Odds & Ends: Dave Matthews, All Good, SeaWorld

After teaming up with Grover in September during an episode of “Sesame Street,” Dave Matthews’ latest collaboration reportedly includes Jakob Dylan, Bob Dylan guitarist Charlie Sexton and his brother Bill, and drummer Brady Blade.  

The act is being called The Nauts, according to Mix magazine, which notes that “what started out as a fun project for Brady Blade to get some musicians together and jam … has turned into a full fledged band.”

The drummer happens to be a partner at Blade Studios in Shreveport, La., where The Nauts recently recorded some new music. Mix says an album is forthcoming.

According to Consequence of Sound, the band is “expected to make their live debut in Shreveport as part of the Unscene! concert series.”

All Good Festival organizers say that while the event is taking a break in 2014, the fest has “solid plans to return in 2015 at an unspecified venue.”

Organizers have certainly earned a vacation after putting on All Good for 17 consecutive years

The 2013 edition took place at Ohio’s Legend Valley in July, featuring more than 40 acts including Furthur, Pretty Lights, Primus, STS9, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys, and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.

Organizers Tim Walther and Junipa Contento are going to stay busy in 2014 by looking for a long-term location for All Good Festival in the mid-Atlantic region.

“We want all of our fans to know that we are extremely grateful for all of their support, dedication and the cherished experiences we’ve had on the mountaintop and elsewhere, and to rest easy knowing that the All Good Festival that we’ve all built together and loved for so long will return in the summer of 2015,” Walther and Contento said. “Meanwhile, we will continue to present live music events in the Baltimore/Washington DC area.”

Since the last time we checked in with readers on the status of SeaWorld’s lineup for its “Bands, Brew & BBQ” series, REO Speedwagon, Martina McBride and 38 Special have canceled their appearances.  

The domino effect of cancellations during the past few weeks started with The Barenaked Ladies backing out of its Feb. 15 show after listening to its fans and watching the documentary “Blackfish.”

Cancellations soon followed by Willie Nelson, Heart, Cheap Trick and Trisha Yearwood.

“Blackfish” portrays the reported mistreatment of killer whales in captivity and highlights the story of Tilikum, a 12,000-pound orca that has killed three people, including a SeaWorld trainer in 2010.

On its Facebook page  Dec. 13 REO Speedwagon wrote, “Due to concerns regarding our February 16th appearance at SeaWorld, we have chosen to cancel the performance.”

Martina McBride called off her appearance with a Facebook post on Dec. 14 saying, “I’ve decided that given all the issues that have been aired recently, the time isn’t right for me to play at Seaworld. I have cancelled my scheduled performance at the Bands, Blues & BBQ event in March 2014.”

Here’s what 38 Special had to say on Facebook Dec. 16, “Due to concerns raised by the CNN documentary ‘Blackfish,’ 38 Special will be canceling its scheduled March 9th concert at Seaworld. We appreciate the outpouring of support and especially apologize to our Orlando fans. We will try and schedule another performance in your area in the near future.”

Thousands of fans and animal activists signed Change.org petitions calling on the acts mentioned above to cancel their appearances. There are a couple petitions still ongoing in hopes of convincing Justin Moore and Scotty McCreery to nix their gigs.

The responsible agents for the acts were not available when Pollstar contacted them earlier today to ask if the appearances were still on.