor of her Platinum single “Best Days of your Life” (Pickler and Taylor Swift) or the Gold-charting “Red High Heels” (Pickler, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo and Karyn Rochelle) and “Small Town Girl” (Pickler, Lindsey and Mayo), the new direction is unmistakable.
“I really want people to take me seriously as an artist, which has been a little difficult coming off of ‘American Idol’ since there’s such a stereotype. I was 19 and green when I did that show and you only got to know about this much of me,” said Pickler, pinching thumb and finger together. “You don’t really get to pick what you do. I mean, why would I sing a Queen song? You don’t get to develop so much as an artist. You just become a star.”

Pickler’s finish among the final six of the show’s 2005 season lofted her into unfamiliar territory. Her ascension was so quick that she had to record the vocals of her debut album, Small Town Girl, while on the road, singing to backing tracks sent from Nashville. The results broadened her appeal, but the working method and several aspects of its sound left her feeling somewhat off balance.
“I can’t say I didn’t have fun with songs like ‘Red High Heels,’ and ‘I Wonder’ (Pickler, Lindsey, Mayo and Rochelle) is my life,” she added. “But I’ve done the ‘Best Days of Your Life’ kind of songs. To me, that’s not a Country production at all. Anything I sing kind of sounds Country just because of the way I talk. But for this record, I worked with a whole different group of people. I’ve been able to just go in the studio and play and have fun and figure out what cord plugs into what instrument and what this button does. I skipped all that developing because I just became ‘American Idol Kellie Pickler,’ so it’s been a slow and long process of trying to get to the point where I am now.”
Pickler is quick to credit co-producers Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten as indispensible in helping achieve her goals for 100 Proof. The fact that she had never worked with them previously encouraged her to break from her earlier routine and start fresh. Much of what drew her to Liddell was his productions for singers with high Country credibility, including Miranda Lambert and Liddell’s wife Lee Ann Womack. Once onboard, he persuaded her to bring Wooten in as well, partly because of his extensive hands-on engineering background.
“With Kellie, part of our goal was, ‘How do we start over? How can we do some work that she hasn’t done?’” Liddell explained. “I’d heard a handful of her singles before. A couple of them were actually brilliant. But she felt they were not her. At that point, you just want to get her in the right situation and the right room where she felt real comfortable. Then we went with our gut.”
They also encouraged Pickler to dig down and write some new material that expressed what she wanted to say. “You don’t think, ‘Somebody’s going to bring me 10 songs that sound like hits. I’ll show up at the studio and sing them.’ That’s karaoke. She wanted to become more invested in what she was singing, and that entailed sitting down and writing with some people. Kellie would say, ‘Well, I’m not much of a writer,’ and she might see it as a wasted day if she didn’t come out with a No. 1 hit. But I disagreed with her. She’s learning that she is a writer and she’s getting invested in a career in a way that other people had done from the beginning.”
Liddell stayed just as involved in the tracking as in the album’s early creative stages. “Frank pushed me, he pushed Kellie and the band,” said Wooten. “There are things on this record I would never have thought of doing. One of my favorite things was a track called ‘Arm Candy’ (Pickler and Natalie Hemby, available exclusively on iTunes). We were cutting the track. It was feeling good. And Frank runs into the tracking room in the middle of the take and yells, ‘Stop! Everyone out except for bass and drums!’ Everyone was kind of shocked. But then, as we were listening back, we heard this amazing beat and bass part being laid down, which totally changed the sentiment of the song in a way I don’t think any guy in the room would have come up with. The rest of the band didn’t even play on it; they actually ended up singing kind of a doo-wop background part, with upright bass, drums and some percussion. It wouldn't have happened if Frank hadn’t felt that we could get something better.”
“To be completely honest with you, I didn’t know the artist in me until I met Frank and Luke,” Pickler said. “They pointed out things in me I didn’t know I had. They saw it, but I didn’t.”
What they saw, and what 100 Proof uncovers, is the core of Kellie Pickler’s creative identity. The producers encouraged her self-discovery, whether by setting up and lighting candles around her as she recorded or bringing the musicians into a circle in the studio to track with her. “We cut in the old RCA Studio A, which is now Ben Folds’ studio,” Wooten said. “They don’t have isolation for each guy. Kellie was literally about 25 feet in front of the drums. I’d never cut that way, but once again that was something Frank wanted to try. It turned out for the best.”
“We were in a big circle in the big room,” Pickler remembered. “And before we started, I’d go, ‘All right, everyone, close your eyes. I want you to think about, if this was the last place you would ever be playing, what stage would it be on? Would you be at the Opry? Would you be at the Ryman? Would it be a bar in your hometown? Would it be the backyard at your grandma’s? Whatever it is, just close your eyes and let’s all go to that place and play.’”
Pickler’s eyes were closed as she spoke, perhaps herself going to wherever she was when they cut “Unlock That Honky Tonk” (Pickler and Satcher), declaiming over a stomping, banjo-studded beat, “Don’t tell me Country’s gone, ’cause I’m ’bout to tie some on.” She might have been revisiting “Stop Cheatin’ on Me” (Morgane Hayes, Liz Rose and Chris Stapleton), where her performance, especially in the artfully shaped two- and three-part harmonies, might have been laid down decades ago. One place she knows especially well comes to view in “The Letter (to Daddy)” (Pickler, Dean Dillon and Dale Dodson), a guitar-and-voice rumination on her father’s hard but successful rise from self-destruction to standing on his own, strong enough at last to give and accept love.
“I want to sell records,” she said, eyes now open, her voice self-assured. “But if I’m going to sell anything at this point, I don’t want them to be one-hit wonders, you know? Not just a fad for this generation because it’s hip and cool and right now. I want for somebody to sing one of my songs in the honky-tonks on Broadway in 50 years, like they do Loretta Lynn.
“We’re in a time today where you can’t afford to not be played on the radio,” she continued. “So most people go into the studio and the first thing is, ‘OK, how are we going to get this on the radio?’ Right there, you’re not making your record. You’re making somebody else’s record. That’s not why I’m here. I mean, ultimately I want to be on the radio, of course, but this record, these songs and the production come from a real place. And regardless if it sells a million copies or one copy, I’m happy with how this album turned out. Because my music is my life.”
On the Web: www.KelliePickler.com

 

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Kicks Up Its Heels 

at Peabody Opera House April 3 - 8

Tickets on sale.

 

“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as...as a FIDDLER ON THE ROOF,” announces Tevye, a humble milkman from the Russian village of Anatevka. And so begins a tale of love and laughter, devotion and defiance...and changing traditions.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, the Tony Award® winning musical that has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal, embarks on its North American Tour. In what is a huge theatrical feat, audiences will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Jerome Robbins’ original Broadway direction and choreography, starring veteran actor John Preece.

 

Tevye’s wrestling with the new customs of a younger generation is punctuated by an unforgettable score that weaves the haunting strains of “Sunrise, Sunset” and the rousing “If I Were A Rich Man” with the exuberant “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and triumphant “Tradition.” When his daughters choose suitors who defy his idea of a proper match, Tevye comes to realize, through a series of incidents that are at once comic and bittersweet, that his children will begin traditions of their own. At the story’s close, the villagers of Anatevka are forced to leave their homes and even the sturdy mores that have guided everyday life begin to crumble. Paradoxically, it is the enforced loss of the rigid traditions and home life that Tevye has tried so tenaciously to preserve that leads the family to reconcile and draw closer still.

A perennial hit since it first opened in 1964, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has enjoyed critical acclaim for bringing to the stage a poignant story about the enduring bonds of the family. Now, the National Touring production of this timeless musical brings the wit and wisdom of Tevye and his family to audiences throughout North America.

Mr. Preece has performed in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF over 3,400 times, more than 1,700 of which were in the role of Tevye the milkman, this production marks Mr. Preece’s 10^th national tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. 

 

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will be at Peabody Opera House for 7 performances April 3 – 8. Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. and are available at the Ford Box Office at Scottrade Center, all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at             800-745-3000       and online at ticketmaster.com. Visit PeabodyOperaHouse.com for more details.

 

 

Fiddler on the Roof Performance Schedule

Tuesday, April 3 at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4 at 8 p.m.

Thursday, April 5 at 8 p.m.

Friday, April 6 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 7 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 8 at 2 p.m.

 

Trace Adkins' SONGS & STORIES TOUR Announced

INTIMATE PERFORMANCES PLANNED AT AMERICA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL THEATERS

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- Trace Adkins announced the SONGS & STORIES TOUR, which will visit many of America's most beautiful theaters this Spring. These intimate evenings of powerful performances will incorporate stories, both humorous and meaningful, that pay homage to Adkins' working-man roots and rich musical heritage. Tickets for March dates go on sale to the public on Friday (1/27), more dates are expected to be added. A full list of dates and ticket info is below.
Inspiration for the SONGS & STORIES TOUR came as Trace released his 10th studio album, Proud To Be Here, last summer with a CMT Invitation Only special. The special featured new hits "Just Fishin'" and "Million Dollar View," a Q&A session and the most-loved songs from Adkins' twenty year career. The taping was so fun for Trace and his guests that he began laying plans for a tour.

"I've had many narrow escapes and blessings in my life. The right song at the right time has been my saving grace and that's something I have in common with the audience. Sharing meaningful songs, stories and some laughs 'around the campfire' is the Country music tradition and I'm looking forward to it."
Fans can share their own stories, questions and the songs that have inspired or shaped their lives on the Songs & Stories page at www.traceadkins.com.
From humble beginnings as a small-town Louisiana roughneck, to a Country super star with a twenty year career of hits, to his recent roles as outspoken author and actor, Adkins' life parallels the songs he sings. His albums showcase a range of earnest tributes and party anthems with humor and depth – the Songs & Stories Tour promises to offer the same. 
See the CMT performance that inspired the SONGS & STORIES TOUR:
http://www.cmt.com/videos/invitation-only-trace-adkins/1671287/full-episode.jhtml
TICKET ON-SALE DATES:

• March dates: public on sale Friday, 1/27 (Fan club pre-sale begins Mon. 1/23.)
• April & May dates: public on sale Friday, 2/3. (Fan club pre-sale begins Mon. 1/30).

SONGS & STORIES TOUR DATES (MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED):
March 8	Des Moines IA	Hoyt Sherman Place
March 9	Kansas City MO	The Midland by AMC
March 10	Peoria IL	Civic Theater
March 15	Milwaukee WI	Riverside Theater
March 16	Rochester MN	Mayo Civic Theater
March 17	Grand Forks ND	Chester Fritz Auditorium *Fan presale 1/30, public on-sale 2/3
March 22	Birmingham AL	Alabama Theatre
April 12	Ashland KY	Paramount Arts Center
April 14	Toledo OH	Stranahan Theater
April 18	Louisville KY	The Palace Theater
April 19	Spartanburg SC	Memorial Hall
April 20	Charlotte NC	Ovens Auditorium
April 25	Denver CO	Paramount Theater *fan presale 1/23, public on-sale 1/27
April 27	Salina KS	Stiefel Theater
April 28	Tulsa OK	Brady Theater
May 3	N. Charleston SC	North Charleston Performing Arts Center
May 4	Savannah GA	Mercer Theater *fan presale 1/30, public on-sale 2/10
May 10	Davenport IA	Adler Theatre
May 11	South Bend IN	Morris PAC *fan presale 1/30, public on-sale 2/4
May 12	Memphis TN	Orpheum Theatre *fan presale 1/23, public on-sale 1/27
May 17	Atlanta GA	Cobb Theater

About Trace Adkins:
Trace Adkins is one of Country music's most versatile and accomplished entertainers. His instantly recognizable baritone has earned 30 charted singles and 15 Top Ten hits gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums with total sales surpassing 10 million. He is the author of A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck. He was a finalist on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice, where he charmed millions while his recent role in The Lincoln Lawyer put him in the company of Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, John Leguizamo and William H. Macy in the box-office topping theatrical release.
A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Adkins was raised on Country and Gospel and is known as a traditionalist who speaks his mind and honors the past. The 6'6" star is a father of five daughters and a family man to the core. He is a former oil rigger who still works his farm himself. His "gruff" demeanor hides a self-deprecating, humble man with the coolness that comes from defeating death (more than once) and realizing everything else is small stuff. When a fire claimed his home in June 2011 in Tennessee, Trace first made sure his family was unharmed, then immediately redirected his fans' offers of support to the Red Cross.
Trace Adkins' tenth studio album, PROUD TO BE HERE, features the Top Ten hit, "Just Fishin'" and latest single, "Million Dollar View." The album was released on August 2, 2011 on Show Dog - Universal Music and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country Album Chart.
SOURCE Sunshine Sachs

GARBAGE LAUNCH STUNVOLUME RECORD LABEL AND WILL SELF RELEASE THEIR NEW ALBUM IN THE UNITED STATES IN SPRING 2012

BAND WILL RELEASE ALBUM ACROSS THE GLOBE VIA LICENSING DEALS WITH COOPERATIVE MUSIC, LIBERATOR, SONY AND UNIVERSAL CANADA

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 23, 2012 - Garbage today announced the launch of their record label, STUNVOLUME.  The band will self-release its highly anticipated upcoming studio album later this spring.   STUNVOLUME will be distributed by Fontana in the United States.  Around the world, Garbage will release their album on STUNVOLUME via licensing deals with Cooperative Music in Asia, Europe and Latin America, Liberator Music/The Mushroom Group in Australia and New Zealand, Sony in Japan and Universal Canada in Canada.

The band has been in the studio putting the finishing touches on their fifth studio album and their first in seven years.  The new album is being recorded in a basement in the Atwater Village area of Los Angeles, CA, the first to be recorded outside of Madison, WI.  The album is being produced by Garbage, engineered by Billy Bush, and mixed by Butch Vig and Billy Bush. 

After forming in Madison, WI, Garbage released their self-titled debut album in 1995 and rode a wave of visually arresting, female-fronted alternative rock bands.  The album spawned the hit singles "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains" and was certified double platinum in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  The band won the Breakthrough Artist Award at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards, and was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy® Award.  Their second album, Version 2.0, was released in 1998 and topped the charts in the United Kingdom.  It was nominated for two Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best Rock Album.  2001's Beautiful Garbage was named one of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 10 Albums Of The Year.  In 2005, Garbage released Bleed Like Me, earning the band it's highest chart position with a No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.  In 2007, the band released a retrospective collection called Absolute Garbage.  Garbage has sold over 12 million albums worldwide.  They have performed in over thirty-five countries and will tour extensively worldwide in support of this new release.

Garbage is Shirley Manson (vocals), Steve Marker (guitars, keyboards), Duke Erikson (guitars, keyboards) and Butch Vig (drums, loops).

 

www.garbage.com

   

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Just Announced Friday – St. Louis Gets Added to List of Tour Dates!

 

 

 

April 29

 

 

 

TICKETS ON SALE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 AT 10AM!

 

TICKETS FOR VAN HALEN WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE BOX OFFICE, LIVENATION.COM,

TICKETMASTER AND CHARGE BY PHONE             1-800-745-3000      .

 

All dates, acts, and ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

Produced by Live Nation

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April 29

 

 

Tickets on Sale Friday, January 27 at 10am!

 

TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE SCOTTRADE CENTER BOX OFFICE, LIVENATION.COM,

TICKETMASTER AND CHARGE BY PHONE             1-800-745-3000      .

 

All dates, acts, and ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

Tickets may be subject to fees

Produced by Live Nation

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JANUS

RETURNS WITH ‘NOX AERIS’ ALBUM, DUE OUT MARCH 27

ON REALID RECORDS/ILG;

 

TOUR WITH CHEVELLE AND MIDDLE CLASS RUT

STARTS FEBRUARY 24

 

 

 

January 19, 2012 -- JANUS—singer David Scotney, guitarist Mike Tyranski, bassist Alan Quitman and drummer Johnny Salazar—experienced great success with their 2009 debut album, RED RIGHT RETURN, but the band’s new album, NOX AERIS, reveals how far they’ve come.

 

That musical revelation is the self-produced NOX AERIS, which is due out March 27 on REALID Records (through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group).  The first single, “Stains,” is already getting spins at WIIL (Chicago), KPNT (St. Louis), WBUZ (Nashville), WJJO (Madison), WWBN (Flint), KHTQ (Spokane), as well as SiriusXM’s “Octane” and “Hard Drive XL.”  Early feedback includes Zigz at WBUZ (Nashville), who says, "If ‘Stains’ is a taste of things to come... then 2012 is going to be a great year for Janus.  They’ve hit on a new level with ‘Stains’... this track is righteous." 

 

“Stains” explores what can happen when you don’t follow your heart, the marks left on your spirit when you become someone you’re not.  “It embodies what I was trying to say on the record,” says singer David Scotney, “it’s a dark point of view, but represents a cathartic process of self-healing.”

 

In 2012 touring news, the band’s first round of tour dates will be with Chevelle and Middle Class Rut starting February 24 in Grand Rapids, MI.  Additional dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

The record’s title, which is Latin for “night air,” comes from the 14^th Century, a period where a third of the European population was killed off by the plague.  Then, people believed going outdoors at night would cause them to succumb to the Black Death.  While writing NOX AERIS, JANUS found this idea to be an apt metaphor for their own journey, preconceived notions of their own being flipped around as they became a bigger, more established band since the release of RED RIGHT RETURN.  NOX AERIS reveals who JANUS is and what they’ve gone through.

 

RED RIGHT RETURN came out in September 2009 on REALID Records and spawned the Top 10 Active Rock hit, "Eyesore."  They spent months on the road touring with Chevelle, Sick Puppies, Sevendust, Pop Evil, Halestorm, Five Finger Death Punch, and Alice In Chains.  JANUS also sold-out numerous headlining shows of their own, appeared on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” and performed in the biggest rock festivals in the U.S., including Rock On The Range.  Absolutepunk.net raved about the album:  “There are a few bands, given the opportunity, could take the radio by storm.  JANUS is a perfect example of this type of band.  If they were given the chance, and played on some larger radio stations alongside all of our alternative ‘favorites’ (sound-alikes), they could earn themselves hordes of fans.”  While Away-team.com hailed in a 9 out of 10 album review:  “Brilliant on many levels and impeccably engineered and produced to perfection.”

 

Check out JANUS with Chevelle and Middle Class Rut at any of the following stops:

 

DATE               CITY                             VENUE

 

Fri 2/24             Grand Rapids, MI          Orbit Room

Sat 2/25            Fort Wayne, IN              Piere’s

Sun 2/26           Niagara Falls, NY          Rapids Theatre

Tue 2/28            Portland, ME                 State Theater

Wed 2/29          New York, NY               Irving Plaza

Fri 3/2               Providence, RI              Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel

Sat 3/3              Atlantic City, NJ            House of Blues

Mon 3/5            Baltimore, MD               Rams Head Live

Tue 3/6             Norfolk, VA                   The Norva

Thu 3/8             Knoxville, TN                 Valarium

Fri 3/9               Nashville, TN                 Marathon Music

Sat 3/10            Indianapolis, IN            Egyptian Room at Old National Centre

Sun 3/11           Springfield, MO                         Gillioz Theatre

Tue 3/13            Wichita, KS                   Cotillion Ballroom

Wed 3/14          Omaha, NE                   Sokol Auditorium

Fri 3/16             Oklahoma City, OK        Diamond Ballroom

 

www.janusmusic.com

www.facebook.com/janusband

www.twitter.com/janus

www.myspace.com/janus

www.youtube.com/januschicago