Working For The Weekend …

Our weekend crew has really outdone themselves this time by preparing several interesting items that will post between now and mid-Monday morning. Yes, it really is amazing what a few kind words, a couple of threats and a gun to the head can accomplish.

Saturday – Saving Abel Gets Muddy – The band jumps right from a headlining run into a two-month jaunt with Puddle of Mudd.

Matthew Ryan Vs. The Road – The Nashville folk-rocker heads out for the second leg of his tour in support of his 11th album.

Jeremy Jay Takes Flight – It’s an eclectic cross-country tour from an eclectic singer-songwriter.

Sunday – AARP’s 50th Bday Party – Yolanda Adams, Patti Austin, Shirley Caesar, Chaka Khan and many others wish the organization many happy returns as it qualifies for its very own AARP card.

Feel The Burn – Burning Brides embarks on a North American tour to promote Anhedonia.

Monday – Ryan Cabrera Grows Up – With the release of a new album on his own self-financed label, the singer proves he’s nobody’s arm candy.

Ruby Dee Rocks The Road – How about a little rockabilly courtesy of Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers this summer?

Mike Relm Adds Soundtrack To Sport Fest – The multimedia artist will have fans asking “How does he do that?” as he lends his talents to Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam.

Next week’s HotStar is Bell X1

Link-O-Rama …

Lawyer booted from the court building for trying to give his band’s CD to R. Kelly – The Chicago Tribune

Related: Judge says reporter who received sex video must testify – Associated Press

The Missouri University of Science and Technology has a novel approach to illicit file-sharing – students must answer a six question quiz about copyright fundamentals before accessing P2P software – KSPR / Associated Press

Kaiser Chiefs singer says his band is bigger in the United Kingdom than Oasis – The Sun U.K.

Bebo executive in charge of music for the social-networking Web site steps down – CNET

Italian composer wants to give Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” the operatic treatment – Associated Press

A few minutes with Sonny Rollins – The Sydney Morning Herald

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Let’s talk about Built To Spill. Lots of new club dates for both the U.S. and Europe taking place in September, October and November. Examples include September 8 & 9 in San Francisco at Slim’s; September 23 in Washington, DC, at the 9:30 Club and September 27 in Boston at the Orpheum. Euro dates include October 2 in Amsterdam at Melkweg; October 7 in Copenhagen at Loppen; October 11 in Oslo at Rockefeller Music Hall and October 25 in Rome at Init.

We also posted several new July listings for Alejandro Escovedo, including July 2 in St. Louis, July 7 in Toronto, July 10 in Boston and July 31 in West Hollywood.

Kill Hannah is also looking ahead. Today the band updated with several new summer dates including August 8 in Lancaster, PA, at the Chameleon; August 12 in Towson, MD, at Recher Theatre; August 13 in Asbury Park, NJ, at Stone Pony and August 20 in Grand Rapids, MI, at The Intersection.

And Joshua Radin updates today with several new summer listings. Like July 22 in Nashville, July 30 in New York, August 10 in Milwaukee and August 21 in San Francisco.

During the day we also updated the schedules for Ari Hest, James Blunt, The Mad Caddies, Edwin McCain, Rachael Sage, Dolly Parton, Duncan Sheik plus millions and millions of bands and artists that we’d love to mention if only we had the time. And if you don’t believe us, you’re welcome to count all the acts yourself.

And that’s a wrap for today. Have a great weekend, and remember to get out there and enjoy some live music. Adios!