John Butler Trio - April Uprising Album & Tour Dates

Posted by the insider on January 29th, 2010 at 02:50:22 PM EST
Filed under News, Press, Releases, Shows

April Uprising

To be released April 6, 2010, John Butler returns with his first album in three years. The album finds the multi-platinum Australian artist with a new line up and a new label in the states–yours truly, ATO Records. April Uprising, Butler’s most focused, diverse and accessible album to date has already yelded a No. 1 song on the Australian airplay charts with its first single, “One Way Road.”

April Uprising’s spirit of renewel and rebirth is the culmination of an especially momentous period in his life. It began with the seemingly innocuous act of cutting his hair and taking a few months off in late 2008. But it was his appearance on the Australian TV series, Who Do You Think We Are (which takes well-known artists and traces their family trees) that turned out to be a life-changing experience, leading him on the personal and spiritual journey that inspired this album. Butler began his voyage hoping to find poets, musicians, and revolutionaries in his past. Instead, he traced his name through generations of hardship to a matriarch who sang for her survival; he traced his Bulgarian ancestry to a forbearer caught up in a violent revolt. Getting to know his ancestors–trailblazers, idealists, and bona fide revolutionaries–helped him build a profound sense of his passions as a writer and musician.

Between the epic opening track, “Revolution,” and a whispered acoustic coda, “A Star is Born,” dedicated to John’s son, April Uprising is an album that combines the personal, the political, and the musically memorable with skill and passion.

Revolution underway!!!

North American Tour Dates

2/8 Montreal, QC Canada - L’Astral

2/10 Toronto, ON Canada - Mod Club

2/11 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

2/15 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall

2/16 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre

2/18 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour

2/20 San Fransisco, CA - Great American Music

6/3 - 6/6 Ozark, AK - Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival

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The Whigs - In the Dark Release and Touring With Black Rebel Motorcycle

Posted by the insider on January 26th, 2010 at 01:13:20 PM EST
Filed under News, Releases, Shows

If you’ve been dying to know when the new Whigs album, In the Dark, is coming out then you’ll be pleased to know it is set to be released March 16th.  They were ready to write their new album and had lots of ideas drawn from their time touring and traveling.  It all came together smoothly and it shows.  Be sure to check out In the Dark March 16th!

If waiting until their album is dropped to hear some Whigs seems too far away, be sure to take a look at the tour dates listed on their website (http://www.thewhigs.com/tour) for a chance to see them live beginning February 4th.  They will be playing with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Royal Bangs, depending on the show.

Click here to check out two songs from “In The Dark”

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Drive-By Truckers: The Big To-Do Available 3.16.10

Posted by the insider on January 21st, 2010 at 08:26:08 PM EST
Filed under Releases, Shows


UPDATE: Check out the debut of debut of the song “This Fucking Job” over at Stereogum

New York, NY—ATO Records is pleased to announce the signing of Drive-By Truckers and their label debut, The Big To-Do. The album, which will be the band’s tenth in their thirteen-year career, is scheduled to be released March 16, 2010. The Big To-Do features thirteen new tracks from the Drive-By Truckers and was produced by their long time producer, David Barbe (Sugar, Bettye LaVette). “It’s very much a rock album,” says Patterson Hood of the Trucker’s upcoming release. “Very melodic and more rocking than anything we’ve done since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.”

The inspiration for The Big To-Do came to the band during their time on the road. “We’ve often set our songs and albums in different periods of time, but this one finds us directly in our present. Riding all through the highways of America (and Europe) trying to make sense of a very different world than the one we grew up in,” says Hood. “I don’t write a lot of songs on the road, but I did more than usual on this album and many more were inspired by or set there, either in a literal sense or something I witnessed or heard about while I was out there.”

The Trucker’s sense of purpose in writing this album translates into a delicious assortment of Trucker songs themed loosely around crime and (self-) punishment. “The Wig He Made Her Wear,” Patterson says, is both a true story (as seen on Court TV) and the closest he’s come to making the movie he started out to make a decade or more back. “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” will speak for itself, and “This Fucking Job” (paired thematically with Cooley’s wry “Get Downtown”) is arguably the most political song the Truckers have made since “Living Bubba.” Which leaves the deceptive, airy simplicity of Shonna Tucker’s “You Got Another” and “(It’s gonna Be) I Told You So” to reckon with.

The Drive-By Truckers will be hitting the road at the beginning of the new year.  A full tour supporting The Big To-Do will be announced in early 2010.

Drive-By Truckers on tour:

1/28 Huntsville, AL  Crossroads Music Hall

1/29 Mobile, AL        Soul Kitchen

1/30 Tuscaloosa, AL  Jupiter Bar & Grill

2/11 Greenville, SC   Handlebar

2/12 Raleigh, NC       Lincoln Theatre

2/13 Raleigh, NC       Lincoln Theatre

2/14 Knoxville, TN    Bijou Theatre

2/25 Charlotte, NC     Neighborhood Theatre

2/26 Charlottesville, VA  Jefferson Theatre

2/27 Charlottesville, VA  Jefferson Theatre

Check back soon for more tour dates.

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Port O’Brien - Haiti Relief w/ Doctors Without Borders

Posted by the insider on January 19th, 2010 at 03:12:20 PM EST
Filed under Releases

Port O’Brien are releasing a new EP called the Pan American Sessions. 100% of the proceeds are going to Doctors Without Borders and their relief efforts and aid in the wake of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Its a devastating time. And we need to give. The EP is available via their myspace and www.portobrien.com for $4. It contains 4 alternate versions of “My Will Is Good”, “Oslo Campfire”, “Calm Me Down”, and “Leap Year” all of which were recorded with Jason Quever at his Pan American Studios in San Francisco.

For more information on Doctors Without Borders, visit their website.

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White Rabbit’s Percussion Gun - out in the UK now!

Posted by the insider on January 15th, 2010 at 12:59:46 PM EST
Filed under Releases
Percussion Gun is out in the UK NOW on strictly limited / signed 7″ and Download.

Take a listen and buy the songs cause once you start you’ll definitely want to keep listening.  Here’s a few websites where you can get the them:
iTunes
7 Digital
Recordstore.co.uk
Rough Trade
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