The Closing Bell

Link-O-Rama …

Carrie Underwood is nervous about tonight’s “People’s Choice Awards.” We’d be nervous too if we were talented, young and gorgeous – People

Who’s the ultimate rock god? According to 4,000 music fans, that honor goes to Queen’s Freddie Mercury – The Sun U.K.

Will iTunes price changes hurt competitors? – The New York Times / Bits (registration may be required)

Is Nine Inch Nails the world’s first “open-source” band? – PC World

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Joan Baez updates today with new shows for March. Stops include the 10th in Louisville at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre; March 16 in Columbia, Missouri, at Missouri Theatre; the 27th in Calgary at Jack Singer Concert Hall and the 29th in Edmonton, Alberta, at Francis Winspear Centre For Music.

Ben Taylor, son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, embarks on an extensive club tour this year. Look for him in Northampton, Massachusetts, on January 27 when he plays a gig at that town’s Iron Horse Music Hall. January 28 puts him in Brooklyn for a show at Bell House. Blairstown, New Jersy, is the place and the venue is the Blairstown Theatre on January 30, and Montreal hosts Mr. Taylor on February 2 when he plays The Green Room. Other dates include Cleveland (February 5), Des Moines (February 10), Boise (February 15) and San Francisco (February 20).

After his stint touring with Elliott Murphy comes to an end, Jann Klose hits a few well-chosen clubs on his own. On January 21 Mr. Klose plays the Soho Restaurant & Music Club in Santa Barbara. February 5 finds him in Boston at the Conscience Coffeehouse. Ithaca, New York, has him at the Lost Dog Café on February 21 and New York’s Rockwood Music Hall is the place to see him on March 8.

And we have some new February dates for Drive-By Truckers – The 19 in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Music Farm; the 20th & 21st in DC at 9:30 Club; the 25th in Milwaukee at Turner Hall Ballroom; the 26th in St. Louis at The Pageant; the 27th in Memphis at the New Daisy Theatre and the 28th in Tuscaloosa at the Jupiter Bar & Grill.

During the day we also updated the schedules for Drug Rug, Dirty Shannon, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Dark Star Orchestra, Gibson Brothers, Joe Driscoll, Pennywise, Sergio Mendes, Space Rockers, The Boxing Lesson, The So So Glos, The Ten Tenors, Tyrone Wells, Van Morrison, Wayne “The Train” Hancock and all the artists and all the bands in the world. Plus a few more.

And that wraps up our Hump Day journey through the land of concert data. Thank you for accompanying us today and we hope you’ll join us tomorrow when we do it all over again, but with different bands and different dates. G’night!