Tired Pony session broadcasting Sept. 9

Supergroup Tired Pony (featuring members of Snow Patrol, R.E.M., and Belle and Sebastian) present The Place We Ran From performed by Iain Archer, Peter Buck, Richard Colburn, Gary Lightbody, Garret Lee, Scott McCaughey, and Troy Stewart, and featuring M.Ward and Zooey Deschanel of She and Him, and Tom Smith (Editors). This World Cafe session takes place Sept. 9 on more than 200 stations, a list of which you can find here. You can also listen online at WXPN Philadelphia. The band's album, The Place We Ran From, comes out Sept. 28. Tired Pony is also playing a couple shows - Irving Plaza in NYC (Oct. 1) and four days later at El Rey Theatre in LA.

Karen Elson makes TV debut, performs on Letterman

Karen Elson made her network television debut last night. Elson proved she's more than just a stunning fashion model when performed "The Ghost Who Walks" from her new album of the same name. For her first performance on TV, she looked relaxed and sounded decent. She kind of held back when she went for the high notes toward the end, but all in all, it was a good performance. Her backing band was excellent. You can buy her album on iTunes. Definitely worth checking out.

Here comes the neighborhood and then some: Indie rock collective Gayngs heading out on tour

Gayngs, a group of nearly two dozen musicians, including Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Mike Noyce, heads out on tour at the end of September. The band was created by a music producer Ryan Olson, who enlisted the Bon Iver crew, as well as members of Solid Gold, The Rosebuds, Lookbook, and Megafaun, rapper P.O.S., and musicians who have played with acts like Andrew Bird and Leisure Birds. This indie/new-folk collective kicks off a short U.S. tour Sept. 29 in Milwaukee. Gayngs then plays Chicago (Sept. 30), Boston (Oct. 2), Webster Hall in New York (Oct. 3), Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (Oct. 4), D.C. (Oct. 5), Nashville (Oct. 7), and the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas (Oct. 10).



"The Gaudy Side of Town" by Gayngs from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Alex Winston releases live acoustic video for Don't Care About Anything

Detroit singer-songwriter and classically trained musician (see, that's key here) Alex Winston is ridiculously talented. Last week she released the live acoustic video for her single, "Don't Care About Anything" (see below). Her vocals hit the higher end of the spectrum, and when she carries a note, it elegantly flows like Leslie Feist. She's definitely got more of a pop vibe, but all things considered, she is only 19 years old and her mainstream peers are force fed pop rubbish. Thankfully, someone as young as Winston gets it and uses her craft to produce pure bliss. Her Basement Covers EP is out now as is a 7" Choice Notes on Heavy Roc Music. You can go here to download Choice Notes.

Women releasing new album, touring North America this fall

Canadian throwback, 60s-era psychedelic prog-rockers Women will release their sophomore album, Public Strain, Sept. 28 on Jagjaguwar Records. The band is also in the middle of a European tour, one that lands in Manchester, England Sept. 2 at The Deaf Institute and runs through Sept. 14 when the band plays at the Incubate Festival in Tilburg, Netherlands. Women return to North America Sept. 24 and will play Amigos in Saskatoon, Canada. That tour makes stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and a few other random locations, ending with a gig Oct. 6 at Great Scott in Boston.

Women "Eyesore"

Asher Roth: Get Ready it's a New Day

Just when I thought this kid would go down as a one-hit/two-hit wonder, he's back. Asher Roth is about to deliver the follow-up to his crazy insane 2009 debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle. Today, Roth released a video that he calls a promo tour clip. It shows Asher doing interviews from coast to coast with the single, "G.R.I.N.D. (Get Read it's a New Day)" playing in the background. It's the first single off Asher's soon-to-be released album, The Spaghetti Tree. Check out my interview with Asher Roth from June 2009.

The Jackson Wetherbee Band touring Massachusetts

Singer-songwriter Jackson Wetherbee, who grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts, played at the House of Blues and Hard Rock Cafe in Boston, and opened for Collective Soul, Marcy's Playground, the Gin Blossoms, and Crash Kings earlier this year at the 17th annual Earth Fest in Boston, is touring his home state late summer/early fall. The Jackson Wetherbee Band, who releases a new album Sept. 14 on Flying Carpet Records. Wetherbee's voice falls somewhere in the middle of Dave Matthews and David Gray and his backing band of drummer Chris Santos, pianist Paul Wolstencroft (Slightly Stoopid), and bassist Robin Soper (Adam Ezra Band) provide just what Wetherbee needs to complement his delivery.

The Jackson Wetherbee Band upcoming gigs
Sep 2 2010 9:30PM The Red Parrot Hull, MA
Sep 3 2010 TBA Westfield State College Westfield, MA
Sep 4 2010 9:00PM Falmouth Raw Bar (Acoustic) Falmouth, MA
Sep 9 2010 9:00PM The Bell in Hand Boston, MA
Sep 10 2010 8:00PM The British Beer Company Pembroke, MA
Sep 11 2010 8:00PM The British Beer Company Falmouth, MA
Sep 12 2010 TBA Cohasset Day Cohasset, MA
Sep 17 2010 8:00PM The British Beer Company Sandwich, MA
Sep 18 2010 TBA The House of Blues Boston, MA
Sep 24 2010 TBA The Shipyard (40 Under 40 Awards) Hingham, MA
Sep 25 2010 8:00PM The Ice Chest Fairhaven, MA

This is how, why Eminem and Jay-Z make money

This one kind of comes out of nowhere, maybe because I've been listening to Eminem and Jay-Z recently. Eminem hasn't sold nearly 100 million records because of his rhyming style, and Jay-Z didn't surpass the 50-million albums sold plateu because he can write his own hip-hop lyrics. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why the two are some of the most successful artists in the music industry today, yet so many other musicians fail to reach the pinnacle the two have hit in their career, both of which date back to the mid-90s. They're smart. They know who to enlist as producers, how to market their product and image, and more importantly maintain a fine line of crossing over into the mainstream while staying as real as they can to their underground roots. They also both ventured outside of the music, with Eminem taking on the big screen and Jay-Z starting his own clothing line. Both run record companies as well. As they've done in the past and what has made their recent albums such a success are the cameos and sampling. They both use Rihanna, which is a win all around. Add Alicia Keys, Drake, and his go-to man Kanye West (both on vocals and production), and other production from The Neptunes and Timbaland, and Jay's hit a home run on The Blueprint 3. Em on the other hand also knows how to market his music. His crossover hit, "Love the Way You Lie," features Rihanna on vocals, and the video for it, features Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. His recently released Recovery album features Lil Wayne and Pink on guest vocals. The production doesn't match Jay-Z, but his delivery makes up for it. Note to all lyricists and artists in general, take notes if you want to sell millions of albums and reel in a ridiculous amount of money.

Eminem featuring Lil Wayne "What is Love"

Chief perform Night and Day on Craig Ferguson

Chief's performance from last night on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Robert Plant, Jimmy Page return to stage, separately

If there was a Led Zeppelin reunion, you'd have heard about it months ago. But that doesn't mean Robert Plant and Jimmy Page aren't playing shows this fall. Page will play the Show of Peace Concert Oct. 10 in Beijing, joining a lineup that includes Aerosmith and Prince. Plant, meanwhile, has a new album coming out, releasing it under the name Band of Joy. Diehard Zeppelin fans will remember that Band of Joy was Plant's first band. In 1968, he and soon to be Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham joined bassist John Hill, guitarist Mick Strode, and keyboardist John Kelsey to form the Band of Joy. Plant's new Band of Joy, the Americana-inspired album of which comes out Sept. 14, features the legendary Patty Griffin (guitar, vocals), Darrell Scott (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), Buddy Miller (guitar, vocals), Byron House (bass), and Marco Giovino (percussion). Plant played a run of U.S. shows in July, and Thursday he heads overseas, playing Sept. 2 at The Forum in London. He's then off until Oct. 14 when he plays Annext in Stockholm, Sweden, followed by shows in Oslo, Norway, Edinburgh, Gateshead, Liverpool, Paris, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, and two Ireland shows in November to close out the tour. Check out what is in my opinion Zeppelin's best live version of "Stairway to Heaven." It's from The Song Remains the Same movie, the footage of which was shot in 1973 at Madison Square Garden.