Big Country pictures with tag: news

Sebastian Bach, Jermaine Jackson to Compete for Nashville Fame on “Gone Country 2″

Next week marks a very special occasion for us at Rock Daily: the season premiere of CMT’s Gone Country 2. On the reality series, John McCain fan John Rich of Big & Rich invites a bunch of very non-country B-list celebrities to his Nashville mansion to try and convert them into marketable country stars. Last season ended with Julio Iglesias Jr.’s stunning victory over favorites Bobby Brown and American Idol’s Diana DeGarmo. Leading the charge for this season’s cast is Sebastian Bach, who crossed genres brilliantly on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar and stands as the early favorite. Also ready to rock a cowboy hat are Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘NSYNC (and VH1’s Man Band), Jermaine Jackson and this season’s prerequisite American Idol reject, Mikalah Gordon. Rounding out the cast is actors Lorenzo Lamas (who you’ll recognize from those terrible action movies HBO airs at roughly 3:15 in the morning) and recently rehabbed Sean Young of Blade Runner and Ace Ventura “Finkle is Einhorn” fame. The season two premiere will air next Friday, August 15th, at 8 pm.

Published: 2008-08-07 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Rock Reality Show Recaps

News Ticker: Green Day, Regeneration Tour, AC/DC, Big Boi

After months of dodging, Green Day finally admitted that they are the Foxboro Hot Tubs. Billie Joe Armstrong revealed that the band got its name from “a place we used to sneak booze and chicks into late at night.” Eighties mainstays the Human League, Dead Or Alive, A Flock of Seagulls and Belinda Carlisle will band their ridiculous hairstyles together for the inaugural Regeneration Tour. The country-crossing affair spans from August 1st to the 29th. AC/DC is currently in the studio with producer Brendan O’Brien working on their first album in eight years says, according to Supersuckers (whose own album has been delayed as their own producer engineers for O’Brien and AC/DC). OutKast’s Big Boi is set to debut his new ballet “big” for the first of six performances tonight at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. The rapper reportedly also plans to premiere his new solo single “Sir Lucious Leftfoot Saves the Day” to close out the evening.

Published: 2008-04-10 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

FLATLANDER MEANDER

JIMMIE Dale Gilmore is on a tour bus with the Flatlanders -- the country band he formed with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock in Lubbock, Texas, almost 40 years ago. And even though he's nearly 64, Gilmore is a big fan of the bus. "The bus we're...

Published: 2009-04-07 Provider: New York Post Keywords: music news, new music, music charts, new music releases, record labels, latest music, music reviews

On the Charts: Sugarland Beats Out Miley For Top Spot

The Big News: A week after running-up to Miley Cyrus, country band Sugarland overtook the teen sensation to claim the number one spot as their Love on the Inside pushed 171,000 in its second week. Cyrus’ Breakout settled for second, selling another 162,000 copies. The top five was rounded out by the usual suspects, with the Mamma Mia soundtrack, Kid Rock’s Rock N Roll Jesus and Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III claiming the remaining places. Weezy’s TC3 also pushed past the two million sales after eight weeks on the charts. Debuts: Praise rockers Third Day led a relatively weak crop of debuts, selling 74,000 to lock up sixth place. The fourteenth installment of the venerable Kidz Bop series grabbed eight. System of a Down side project Scars on Broadway took 17 with their self-titled debut, Rick Springfield managed to claim 28 with his new album Venus in Overdrive and Alice Cooper’s Along Came a Spider crept in at 53. Last Week’s Heroes: Same last week’s heroes as last week, except they sold a lot less copies this time around. The top five all stayed in the top five with some reshuffling. Despite a 45% drop in sales from the previous week, Sugarland still somehow claimed the top spot, likely because Miley Cyrus dropped 56% in sales. Only Kid Rock managed to stave off any percentile decrease with sales up 3% and a firm hold on the four slot in its astonishing 43rd week on the chart. [Photo: Miller/Getty]

Published: 2008-08-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

Smoking Section: The Walkmen, Steve Miller, Billy Joel

“The Rat,” released by the Walkmen in 2004, is one of the greatest songs of this century. So the S.S. was stoked to get an early listen to their killer upcoming disc, You & Me, which has an equally awesome banger, “In the New Year.” The Walkmen recorded You & Me over two years at home in New York, and also in New Jersey, Philly and Mississippi. “It’s always exciting to come up with a big rocker that just works,” singer Hamilton Leithauser says about “New Year,” “because we don’t even like playing rock that much. That could be the problem: We spend so many hours playing slow waltzes.” Other You & Me cuts (”Canadian Girl,” “Red Moon”) will sound amazing live when the band storms through the U.S. in August and September. “It took everything we had to finish the record,” the singer says. “But we’re really happy with it.” We asked Leithauser for the skinny behind “The Rat.” “We were just screwin’ around,” he says. Drummer Matt Barrick kicked off a breakneck groove, and the boys joined in. “We threw some chords on it, I wrote the words in five minutes, and then we all started slammin’!” ***** We finally hit up one of Les Paul’s Monday-night gigs at the Manhattan jazz club Iridium. At age 93, Paul is still shredding. It was a special night — he welcomed his godson, Steve Miller, who sat in for “Fly Like an Eagle.” We hung with Miller during the gig (interrupted by a waiter saying, “Abracadabra!” while delivering a burger) and rolled back to his hotel, smoking stogies into the wee hours. Miller, 64, is rockin’ the USA once again, selling out sheds across the country. “The band gets hotter and hotter,” he says. “The shows have been a lot of fun.” Though he hasn’t released a fresh album since 1993’s Wide River, Miller told us of his desire to put out a new disc. After a trio of shows in March at the Fillmore in S.F., Miller was in the studio cutting 41 old blues gems. “Nothing but great tunes,” he says. “Like ‘Pretty Thing,’ by Bo Diddley; ‘No More Doggin’,’ by Rosco Gordon

Published: 2008-07-28 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Smoking Section

Single Minded: Duffy, R.E.M., Big L and More

Duffy, “Cry to Me” [Solomon Burke Cover] New British soul star tackles old American one with effective results. In 20 years at the Grammys, their holograms can duet. R.E.M., “Ignoreland” [Live] Stipe and Co. finally (!) dust off this 16-year-old rocker for their current tour. Unwelcome surprise: the song’s message is still depressingly relevant. Big L, “Put it On” (J Dilla RMX) [Remix] Legendary VJ Ralph McDaniels syncs this Big L classic to J Dilla’s remix of the same. Essentially, these are three geniuses, operating at the peak of their powers. Like that time Charles Dickens and Amanda Lorber wrote that one episode of Twin Peaks. Calico Horse, “Idioteque” [Radiohead Cover] It took a California alt-country band to make a song about fear, anxiety and paranoia sound sweet and lilting. For their next challenge, they’ll be writing a series of lullabies based on the works of Einsturzende Neubauten. Various Artists, “Come Together” [Beatles Cover] And who brings people together like the Beatles? We want to point out that the last version on this page is performed by Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin — presumably during the downtime from a certain music video? Isn’t this song called “Come Together,” not “Drive Away?”

Published: 2008-05-30 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Single Minded

McKagan Talks “Chinese Democracy,” China Tosses Up a Ban

Photo: Miller/Getty With Chinese Democracy fever sweeping across the country, Axl Rose’s old Guns N’ Roses band mate Duff McKagan has commented on the album’s self-titled single. “I just heard the single, ‘Chinese Democracy’, and I heard it at the gym when I was working out. It wasn’t like I sat down in a quiet room and listened to it and analyzed it. And I probably wouldn’t. I think [Axl’s] a really talented guy and I shared a big part of my life with him, but that was a long time ago for me,” McKagan said. “I’ve been asked more about this record, starting about 8-9 years ago, and I probably know the least about the record.” Also not swept up in the whole Chinese Democracy fervor: China. According to reports, G’N'R fans in China have blocked from the album’s official website and can’t use their search engines to find “Chinese Democracy.” Whether this countrywide firewall of the terms “Chinese Democracy” predates the album is unclear, but the band’s MySpace page with its full album stream is still accessible. “This is the first time we’ve heard about it,” a Ministry of Culture spokeswoman said regarding a possible ban. “I don’t know if they’re banned or not. It might be a rumor.” Related Stories: • Chinese Democracy Hits Best Buys in New York With a Yawn • Guns N’ Roses Streaming On MySpace • Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin Weigh in on Chinese Democracy

Published: 2008-11-24 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Guns N' Roses

Fricke’s Picks: A Better Bang

The first American full-length album by the Norwegian trio BigBang, From Acid to Zen (Oglio/Grand Sport), is a mixed bag of then and now: seven tracks pulled from the group’s most recent Norwegian releases, 2005’s Poetic Terrorism and 2007’s Too Much Yang, both Number One albums there, plus recut versions of two older numbers and two new songs. It’s a shotgun buffet, like those early U.S. LPs by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones that combined album tracks and singles from unrelated sessions, and it succeeds the same way: like an instant greatest-hits record. Singer-guitarist-songwriter Øystein Greni has the right history in his genes — his dad sang in a Norwegian band that opened for Led Zeppelin in 1968 — and he grounds songs like “Early December,” “Hurricane Boy” and the brilliantly titled “From Acid to Zen” in the eternal power-chord charge and fish-hook riffs of the Stones and the Who. But Greni also has a knack for wringing fresh excitement from the familiar: the country-angel harmonies and ice-Byrds guitar in the new version of “Wild Bird,” the improbable dream of Badfinger and Hüsker Dü in “The One.” For Greni, who co-produced the new tracks with Phil Nicolo, From Acid to Zen is a big step in a bigger gamble. After more than a decade of Pearl Jam-like success in Norway, Greni recently moved to Los Angeles, determined to break America the hard way. He, original drummer Olaf Olsen and new bassist Øyvind Storli Hoel now play clubs here with a set list that still rules Scandinavian festivals and is basically this album in your face: proven hits with forward thrust. Related Stories: • Fricke’s Picks: A Family Affair • Fricke’s Picks: Rebel Yellers • Fricke’s Picks: Mercury Rev

Published: 2008-10-27 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Fricke's Picks

On the Charts: Metallica Dominate, Jessica Simpson Debuts Strong

Photo: Getty The Big News: Metallica only needed four days to storm to the top of the charts, as the current cover boys sold 490,000 copies since its Friday release. While the shortened week prevented the band from setting a personal one-week sales record, they did manage to sell 400,000 more copies than the number two record, Young Jeezy’s The Recession. Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Roll Jesus stayed embedded at three, while Jessica Simpson’s country music crossover Do You Know scored fourth with 65,000 copies sold. Slipknot’s All Hope Is Gone rounded out our top five. Debuts: LL Cool J’s Exit 13 led the second wave of debuts, coming in at nine with 44,000 copies, or a third of the copies LL’s Todd Smith sold in its first week in 2006. Supertramp-samplers Gym Class Heroes only managed to muster the 14 spot with their new album The Quilt. Comedian Mitch Hedburg’s posthumous Do You Believe In Gosh? charted at 18, Kardinal Offishall’s Not 4 Sale claimed 40 and Okkervil River’s The Stand-Ins placed at 42. Last Week’s Heroes: Outside of the debuts, this week’s top ten shared a striking resemblance with last week’s with one notable exception: Lil Wayne cashed in on his VMA and SNL performances as Tha Carter III bumped up from 10 to eight thanks to a 2% sales increase. The biggest loser had to be the New Kids on the Block, as their The Block spiraled from two down to 16 thanks to a 72% sales decrease. Related Stories: • New Reviews: Metallica, Ne-Yo, Nelly • Metallica Stir Up Mosh Pit At BBC Radio Death Magnetic Show • Metallica’s New Single: The First Review

Published: 2008-09-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

On the Charts: 3 Doors Down Wind Up at Number One

The Big News: 3 Doors Down, they of “Kryptonite” fame, topped the charts as their eponymous fifth album sold 154,342 copies in its debut week, marking the band’s second consecutive album to reach Number One. UGK rapper Bun B scored the Number Two as his second solo album Il Trill sold 97,597 copies. Nineteen-year-old country singer/Dancing With the Stars contestant Julianne Hough won the bronze with her self-titled debut album, while Frank Sinatra’s Nothing But the Best and last week’s winner Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs rounded out the top five. Debuts: Jesse McCartney’s Departure entered at 14, Donna Summer’s first album in 17 years Crayons appropriately debuted at 17 and Green Day offshoot the Foxboro Hot Tubs bowed at 21 with Stop Drop & Roll! On the indie front, Mates of State’s Re-Arrange Us took 140 while Islands’ Arm’s Way just snuck in at 200. Finally, Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits tribute disc Anywhere I Lay My Head scored 126th place. Last Week’s Heroes: Outside of Death Cab and the Chairman of the Board, Jason Mraz’s We Sing We Dance We Steal Things fell three to 11 and Duffy’s Rockferry dropped from four to eight. All three divas remained in the Top 10, though, as Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey and Madonna clung to six, seven and nine, respectively. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-05-28 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

Coachella 2008 Preview, Plus the 2008 Festival Guide

Tomorrow marks the launch of the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the annual three-day sojourn into the desert for some of the biggest names in rock. This year’s eclectic lineup features highly-anticipated performances from the Raconteurs, Prince, Roger Waters, Jack Johnson, Portishead, My Morning Jacket and dozens of others. Hit the jump for each day’s can’t-miss sets, and check out Rolling Stone’s ongiong coverage of Coachella 2008, featuring reviews, interviews and guest bloggers live from the desert, and for the rest of the info on all of this summer’s biggest and best festivals from around the country, check out the 2008 RollingStone.com Festival Guide. • The 2008 RollingStone.com Festival Guide • 2008 Coachella Festival Coverage Friday • Jack Johnson: The laid-back surf rocker has a knack for creating collective euphoria at festivals. • The Breeders: Songs from Mountain Battles should sound stunning in the open air. • Santogold: The buzzworthy MC’s eclectic mix of sounds will keep crowds moving. • The Raconteurs: Jack White’s big, groovy side project is just hitting its live stride. Saturday • Prince: It’s a rare chance to see the Purple One in a festival setting. • Portishead: It’ll be a while before the group tours properly, and their low-key tunes will add some melancholy to the desert evening. • Stephen Malkmus: Malkmus has become something of a guitar hero as of late. • M.I.A.: Every day needs a little dancing and danger to shake things up. Sunday • My Morning Jacket: The best live band in the business will unleash Evil Urges in the desert heat. • Roger Waters: The Pink Floyd legend will aid anybody interested in chemical alteration at the festival. • Duffy: This could be the singer’s great coming out party, a la Amy Winehouse in ‘06. • Justice: Finish off the festival by sweating out the

Published: 2008-04-24 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Coachella

On the Charts: Carrie Underwood Rules Debuts, “American Idol” Kingdom

The Big News: Carrie Underwood continued her quest to become the most successful American Idol ever, as her new album Carnival Ride cruised to the top of the Billboard charts with 527,101 copies sold in its debut week. By comparison, Kelly Clarkson, Underwood’s closest AI competitor, sold 291,000 copies when My December debuted in June. Underwood dominated her fresh competition, selling 400,000-plus more copies than the number two, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand. Country’s Gary Allan took the third spot, while System of a Down’s Serj Tankian’s first solo album Elect the Dead scored fourth with 65,998 copies. Debuts: Prog-revivalists Coheed & Cambria’s No World For Tomorrow entered the chart at number six with 61,849 units shifted while Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams II grabbed the eleven hole and Say Anything’s double-disc In Defense Of the Genre debuted at twenty-seven with 24,750. Further down the chart, Ryan Adams’ new EP Follow The Lights came in at forty, while Ween’s La Cucharacha came in at a fitting (for the band in question) sixty-nine. RS Breaking Artist Hurricane Chris hit the chart at twenty-four. Last Week’s Heroes: Defending champion Bruce Springsteen’s Magic tumbled on down to twelve, thanks to a thirty-four percent sales drop. Last week’s runner-up, Kid Rock’s Rock N Roll Jesus, stayed in the top ten by grasping on to seven. The remainder of the chart, sans debuts, stayed relatively the same, but we expect changes by this time next week, when Britney Spears’ Blackout and the new Backstreet Boys album should factor into the equation.

Published: 2007-11-01 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

On the Charts: Kanye West, 50 Cent, Kenny Chesney Lead the Way to Monster Sales Week

The Big News: As you already know, Kanye West beat 50 Cent in their debut-week sales showdown, but the real winner is the music industry. Kanye’s Graduation sold 957,000, the biggest single week tally since 2005, when 50’s The Massacre sold 1.1 million in its debut week. According to Billboard, it’s the 15th biggest sales week since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991. 50’s Curtis moved 691,000, which, despite losing to Kanye, easily tops the year’s previous top debut (Linkin Park’s 623,000). The only other time since 1991 that the top two albums each sold more than 600,000 each came in September of that year, when Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion I and II sold 770,000 and 685,000 respectively. Country star Kenny Chesney’s latest sold 387,000, finishing number three with a figure that would earn him the number one spot almost any other week. Just to give you an idea what a departure these numbers are from the industry’s endless sales drought: When you add up the top four — including last week’s number one High School Musical 2 soundtrack, which sold 133,000 this week — you get 2.2 million CDs sold, which is more than the top 200 albums combined sold last week. The Debuts: After the top three, it’s a long drop to the next new record: A third Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack landed at number sixteen, moving a comparatively paltry 27,000 units; Trisha Yearwood’s Greatest Hits debuted at number twenty-two with 22,000; And R&B-boy band B5 sold 19,000 and hit number twenty-seven. Last Week’s Sales Heroes: Perennial top-tenners, including the HSM2 and Hannah Montana 2 soundtracks, Fergie, and Now! 25 all dropped back a few slots to make room for the newcomers. MySpace-made star Colbie Caillat continues to scale the charts, with a 25 percent jump in sales and a corresponding leap from number fourteen to eight.

Published: 2007-09-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

On the Charts: “High School Musical 2? Enjoys Another Week at the Top Before Kanye and 50 Arrive

The Big News: Call it the lull before the storm — in the week before Kanye, 50 Cent and country star Kenny Chesney released their blockbuster records, sales for the top fifty albums were as slow as they’ve ever been. The soundtrack to High School Musical 2 stayed on top for a fourth week — the first album to reign for that long since 50’s The Massacre in 2005 — moving 164,690 units. The slow week helped Fergie jump from number five to number two, despite dropping 4 percent in sales, to 48,590, and the Hannah Montana 2 soundtrack jumped from four to three despite slumping 20 percent to 46,976. Debuts: Michigan hardcore band Chiodos entered at number five, selling 38,696 albums. The next new record doesn’t come until number forty-one, where metal quartet Every Time I Die landed. At number forty-eight, Christian act Israel & New Breed sold 11,703, and global fusion star Manu Chao debuted at seventy-one. Expect considerably bigger action in this space next week. Last Week’s Sales Heroes?: Devotion act Casting Crowns dropped from number two to four in its second week of release. Atlanta rapper Yung Joc took a bigger slide, from three to eleven. Atreyu dropped even further, from eight to twenty-nine, and Ben Harper sank from number nine to twenty-four. The Hairspray soundtrack, Now! 25, and, of course, Nickelback, remain top-ten fixtures. [Photo: Flokis/Getty]

Published: 2007-09-13 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

Kimberly Roads Schlapman talks about baby gifts from fans

Little Big Town's Kimberly Roads Schlapman and her husband Stephen Schlapman welcomed daughter Daisy Pearl in late July and the new mom is amazed at the generosity of her fans. She told Country Weekly,I’ve gotten some really adorable things—for instance, I got this cute onesie that says ‘I’m With the Band.’ I love that. People are very generous.Source: Country Weekly

Published: 2007-11-21 Provider: Celebrity Baby Blog Keywords: News, Quotable quotes

CBB Exclusive: Shaking It Up with Milkshake

If you think Milkshake is your average kids’ band, think again. Featured on Noggin’s Jack’s Big Music Show, PBS KIDS and Discovery Kids’ ToddWorld, Milkshake is creating super cool music for kids (and parents!) to rock out to. CBB traveled to Baltimore, MD for an exclusive interview with Mikel Gehl and Lisa Mathews, leaders of Milkshake, along with fellow band members Tom Moon, Michael “Shepp” Sheppard, Brian Simms and Cord Neal. Very rowdy at times, never boring, the guys (and gal) of Milkshake are truly just a bunch of kids at heart. Photography: Gabbeli Photography (www.gabbeliphotography.com)Hair & Makeup: Douglas Martucci Click below for the photos and interview. How did Milkshake come to be? Mikel: Lisa and I met almost 20 years ago. I ran an ad in the 'Village Voice' looking for a singer for my band, Love Riot. It was 80’s New Wave glam rock. [Pictured below.] Lisa:  I lived in an apartment in the Village, had purple hair, but I loved the music and lyrics that Mikel was creating. He talked me into moving to Baltimore, which is where we live today with our families. How did Love Riot become Milkshake?Lisa: I was always a singer/songwriter, and as such, you’re always changing styles. We never wanted a style of music to limit us. As Love Riot, we were doing great. We were booked months ahead, touring the country, opening up for acts like Sarah McLachlan and 10,000 Maniacs. Mikel: Then, one day when we were driving on the NJ Turnpike, Lisa turned to me and said, “Mikel, guess what? I’m pregnant and the doctor thinks it’s best for me to stop performing right now!” Lisa: Music is a constant evolution and since I had a baby, I began creating songs for my daughter, Jesse. And Mikel started his own family, too. Milkshake is a result of where we were at a particular point in our lives. When did the other band members come into play?Lisa: I wanted to do a rock band for kids, and for that, we needed a full band. At the time, there wasn’t a lot of rock

Published: 2008-01-24 Provider: Celebrity Baby Blog Keywords: CBB Exclusive, Interviews, Kid photos, News, Quotable quotes