Music News & Notes

Ben Kweller moves to Austin, releases country album

With 2009 comes a year of new territory for Ben Kweller. He has become an Austinite.

"I've just been wanting to do it for years... and there's no better town I'd rather live in," Kweller said. "It's the coolest place in the world, as far as I'm concerned."

Kweller's new vinyl album released Tuesday, "Changing Horses", also covers new ground with its consistent country sound.

"I did record it here in Austin, but I was still living in New York," he said. "I've been writing these songs for years. Some of them go back to the time I was 16 years old."

The "Changing Horses" vinyl album includes a free CD version.

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Pinhead Gunpowder to release Greatest Hits and discography

Recess Records have unveiled plans to release a Pinhead Gunpowder "Greatest Hits" album on CD and vinyl in March of this year.

The label has also confirmed plans to reissue the entire Pinhead Gunpowder discography on vinyl and CD in 2009. The label is aiming for a fall release of five albums including Jump Salty, Carry the Banner, Goodbye Ellston Avenue, Compulsive Disclosure and Shoot The Moon.

The band features members of Green Day and Crimpshrine.

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Jazzy Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi has been added to the New Orleans Jazz Fest as this year’s lineup continues to trend towards rock. The fest, taking place over the weekends of April 24-26th and April 30-May 3rd, also features Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Kings of Leon, and Spoon among others.

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Wilco DVD

Wilco is helping out on Record Store Day, releasing their new live DVD "Ashes of American Flags" exclusively to the indie stores on April 18th, two weeks before its wide release.

“Without these stores, there’s just no way Wilco would still be around. They’ve been with us from the very beginning, through thick and thin,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy told Billboard.com.

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Etta James Not Beyonce Fan

Etta James has changed her mind over the performance of her song "At Last" by Beyonce at one of the President's Inaugural Balls. At the time, her son said that she was honored and thought it was great, but the audio from a recent concert has surfaced on the net where James says, "The great Beyonce ... I can't stand Beyonce. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol' president day, gonna be singing my song that I've been singing forever." Tell us how you really feel.

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More Stars For The Grammy's

We can add Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Allen Toussaint to the lalready long list of performers for Sunday night's Grammy Awards. Buddy Guy, B.B. King, John Mayer and Keith Urban will salute the late Bo Diddley. Also look for a Four Tops salute with Duke Fakir, Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo.

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Pearl Jam Pumped Up To Hit The Studio

Pearl Jam is about to hit the studio for a two-week session in Los Angeles with producer Brendan O'Brien as it continues work on its ninth studio album, which the band plans to self-release in the United States.

After laying down some instrumental beds last summer, additional demos were put to tape in December, and the band's non-singing members formulated another batch of material during a recent trip to Montana.

Frontman Eddie Vedder "put rough vocals on about half the stuff we worked on in December," bassist Jeff Ament tells Billboard.com. "There's a handful of really great lyrics. Lyrically, that stuff is in the embryonic stage, but there's a handful of lines and a couple of choruses that are just really great. He keeps getting better."

"I saw [guitarist] Mike [McCready] last night and we were both talking about this song and that song," he continues. "One of the songs we decided would go down a whole step and he was asking me about a chord progression."

Read the rest here:
www.billboard.com
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