The New Dylan Album... The coolest of '09 so far

Bob Dylan is confident that his new-found collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter will carry on past their recent work together. Hunter, who was Jerry Garcia's lyricist for nearly 30 years, cowrote the majority of lyrics on Dylan's newly-released album Together Through Life.

Dylan told Rolling Stone that the pair definitely share a unique chemistry, saying, "We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there. He's got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting."

Need to mellow at work?

Hey all,

I'm just hanging at the station before the show starts. Checking out different things on the net. Since we've been talking a lot about Warren Haynes, I found this great video of him just tearing it up with DMB on Neil Young's, Cortez the Killer....

Enjoy!

Rosie... Will You Marry Me?

Bruce Springsteen is legendary for having guest stars pop up on stage during various stops on the road, usually they're performing -- not popping the question! At Springsteen's Wednesday night (April 21st) gig in Boston, local musician Tim Brennan of the Dropkick Murphy's took the stage to propose to his now-fiancee. In celebration, the E Street Band then launched into the late-1974 Born To Run outtake "So Young And In Love." Brennan was joined by a couple of his bandmates afterwards for a rendition of Springsteen's traditional closer, "American Land."

Although Springsteen's shows are featuring more cool fan requests such as the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," it seems to be coming at the expense of tunes from his latest album Working On A Dream. Wednesday's Boston show only featured a measly three tracks from the new album -- including only the title track, "Outlaw Pete," and "Kingdom Of Days."

Some Quick Hits...

Rod Stewart reunited with former bandleader Jeff Beck for a couple of songs on Tuesday night (April 22nd) during Beck's show at L.A.'s El Rey Theatre. The pair reprised their 1985 cover of the Impressions' "People Get Ready," before launching into a particularly hot rendition of Willie Dixon's "I Ain't Superstitious" -- which they had originally recorded in 1968 on the Jeff Beck Group's 1968 debut album, Truth.

Bruce Springsteen announced during Tuesday night's show in Boston that Patti Scialfa will be missing a few E Street Band dates after she "took a spill" while horseback riding over the weekend. Backstreets.com, posted that Springsteen described the injuries to the crowd, and joked, "She wasn't riding with Madonna, it wasn't a Madonna-like spill." "The Boss" went on to joke that his wife suffered "multiple contusions, bruised ribs . . . and whiplash, from me driving her to the hospital."

Scialfa should be back on the road after missing only a few shows.

New Tore Books

The Dead are offering fans a one-of-a kind opportunity to create their own scrapbooks to all 17 stops on their spring tour. Mediabistro.com reported that 72 hours after each Dead gig, fans can buy the specialty made books featuring shots from the evening show.

The publishers of the new book published a statement on blog.blurb.com saying, "Not only can you buy the concert book from your Dead show, but you can add your own personal photo to the front cover. Whether it's a shot of you and your friends dancing on the lawn, or Phil Lesh signing your shirt, you can bring the cover to life with your photography to commemorate your Dead show in a personal way."

To check out the process blurb.com/thedead.

Think you're Peter Parker???

The upcoming Broadway musical based on the comic book character Spider-Man, with songs by U2 frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge, will hold open casting calls in major cities around the U.S. starting next week. According to Sci-Fi Wire, the show, officially called Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, is looking for performers with "dynamic rock/pop voices, including those with experience in bands and as solo performers," although no prior experience is necessary.

The show is looking for performers who can either play or understudy for the lead roles of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, in addition to a "lead female villain" who is not named but described as "Sinead O'Connor with a Middle Eastern/Bulgarian/Greek twist."

Auditions will be held in Orlando, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and Austin. The show is scheduled to open on February 18th, 2010, with previews beginning on January 16th.

More info can be found at http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com.

Warren Haynes on Double Duty

The Dead surprised some lucky fans on Monday (March 30th) night by playing not one but three New York City venues. Rolling Stone reported that later in the day after Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Warren Haynes appeared on ABC's The View, the band set up for their gig at New York's Angel Orensanz Theatre, where Weir joked, "It's just like playing a three-hour show, but it's broken up by cab rides." The band had originally wanted to play a larger open air free show in the city but got bogged down with red tape.

The pared-down trio kicked off the first gig of the night at Angel Orensanz -- a former synagogue on the Lower East Side -- and focused mainly on acoustic-based material from Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and other earlier sets, including such Dead favorites as "Dire Wolf," "Cumberland Blues," "Casey Jones," and an extended 20-minute version of the Jerry Garcia classic "Bird Song."

The 8 p.m. show at the Gramercy Theatre featured the Dead's drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as keyboardist Jeff Chimenti for an hour-long electric set which included such Dead classics as "Good Lovin,'" "The Wheel," and "Franklin's Tower," along with several extended jams. As with past Dead shows, Haynes has taken most of the leads associated with the previously sung Garcia material.

The third and final gig of the night kicked off at 11 p.m. at the 3,000 capacity club Roseland. The band tackled tracks from throughout their career, including "Althea," the Weir classic "Cassidy," "Eyes Of The World," "St. Stephen," and "Sugar Magnolia," among others.
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The Allman Brothers Band have announced 26 tour dates kicking off on May 19th at L.A.'s Greek Theatre and running through mid-October. Along the way, the Allmans will be sharing the bill at select shows with the Doobie Brothers, the Dead, and Widespread Panic. The Allmans often play new songs in concert, and singer-guitarist Warren Haynes says that the band has always been careful to never let new material take precedent over fan favorites: "We don't wanna give them too many new songs in a night, or the show may suffer a little bit, from an energy perspective. So if you do a new song, and then follow it up with 'Midnight Rider,' or something like that, you know, then you're doing OK. Then three songs later, do another new song, and follow that up with another classic, and try and pepper 'em in there to the extent that the show doesn't suffer."

August 27 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon At Jones Beach Theater

Last month the band wrapped up their "March Madness" residency at New York City's Beacon Theatre where they welcomed such guests as Eric Clapton, the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Levon Helm, Billy Gibbons, Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell of Phish, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.