Music News & Notes

James McMurtry Announces iPhone App and Tour Dates

James McMurtry fans can now stay up to date with concert information, photos, videos, music and blog posts while they are on the go with the his new official iPhone application. The app also allows users to post photos from their iPhone directly to the fan community and engage other fans across Facebook and iLike.

McMurtry and his band will be touring the western United States in support of his latest release, Live in Europe (Lightning Rod Records). The album is a document of McMurtry's first European tour, on which he was joined by keyboardist Ian McLagan and fellow Texas songwriting legend Jon Dee Graham. The set is available as a CD with a bonus DVD, or as a deluxe vinyl LP package with a CD and DVD insert.

Live in Europe, available as a CD/DVD set or as a vinyl LP/DVD set, has earned praise from the critics. Mike Seely, writing in the Seattle Weekly, wrote: "The great Texan James McMurtry released a new album of old material in 2009—in other words, a live album. No matter: Mere mention of its drop date gave me an excuse to delve deeper into McMurtry's supremely underrated oeuvre. . . This re-exposure made me surer than ever that McMurtry is the Springsteen of the South."

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The Scorpions Announce Retirement

German hard rock legends The Scorpions have announced that at the end of their upcoming world tour they will be retiring. The tour will be in support of their new album, "Sting in the Tail," which is set for release on March 19th. The band made the announcement on their website as well as releasing a couple of previews from the new album. Here is the announcement:

It was always our pleasure, our purpose in life, our passion and we were fortunate enough to make music for you - whether it was live on stage or in the studio, creating new songs.


While we were working on our album these past few months, we could literally feel how powerful and creative our work was – and how much fun we were still having, in the process. But there was also something else: We want to end the Scorpion's extraordinary career on a high note. We are extremely grateful for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we've always had since the beginning. This is why, especially now, we agree we have reached the end of the road. We finish our career with an album we consider to be one of the best we have ever recorded and with a tour that will start in our home country Germany and take us to five different continents over the next few years.


We want you, our fans, to be the first to know about this. Thank you for your never-ending support throughout the years! We uploaded the very first snippets from our new album for you. And now… let's get the party started and get ready for a "Sting in the Tail"! See you on the world tour