Search Results for: Will Ferri

Kevin Richardson hopes others won’t have to follow his path to superstardom. Richardson left his native Kentucky as a teenager for a job at Walt Disney World before auditioning for an Orlando, Fla.-based group that would eventually become the Backstreet Boys. Now Richardson, 31, and childhood friend and songwriter Keith McGuffey have opened a music academy in downtown Louisville. Called The Music Workshop, its a catchall for performers, songwriters and producers seeking a career in music. “When me and Keith were growing up in central Kentucky there wasn’t any real outlet for us. If we wanted to get information about… Read more »

Ticket sales from the Dixie Chicks’ current Top Of The World tour are nearing the $60-million mark, setting the trio up to be the top-grossing country tour of the year. With 56 shows under their belt so far, the Dixie Chicks’ average attendance is upwards of 16,000 fans per show. The group’s manager, Simon Renshaw, told Billboard, “The bottom line is, for all the so-called controversy…the Dixie Chicks’ fans remained totally loyal throughout the tour,” referring to lead singer Natalie Maine’s much-publicized anti-Bush comment. The Dixie Chicks will wrap up the North America leg of their tour on August 13… Read more »

Need a reason to go on a road trip? How about Bumbershoot? No, we’re not talking gibberish – we’re referring to the infamous Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, WA, which is taking place at the Seattle Center from August 29 to September 1 this year. From 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day, over 2,500 artists will be showcasing their various artistic and musical talents. The festival, which was originally dubbed “The Festival of ’71,” has been gaining momentum since its initial inception over three decades ago. Bumbershoot Festival-goers can enjoy poetry, comedy, acrobats, theatre, graphic art, film, painting, sculpture and… Read more »

With little pomp and no showboating, A Perfect Circle were all about the music in the first headlining performance in support of their upcoming album, Thirteenth Step. That shouldn’t surprise any APC fans or those familiar with shows by singer Maynard James Keenan’s other band, Tool. Never once did he holler, “Hello, New York” – in fact, he jokingly made a reference to New Jersey – nor did he ask if fans were ready to rock. It didn’t matter. He obviously was. And so were his bandmates, who took the stage in formation: guitarist Billy Howerdel at the front of… Read more »

Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, citing concerns about student privacy, moved yesterday to quash subpoenas issued by the recording industry to discover the identities of students the industry says are illegally distributing copyrighted music. The moves represent one of the first major obstacles for the recording industry in its campaign against ordinary computer users who share copyrighted music. Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said he was disappointed and vowed legal action to obtain the information. “These universities have chosen to litigate this in an attempt to deny copyright holders the right… Read more »

Brotherly pop trio Hanson, who unwittingly ignited a teen pop craze when they stormed the charts six years ago with the catchy anthem “MMMBop,” are stripping down this summer. Isaac, Taylor and Zach Hanson have recorded their first album in three years, “Underneath,” and will lay the groundwork for its release early next year by launching an acoustic tour next month. They also will sell an acoustic record at the shows. Casual fans who still carry an image in their minds of three cherubic, pubescent youngsters are in for a surprise. All are strapping young men, and middle brother, Taylor,… Read more »

Chris Rock will be back as host of the MTV Video Music Awards, the cable channel announced Wednesday. But he acknowledges that his stand-up skills are a little rusty. So the comedian is going on a cross-country club tour to prepare for the 20th annual awards show Aug. 28 at Radio City Music Hall. “I haven’t performed in a lo-o-o-o-ng time,” Rock told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday. After starring in the Emmy-winning “Chris Rock Show” on HBO in the late ’90s, he’s been focusing on films the past few years, including “Down to Earth,” a remake… Read more »

No other contemporary chart-topping rock album sounds remotely like Metallica’s St. Anger. Never mind the whirlwind tempos, multiple rhythm changes and seven-minute songs. What’s really unusual are the lo-fi tones and unconventional constructions. The drums don’t crack, they clang, and cymbals cut out abruptly. There are no guitar solos. Once in a while a guitar lick lags behind the beat, and frontman James Hetfield’s vocals occasionally veer off key. Stranger still, that’s exactly the way Metallica and producer Bob Rock wanted it to sound. “I wanted to do something to shake up radio and the way everything else sounds,” said… Read more »

In the words of one of their songs, Dancing Days are here again for fans of Led Zeppelin. Defunct for almost 23 years, the pioneering English band behind such hard rock classics as “Stairway to Heaven” and “Kashmir” has cleaned out its vaults to issue eight hours of previously unreleased live material on DVD and CD. The “Led Zeppelin DVD” contains footage from four tours spanning 1970 to 1979; the CD “How The West Was Won” combines two Los Angeles shows from 1972 to replicate a single concert. Remarkably, the band’s leader and guitarist, Jimmy Page, who compiled the releases,… Read more »

Dirk Lance, it was nice to know you, but Incubus fans have reason to welcome new bassist Ben Kenney with open arms. “He’s been very inspiring for all of us,” guitarist Mike Einziger said at the recent ASCAP Pop Music Awards of the onetime Roots member. “He’s a very different musician than Dirk, so it adds a very different dynamic to what we’re doing. It’s just like a big fresh breath of air.” Incubus aren’t recording yet, but they’ve set up their instruments in a rented house and are writing new material they’ll take to a studio after finishing Lollapalooza.… Read more »