Link-O-Rama …

Looks as if Japan is the latest country considering an “iPod tax” for compensating the entertainment industry for lost revenue due to file-swapping – Macworld U.K.

Violinist who lost $4 million violin, then regained instrument when cabbie returned it to him, will say thanks by playing an intimate, 30-minute concert in cab waiting area at airport – Associated Press

Thieves break into Martha Reeves’ house, steal $1 million worth of recording equipment – Associated Press

Arlo Guthrie endorses “Alice’s Restaurant” in Myrtle Beach – The Sun News

This is your brain. This is your brain on music. This is where you go to have all your questions about music and your brain answered – The Ottawa Citizen

Rolling Stones’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell appears at Central Michigan University commencement ceremonies – Associated Press

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Gilby Clarke hits Canada in June playing across the commonwealth in places like Toronto (June 6), Winnipeg (June 11 & 12), Regina (June 13) and Lethbridge, (June 17) and Edmonton (June 20). Other Canada towns on today’s update are Oshawa, Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Banff, Calgary and Red Deer.

You’ll find The Helio Sequence playing the clubs this month and next. Gigs include May 22 in Alston, MA, at Great Scott; May 30 in Mt. Pleasant, SC, at Village Tavern, June 4 in Memphis, TN, at Hi-Tone Café and June 16 in Visalia, CA, at Cellar Door.

Lenny Kravitz updates today with a couple of Japan gigs – Kobe on September 24 and Tokyo on September 26.

And Chick Corea adds a few 2009 shows to his calendar – April 23 – 25 in New York City and May 1 in Burlington, VT.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Oakley Hall, Lizz Wright, James Hunter, Seth Walker, Supersuckers, Thanks For Nothing and Steve E Nix & The Cute Lepers.

And that’s where we are at the halfway mark. Don’t miss Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PDT), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1965, Keith Richards, fooling around in a Clearwater, Florida motel room, came up with the guitar riff which would form the basis of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”

In 1984, Tina Turner’s comeback hit, “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” was released. The song went to number one, won Grammys for record and song of the year, and established Turner as a major solo star.

In 1989, officials in Baton Rouge, Louisiana seized an airplane belonging to Hank Williams Jr. after an abortive concert by the country star. Williams cursed the audience, threw a fiddle to the floor and left the stage after about 20 minutes. The plane was released after the entertainer’s company wired $65,000 to the concert promoters. Williams performed a makeup concert two weeks later, apologized and claimed someone had slipped him some drugs.

In 1991, a Georgia judge threw out a suit claiming that Ozzy Osbourne’s music drove a 16-year-old boy to suicide. Michael Waller’s parents sued Osbourne for $9 million dollars, claiming their son shot himself after listening repeatedly to Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution.”

In 1997, Joni Mitchell failed to show up for her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. She apparently wanted to avoid the media hoopla over her reunion with the daughter she gave up for adoption 32 years earlier. Also a no-show – Neil Young, who was inducted as a member of the 1960s band Buffalo Springfield. Young snubbed the rock hall after organizers failed to give him more than one free ticket to the induction dinner.