Working For The Weekend …

A lot of sweat and elbow grease went into prepping the following items scheduled to post during the weekends. So if you have any sweat or elbow grease to spare, our writers would really appreciate it if you could shoot them an email.

Saturday: Russians Resist Pricey Tix – Russian audiences are losing their appetite for Western acts because the ticket prices are too high, according to the Moscow Times.

We The People…Come To Party! – RZA, Les Claypool, , Dilated Peoples and EPMD are just a few of the artists signed on for the third annual We The People Festival.

Sunday: Hendrix Guitar In Fire Sale – The first guitar Jimi Hendrix ever set aflame onstage went for £280,000 at a London auction of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia September 4.

MTV Europe Adds Three Awards – This year’s MTV Europe Music Awards will add three new categories to honour emerging talent.

Monday: When Push Comes To Tennessee – Old Crow Medicine Show is gearing up to launch a two-month trek in support of latest release, Tennessee Pusher. Listen to two tracks from the album!

James, Just James – British alt-rockers James are headed to North America in support of Hey Ma, their first release in seven years.

Our HotStar next week is Flobots

Link-O-Rama …

Will MySpace save the major labels? – BusinessWeek

Hollywood considers a new kind of DRM – Los Angeles Times / Technology (registration may be required)

Identity theft forces classical music label head in Canada to change his name in order to get off terrorist watch list – The Canadian Press

Purity rings and rock ‘n’ roll? Who would have thunk it? – Reuters

Catching up with Lindsey BuckinghamThe Times Online U.K.

Yet another report from the vinyl resurgence front – Myrtle Beach Sun News

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Dianne Reeves makes the final update deadline with new Euro dates for December. Look for Ms. Reeves in Helsinki on December 12 at Aalto Hall, Warsaw on December 14 at Kongresowa Hall, Zabrze, Poland, on December 15 at Muziki Dom and Prague on December 17 at Prague Congress Centre.

Johnny Winter updates with a couple of new ones – November 2 in Worpswede, Germany, at Music Hall, and January 23, 2009 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

New Zealand rockers Black Seeds play the U.K. come November. Dates include October 27 in Edinburgh, October 28 in Nottingham, October 29 in Newcastle, October 31 in Manchester, November 1 in Birmingham, November 3 in Bristol, November 4 in London and November 5 in Cambridge.

And considering all the bad press Kanye West has received in the past 24 hours, we thought a new date for the singer would lighten the mood – November 14 in Sheffield, England, at Sheffield Arena.

And that wraps up the week here at Pollstar.com HQ. Before we check out of here, we’d like to ask you to please say a prayer for all the people caught in Hurricane Ike’s path. G’night.