No Depression Festival Lineup Announcement

via the No Depression blog

It's our great pleasure to announce the lineup for the first ever No Depression Festival, featuring Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Patterson Hood & the Screwtopians, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, a Seattle roots-music all-star revue, and Zee Avi.

Presented by Seattle Theater Group (STG), Live Nation, and the Lakeside Group, the No Depression Festival will be held Saturday, July 11, at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Wash. (just outside Seattle). Tickets will be $45 plus applicable fees. Ticket information and a full press release, including artist bios, is below:


GILLIAN WELCH, IRON & WINE TO HEADLINE FIRST-EVER
NO DEPRESSION FESTIVAL
Saturday, July 11 | Marymoor Park- Redmond, WA

All-Day Event In Seattle Area Also Features Patterson Hood & The Screwtopians, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Seattle Roots-Music All-Star Revue, And Zee Avi

SEATTLE - Seattle Theatre Group (STG Presents), Live Nation, and The Lakeside Group present the first-ever No Depression Festival, sponsored by the pioneering and influential roots-music magazine and website. The festival will take place Saturday, July 11, 2009, at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington, just outside Seattle. The all-day event will feature Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Patterson Hood & The Screwtopians, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, a Seattle roots-music all-star revue, and Zee Avi.

No Depression launched as a quarterly (and then bimonthly) magazine in Seattle in 1995, and quickly became known as the foremost journalistic authority for roots-music genres ranging from alternative-country to singer-songwriters to bluegrass to trad-leaning indie acts, and beyond. In 2008, No Depression shuttered its print publication and launched a website, NoDepression.com, which in 2009 has transitioned into a community-oriented site that will soon house an extensive archive of the former print magazine's content. In addition, No Depression has partnered with University of Texas Press to issue a series of "bookazines," the second of which hit shelves this spring (a third is due in the fall).

Tickets, $45.00 (not including applicable fees), are on sale Friday, May 15th at noon at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone 206-628-0888. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.concertsatmarymoor.com. For more information, please visit www.stgpresents.org and www.nodepression.com

About STG
Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

Perry Farrell Still On For Austin Despite Torn Calf Muscle

Torn Muscle Doesn’t Stop Perry Farrell

Posted on Monday May 11, 2009 at 09:01 AM
via Pollstar

Talk about starting off on the wrong foot. Perry Farrell tore a calf muscle shortly after Jane’s Addiction took the stage in Atlanta last night, but says the injury won’t disrupt the band’s touring schedule.

It happened during the first song of the band’s set at Lakewood Amphitheatre, but trooper that he is, the Lollapalooza founder went on to finish the set. Farrell was taken to Atlanta Medical Center after the show, according to a publicist.

Associated Press reports doctors told Farrell to stay off his leg for several days, but the singer says he still plans to perform Tuesday night at the band’s next gig in Austin.

Guess you could say he still has a leg to stand on.

Update! Dave Navarro Twittered from the tour bus this morning, saying Farrell is fine and the band is on the road to Austin.

--Jay Smith

War Tapes - Preview Song From New Album/Kicking Off National Tour

The L.A.-based War Tapes just released a streaming preview track off their new album, The Continental Divide, available in stores and online May 26th.

They'll be kicking off a national tour with a CD Release Party at Club Moscow in Hollywood on May 27th. Check out the schedule here:

May 27 CD RELEASE PARTY! CLUB MOSCOW - 18+ Hollywood, CA FREE W/ RSVP - wartapesRSVP@hotmail.com
May 28 CONTINENTAL ROOM Fullerton, CA
SUMMER TOUR with VNV NATION:
Jun 27 CLUB NOKIA w/ vnv nation Los Angeles, CA
Jun 29 REGENCY CENTER w/ vnv nation San Fransisco, CA
Jun 30 BERBATI’S PAN w/ vnv nation Portland, OR
Jul 1 THE SHOWBOX w/ vnv nation Seattle, WA
Jul 3 MURRAY THEATRE w/ vnv nation Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 5 GOTHIC THEATRE w/ vnv nation Englewood, CO
Jul 7 TURNER HALL w/ vnv nation Milwaukee, WI
Jul 8 STATION 4 w/ vnv nation Minneapolis, MN
Jul 10 HOUSE OF BLUES w/ vnv nation Chicago, IL
Jul 11 ST. ANDREWS HALL w/ vnv nation Detroit, MI
Jul 12 PEABODY’S w/ vnv nation Cleveland, OH
Jul 14 PHOENIX THEATRE w/ vnv nation Toronto, ON
Jul 15 LE NATIONAL w/ vnv nation Montreal, QC
Jul 17 PARADISE w/ vnv nation Boston, MA
Jul 18 NOKIA THEATRE w/ vnv nation New York, NY
Jul 19 TLA w/ vnv nation Philadelphia, PA
Jul 21 9:30 CLUB w/ vnv nation Washington DC
Jul 23 MASQUERADE w/ vnv nation Atlanta, GA
Jul 24 THE RITZ w/ vnv nation Tampa, FL
Jul 25 CULTURE ROOM w/ vnv nation Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Jul 27 GRANADA THEATRE w/ vnv nation Dallas, TX
Jul 28 WHITE RABBIT w/ vnv nation San Antonio, TX
Jul 30 MARQUEE THEATRE w/ vnv nation Tempe, AZ

No Austin dates but they'll be in Dallas and San Antonio at some great venues if Austinites care to venture out of town.

Willie Nelson's Stage Manager, Randall "Poodie" Locke, Dies in Texas

Randall “Poodie” Locke 1948- 2009
By Michael Corcoran | Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 05:03 PM

AMERICAN-STATESMAN

“There are no bad days” was the slogan Poodie Locke, Willie Nelson’s stage manager of 34 years, put on a sign outside his Poodie’s Hilltop beer joint in Spicewood. But Wednesday was a dark one for members of the extended Willie Nelson family as Locke died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Briarcliff, about 30 miles west of Austin. He was 60.

“He wasn’t feeling well and Shaye (Locke’s girlfriend) called for EMS at around two in the afternoon,” said Bryan Dixon, a manager at the Hilltop. “Poodie collapsed just as the ambulance got there, but they couldn’t revive him.” As news spread, Locke’s 133-capacity club quickly filled up with mourners.

“Willie loved Poodie’s exuberance,” said Casey Monahan of the Texas Music Office, who hung out with Locke Saturday at Nelson’s show at Carl’s Corner. “Willie’s whole thing is living in the moment and that was Poodie.”

In Willie’s band of gypsies, Locke was the ringleader who had a hug for everyone no matter how much else was going on. Everybody loved Poodie, the only roadie with his own logo and line of barbecue sauces, but there was work to be done so both of the Nelson crew buses had signs that said “Poodie’s on the other bus.”

“He was the heart and soul of the road crew,” said Joe Nick Patoski, author of the definitive Nelson biography “An Epic Life.” Although the touring life can be stressful, Poodie always had a smile because, after all, he had the best seat in the house.

“I do not recall ever seeing him any way but calm,” said lawyer Bobby Earl Smith, who met Locke as a member of Freda and the Firedogs. “All hell would be falling around him and he just kept keeping on, slow, deliberate, getting the job done.”

Locke was a gentle giant who treated everyone special, which is why it was inevitable that, in 2002, he opened Poodie’s Hilltop Bar & Grill. It would be a place where Willie’s cronies and crew could hang out between tours, but Poodie spent many of his “off” days working on his laptop at the bar, setting up stage specifications for tours. He’d always drop everything, however, when an old friend popped in.

The Hilltop became a place where the famous, such as Willie, Merle Haggard, Garth Hudson of the Band and Big & Rich would sometimes play for hours, unannounced.

As his mother Gloria “Momma” Locke loved to say, Poodie won the Most Beautiful Baby contest in Waco when he was just a few months old. The nickname “Poodie” came from a younger sister who couldn’t pronounce “pretty” in describing her sibling.

A 12-year-old Locke met Nelson, from nearby Abbott, in Waco. Before hooking up with Willie just before “Red Headed Stranger” blew up, Locke was a roadie for B.W. Stevenson.

“Indecision may or may not be our biggest problem,” Locke quoted Willie as summing up the life of being on the road for up to 275 days a year. Although he’s met countless celebrities through the years, Poodie’s only asked for two autographs: John Wayne and Walter Cronkite.

Locke worked a Willie show at Carl’s Corner Saturday and seemed to be in good health, according to Patoski. He’s survived by his girlfriend Shaye, his sister Cindy and his mother.

You were lucky if you knew Poodie Locke, a larger-than-life folk hero who epitomized, behind the scenes, the humor and humility and edication his boss presented onstage. You can be sure there is devastation in Willie World. A member of the immediate family, Willie’s spiritual kid brother, has passed on.

There’s a little less love out on the road. But, as Poodie knew better than anyone, the road still calls.