Working For The Weekend …

You should know the routine by now. Read every single item scheduled to post during the weekend and you will gain the gift of infinite knowledge. But if you choose to ignore the items, you will spend the rest of your life wallowing in your own ignorance. The choice is yours.

Saturday: Truckin’ To The Symphony – Dig out that tie-dyed tux. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is taking on The Grateful Dead.

Sunday: Gospel and Jazz Down By The Riverside – The Blind Boys of Alabama and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have announced a joint tour of the U.S.

Monday: Let’s Hear It For The Boy – Eighties pop icon Boy George isn’t letting a little thing like being denied a visa by the U.S. State Department keep him down.

Facing The Final Curtain – Pop punk outfit Reggie & The Full Effect will say farewell to fans later this summer when the band embarks on its final tour.

Next week’s HotStar is Julianne Hough

Link-O-Rama …

Paul Simon sues Japanese clockmaker, claims company used “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” without permission – Reuters

Juan Luis Guerra on singing Spanish lyrics in an English-speaking town – The New York Times (registration may be required)

Study reveals what every bartender already knows – loud music makes people drink more – Reuters U.K.

Famed photographer Robert Altman talks about shooting the stars of the ’60s – The Times Online U.K.

Songwriter Hank Cochran recovering from surgery to remove cancerous tumors – Associated Press

Singer / radio star Jo Stafford dies at 90 – Associated Press

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket fame updates with new show listings for October, November and December. New stops include October 17 in Philadelphia at World Cafe Live, October 31 in Northampton, Massachusetts, at Iron Horse Music Hall, November 9 in San Francisco at Slim’s and December 2 in Milwaukee at Turner Hall Ballroom.

Ani DiFranco fine-tunes her September calendar with additions for Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kansas. Details include September 16 in Fayetteville at Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP), September 17 in Tulsa at Cain’s Ballroom, September 24 in Phoenix at Celebrity Theatre, September 29 in Lawrence, Kansas at Liberty Hall and October 1in St. Louis at The Pageant.

We have a few new east coast dates for Ellis Paul – August 9 in Columbia, Maryland, August 30 in Easton, Maryland, December 12 in New York City and January 18 in Stony Brook, New York.

And instrumental band Toubab Krewe makes the final deadline with new dates for September, October and November. Like September 20 in Savannah, Georgia at Livewire Music Hall, October 18 in Minneapolis at The Cabooze, November 15 in Denver at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom and November 28 & 29 in Charleston, South Carolina at The Pour House.

During the day we also updated the schedules for Boy George, Extreme, Joey Belladonna, Stevie Wonder, Styx, Chris Duarte & Bluestone, Seth Lakeman, Death Cab For Cutie, The Nadas, Micky Dolenz, Oneside, The Spill Canvas, George Winston, The Rumble Strips, Starship Starring Mickey Thomas, plus thousands of bands and artists we’d love to mention in this space, but we ran out of fonts a couple of hours ago and we won’t receive a new shipment until Monday.

One more thing – We love Batman as much as the next joker, but you can’t sit in the theatre all weekend long watching “The Dark Knight” over and over. So take a break from the Caped Crusader and catch some live music this weekend. Okay? G’night!