Ben Folds @ The Ryman + Lyrics & Legends this weekend!

Here is the Ben Folds press release, which I found pretty interesting. Also, after it is the lineup for the Legendsandlyrics.com series which kicks off this afternoon. Those shows are free, so get yourself some!

BEN FOLDS
Ryman Auditorium
Tues, April 7th

Tickets on sale Friday, Feb. 27th 10am at all Ticketmaster locations and the Ryman Box Office.

Produced by The Messina Group/AEG Live

Presented by Lightning 100


Way to Normal

Over the last 15 years, Ben Folds’ first-class melodic gifts, irony-laced lyrics, and punk-rock tendency to play piano as if it were a contact sport have earned the North Carolina native a legion of devoted fans of all ages. These people, quite simply, are going to go nuts for Way To Normal. The album, Folds’ third solo studio release, is dominated by the kind of irresistible hooks and piano-pounding pandemonium that listeners haven’t been treated to since Folds’ years with his previous band, the platinum-selling Ben Folds Five. Way to Normal is an exuberant, raucous, and sometimes profane mix of sure-fire crowd-pleasers (“Hiroshima,” “Bitch Went Nuts,” and the frenetically fuzzed-out “Dr. Yang”), cheerful snark-fests (“The Frown Song,” “Brainwascht”), and thoughtful, moving ballads (“Cologne,” “Kylie From Connecticut”) that Folds wrote at the end of 2007.

“This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive,” Folds says. “It’s about me coming back to being myself.” (Hence the title.) The album’s buoyant mood could also be due to the fact that Folds recorded the majority of it at his own studio near his home in Nashville, with his friends, long-time bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith. “We were just having a good time,” Folds says. “This was the most fun I’ve ever had recording.” Here are some of the album’s highlights:

“Hiroshima” — “I fell off the stage and landed on my head during a show in Japan,” Folds explains. “I had a concussion and got x-rays of my head. I just wanted to recount it literally, because when you are that literal, it can produce a surreal effect. The song is kind of about public failure, or perceived public failure. The video could almost consist of famous shots of important people at their worst moments where everyone’s watching.”

“The Frown Song” — “That’s about nouveau riche, bourgeois motherfuckers who forget how close they are to being the servant,” Folds says, acknowledging that it’s one of the more sharply acerbic songs on the album. (The lyrics skewer faux New-Age types who gossip about which of their friends is “fucking the guru.”) “I’ve seen so many people like that in spas, fancy shops, and yoga studios,” Folds says, “people who don’t tip their waitress and walk around bumming out baristas when they’re supposed to be in some kind of spiritual place.”

“You Don’t Know Me” (featuring Regina Spektor) — “One of the things that’s not often said in pop songs, or in real life for that matter, is how sad it is to spend significant time with someone and realize that you just don’t know each other because the most important things are completely off-limits,” Folds says. “That’s a failure not many people are happy to admit.” Folds recruited singer-songwriter Regina Spektor to sing breathy back-up on the track. “She gave it more life,” he says. “I think she’s one of the best singers out there, she’s just so talented.”

“Cologne” — “It’s both a love song and a break-up song,” says Folds. “The ‘4-3-2-1‘ chorus comes out of two people on the phone not wanting to hang up, like when you finally go, ‘Okay, we’ve gotta hang up, we’ll count it down, and then we’ll both hang up.’” The emotional centerpiece of the album, “Cologne” features imagery that meant something to Folds regardless of how universal he felt it to be, like the reference to former astronaut Lisa Nowak who “put on a pair of diapers and drove 18 hours to kill her boyfriend,” as Folds puts it in the song. “That was exactly what was going on in my mind when I wrote it, so I left it in. You do a song a real disservice by going too wide sometimes.”

“Bitch Went Nuts” — “First off, can I just point out that this is the first time I’ve ever personally written the word ‘bitch’ into a song?” Folds says. “[Ex-Ben Folds Five drummer] Darren Jessee wrote the ‘Give me my money back, you bitch’ line on [Whatever and Ever Amen’s] ‘Song for the Dumped’ and then we covered Dr. Dre’s ‘Bitches Ain’t Shit,’ so I’ve become the ‘bitch’ guy, which is one reason I didn’t want this song on the record.” But producer Dennis Herring convinced Folds to keep the track by telling him it was one of the most fun songs on the album. “I agreed and so we’re stuck with it,” Folds says brightly. “But no one ever ‘stabbed a basketball.’ That’s silly.”

Several things keep the mood light on Way To Normal: the sheer musical virtuosity, the joyful melodies, the laugh-out-loud humor, and Folds’ heart-breaking tenor voice. “We wanted to keep the smile in the record,” Folds says. That job fell to its producer, Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives), who was also tasked with getting Folds to stop stalling and get to work.

“Not only did I need to work with someone who knew more about record-making than I did, which Dennis does, but I really needed someone to just kick me in the ass,” Folds says. “Before, we’d play for two hours then I’d decide we should all go get coffee, then come back and sit around and watch YouTube. It was pathetic. So this guy came in and made me work. He didn’t want to see an idea rot on the vine, he wanted to see it done.”

Folds has been going pretty much non-stop since the 2001 release of his debut solo album Rockin’ the Suburbs, which has sold more than half a million copies worldwide. In short order, Folds has released a live album (2002’s aptly titled Ben Folds Live) and a pioneering series of three Internet-only digital EP’s: Speed Graphic (which topped the Billboard Internet Album, iTunes, and Soundscan Downloadable Tracks charts), Sunny 16, and Super D in 2003-2004; co-wrote and produced William Shatner’s 2004 solo album Has Been; released 2005’s pensive Songs for Silverman (which featured the Adult Top 40 hit “Landed”); contributed three original songs to the soundtrack for the 2006 film Over the Hedge; and produced a forthcoming solo album by Dresden Dolls frontwoman Amanda Palmer.

In 2006, Folds released Supersunnyspeedgraphic, The LP — a compilation of tracks from the Internet-only EP’s and B-sides, including an inspired cover of Dr. Dre’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” which climbed to No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has now sold 132,000 digital singles at iTunes. “It’s my biggest hit,” jokes Folds.

Along the way, there have been numerous tours, including a few with The Bens, a “supergroup” Folds formed with fellow singer-songwriters Ben Kweller and Ben Lee in 2003, as well tours with Rufus Wainwright and Guster in 2004, and John Mayer in 2007. A classically trained percussionist, Folds has also gone back to his roots by performing with various orchestras over the years, including the West Australian Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony in 2005 and the Boston Pops in 2007. In September 2008, Folds will perform with the Nashville Symphony, opening their 2008-2009 season.

Beginning in May 2008, Folds began to give songs from Way To Normal their first public airings as he made the rounds of several outdoor festivals, including the legendary Glastonbury Festival in England and the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. His electrifying performance at the latter led one critic to call Folds’ performance “pop music at its most satisfying.”

“The songs have been getting a great reaction,” Folds says. “It makes me look forward to having a new album out there because it’s been a while. This feels like a really free period in my life and I’m really enjoying it.”

Way to Normal will be released by Epic Records on September 30th, 2008.



Fri - 2/20/09
Nashville
3pm

* Melissa Manchester
* Josh Kelly
* Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals)
* Damien Horne (Rising Star)

More Info
Fri - 2/20/09
Nashville
8pm

* Lamont Dozier
* Mann and Weil
* Marc Cohn
* Dan Dyer (Rising Star)

More Info
Sat - 2/21/09
Nashville
3pm

* Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
* Guy Clark
* Roger McGuinn (The Byrds)
* Jessica Rae (Rising Star)

More Info
Sat - 2/21/09
Nashville
8pm

* Tony Joe White
* Robert Cray
* Keb Mo
* Brittini Black (Rising Star)

More Info
Sun - 2/22/09
Nashville
3pm

* Mac Davis
* David Pack (Ambrosia)
* Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary)
* Sam and Ruby (Rising Star)

More Info
Sun - 2/22/09
Nashville
8pm

* Justin Hayward (Moody Blues)
* Matt Scannell (Vertical Horizon)
* Richie McDonald (Lonestar)
* Andrew Ripp (Rising Star)

More Info
Mon - 2/23/09
Nashville
3pm

* Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon)
* Art Alexakis (Everclear)
* John Waite
* Dana Parish (Rising Star)

More Info
Mon - 2/23/09
Nashville
8pm

* Dwight Yoakam
* Amy Lee (Evanescence)
* Gavin DeGraw
* The Duhks (Rising Star)

More Info
Tue - 2/24/09
Nashville
3pm

* Darryl Worley
* Billy Joe Shaver
* Pat Green
* Drew Holcomb (Rising Star)

More Info
Tue - 2/24/09
Nashville
8pm

* Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra)
* Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad)
* Ian McGlynn (Rising Star)
* To Be Announced

More Info

Andrew Bird's Noble Beast

I am so glad we are playing a track from this record on Lightning 100. I think it is a terrific album and I was really happy to hear we would be featuring it next week on Lightning Strikes. I loved his set he did for our live broadcast series, Nashville Sunday Night, and look forward to catching him at Bonnaroo this summer. Even if it is just a peek into our Backstage studios.

Here is a sweet live version of him doing one of the songs from Noble Beast!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0TWJbxHQ6Y

Here is another performance from his previous record, you may have seen on Letterman



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o84xNCLTREY


Here is a look at the upcoming instores at Grimey's that seem interesting to me in their latest newsletter. Remember, they are free and all ages!

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE - Thursday, February 26 @ 6PM
Our good friend Justin Townes Earle is about to release his 2nd full-length, Midnight At The Movies, and if my ears can be trusted it's even better than The Good Life. In fact, I'm borderline addicted to his cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" which I think might best the original. Sacrilege, I know, but that hooky guitar refrain just sounds right played on a mandolin. And the honky tonk floor stompers and sublime ballads are just that much deeper and more affecting. And we've got a sweet in-store performance planned for you to hear the new songs. The album is out March 3 but attendees with a jones for it might be pleasantly surprised. Don't miss!


BEN KWELLER - Wednesday, March 4 @ 6PM
Remember Radish? Yeah, us neither. But we know all about Ben Kweller, who has more than transcended the initial hype of his teenage band. Whether releasing wonderful solo records, performing with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens, touring the world with the likes of Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Tweedy, Evan Dando, Juliana Hatfield, Gomez and tons more, Ben Kweller has steadily built a fanatical core following. He's just released a new EP, "How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Come in" and has his 4th full-length, "Changing Horses", due out Feb. 3rd. He's in town for a show at Mercy Lounge on March 4th and we've got him for an intimate in-store performance earlier in the evening. This one's sure to be crowded so get here early and claim your spot!


LISA HANNIGAN - Wednesday, March 11 @ 6PM
Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan first came to prominence as the female vocal foil on Damian Rice's acclaimed album "O". She toured with Damian and contributed to his follow-up "9" but has since embarked on her own career. Signed to powerhouse ATO Records (My Morning Jacket, Ben Kweller, David Gray, Patty Griffin, Rodrigo Y Gabriela), she's just released her solo debut "Sea Sew". We're very pleased to have her perform in the store so make plans to join us when this exciting new artist the New York Times described as "exquisitely ethereal" graces our intimate environs.

Morning Show

I'll be filling in for Mary Brace this week on the morning show. So don't freak out when you hear my voice in the morning and think you have overslept! I seriously had a friend who did this today! I actually could barely get a wink of sleep. Every 15 minutes I had to check the alarm clock, making sure I had not overslept. All was well when it went off at 4am. My wife had my lunch ready to go in the fridge, coffee was ready to brew, and I managed to escape the house without waking my kids! Pulled in around 5am and had a case of Monday mouth for most of the morning, even though it was Tuesday. This seemed to entertain the traffic announcer David Park at least, and hopefully a few of the listeners.

Just found out I will be interviewing Rene Copeland, artistic director at Tennessee Repertory Theatre, regarding their challenge grant opportunity. Basically, if they raise $100,000 they will get $100,000 in grant money. Here is a youtube video they sent me about it. Should be fun though!



Matthew Perryman Jones is also going to be on the morning show this week on Thursday. He was originally scheduled to come in Friday at noon but will be here Thursday around 9am instead. Here is a video clip of the last time he performed on my show.

Moon Taxi

Here is a short video I shot the other night at Wall Street in Murfreesboro, TN. They are a band local to Nashville and have some serious talent. Their live show is fantastic and they just released a new live record, "Live Ride". We just featured a track from it last week on the local lightning spotlight and it can be found at finer record stores like Grimey's New and Pre-Loved music. Also by clicking HERE.

The audio quality in this is terrible, but check out what great musicians these guys are...

Mark Olsen & Gary Louris of The Jayhawks

Mark Olsen & Gary Louris of The Jayhawks are playing a show this Saturday night at Exit In. I just gave away the last pair of tickets to the show on air today, but this link from the concert page at Lightning100.com will get you to where you can buy tickets: Get Tix


Of course, you can always take advantage of the free all ages show at Grimeys this Saturday! Just saw this blurb in their newsletter...

MARK OLSON & GARY LOURIS - Saturday, February 14 @ 4PM

Holy moly! The founders and guiding lights of the original Jayhawks are back together again with a new album and they're coming to town! Mark & Gary's vocal blend is phenomenal and unique and it's such a pleasure to hear them singing together again. The new album, Ready For The Flood, is produced by Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) and strips things down to the bare necessities - wonderful songs, acoustic guitars and THOSE VOICES. Sure, there are some overdubs and a little rhythm but the boys make sure nothing gets in the way of the sublime sound of Mark & Gary in a room together making music. They're in town for a show at Exit/In and we've got 'em for an afternoon performance in the store on Valentine's Day. Don't miss and hang around for Drug Rug too. It's free, bring your sweetie!

Bonnaroo 2009!

2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Confirmed Artists:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

About Bonnaroo:
Bonnaroo was conceived in 2002 and continues to make a strong impact on the American music industry. It has served as a launching pad for such popular artists as Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Robert Randolph, My Morning Jacket, Ray Lamontagne, Matisyahu, and many others. A creative and cultural mega-success, Bonnaroo has also featured a staggeringly diverse range of world-class acts such as Bob Dylan, Metallica, Neil Young, Radiohead, Willie Nelson, The Police, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty, Tool, Wilco, The Dave Matthews Band, James Brown, The White Stripes, The Dead, Regina Spektor, Widespread Panic, Death Cab For Cutie, Elvis Costello, Amadou and Mariam, Beck, Against Me!, The Black Crowes, Alison Krauss, Bright Eyes, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Earle, Jurassic 5, Modest Mouse, The Mars Volta, Common, Burning Spear, the Flaming Lips, among so many others.

The festival is also starting to make quite an impact on the comedy industry as well, as it has featured some of today's best comedians working today. From Chris Rock, Lewis Black, Flight of the Concords, David Cross and Fred Armisen to Jim Norton, Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo and Brian Posehn, Bonnaroo is considered to be an essential play in any comedian's touring plans.



Here is the official press release:
BONNAROO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2009 LINEUP FEATURING:
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND, PHISH, THE BEASTIE BOYS, NINE INCH NAILS, TV ON THE RADIO, WILCO, AL GREEN, DAVID BYRNE, SNOOP DOGG, MERLE HAGGARD, ERYKAH BADU, MGMT, BON IVER, THE DECEMBERISTS, LUCINDA WILLIAMS AND MORE

TICKETS TO GO ON SALE SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 AT 12PM EASTERN

February 3, 2009, New York, NY -- Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The eighth annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 11 - 14 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. Every year Bonnaroo seeks to make history by offering unique and exclusive performances by rock’s greatest legends as well as its most significant newcomers. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2009 lineup will total over 120 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 7 at 12:00 PM Eastern.

Continuing the Bonnaroo tradition of diversity and dynamism, the 2009 lineup draws top-flight acts from a staggering range of musical worlds. This year the festival features Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Phish, the Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, TV on the Radio, Wilco, Al Green, David Byrne, Snoop Dogg, Merle Haggard, Animal Collective, Lucinda Williams, Femi Kuti, Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria, The Del McCoury Band, Alejandro Escovedo and Rodrigo y Gabriela to name a few. This will be Springsteen and his band’s only North American festival performance this year. This also will be Phish’s only festival performance in 2009, and their presence at Bonnaroo holds a great deal of significance -- besides the fact that each of its members has shown the event great support, performing at the festival in various incarnations over the years, Phish’s own festivals were notably one of the major inspirations for Bonnaroo’s creation and operational strategies. Many of the organizers of those events (large scale, multi-day camping festivals with Phish as the solo performer) were brought on to help birth Bonnaroo in 2002, and continue to play a major role in the festival to this day. Phish will play two shows at the festival – a full two-set performance as well as an additional late-evening set.

As part of this initial Bonnaroo 2009 artist announcement, festival organizers have teamed up with Ghost Robot to create an innovative video that incorporates a new experimental process called stratostencil animation. † The video can be viewed at Bonnaroo.com.

The largest and most revered music and camping event in the country, Bonnaroo has elevated the American rock festival to an unprecedented level. As the only round-the-clock major U.S. music festival, Bonnaroo packs an unparalleled amount of entertainment options into its four days. The event has offered its attendees the amenities and community spirit of a small city, with 24 hours of activities including a comedy theater, cinema festival, jazz club, silent disco, arcade, Internet cafÈs, restaurants, yoga classes and hundreds of high quality craft vendors. Since its inception, Bonnaroo swiftly earned its status as the country’s premier music and arts event. According to the New York Times, “Bonnaroo has revolutionized the modern rock festival.” The event is famous for the incredible energy that emerges from its crowds, who make the Bonnaroo pilgrimage to immerse themselves in its unique camping community and witness four days of historical music moments. Honoring the festival’s unique spirit, Rolling Stone called Bonnaroo “one of the 50 moments to change the history of rock and roll.” The festival was also just voted the Best Festival in the magazine’s Readers’ Poll, and won similar honors at this year’s Billboard Music Awards.

This year, Bonnaroo has created a couple of unique ticketing options for its fans. The festival is now offering a special payment plan in which tickets will be available for five (5) payments of $50.00 plus applicable fees. In addition, fans will have the option to purchase a Bonnaroo Green Ticket that will help to support the development and implementation of sustainable improvements at the festival for years to come. Festival organizers are constantly looking for ways to be aggressive with mitigating the event’s environmental impact and raising awareness about green issues.

As part of Fuse’s three-year deal with Bonnaroo, the network will be the exclusive television partner of the festival. It will continue to be the only place to watch Bonnaroo on national television and will include live on-air coverage as well as OnDemand and online content. On-air, Fuse will bring viewers live hits, backstage interviews, “Best of Bonnaroo” concert specials and a highlight show of this year’s greatest performances. The network will once again have their headquarters set up in its landmark barn in the middle of Centeroo, enabling them to bring the Fuse experience directly to fans onsite. Leading up to the event, Fuse will run four 60-second news packages that will air throughout the day on Tuesday, February 3rd, providing an insider’s look at the 2009 Bonnaroo lineup. Online, at fuse.tv/bonnaroo fans can find essential information on tickets, further line-up additions and interviews from last year’s festival.

In addition, ATT Music will be hosting a live webcast of the event. †After the festival is over, you’ll also be able to relive your experience with exclusive featured content only online at ATT Music.
†
Official festival website is www.bonnaroo.com