Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Ringing In 2009 Willie Nelson Style

2009 is already shaping up to be a fun-filled year, packed with lively and energetic music concerts and good news for rebel-country fans: Willie Nelson will be joining the pack now that he has officially released brand new dates to his 2009 touring calendar.  Some spots that were most recently added to his busy schedule include: Hollywood, Florida on March 12; Choctaw, Mississippi on March 20 and Marksville, Louisiana on March 21.  Be sure to make plans to see him soon as Nelson attracts large crowds these days.

Willie Nelson took his nasaly, gruff voice to Nashville where he delved into the arena of country music and started off writing music for other artists in the industry.  His first full-length album arrived in 1973 with Shotgun Willie.  It did well with critics, but didn’t make a huge breakthrough on the country music scene.  He finally struck a true chord with The Red Headed Stranger, coming to really signify the genre of outlaw country music.  See Willie with your own pair of Willie Nelson tickets available now from Stubhub.com.

High school in Irvine gets their teen queen—it’s Miley!

What teen music fan wouldn’t want to attend a live performance by Miss Hanna Montana herself, Miley Cyrus? If it wasn’t for that pesky school schedule in the way, of course, you’d have a lot more time to see live shows. But sometimes you can have the performer come to you. That’s what happened to Alison Kaprielian, a senior at Beckman High School in Irvine.

She won a contest on MTV through volunteer service that benefited the Pink Ribbon Club, a group that promotes breast cancer awareness. MTV.com hosted a contest that awarded “true fans of Miley” with a very special live performance. This super fan already got to meet Miley and her friend, Mandy Jiroux, and soon her whole school will be meeting them live.

While you’re not as lucky as the students of Beckman High, you can still get concert tickets. Get Miley Cyrus tickets at StubHub.com.

Jail Times for DMX

Rapper DMX (real name Earl Simmons) plead guilty to drug, theft and animal cruelty charges in an Arizona courtroom and faces at least 90 days in jail. Under a deal to settle three criminal cases against him, DMX pleaded to three felony charges and one misdemeanor count in Maricopa County Superior Court. The embattled rapper also pledged to not possess firearms or own any animal. Although Simmons attorney Charles Kozelka could not be reached by Billboard.com for a comment, County Attorney Andrew Thomas issued a statement: “I am pleased that this defendant will be held accountable for both his drug and animal cruelty offenses.”

The sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30 and DMX, 38, remains in custody. It has been a rough year for the rapper-turned-actor, who has a home in Phoenix and has been entangled in legal issues for most of 2008. DMX was arrested on drug and animal cruelty charges in May after sheriff’s deputies raided his home. DMX was also charged with assuming someone’s identity and providing false information when he was staying at the May Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., allegedly to avoid playing the bill.

Want to see DMX take the stage once his legal issues are behind him? Get your DMX tickets at StubHub.com.

Killers interview on the AV Club

In a casual, free-flowing interview on the AV Club, the Killers discussed where they are in their careers at this point in time, what they think of their new record and their ever-evolving musical influences. There are some interesting points that come out of the interview, like the band’s flirtations with soul on their new record—that’s pretty different, considering they’re often thought of as New Wave-revival types. But the saxophone and soul is there if you’re listening to it. The band claims David Bowie is at the root of that soul business.

They also talk about alien abduction, Fire in the Sky, the charms of Las Vegas, and influences ranging from Hunter S. Thompson to On the Road. The band discusses a lot, making this a rich and very rewarding read for hardcore Killers fans. If you haven’t secured concert tickets for one of their upcoming shows, you’d better do so now. Killers tickets can be found at StubHub.com.

Bjork saving Iceland through venture capital

Let’s make this clear: It’s time to retire references to Bjork as the swan-dress chick. C’mon now—she’s been around for decades, she’s achieved a level of popularity that large enough that most people know who she is, and the swan-dress Oscar performance was really a very small (if apparently memorable) part of her career.

Well, it looks like Bjork has a new chapter to write as far as her career goes—a chapter involving venture capital and green technology. Being from Iceland, a very environmentally conscious part of the earth up north, green technology is of great interest. Bjork hopes that by funding a venture capital company, she’ll not only preserve Iceland’s sensitive environment, but also it’s ailing economy, which is reeling after the American collapse that sent shockwaves throughout the world. Hopefully this won’t cut into her touring schedule.

When she does go back on tour, you can be sure to find concert tickets at StubHub.com.

A Strong Return For Boston’s The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

One of Boston’s most well-known ska-punk bands, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones has re-entered the performing scene with “Hometown Throwdown.”  Tickets have been snapped up quickly to the five day affair and once it officially wraps up tonight the mighty band will move to Lupo’s in Providence, R.I. for a New Year’s Eve bash.  Although the Bosstones have now reached middle-age, they have not slowed down their energy and they proved their dedication to music and live performances with their most recent “Hometown Throwdown.”

Some of the songs that were featured included “The Rascal King,” “Don’t Worry Desmond Dekker” and “I Want My City Back.”  Although the Bosstones lay quietly dormant for several years they have come back in a big way.  If you want to see for yourself, be sure to grab hold of your own pair of Mighty Mighty Bosstones tickets as soon as possible.

Zooey Deschanel/Ben Gibbard break our collective heart

Hear that? That sobbing echoing through the blogosphere? That’s the sound of heartbreak, following wherever news of the recent engagement of Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard travels. Yep, She and Him’s quirky indie singer/songwriter and Deathcab’s sensitive indie singer/songwriter. A match made in heaven, to be sure—for the couple in question. There are plenty of music fans who had happy illusions of running off with either performer that were never going to happen. But you can dream, can’t you?

Now, this news that they were even togeteher seems like the kind of thing gossipy little music blogs would catch on to. Pitchfork already has calls in to both Deschanel’s and Gibbard’s publicists, which, it should be noted, have not been returned. Pitchfork—which tends to be more reliable than some other blogs on the net—seems placated by the fact that MTV News and People are reporting this as well. Those are legitimate news sources…right? Right? Well, it should be safe.

While you can never have the heart of Ben Gibbard, you can have concert tickets to see him live. Death Cab for Cutie tickets are available at StubHub.com.

India.Arie to Release Second Installation of ’Testimony’

The second volume of India.Arie’s series of Testimony albums, Love & Politics, will be released Feb. 10 via Universal Republic. The album’s lead single, “Chocolate High,” features Musiq SoulChild and the second single, “Therapy,” includes a contribution from Jamaican roots artist Gramps Morgan. Love & Politics is the follw-up to 2006’s Life & Relationship, which, according to Nielsen SoundScan, moved 689,000 copies in the U.S. Arie, Novel and Dru Castro all contributed to the production of Arie’s upcoming record.

In June Aire gave flight to her very own musi clabel, Soulbird Music, with the release of singer Anthony David’s album Acey Deucy. Arie and David also collaboration on the single “Words,” which is up for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Get India.Arie tickets to see the neo-soul singer live at StubHub.com.

Lily Allen and Britney Spears at odds?

Whether American pop star Spears and British pop star Allen are still on speaking terms or not is debatable. But Allen has certainly earned plenty of ire from EMI, her record company. It went down like this: Apparently Allen was asked by Mark Ronson, a British radio DJ and all-purpose upstart when it comes to unlicensed music—to give him something to play that no one had ever heard before. Allen wasn’t close to her own music at the time, but she did have a copy of Spears’ “Womanizer”—a popular radio single right now—and recorded her own cover of it.

She stipulated that Ronson speak all over her cover so that it couldn’t be leaked to the Internet as an unlicensed song. Naturally, he didn’t do that—and as a result, the song quickly leapt from his radio show to the Internet, where it spread quickly. Now EMI’s lawyers are waiting for the hammer to fall.

The Guardian has details on the story. Really, it’s a shame—Allen gives such intense performances, and those who buy her concert tickets would probably enjoy hearing her cover. But you can hear the original by getting Britney Spears tickets at StubHub.com.

Numbers, numbers, numbers—with Taylor Swift at the top

While news reports are performing a postmortem on the shopping season, few complaints can be heard from the music and film industries. Sure, times are tough, sales are down universally and people are tightening those belts. But there’s been a lot of success to be had as well—just ask Taylor Swift, celebrating a third (non-consecutive) week on top of the Billboard charts. The country pop star stayed on top despite major debuts from Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx that threatened to unseat her, as Billboard reported.

By the end of the week starting on Dec. 21, Taylor’s album, Fearless, sold 330,000 copies, while Cole’s A Different Me followed close behind with 322,000 and Foxx’s Intuition sold 265,000 copies. Those are some pretty big numbers despite people buying less in most industries. Fortunately, Swift’s live performances are still attracting a strong interest in concert tickets.

Taylor Swift tickets are available at StubHub.com.