Link-O-Rama …

Billy Ray Cyrus talks about daughter Miley’s controversial Vanity Fair shoot – “My dad always told me the more you stomp in poop, the more it stinks,” – NBC Today Show / MSNBC

A wealth management firm drops its defamation suit against Leonard Cohen – Bloomberg

Chicago releases “lost album” 15 years after recording it – CNN

Britain’s Federation of Small Businesses calls for a relaxation of copyright laws affecting playing music in the workplace – BBC

Taylor Dayne pleads no contest to reckless driving charge, ordered to serve two years probabtion and complete a Mothers Against Drunk Driving program – Associated Press

New England minister delivers “The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen – The Patriot Ledger

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

It’s time to revisit “Electric Avenue” with reggae legend Eddy Grant. Mr. Grant has a best of collection coming out on July 8, and today’s update shows him playing U.S. and Canada clubs and theatres come August. Dates include Boston on August 4 at Paradise Rock Club; Philadelphia on August 6 at The Troc; New Haven on August 9 at Toad’s and Chicago on August 12 at Martyrs’. Other cities include Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

Whether you know him as Toto’s guitarist or for his own fine work, Steve Lukather is one heckuva guitarist. Today we have a southern California run for the axe-man, showing him playing The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on October 2. From there it’s L.A. at Crash Mansion on October 3 and the Agoura Hills Canyon Club on October 4.

The Benjy Davis Project lands in New Orleans on July 11. Other new dates just posted include July 28 in Chattanooga, August 27 in Tuscaloosa and August 31 in Cape Carteret, NC.

We also just posted a series of Colorado dates for Winston Rodney, aka Burning Spear – September 17 in Aspen; September 18 in Boulder and September 19 in Englewood. The artist also adds Casablanca (yes, THE Casablanca) on July 19; Omaha on September 20 and Vancouver on September 27.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Buddy Guy, Buckwheat Zydeco, Bruce Robison, Brooke Miller, Carolyn Wonderland, Conor Oberst, David Benoit, Culture, Del Castillo, Johnny Mathis, Yellowjackets and Vampire Weekend.

And that’s what we have at the halfway mark. Don’t miss Your Latest Update, coming up around 3 pm (PDT), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1972, keyboardist Ron (Pigpen) McKernan played his final gig with the Grateful Dead at the Hollywood Bowl. He died the following March of alcohol-induced liver failure and internal bleeding.

In 1987, Vittoria Holman, a St. Petersburg, Florida real estate agent, sued Motley Crue and a concert promoter for hearing loss allegedly incurred at a 1985 concert. Holman and her daughter had front-row seats less than three metres from a wall of speakers. The case was settled when the band’s insurance company paid more than $30,000.

In 1994, Latin pop singer Jon Secada fell through the rostrum as he was approaching the stage to perform to an estimated one billion television viewers during the opening ceremonies of the World Cup soccer tournament in Chicago. Secada could not pull himself out, and since the band was already playing, he began singing with only his head above stage level. He was eventually pulled from the hole, and moved to center stage to finish his performance. Secada was later diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder.

In 1995, British pop star Cliff Richard became Sir Cliff after being awarded a knighthood.