Kane moves up in Aggie organization — Long-time Marquee contributor Cornelia Kane, who wrote her first story for the magazine in 2003, has recently been appointed as the head publicist for the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins. Kane, who in addition to contributing to The Marquee, books shows under the moniker Semi vs. Diner, has been a bartender at the Aggie for several years, and also works down the street at the crispy-crunchy CD/smoke shop Rock N’ Robins. Congrats Cornelia!

Evolution of the Rock Concert — Denver’s own Band Guru, Mark Bliesener, and University of Colorado Denver will present “The Evolution of the Rock Concert” at the Tivoli Center in Denver on November 12. The panel will take a historic, cultural and economic look at the state of today’s multi-billion dollar touring industry, how it’s evolved and where it might be headed. The panel is star-studded with legendary promoter Barry Fey, Monolith Music Festival director Matt Fecher, Planet Bluegrass director Craig Ferguson, AEG Live VP Brent Fedrizzi, and Big Head Todd and the Monsters drummer Brian Nevin all contributing to the Q&A. Famed rock journalist, author and radio personality G. Brown will be the panel’s moderator. The discussion starts at 12:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Burns burning up the charts — Colorado local (by way of Suffolk, England) Jessie Burns, the fiddle player for the celtic band Gaelic Storm, has had her “dream come true.” Gaelic Storm’s new album, What’s the Rumpus, debuted at number one on the Billboard World Music Charts, knocking Peter Gabriel off the top. The album also hit number 165 of the top 200 albums in all genres. Burns formerly played with the Wayfarers and, more recently, collaborated with Gregory Alan Isakov in his band, The Freight and recorded on his album That Sea, The Gambler.

Spring Creek Signs — Colorado pickers Spring Creek Bluegrass, who late last month opened the RockyGrass Festival, have signed a deal with Rebel Records. The award winning quartet are set to enter the studio in late fall with an expected release in spring of 2009.

Swallow Hill goes for the Guinness — Swallow Hill, The Denver Film Society and the City and County of Denver are taking a shot at Guinness Book of World Records fame. On Monday, August 18, before the Film on the Rocks screening of Zoolander, those groups will help to host the world’s largest guitar lesson. The lesson is billed for people of all levels, from those who have never picked up a guitar before to those considered virtuosos. To register, visit swallowhillmusic.org.

Adler’s Appetite nets an arrest — Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler was arrested in Hollywood last month for alleged drug possession. According to police, Adler was picked up at 4 a.m. after officers were called about a man who was creating a disturbance. He was jailed and held on $45,000 bail. Adler was an original member of G N’ R but was fired from the band in 1990 due to “excessive drug use.” Since then, he has toured on and off with his band Adler’s Appetite, which mostly covers Guns N’ Roses.

CSN team with Rubin - Crosby, Stills and Nash are getting set for their first album since 1994 and the trio have chosen Rick Rubin to produce. In recent years Rubin has produced Johnny Cash’s American V: A Hundred Highways, and Neil Diamond’s 12 Songs, in addition to churning out dozens of albums with younger artists. Graham Nash told Billboard that the album will be a set of covers, “songs that we wish we’d written.”

Phish 3.0? — In the last few months, rumors about Phish’s reunion have been more prevalent than dank buds at an actual Phish reunion. Although the four members were on stage together in May for the Jammy Awards, legions of crispy-crunchy heads had their dreams shattered when the band chose not to perform. But a new report from Jamtopia.com brought so much attention that even Billboard picked up the story. The report stated that producer Steve Lillywhite would be working on a new Phish album this year. Lillywhite worked on Phish’s 1996 album Billy Breathes. Lillywhite has offered a “no comment” on the subject.

Foo joined by Zep members — Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones joined the Foo Fighters on stage on June 7 at London’s Wembley Stadium for covers of “Rock and Roll” and “Ramble On.” Frontman Dave Grohl told the crowd that it was “the greatest day of my entire life.” Foo Fighters will play Red Rocks on July 14 and 15.

Another G N’ R tease — If you blinked you missed the chance, but on June 18, for a short time, nine tracks reported to be “mastered and finished” tracks from the decade-and-a-half-in-waiting Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy were leaked online by the website Antiquiet.com. The posting, of course, was followed by a cease-and-desist from G N’ R management. Six of the nine tracks that were posted on June 18 had leaked before, but the new versions that appeared this month showed differences on the tracks, like the addition of organs and tambourines and multi-tracked vocals. Antiquiet.com has disabled their player, claiming that it “broke the entire internet” after their traffic went through the roof.

New Margot soon — Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos are getting set to release two albums on the same day this fall. Both Animal! and Not Animal will drop via Epic on Oct. 7. Animal! will be a vinyl-only release while Not Animal will be on CD and available digitally. Both releases feature 12 songs, but only five of the tracks will be on both formats. Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos will also release an EP on July 29, which was recorded for Daytrotter.com.

Flobots are winning – On their CD Fight With Tools, Denver’s own Flobots have a tune called “We Are Winning,” and indeed the hip-hop act is. The band’s single “Handlebars” has spent four weeks at number one on radio charts, it’s been the number one song in the country for alternative radio spins and it’s reached up to number 11 on the iTunes charts. Additionally, Fight With Tools is the number three album at Denver’s Twist and Shout. The band also performed on May 20 on Carson Daily’s talk show and spent the remainder of the day answering sex questions on “Loveline” with Dr. Drew and Stryker. As of press time stats were not available, but the last week of May the band was expected to be on the Billboard charts after their first week of national soundscan for Fight with Tools. So, just like their song “Handlebars” says, they can finally “throw their hands in the air like it’s good to be alive and I’m a famous rapper.” Congrats!

Pearlman says “Bye, Bye, Bye” – After years of subjecting the world to horrendous boy band crap passed off as “music,” karma has finally caught up with Lou Pearlman. The man who created the Backstreet Boys and ‘Nsync is facing 25 years in prison stemming from four federal charges, including two counts of conspiracy, money laundering and using false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding. Prosecutors allege that Pearlman was involved in a “decades-long” investment scam. The judge has said that for every $1 million Pearlman returns to investors, his sentence will be reduced by one month.

NIN cuts scalpers – In an effort to thwart scalpers, Nine Inch Nails has developed a new ticketing system that will cater to their fans. 72 hours before tickets go on sale to the general public, NIN.com members (who have signed up with their legal name) will have the chance to purchase advanced tickets. Those tickets will then be printed with the fan’s initials on the ticket and all tickets will be held at will call until the night of the show. The hope is that the system will keep tickets out of the hands of ticket brokers and scalpers. Plus, it’ll make a damn good souvenir to have your initials on the ticket.

A new Pixie – Former Pixies lead vocalist Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Charles Thompson) and his wife Violet welcomed their fifth child on May 1. Jude Oliver Francis Thompson weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and joins his siblings Julian, Annabelle, Jack and Lucy.

O.B. celebrates Haggard — Lyons’ music hot spot Oskar Blues hosted a fundraising celebration in honor of Merle Haggard in April, and in doing so, raised $2,000 for the Blue Sky Bridge Foundation in Boulder, which helps abused children. Lyons resident Pat Lemmon won the “Mama Tried” essay contest for her piece which detailed her efforts in raising two kids and her undying love for them, despite them building a police file three inches thick. Though Oskars had put out the word that anyone who could prove they “turned 21 in prison” would receive free beer and food for the day, no one was able to prove that they lived the line of the song “Mama Tried.”
Fiddler’s Green Returns — After four years as Coors Amphitheatre, the 17,000 capacity outdoor venue in Englewood will again return to its original name of Fiddler’s Green. Live Nation made the announcement in late April and explained that the Coors name was part of a naming rights contract with House of Blues, which Live Nation purchased in 2006. The season’s opening show is John Legend and Jewel on June 6. Other shows on the roster include Chicago and The Doobie Brothers, Journey, Slipknot, and Jonas Brothers.
Frontier Days cracks the whip — Last month, Matchbox 20 and Carrie Underwood cancelled their performances at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Now, the promoter has filed a suit against an animal rights organization that allegedly lobbied the performers to withdraw. The group, called SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), supposedly provided the bands with videos that demonstrate animal cruelty during rodeo events. The suit alleges that SHARK provided false and misleading information and threats of negative publicity to dissuade the performers from playing their gigs.

Velvet Revolver holds on-line auditions — If you think you got the chops, now’s the time to log on. Velvet Revolver, who went through a bitter split with Scott Weiland in April, announced that the band will be building a website to host auditions for a new lead singer. Slash told Billboard.com that they can’t really explain what they’re looking for in a new singer, but they’ll know it when they hear it. In the meantime, Weiland has reformed with Stone Temple Pilots and the band will play Red Rocks on July 2.

We’ll believe it when we see it, Axl — Aversion.com reported in April that Guns N’ Roses have allegedly been talking with their label about finally releasing their 11-year project Chinese Democracy. The band wrote on its website that they are “in negotiations for the release of Chinese Democracy and things are going well.” It was rumored that Axl Rose turned in a completed album to Geffen Records in mid-April.

DeVotchKa crushing — It’s very typical to see a Colorado band selling well at Denver’s famed Twist & Shout. But in the last week of March it was announced that Denver-based DeVotchKa is racking up serious numbers at the music outlet. What’s really unique is that while the band’s new album Mad & Faithful Telling is selling best, (grabbing the number one spot for the week ending March 23) DeVotchKa is on Twist & Shout’s Top 30 CD list, not once, but twice more. The band racked up three spots in total on the Top 30 list. The band’s release How it Ends took home the number nine spot, while Una Volta notched the 21 spot.

Satellite Radio merger — In late March the Justice Department approved Sirius Satellite Radio’s $5 billion buyout of rival XM. The transaction was approved without conditions despite opposition from consumer groups and (get this) an “intense lobbying campaign” by the land-based radio industry (because that industry never formed monopolies of its own). The merger still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which prohibited a merger when it first granted satellite radio operating licenses in 1997.

NME comes stateside with MySpace — NME, the famous music weekly, has announced a partnership with MySpace that will not only bring the NME Awards to the U.S., but also will allow those awards to be streamed over the net. The NME Awards, renowned as the event for cutting-edge British music fans, will be held in Los Angeles on April 23, just two days before the Coachella Music and Arts Festival begins.
New file sharing regulations — In a move that could end up doing absolutely nothing to reduce illegal file sharing, a new proposed bill would “call upon colleges and universities to turn up the heat on students who steal music.” The bill calls on schools to “reasonably implement” a policy that prohibits copyright infringement. The legislation is aimed at P2P sites, but says nothing about private exchange of music (i.e. swapping hard drives, ftp portals, and even simple e-mailing of tracks).
Gibson sues over Guitar Hero and Rock Band — In a “Hey, we thought of that first” move, The Gibson Guitar Company announced last month that it is suing major retailers that sell Guitar Hero games. The suit is part of an ongoing battle between the guitar giant and the game makers. Gibson claims that the games violate a 1999 Gibson patent for virtual music performances, a patent which describes a setup that connects a guitar to a television and “system interface” with the ability to create a virtual-reality concert experience.

Highly Depressing — Citing decreasing advertising revenue, changes in the music industry and the economy, No Depression magazine, which has covered American roots music and more since 1995, announced this month that their May-June issue will be the last print copy of their magazine. The mag’s website www.nodepression.net will continue. In its time the magazine, run by a skeleton staff of three along with a team of freelancers, has featured such performers as Son Volt, Drive-By Truckers, Whiskeytown, Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley and Elvis Costello, among many, many others.
Clear Channel settles in fire suit — Clear Channel Broadcasting has agreed to a $22 million settlement with survivors and relatives of those killed in the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire during a Great White show. Hundreds of victims sued after the February, 2003 fire at the West Warwick Club, which occurred when pyrotechnics used by the band ignited flammable soundproofing around the stage, killing nearly 100 people. With this most recent settlement, Clear Channel has paid more than $70 million to victims and families. Clear Channel was sued because one of its radio stations sponsored the show by running on-air advertisements.
Blogs over Myspace — A recent study by New York University’s Stern Business School showed that blog chatter, not myspace hits, helped to sell more albums. The study tracked 108 albums for four weeks before and after their release dates. The results showed that if 40 or more blog posts were made before an album’s release date, sales ended up being three to four times the average for both indie and major releases, while myspace had “a weaker correlation to sales.”
That being said, it was also reported last month that myspace, or more directly News Corp., has plans to begin distributing digital music on-line. Reports stated that music may be free, supported by advertising dollars on the site. A time frame has not been officially announced, but one source said that one of the major labels could be “two weeks” away from inking its deal.
Dead get political — Despite coming of age in the ’60s, the Grateful Dead have remained relatively apolitical throughout their career. However, last month, Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart reunited for a concert to support Barack Obama. Billed as Deadheads for Obama, the show was the group’s first since 2004’s reunion tour.
Grammy Schmammy — The 2008 Grammy Awards show garnered the lowest rating in more than a decade and showed a slip of 17 percent from last year. Overall viewers are estimated at 18.2 million, down from about 20 million in 2007.