Last week, idobi contributor Ashley Holman had the opportunity to speak with three of the four members of Permanent Ability, a funk- rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Their latest EP, Bring It On!, debuted in 2010 and secured them the title “best band of the week†from rockitoutblog.com.
In between bites of a Cobb salad at New York’s Tribeca Grand Hotel, Gwen Stefani is explaining why No Doubt is going on tour for the first time in five years without a new album to promote. “Honestly, it’s procrastination,” she says with a sigh. “My plan was to get pregnant and write a record, but instead of writing, I just ate all the time.” Stefani laughs as she pops a tomato in her mouth. “Writing is always really hard for me – I hate it and hate it and then I do it, and I’m happy it’s done,” she… Read more »
Last year the Brooklyn-based quartet Grizzly Bear went on the road for a two-week East Coast tour as the opening act for Radiohead. This time around, the indie rock band is aiming just as high — hoping to arrange a collaboration with none other than rapper Snoop Dogg. Grizzly Bear singer-songwriter Ed Droste “has actually been using Twitter to stalk Snoop,” said the group’s Daniel Rossen, a singer-songwriter and guitarist. “We’re both going to be at Bonnaroo, the Tennessee music festival, and although there will be a bunch of people there and the chances of us actually seeing Snoop are… Read more »
NASHVILLE — Watch Nathan Followill breeze into his local Nashville watering hole, and it’s obvious that he’s well known and well liked by the crew at McCabe’s Pub. Clad in sweats and a Yankees cap, the Kings of Leon drummer comes off more as cool local guy than international rock star Nothing in this manner indicates that his Nashville-based rock band’s fourth album is finally making the Kings as big in the United States as they have been in Europe since 2004, when the group had back-to-back No. 1 singles in the United Kingdom According to the band’s label, RCA,… Read more »
You’ll usually find R.E.M. playing arenas and esteemed concert halls. But this week, the rock hall of famers were among the acts trying to catch a break and artists looking to build their audience at the sprawling South by Southwest music festival. The multiplatinum rockers played Stubbs BBQ shortly after midnight Wednesday before an energetic crowd of a couple thousand, marking the first time they’ve played the annual extravaganza in their nearly three-decade career. But it’s hardly a downgrade: Playing a showcase at SXSW has often been a way for a veteran act to make a big splash with a… Read more »
Given the radical image changes that Panic! At The Disco has undergone in the past year, it’s hard not to read the lyrics to its new album’s opening song as a pre-emptive strike against critics. “Oh, how it’s been so long/we’re so sorry we’ve been gone/we were busy writing songs/for you,” bassist Jon Walker sings, by way of apology for the two-and-a-half-year lag between 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and the new “Pretty. Odd.,” due March 25 via Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Then, he launches into lines meant to comfort fans who have no doubt noticed that their favorite… Read more »
Imagine a “dream machine” on wheels. It’s easy if you try. But the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is no dream. A state-of-the-art multimedia studio packed in a bus, it’s a vehicle for opening the minds of aspiring young musicians. “Swing open the door, step inside, take three short steps into the main cabin and look around,” writes Mark Garvey in “Come Together: The Official John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Guide to Music and Video,” a recently published history of the bus by Garvey and Yoko Ono Lennon. “You’ve entered a different world. And whether you’re young or old, if… Read more »
The one thing fans will immediately notice about Ozzy Osbourne’s forthcoming LP Black Rain is that it’s drenched in some of the heaviest riffage to grace one of the Prince of Darkness’ solo outings – thanks, in large part, to Ozzy’s longtime guitarist, the Jack Daniel’s-chugging Zakk Wylde. According to Osbourne, there were times during the tracking of the album when he wondered whether the songs were too abrasive. But you see, Ozzy’s got this personal rule about making music. “If you’re heavy, don’t try to be f—ing light,” he explained. Wise words from a man whose stamp on the… Read more »
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California – When he was once asked, “Can you ever conceive of a circumstance in which the Police would do a reunion tour?,” Sting replied, “I think that’d be a good cause to have me certified insane.” So … “Yes, I am certifiably insane,” Sting joked Monday (February 12) at the Whiskey a Go Go after the above sound bite was played to begin a packed press conference announcing a Police reunion tour. “If anyone comes at me with white coats, just let them through.” More than 20 years after the Police last toured – behind 1983’s massively… Read more »
New York – Tennessee-based rock act Kings Of Leon will hit the road in North America later this month in support of its upcoming sophomore album, “Aha Shake Heartbreak.” Released last November in Europe, where the act is hugely popular, the RCA set is due Feb. 22 in the United States. Kings of Leon will be in Park City, Utah, on Friday (Jan. 21) playing an ASCAP-sponsored showcase at the Sundance Film Festival. A handful of other West Coast dates will follow before the band heads to Japan for the Sonicmania Festival, which will also feature Good Charlotte, Marilyn Manson,… Read more »
