Merle dates! Yes, we’ll say it again. Merle dates! The legendary American music artist plays several California dates in February, including San Francisco, Monterey and Bakersfield. Gee, do you suppose Merle drives by his old house on the Kern River whenever he’s in Bakersfield?

It’s a band name! It’s an artist’s name! You get both naming concepts with Lukas Rossi. The Rock Star: Supernova star / band adds three Ontario dates for February; Foo Fighters add a San Diego date for March and Japan for April; LL Cool J plays Orlando in April and Mahjongg lines up several dates for February and March. Cities include Denver, Omaha, San Diego and Baltimore.

During the first 90 minutes of biz we also updated the schedules for Mark Farner, Man Man, Ronnie McDowell, Ricochet, Ray Price, Wishbone Ash, Pieta Brown, Marcia Ball, Kool & The Gang, KJ-52, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Bros., Jeff Pitchell, Heart, Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons, Exile and Aaron Tippin.

But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Don’t miss your Midday Update, scheduled for around 12 noon (PST) from Pollstar.com!