Lady Antebellum Promise 'More Meat' on Next Single

"We're the most rock & roll band in the universe right now," proclaimed Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley sarcastically as he, dressed as a human beer barrel complete with beer stein headpiece, performed an acoustic version of the band's chart-topping single "Bartender" at the song's Halloween-themed Number One party Wednesday. At the City Winery in Nashville alongside bandmates Hillary Scott (in a glitter tophat) and Dave Haywood (sporting a shirtless version of Kelley's outfit, with an additional mullet wig and glasses) as well as Scott's young daughter, Eisele, in a pig costume, it certainly wasn't the most rebellious, guitar-smashing moment in history. But the trio has been pushing boundaries of late — if not this very moment.

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"We wanted the first two singles to be complete left turns," a pre-costumed Kelley told Rolling Stone Country in an exclusive chat about "Bartender," which topped the Country Airplay chart, and its wild follow-up single, "Freestyle." "We had songs like those before, like 'Love Don't Live Here,' but we'd kind of gotten away from it, and thought it was time to reel it back and inject more fun."

"In the live show environment," added Scott, "everything is outdoor, festival culture. So fun, uptempo songs are what people are gravitating towards." The trio, who will preform at next week's CMA Awards and have a shot at the Vocal Group of the Year trophy, will announce plans for their world tour soon — and their newfound, freewheeling spirit has transformed the band that came to prominence by belting booty-call ballads into one fit for dancing (it's a quarter after one… and I'll see you at the club!). So in a county environment that favors party anthems, did they feel pressure to turn it up a notch?

"Maybe," Kelley answers, "But what we kept saying when we went in to record was that we didn’t want to follow any trends — but we did want to stay relevant. And how can you we stay relevant on our own terms and also stay true to the band?"

On 747, there are those moments — namely the power-ballad title track and introspective love song "One Great Mystery," which Kelley assures will be the tone of the next single. "I pretty much can guarantee that the next one we put out will have a little bit more meat to it," he says.

The trends they have embraced on this record — pop lines, aggressive beats — are hot enough topics on the country landscape, as artists like Florida Georgia Line and Sam Hunt toy with genre boundaries at the same time Sturgill Simpson erects them back up, and Taylor Swift flees Nashville for New York. But they've been victims of the "are they country enough" conversation for years, since their breakthrough single "Need You Now" took the Grammy Awards and the charts by storm.

"Since the beginning of country," says Kelley, "they were debating on Kenny Rogers being too pop and then Rascal Flatts, too, but now you listen to Rascal Flatts and they sound like traditional country. In order for us as country artists to not be replicating the past and sound like we're just piggy backing, we have to constantly push ourselves. And so the genre, just naturally, will always evolve."

For all its playfulness, "Bartender," co-written with Rodney Clawson, does infuse traditional country instrumentation — a core element of everything Lady Antebellum does, often led by Haywood's vision. "We always like to have a steel guitar or a mandolin or banjo in there," he said. "It's always been our sound."

"It doesn’t mean there isn't always room for your George Straits and Josh Turners," added Kelley before the band was whisked away to change into their costumes for the plaque presentation, "but there will be extremes all around. Genre lines are blurring."

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from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1xFqeXA

via Christopher Sabec Music

Metallica to 'Shake the Rafters' With Weeklong 'Craig Ferguson' Residency

With Craig Ferguson's final broadcast as host of The Late Late Show approaching, Metallica have booked a weeklong residency on the program to play him out in style. The band will sit for an interview with the Scottish comedian on November 17th and perform a song on the show every night that week. The group's appearance on the show coincides with the 10-year anniversary reissue of the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster, which will come out on November 24th, as well as a Record Store Day vinyl pressing of their new song "Lords of Summer," due out Black Friday.

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"What better way to celebrate Craig's awesome tenure at CBS than to come and shake the rafters for a whole week," Lars Ulrich tells Rolling Stone. "Nothing to sell, nothing to promote (except a reissue DVD)...purely hanging at Craig's personal request. Bring it!"

After a decade as host of The Late Late Show, Ferguson announced his decision to step down as host of the program this past April, a few weeks after David Letterman revealed that he would be retiring as host of The Late Show. The Scot's final broadcast will take place on an as yet unspecified date in December. After that, British actor and comedian James Corden will take over the show.

In other Metallica news, the group will be performing at the video-game convention BlizzCon on November 8th. The concert will also be broadcast on DirectTV as part of BlizzCon's pay-per-view coverage. The group will also be performing as part of the Concert for Valor in Washington, D.C. on November 11th, alongside Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Eminem and Dave Grohl; the show will be broadcast on HBO. Additionally, Metallica have booked an appearance at the first U.S. Rock in Rio festival, which will also feature Taylor Swift and No Doubt and take place in May in Las Vegas.

In the meantime, the group is putting out vinyl editions of 27 concerts it played this year by the end of 2014 and spending whatever free time they have writing a new record. In April, Ulrich told Rolling Stone that he estimated the band was in the "fourth inning" of the writing process for the album.

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Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament on the NBA and Breaking Noses With Win Butler

There's always been something of a divide between the worlds of sports and music.

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Musicians are supposed to be too precocious, slight and cardigan-prone to concern themselves with the pig-headed machismo of professional athletics. And athletes are supposed to be too dumb and aggressive to cultivate interests in such fey cultural nodes as, you know, expressions of feeling through song.

But Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament is the bridge between this seemingly inexorable gap. He's a hoops fanatic with considerable skills on the basketball court, two traits that make him a bit of an outlier amongst his rock & roll brethren – though, strangely, not his own band – and the perfect person for Rolling Stone to speak with as a brand-new NBA season begins.

Earlier this month, we caught up with him to discuss the perils of fandom, Leonardo DiCaprio's low-post game and playing pickup hoops with Arcade Fire's Win Butler.

Before the SuperSonics left Seattle in 2008, how huge of a fan were you?

Huge. I had season tickets for 10 years. I lived about two blocks from the KeyArena at that time, so I was all the way in. I probably saw 35 games a year. And when they made those playoff runs in the '90s I was at a lot of the away games. I sorta got into the inner circle of the Sonics a bit. I got to know Shawn [Kemp] pretty well and later got to know Frank Brickowski pretty well. So yeah, short of bleeding green-and-gold, I was in.

You must have been into the Sonics inner circle because there's an amazing poster of you and Shawn Kemp…

[Laughs] Right. There was a poster company called Costacos Brothers and they did all the kind of "themed" player posters at that time. I was friends with John, one of the brothers. And Pearl Jam's height was right when Shawn was sorta coming up in the league. I literally walked across the street to the arena, spent 10 minutes shooting photos one day and hung out with Shawn and they gave the posters away at a game later in the season. I was just stoked to be in the same room as an NBA guy, let alone Shawn. He was a first-team all-NBA guy at the time.

Is he your favorite Sonic of all time?

Yeah, he'd be right up there. My tickets were second row on the floor, underneath the baskets, so I witnessed some crazy athleticism from Shawn during that time.

When they drafted Kevin Durant in 2007 were you excited, or did you already have a sense they were going to move away from Seattle?

The Sonics moving really happened overnight. Like, they were sold and Clay Bennett immediately said "We're gonna keep the team here, blah, blah" and within 4 or 5 months they were gone. That whole thing is a sore topic for anyone who's really in the know.

They kept using the arena [as a reason to move]. David Stern kept saying "the arena is the worst arena in the league." I actually went on a couple of radio shows just to clear it up and say "I've played in all of these arenas and it is clearly not the worst in the league. It's clearly middle-of-the-pack." Places like Auburn Hills and the Target Center were worse than KeyArena was at that time. There's a lot of arenas that are in worse shape today.

I think it was political. I think a lot of it had to do with Oklahoma City sort of saving the New Orleans franchise after Katrina and you know, some back-room payoff. There's a great documentary out there on the whole thing called Sonicsgate. The guys that made the movie have been vigilant about staying on top of the story.

Last year, it looked like the Sacramento Kings were going to move to Seattle, but in the end, the city of Sacramento pulled off a last-minute deal to keep them. Would you have welcomed the Kings with open arms?

I like the small-market teams, so I felt kind of bad for a bit. I went to some of those games when Chris Webber and those guys were there and ARCO is as exciting a crowd as I'd ever witnessed in the NBA. Just on that alone, you'd hate to see that go away. Smaller city crowds aren't jaded, they're giving it all they got. So I was feeling a little bad about it.

But, I think they [Sacramento] got railroaded into a horrible deal. The deal that the city cut to get the arena built will bankrupt it. It'll look good for Kevin [Johnson, mayor of Sacramento and former Phoenix Suns point guard] for now, but I think in 10 years it'll end up looking bad. I read an article where they crunched the numbers on that deal and it's a bad one financially for the city. They just don't have the population, you know? That's the thing that Seattle has: 2 million people. We could easily support a team.

Steve Ballmer was the other big hope for basketball in Seattle. But now that he's bought the Clippers, does it feel like the window for basketball in Seattle is closing?

Maybe, but I know a few people who work for the NBA and they say in the next 4 to 5 years they think it's gonna happen, either through expansion or getting another one of these teams that aren't doing as well.

Chris Hansen [billionaire hedge-fund manager] bought two city blocks downtown and within the next year wants to build an arena there and get a team. And I got 10 years of having a front-row seat for great basketball. The Jordan Era, the first few years of LeBron. I feel like I got three lifetimes of amazing basketball already, so I can't complain.

Since the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, do you still you root for them?

You know, I do. And I take a lot of flak for it down at my local gym where I hoop. I knew they were gonna be good right away. I met Sam Presti before he moved from the Spurs to the Thunder and everybody was saying "Presti, he knows how to do it." He came up under R.C. Buford with the Spurs and he knows how to draft, how to manage the team. I knew they would be good but not this fast.

And they're an exciting team to watch. Russell Westbrook is, you know, arguably the most explosive physical specimen that the NBA has ever had except for maybe early Jordan. He's off the charts.

If Pearl Jam were an NBA franchise, which one would they be?

I don't know. Maybe the Thunder, though we're not really young anymore. In that way maybe we're more like the Spurs. [Laughs] But we're not as conservative as them, or as boring to watch. They get it done though.

Have you met other musicians over the years who play basketball?

There's not as many as you'd think. I played in the first couple Rock N' Jock games that MTV had and there were very few "rock" guys and only a handful of hip-hop guys that played.

I have a picture of the first year I did it and it was like the Boyz II Men guys, 90210 guys, Marky Mark and a super-young Leonardo DiCaprio who looked like he was 12 years old in the picture, though I don't know how old he really was. He got his man body in the last ten years, so he's probably got a little bit of game now.

But the last few years we've done Big Day Out Festival in Australia with Arcade Fire and Win Butler is like, obsessed with basketball. So we got out three or four times and played. That was fun. And I actually said to him "Where were you 15 years ago when I still had 35-year-old legs and not 50-year-old legs?"

Didn't you break someone's nose during one of those games?

It was purely accidental. Win hooked up a game in Auckland, New Zealand and there was a bunch of college players playing. It was game point and there was a loose ball and I got to it first. And this big herkin' New Zealand guy is standing over me, like 6'5" and got 50 pounds on me, and he basically wouldn't let me stand up. I sort of showed him that I was gonna stand up and pushed out my shoulders and elbows and he was just hovering over me. I stood straight up and the corner of my elbow clipped his nose and just snapped it, man.

It was bad. I felt bad because he was a super sweet guy too. We had a really great conversation before we played the game. It was the first time I'd broken someone's nose in 40 years of playing basketball. We actually saw him in the crowd during the show that night and called him out, like, "Hey man, sorry." [Laughs] He had, like, full raccoon eyes and a big bandage on his nose. I was like, "Look how big that guy is! Like, don't feel too bad for him."

If you're gonna get your nose broken in a basketball game, Jeff Ament is the guy to do it. That's a good story for that guy.

My mom sent me an article she saw somewhere about it that just showed a picture of Win and Ed [Vedder]. And that was the only picture that they ran with it. I got ousted. [Laughs]

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from RollingStone.com: Music http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/pearl-jam-jeff-ament-on-the-nba-and-breaking-noses-with-win-butler-20141029

via Christopher Sabec Music

Flashback: The Beastie Boys Meet Joan Rivers

"How'd you three all get together?" Joan Rivers asked the Beastie Boys. "Juilliard?"

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While the comment was snarky, Rivers seemed pleased to have the Beasties as guests on The Late Show, her short-lived late-night talk show on the fledgling Fox network. (This appearance dates from January 1987, about halfway through Rivers' seven-month run, and two months after the rap trio released their chart-topping debut album Licensed to Ill.) She told the audience, "My next guests have previously been referred to as a bunch of loudmouth brats and kids that stomp around the stage like awkward thugs – well, to me, I just like to think of them as my guys."

While introducing the band, however, Rivers flubbed the name of their album, calling it Licensed to Kill. After she put on her glasses and figured out the correct title, she told them, "That's a stupid name for an album." An off-camera Beastie shot back: "Do I detect a note of jealousy in your voice, Joan?" The late Rivers and the group were kindred spirits, unlikely as it might have seemed at the time: four iconic smart-asses from New York City.

The Beastie Boys performed "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" in full knucklehead mode, jumping around, posing, pushing each other down, rolling around, even doing a handstand. Onstage with them was DJ Hurricane and a go-go dancer named Eloise, gyrating in a bra and fishnets. But even though the performance is chaotic and sloppy, it's also exhilarating: prime early Beasties.

Twelve years later, Adam Yauch (aka MCA) reflected on the band's meathead image in this era, which he said was originally intended as parody: "By drinking so much beer and acting like sexist macho jerks we actually became just that," he wrote in the liner notes to The Sounds of Science. "So I guess that the story could have a couple of possible morals. One might be, 'Be careful of what you make fun or you might become it.' But the other one, the one that I like is, 'All of the sexist macho jerks in the world are just pretending cause they're caught in a rut, and maybe, at some point in the future, when the planets line up in a certain way, they'll all just snap out of it.'"

The Beasties also played the album closer "Time to Get Ill" during the show's closing credits – or two and a half minutes of it, anyway. They did the line "I got more rhymes than Phyllis Diller" with extra vigor, perhaps considering her a peer of Rivers. And Ad-Rock replaced the line "I'm the king of all kings" with "I eat the Colonel's wings."

In between, the trio did an interview segment with Rivers, presenting her with a dismembered apple, amiably bantering with her and shaving a few years off their ages when asked. (Adam Horovitz, then 20, claimed to be 19. He turns 48 on Friday, October 31 – happy birthday, Ad-Rock!) Horovitz did his Pee-Wee Herman impression and sat on Rivers' desk, while Yauch sat behind it, knocking over a glass of water. "I'm enjoying you," Rivers told them, "because this is not my house." Watching it now will make you miss both Rivers and Yauch all over again.

According to writer Chuck Eddy, who was in attendance at the taping to write a feature on the Beastie Boys for Creem, the group presented Rivers and her husband Edgar Rosenberg with a gift after the show. It was the book ESO: How You and Your Lover Can Give Each Other Hours of Extended Sexual Orgasm.

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from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1zFTEdm

via Christopher Sabec Music

Michael Stipe: Coming Out Made Me a Better Person

Michael Stipe came out, identifying himself as "queer," two decades ago last month. Now, in an article for The Guardian, the former R.E.M. singer has reflected on the positivity that he has felt since making his announcement as well as the way attitudes have changed over time toward gay, lesbian, queer and transgender people. "These 20 years of publicly speaking my truth have made me a better and easier person to be around," Stipe wrote. "It helped develop the clarity of my voice and establish who I would be as an adult."

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When Stipe came out – saying that he had enjoyed sex with men and women throughout his adult life – R.E.M. had reached its commercial peak, having released the back-to-back blockbusters Out of Time in 1991 and Automatic for the People in 1992. The group was preparing to put out its Monster album and Stipe recalls needing to summon the strength and voice to define for the world who he was. The singer recalled a varying mix of reactions to his announcement.

"In 1994, most people had a largely binary perception of sexuality – the message was complicated for them," Stipe wrote. "I am thrilled to see how much this has changed in those 20 years. The 21st century has provided all of us, recent generations particularly, with a clearer idea of the breadth of fluidity with which sexuality and identity presents itself in each individual. Gender identification, and the panoply of sexuality and identity are now topics that are more easily and more widely discussed, debated and talked about openly. It’s thrilling to see progressive change shift perceptions so quickly."

Now when Stipe thinks about "queerness," he wrote, he has come to recognize it as "a state of mind brought about by an understanding: it is understanding difference, accepting your own truth, desire and identity, and lovely, lovely choice." Stipe closed his essay by reinforcing just how happy he has been to have let the world in on that part of his life.

Recently, Stipe recalled how afraid he was to get an HIV test in the Eighties during his speech at Logo TV's Trailblazers event, where he honored Ugandan civil rights activist John Abadallah Wambere. "In the early Eighties, as a 22-year-old queer man living during the Reagan-Bush administration, I was afraid to get tested for HIV for fear of quarantine, the threat of internment camps and having my basic civil rights stripped away," he said. "I waited five years to get my first anonymous test. I am happy that attitudes have matured and changed, and I feel lucky that I live in a country where acceptance, tolerance and policy toward HIV-AIDS and LGBTQ issues have advanced as far as they have."

In other R.E.M. news, the group recently announced an 11-disc vinyl box-set collection of its singles, titled 7IN – 83–88, which will come out on December 9th. The collection contains reproductions of all of the singles the group put out between 1983 and 1988 on the I.R.S. label with reproductions of the original sleeve art; two U.K.-only titles will get their U.S. seven-inch debut – "Wendell Gee" and "Ages of You."

The release joins a spate of R.E.M. reissues this year, including Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions, two compilations of rarities comprising more than 150 hard-to-find recordings, a forthcoming six-DVD box set REMTV and a documentary, R.E.M. by MTV, which will appear in the REMTV box set and air on MTV's networks later in November.

E.M., 7IN – 83–88 Contents:

"Radio Free Europe" / "There She Goes Again"

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" / "King of the Road"

"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" / "Catapult" (Live)

"Can't Get There From Here" / "Bandwagon"

"Driver 8" / "Crazy"

"Wendell G" / "Crazy" + "Ages of You" / "Burning Down"

"Fall On Me" / "Rotary Ten"

"Superman" / "White Tornado"

"The One I Love" / "Maps and Legends" (Live)

"Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" / "Last Date"

"Finest Worksong" / "Time After Time" (Live)

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from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1oWt23B

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Sara Evans to Release First Christmas Album

Sara Evans may have just recorded the most important album of her 20 year career… at least when it comes to sentimental factors. The country star is set to release her first holiday LP, At Christmas, on November 17th. When recording the album, she tearfully realized what an important legacy it will be for her family.

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"The first song I sang was 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' and I kept getting choked up," Evans tells Rolling Stone Country. "I'm always trying to think of something to give me inspiration or put me in a certain mindset. And I kept thinking, a Christmas album is very special because it's timeless. So then I started thinking about when my kids are older and I'm dead, and they're drunk celebrating Christmas… [laughs] listening to these songs, they're going to be so sad. I'm just kidding, they won't be drunk. But they'll cry! So I want this album to be special."

Other tearjerking tracks on the project include "Silent Night" and "Oh Holy Night," among other standards Evans says have always moved her during the holiday season. The title track, written by Shane Stevens and Toby Lightman, is the album's only original tune. And the singer says she's "most excited" about "The 12 Days of Christmas," thanks to her duet partners.

"My girls sing it with me," she reports of daughters Olivia, 12, and Audrey, 10. "It is precious; it'll make you cry. They have great voices."

Evans will ring in the holidays on the "CMA Country Christmas" TV special, set to air December 1st on ABC. You can also catch her on ABC's primetime lineup tomorrow night (October 29th), as she makes a cameo on Nashville. The appearance came after the singer met with the show's writers to give her perspective on what it's like to be a female artist in today's country music world. Shortly after, she got the call that they'd written her in to an episode.

"Playing yourself, the key is to make sure that you don't sound like you're acting. So that was a challenge," she admits. "I mean, I had all of three lines! But beyond speaking the lines, being a part of the scene and giving facial expressions, I wanted to make sure I was acting like the real me would act."

Evans had a little easier time singing like her real self. In the episode, she duets with Will Chase (who plays country superstar Luke Wheeler) on her current single, "Put My Heart Down."

"Now it's like he's saying and she's saying we should both walk away from this relationship because it's dangerous," Evans says of the song's transformation into a male-female duet. "Will is so professional; he sounds like a country singer. He's incredibly talented… and so different from his character! He's not a country boy; he's completely opposite. But they say 'action,' and he becomes this country singer. It amazes me."

Check out Evans' Nashville cameo Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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via Christopher Sabec Music

Hear Maya Angelou's Moving 'Caged Bird Songs' Album

In her lifetime, Maya Angelou released the 1957 LP Miss Calypso, joined Ashford & Simpson for 1996's Been Found and won three Grammys, all for spoken-word releases. This May, she died at age 86, but now her estate and producers Shawn Rivera and Roccstarr (who contributed to tracks on recent albums by Chris Brown and Jennifer Lopez) have finished Caged Bird Songs, a collection based around vocals that the poet and author had previously recorded.

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"This project is important," she had said before her death. "It's woven into the tapestry of our lives, and we're being serious and giving and kind about it. So obviously, it's going somewhere. And we have to release it to go there."

On most songs, Angelou delivers her lyrics in a tight, hip-hop cadence, and backing tracks bring in elements of funk, boom-bap and (on "Harlem Hopscotch") even surf rock. Tracks like "On Aging" demonstrate what her voice would sound like processed through heavy Auto-Tune – which is exactly what she'd be using if she were to make the 2014 version of Miss Calypso.

Caged Bird Songs will be released November 4th on Smooch Music, but you can listen to it in its entirety below. The actual record can be pre-ordered here.

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from RollingStone.com: Music http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/hear-maya-angelou-caged-bird-songs-album-20141028

via Christopher Sabec Music

Hear Johnny Winter's Bluesy Final Recording 'Death Letter'

A little over a year before his death, blues icon Johnny Winter made what would become his final recording: a cover of Son House's 1965 blues classic "Death Letter." Video footage of the session, which took place on February 4th, 2013, shows the singer and guitarist donning a metal slide for a particularly bendy and grisly acoustic version of the track. The song appears on Winter's final album, Step Back, which came out posthumously in September. When somebody told him it sounded great at the end of the video, Winter laughed and said, "I'm ready to go home."

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"Johnny was one of my earliest influences," Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule singer-guitarist Warren Haynes tells Rolling Stone. "He was so unique and so authentic at the same time. Watching him do this performance of the Son House classic 'Death Letter,' you can hear how natural and comfortable it was for him. He'd been listening to and covering Son House his whole life, which comes across here but somehow sounds equally like Johnny Winter."

Step Back featured recording collaborations Winter had done with the likes of Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Joe Perry, Joe Bonamassa, Brian Setzer and more. His recording of Elmore James' "Can't Hold Out (Talk to Me, Baby)," which featured Ben Harper and appeared on the album, previously appeared online.

Days after Winter's death, his brother Edgar paid his respects, announcing that he was reprogramming his summer tour as a tribute to his sibling. "Johnny has always been, is now and will forever remain my greatest musical hero of all time," Edgar wrote in a statement. "But more than all that, he's my brother – in family, in music, in life and beyond. I will do my best to carry on in honor of his memory and the Winter name."

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Hunter Hayes Reflects on Ronnie Milsap's 'Astonishing' Influence

In a music career that has spanned nearly five decades, the influence of Ronnie Millsap is undeniable. Yet, since the bulk of his biggest radio hits came throughout the Seventies and Eighties, it may be surprising to some to find that Milsap continues to collect and inspire new fans to this day — fans of a generation far removed from AM radio and original 45 RPM singles. Take, for example, 23-year-old Hunter Hayes, who was born in 1991, the same year Millsap achieved his most recent Top Five hit, "Turn That Radio On." Last fall at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, Hayes surprised his sold-out audience with a duet with the legendary entertainer on the 1983 hit, "Stranger in My House." (Watch a fan's footage of the performance below.) Hayes was also one of the performers who paid tribute to Milsap during his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday night. Rolling Stone Country caught up with Hayes during rehearsals for his upcoming Tattoo (Your Name) Tour this past weekend, where the versatile musician reflected on the influence Milsap has had on his life and career.

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"It's nerve-racking to cover anybody's songs, but it's funny how much I enjoy singing Ronnie Milsap's songs," he told us. "I think that's because I spent years of my life literally trying to sound like him. I started with the 40 Number Ones. I had that on repeat for a couple of years. I learned everything in the catalog and then started learning stuff outside of that collection."

Although the Ryman gig was a year ago this month, Hayes refers to it as "the other night," because the memory is still so fresh in his mind. A young artist intent on constantly stretching himself musically, he points to a couple of the singer's classic crossover hits that inspired him, the first of which he also sang during the Hall of Fame ceremony.

"You've got 'There's No Getting Over Me,' this really open, funky production," he says. "Then you've got the other song that I got to play [with him at the Ryman]. 'I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World' is really cool and classic. The range of an artist like Mr. Ronnie is just astonishing and a great sort of lesson for somebody like me who's trying to find my own sound. Take everything you listen to and find a place for it in your music. Let it change, let it evolve. Let it be different from one record to the next. He is a shining example of how to continue to find new things and the way you can present things. It's just amazing to listen to his records."

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See John Cale's Touching Lou Reed Tribute on Anniversary of His Death

John Cale has released a video for a re-recording of his song, "If You Were Still Around," which now pays tribute to many of his friends and collaborators who have passed away. His onetime Velvet Underground bandmate, Lou Reed – who died a year ago today – features prominently in the imagery that surround Cale in orbs, as does Andy Warhol, Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison, Nico and Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick. In a statement, Cale wrote, "Thinking of Lou."

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The former Velvet Underground multi-instrumentalist also shared a parable, seemingly in reference to Reed. "A Moth and a Candle met," he wrote. "They decided to become friends. Everyone enjoyed watching their discourse – especially the risk takers. Then one day a big rain came. The Moth couldn't fly and the Candle puttered out. Everyone laughed in bitter awe and blamed the rain. Most however knew the deeper truth – the Candle remains lit and the Moth will stay close."

Cale originally released the song, which actor and playwright Sam Shepard co-wrote, for his 1982 record Music for a New Society. That recording featured Cale singing only with a church organ and some synthesized rhythms. "If you were still around, I'd hold you," the former Velvet Underground member sings at one point of the newly reenergized spacey electro rocker. "I'd shake you by the knees, blow hot air in both ears."

Last year, the day after Reed passed, Cale released a heartfelt statement about how his friend's death had affected him. "The news I feared the most, pales in comparison to the lump in my throat and the hollow in my stomach," he wrote. "Two kids have a chance meeting and, 47 years later, we fight and love the same way – losing either one is incomprehensible. No replacement value, no digital or virtual fill...broken now, for all time. Unlike so many with similar stories – we have the best of our fury laid out on vinyl, for the world to catch a glimpse. The laughs we shared just a few weeks ago, will forever remind me of all that was good between us."

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Country Music Hall of Fame Inducts Ronnie Milsap, Hank Cochran, Mac Wiseman

An all-star tribute for a trio of musical icons took place at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's CMA Theater Sunday night as Ronnie Milsap, Mac Wiseman and Hank Cochran became the three newest inductees into the Hall of Fame's esteemed ranks.

Related: Mac Wiseman Talks Jamming With Dylan, Hall of Fame Honor

Malcolm "Mac" Wiseman was a polio sufferer as child who, in spite of that affliction, rose to fame in the world of bluegrass and also enjoyed success in country music with hits such as "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" and "Your Best Friend and Me" (penned, coincidentally, by Cochran). A member of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys, Wiseman also played with Bill Monroe. He was a founding member of the Country Music Association in 1958 and served as country recording director for Dot Records from 1955-1959.

In tribute to Wiseman, Jim Lauderdale performed the singer's "Goin' Like Wildfire," while Charlie Daniels sang "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" and Vince Gill offered "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered."

"I started listening to him when I was a kid, and I think he's one of the greatest singers we've ever had," Lauderdale said. "I love the way he has bridged a gap with bluegrass and country music."

"He has been a musical idol of mine since I learned my first three chords on the guitar. Tonight, Mac Wiseman, you the man," Daniels told the invitation-only audience at the ceremony.

Cochran, a prolific songwriter who penned nearly 30 Top 10 hits in his career, was inducted posthumously (he passed away in 2010). Alison Krauss sang two of Cochran's songs in his honor, "Make the World Go Away" and "Don't Touch Me." Gene Watson sang a Cochran song he had recorded, "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me," which was a chart hit for Ray Price and a Number One record for Ronnie Milsap. "He's one of the greatest writers that's ever been," Watson said, before Hall of Fame member Bobby Bare took the stage with Cochran's widow, Suzi.

"This is one of the most exciting nights of my life," said Suzi Cochran. "It's bittersweet, but wonderful. He would have been very proud. I want to thank the CMA for making two of Hank's dreams come true tonight. One is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The other is having Alison Krauss sing one of his songs."

For the tribute to pop-country crossover superstar Ronnie Milsap, the 1977 CMA Entertainer of the Year, whose 40 Number One hits include "Any Day Now," "Smoky Mountain Rain" and "Stranger in My House," R&B singer Sam Moore and Hall of Fame member Vince Gill performed a lighthearted version of "Lost in the Fifties Tonight," Hunter Hayes delivered "There's No Gettin' Over Me," and Martina McBride paid tribute with "(I'd Be a) Legend in My Time."

Inducting the blind singer-pianist into the ranks of Hall of Fame membership, fellow member Brenda Lee said to Milsap, "Thank you for helping the world see a little more clearly what can be achieved when no obstacle is too great to be overcome in life."

In his emotional acceptance speech, Milsap said, "Thanks to my family for being by me all the time, and making all this so much fun. I love you all. Thank you so much for having me in the Country Music Hall of Fame. It's a true honor."

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See Noel Gallagher Join Johnny Marr for Electric Iggy Pop and Smiths Covers

Johnny Marr brought out Noel Gallagher to play a couple of songs during the encore of a recent concert at London's O2 Academy Brixton. When Marr introduced the former Oasis guitarist, he called him "one of the great songwriters for this country" and cheekily said, "he's got a bright future ahead of him." First, Gallagher joined Marr's band for a bouncy rendition of Iggy Pop's 1977 Bowie collaboration "Lust for Life," and then the ensemble mounted an ambient rendition of the Smiths' 1985 alt-rock anthem "How Soon Is Now?"

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Marr recently joined Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in the studio to record guitar on "Ballad of the Mighty I," the closing track on the group's upcoming new record, Chasing Yesterday, which is slated to come out in March 2015. "He's a very enthusiastic artist and I tried to get him to play on 'What a Life,'" Gallagher said, referring to a single on the group's 2011 self-titled debut. "He's a truly great guitarist and he has something that nobody else has. He's amazing; a top man."

Marr recently issued his own second solo album, Playland. The former Smiths guitarist – who put out The Messenger, the first solo album under his own name, in 2013 – told Rolling Stone that he enjoyed the experience of being a bandleader so much that he was writing songs for Playland while on tour for The Messenger. "I didn't want to change up what I was doing," he said. "I just wanted it to be more of it."

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Kenny Chesney Preps the Big Revival Tour 2015

Fresh off the triumphant debut of The Big Revival, his 13th Number One country album debut, Kenny Chesney is returning to the road. The country superstar visited ABC's Good Morning America on Friday to announce the Big Revival Tour, which will hit arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums next year. The trek, which the singer estimates will hit about 55 cities, kicks off in Nashville on March 26th, Chesney's 47th birthday.

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"I can't think of a better way to celebrate," he says. "I've been ready to get out there for a long time. Now that we're announced I'm fired up! This new music brings a new energy to the show, and it's gonna take what we do to a whole other level."

The stats for the Tennessee native's previous tours prove the singer has plenty to live up to with this latest road trip. Since 2002, he has sold over one million tickets — making him the only country act in Billboard's Top 10 Touring Acts of the Past 25 Years.

Although the supporting acts for the Big Revival Tour have yet to be revealed, Chesney teased, "We're going to be mixing up the lineup, too: different markets will have different acts playing with us. A few will be on all the stadium shows, some doing pieces – but I promise everybody who's coming out rocks hard, and understands turning a crowd on."

Chesney's previous tours have included opening acts such as Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, as well as outside-the-box artists Grace Potter and Uncle Kracker.

For the four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, the tour is all about his fanbase, dubbed the No Shoes Nation.

"I've missed that sense of community and that passion for the music," he said. "There's gonna be some stuff from the new record and songs people haven't heard in a while. There's gonna be a whole lot of music and some surprises… I didn’t know if I could take the music as far as we were able with the album. That's the beauty of giving things time to be what they're meant to. We're already working on next year's video. I've seen the stage – and the lights. As the set list comes together, and we start locking down rehearsals, this is gonna be a wild night. I hope the fans are ready."

Cities and dates on the tour will be revealed soon.

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Ryan Bingham Embraces Solitude for 'Fear and Saturday Night' Album

When Ryan Bingham released his first album, Mescalito, at the age of 26, he already sang with the grizzled grit of someone twice his age. He'd spent the previous decade living in his truck, competing in a string of southwestern rodeos to help pay for gas. His parents were alcoholics. His friends were bull-riders. The whole thing sounded like a country song, which was one of the reasons Bingham's biographical songs — which hitched themselves to mid-tempo grooves on Mescalito, then rocketed their way toward roadhouse-worthy rock & roll territory on his second release, Roadhouse Sun — packed such a natural, nuanced punch. He wasn't some suburban kid dressed up in outlaw threads. Dude was the real deal.

RS Live: Oscar Winner Ryan Bingham

Years later, Bingham — now a Grammy and Oscar-winning, thirty-something adult, with four studio albums and the critically adored Crazy Heart soundtrack under his belt — is prepping another release. Fear and Saturday Night hits stores on January 20, 2015. Bingham wrote most of the album's 12 tracks alone in an airstream trailer, parked in the mountains of California without electricity or cell phones. The seclusion gave him creative clarity that resulted in songs inspired by an unstable childhood, and by the deaths of his mother to alcoholism and father to suicide.

Bingham recorded most of the album live, with a brand new band whose lineup includes two members of the blues-rock outfit Rose Hill Drive. Jim Scott, who engineered Tom Petty's Wildflowers and co-produced Wilco's Wilco (The Album), produced the sessions.

On the album's kickoff single, "Broken Heart Tattoos," Bingham imagines himself as a parent, giving advice to an unborn child while an electric guitar and lonely harmonica waltz in the background. The rest of the tracklist is below.

Ryan Bingham, Fear and Saturday Night tracklist:

1. "Nobody Knows My Trouble"

2. "Broken Heart Tattoos"

3. "Top Shelf Drug"

4. "Island in the Sky"

5. "Adventures of You and Me"

6. "Fear and Saturday Night"

7. "My Diamond Is Too Rough"

8. "Radio"

9. "Snow Falls in June"

10. "Darlin"

11. "Hands of Time"

12. "Gun Fightin Man"

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Death Cab For Cutie Draw 'A Line in the Sand' Without Chris Walla

Ben Gibbard knows what you're thinking about the new Death Cab For Cutie album, their last to feature founding member Chris Walla. He's thinking it too.

Death Cab for Cutie Lose Founding Member

"Oh, there is undoubtedly a line in the sand here," he says. "The position we're in – it's a blessing and a curse – is that people feel very strongly about the period of this band in which they got into us. We're fighting against people who say 'Why can't you make a record like the one I heard when I was 20 years old?' And the answer is we can't. We can just move forward, and create a new period."

But this is a little different than debating the relative merits of, say, Transatlanticism or Plans. Walla's decision to leave the band after 17 years not only shocked fans, but represented the end of an era. Death Cab For Cutie is now a three-piece, and their latest album is the first not to be produced by Walla. But, as Gibbard puts it, neither of those things are necessarily bad.

"I make no comparisons as far as cultural significance with this band, but I think about Wilco, and the changes they've gone through over the years, and how there have been moments in that band where people have left and you've thought 'How are they ever going to continue?'" he says. "I look at them and I think 'We've lost a very talented musician, but there are other very talented musicians with new perspectives and new ways of looking at creating music.' It's on us to make this a good period."

If Gibbard sounds callous, that's not his intent. Footage of Death Cab's final show with Walla made it clear it was an emotionally charged moment for the band. But these days, he's filled with a desire to move forward – "There were a lot of emotions on all sides," he says of the way things ended. "But there was no 'Fuck that guy.'" – and thrilled by the prospects of reinvention, beginning with the man chosen to helm the new album, producer Rich Costey.

"Working with Rich exposed our strengths and weaknesses. This is the eighth record we've made as a band, and we're all at-or-nearing 40 years old, so I was fearful we'd think we knew better than the producer on how we should sound, or how a guitar part should go," Gibbard says. "But Rich was the kind of guy who will tell you 'Yeah, that's not working; you guys have to come up with something else.' And that really united us. We were united by the idea of 'Look, we want to make a really good record.'"

"We were all really excited to work with someone who could give us a new view of our band and the music that we make," bassist Nick Harmer adds. "It's the first time I've ever been produced by an outside guy. We had to forge a relationship of trust very quickly; we knew he was going to push us into new territory, we were hoping at the end of it we'd still be recognizable."

They are. Walla plays on the entire album, and despite what some may have feared, his absence behind the console did not allow Gibbard's dance-y leanings to run roughshod ("If I was looking to cash in on the Postal Service, I would have fucking done it in 2005!" he shouts in mock-outrage). Instead, it feels like the next logical step in Death Cab's career. New songs "Beverly Drive" and "Good Help" are earnest forays into pop, just like earlier singles "Soul Meets Body" or "Crooked Teeth," while the foreboding "Black Sun" and the somber, spacious "No Room in Frame" sound like natural evolutions of the expanses they explored on Narrow Stairs or Codes and Keys.

"I feel that this band has worn two different hats over the years; the albums tend to be fairly lush and atmospheric, and the live shows have tended to be rock shows. I'm really proud of how Rich captured us playing together," Gibbard says. "Everything has an attack and a punch to it; the right things are crisp, and the right things are ugly, and he's done such a wonderful job of making high-fidelity sounds and low-fidelity ugly sounds exist together. There are keyboard elements on it, but this is more of a rock record than the last one."

There is still no title or release date for the new album – Gibbard did say it would feature 11 tracks – though, presumably, both will be announced shortly. After all, it's apparent that the new version of Death Cab For Cutie is raring to go. For a band that's always discussing its past, the departure of Walla presents a rather unique opportunity: the chance to create an entirely new history.

"If this has done anything, it's galvanized the relationship between the three of us, and changed the dynamic of the band," Gibbard says. "And I would hope that our reputation is a function of the work we do moving forward. Chris was a huge part of this band for years, but a lot of bands have lost members and evolved in ways that are exciting and new. And we want to be one of them."

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Hear Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants Cover Justin Townes Earle

The folks at Bloodshot Records have been straddling the narrow line between roots music and punk rock for two decades, armed with a roster of artists who blend twang, Telecasters and tube amps into some of the most potent alt-country around. The label turns 20 this year, and to celebrate its anniversary — and to take another look at a catalog that includes landmark albums like Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker, Neko Case's Blacklisted and Justin Townes Earle's Midnight at the Movies — Bloodshot is releasing a compilation of cover songs titled While No One Was Looking: Toasting 20 Years of Bloodshot Records.

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Thirty eight different bands make appearances on the double-album, which is due out November 18th. Together, they tackle a wide selection of Bloodshot tunes, from the expected "hits" — including a gospel-geared version of Ryan Adams' "Oh My Sweet Carolina" by Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers, whose members replace the acoustic guitar with an upright piano and flip the song's gender perspective — to deep cuts by bands like the Meat Purveyors and Gore Gore Girls. Chris Shiflett, lead guitarist for the Foo Fighters, gets a piece of the action, too, turning in a boozy, breezy cover of Justin Townes Earle's "Look the Other Way" with his Americana side project, the Dead Peasants. Listen to the song below.



Meanwhile, Earle — whose 2012 release, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, fulfilled his five-album contract with Bloodshot — is prepping a new record of his own. Absent Fathers will be released on January 13, 2015. Earle recorded the 10-track album during the same sessions that spawned last month's Single Mothers, eventually abandoning his plan to release release the whole project as a double-album once different themes started to emerge.

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Dukes Of Hazzard Co-Stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat Record Christmas Album

It's been more than three decades since John Schneider and Tom Wopat were just'a good ol' boys, never meaning no harm. But the Dukes of Hazzard co-stars are still very much a team. On October 28th, the pair will release Home for Christmas, an 18-track holiday album that mixes seasonal standards like "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Silver Bells" with humorous, left-field tracks like "Johnny, It's Cold Outside," a bromantic reinterpretation of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Wopat, who wrote all the lyrics to "Johnny, It's Cold Outside," shares the microphone with Schneider on the bulk of the tracks, although each actor sings a pair of solo tunes, too.

The Dukes of Hazzard

Schneider and Wopat have long histories as vocalists. Two years before The Dukes of Hazzard aired its pilot episode, Wopat landed a role on Broadway, replacing one of the lead actors in the musical I Love My Wife. He stayed with the production until May 1979 and eventually returned to Broadway in the Nineties, even earning a Tony nomination for his work in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun. Meanwhile, Schneider launched a popular solo career during the Eighties, hitting his stride during The Dukes of Hazzard's final season and scoring four chart-topping country hits before the decade came to a close. He co-produced many of his biggest singles, too.

Home for Christmas is the duo's first full-length record. According to Wopat, the album's lush string arrangements — most of which were written by jazz musician John Oddo — have "that classic Fifties and Sixties sound." Jazz plays a major role throughout the disc, although songs like "On a Quiet Christmas Morn" are steeped in fiddles and country harmonies, sounding like something that might've once blasted from the dashboard stereo of the General Lee.

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See R.E.M. Grow Up in 'R.E.M. by MTV' Documentary Trailer

Alt-rock icons R.E.M. formed in 1980; a year later, MTV made its inaugural broadcast and soon began reporting on the Athens, Georgia-based group's career. Now, a new feature-length documentary, R.E.M. by MTV, compiles decades of footage that the network had stored in its vaults to tell the group's story. It will be included in the upcoming six-DVD box set REMTV, out November 24th, and will premiere simultaneously on MTV and its sister networks VH1 and Palladia, in late November, according to NPR, which premiered the trailer.

R.E.M.'s Stunning TV Debut

"It was a typical Athens story," drummer Bill Berry says in the clip about how the group came together. "Four guys meet at a party and want to play other parties and drink beer and have fun."

The doc contains footage of the band from its college-rock infancy up through its peak "Losing My Religion" period and the group's eventual breakup in 2011. "We worked really hard," singer Michael Stipe says later in the trailer. "We had a lot of luck. It turned out good – in fact, great."

In addition to the doc, the REMTV box set contains both of the band's Unplugged appearances, including outtakes that didn't make the original broadcasts in 1991 and 2001; its 1998 VH1 Storytellers appearance; and footage of performances form as early as 1983. Also included are the group's many MTV award show appearances and several full concerts.

Earlier this year, the group put out Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions on CD and LP. It also put out two massive compilations containing more than 150 rarities from throughout its career.

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Reba McEntire Is First Artist Signed to Nash Icon Music Label

Legendary entertainer Reba McEntire makes history yet again, becoming the first artist to sign with the newly formed NASH Icon Music label. A joint venture between Big Machine Label Group and Cumulus Media, the label's first signing was revealed Tuesday morning on Blair Garner's syndicated radio show.

Watch Reba McEntire 'Pray for Peace'

McEntire has already cut 11 tracks for the new project, working with producers Tony Brown and James Stroud. She told Garner, "I've got three more to record.... I'm always trying to beat out what I have already, so we just keep looking."

Debuting on the charts in 1976, McEntire scored her first Top Ten hit with 1980's "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven," and her first chart-topper, "Can't Even Get the Blues," two years later. Since that time, she has amassed 25 Number One hits and is second only to pop superstar Barbra Streisand as the best-selling female artist in any genre, with sales of more than 80 million records worldwide.

While female artists have had a harder time getting played at country radio in recent years, McEntire, who last topped the charts in 2010 with "Turn On the Radio," is looking to change that.

"It's been a weird time in country music for females, and it's in a trend now that I'm hoping is going to be more female friendly, for personal reasons," she said.

McEntire first signed with Big Machine's Valory Music imprint in 2008. In addition to her recording career, she has also acted in films, on Broadway and as the star of her own WB sitcom for six seasons.

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G-Eazy Lights Up, Premieres Song, Moves Fans During Yahoo Concert

It's evident why Oakland rapper G-Eazy was able to establish millions of YouTube plays years before he secured a major label recording deal. When he played the Yahoo On the Road series' stop at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio on Monday, he connected with his fans via his performance, music and personal interaction.

[Photos: G-Eazy in Concert for Yahoo On the Road]

The 25-year-old Loyola University graduate appealed to the college audience by smoking marijuana on stage, thanking them for their early support, and connecting with select fans during a meet and greet.



Instead of closing the show with his biggest radio hit, the artist, who released music independently for more than six years, instead offered the audience a treat he was sure they would appreciate -- his song "Loaded," a record about partying and getting high. One of the women standing on the side of the stage handed him what appeared to be weed, and he took a couple puffs before exhaling and riling up the crowd. Moments later, mounds of silver, black, and white confetti poured over the audience, literally ending the set on a high note.

G-Eazy wanted to do something special for Columbus, where he has toured for the last five years. The rapper, who was nominated for the Best Music on Campus MtvU Award in 2009 -- when he was still in college -- said the town's early support is integral in his pursuit of playing arenas. When his dream is ultimately fulfilled, his Columbus fans can help him celebrate and acknowledge their longtime support by dedicating his track "Been On" to new followers. The boastful record is about being the first to accomplish particular conquests.

The rapper, who has toured with Lil Wayne, was quite good at personalizing his music for Columbus. For "Lost," he stepped off the platform to take a selfie with a fan's phone and to shake hands. When rapping "I Mean It," he kneeled center stage and adopted a conversational style polarizing enough to have a hypnotic effect on his listeners, similar to the character he portrays in the song's music video.

G-Eazy also graced Columbus with the first live performance of These Things Happen's song "Opportunity Cost," a poignant entry that explains how the demands of success often do not allow adequate time to maintain relationships with loved ones.

Still, the tall, slim entertainer kept the energy level high, frequently hopping across the stage like a kid dancing in front of his television for songs "Monica," "Far Alone" and "I Ain't Missing."



Some fans fortunate enough to participate in a meet and greet before the concert were brought to tears. When taking individual pictures with the more than 30 fans, G-Eazy took a minute to speak to each, and autograph paraphernalia. He even recognized some of his listeners from videos posted online before the show. Fans walked away speechless, crying, or excited about their friendly exchange.

YouTube personalities Settle Down Kids, who interviewed G-Eazy earlier in the day, were just as impressed with the rap star, who they asked about his hometown, style inspirations, video game preferences, and decision last year to sell all of his possessions. G-Eazy offered fun, down-to-earth answers that felt more like a conversation than an interview.



His appeal is rooted in his ability to be more relatable than inaccessible; essentially the antithesis of the average pop star.

DJ Ruckus kicked off the night with a rousing, turntable set that featured hip-hop, EDM, and rock selections.

Follow Billy Johnson Jr. Facebook, Twitter, Google+.

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Gene Simmons to Play a 'God' on New Music Competition Show

Gene Simmons could soon be playing the role of his lifetime: A god. The Kiss singer and bassist is currently shopping around a music competition show called Coliseum, on which competitors form bands and perform for a panel of three judges. They also mix and match group members until finding the right combination until Simmons, the show's "Rock Caesar," gives a thumbs up to the winning combination. "If you've got the goods, I will be the god that will make your dreams come true, because I do have the power," Simmons recently told Mipcom Daily News (via Classic Rock.)

Kiss Forever: The Rolling Stone Cover Story

The Kiss singer-songwriter announced the show at Mipcom, an annual entertainment industry trade show in Cannes, France where people can market new programs. Simmons and producer Chris Philip are hoping that the show will be picked up in several countries that will produce their own unique version of Coliseum, similar to the many international takes on singing competition shows like the Idol franchise. Simmons would be willing to appear in each edition of the show.

Simmons feels that creating a show that caters to non-divas sets it apart from singing-only competitions. "If Gene Simmons, or Mick Jagger or Jimi Hendrix or Bob Dylan or Madonna – you know, the biggest artists who have walked and still walk the face of the earth – got up there and tried to sing an Adele song or something, they would fail," he said.

Philip tells Rolling Stone that he and Simmons are currently eyeing only international markets and that they would consider a U.S. version in the future. Once international broadcasters are interested, the TV exec says they would be able to go into production as early as the end of January. In the U.S., Simmons is currently one of the producers of the AMC series 4th and Loud, which chronicles the first year of the arena football team the L.A. Kiss, which he co-owns.

In other Simmons-related news, Kiss are reissuing their sixth studio album, 1977's Love Gun, later this month as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations. The deluxe edition will contain a remastered version of the original album on one disc, while the second contains a variety of previously unreleased tracks. Among them are many working demos, including ones for "Plaster Caster" and "Much Too Soon," as well as an early version of "I Know Who You Are" that features some lyrics that would later appear in the Gene Simmons track "Living in Sin." The disc also features a "teaching demo" of "Love Gun," in which Paul Stanley explains the song's chord changes.

The bonus disc also features a 1977 radio interview with Simmons, as well as live recordings of "Christine Sixteen," "Love Gun" and "Shock Me" from the group's December 1977 concert in Landover, Maryland. Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott wrote the release's liner notes.

Next month, Kiss will be performing a nine-concert residency at the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, between November 5th and November 23rd.

Love Gun Bonus Disc Track List:

1. "Much Too Soon" (Demo)*

2. "Plaster Caster" (Demo)*

3. "Reputation" (Demo)

4. "Love Gun" (Teaching Demo)*

5. "Love Gun" (Demo)*

6. Gene Simmons Interview (1977)*

7. "Tomorrow and Tonight" (Demo)*

8. "I Know Who You Are" (Demo)*

9. "Love Gun" (Live 1977)*

10. "Christine Sixteen" (Live 1977)*

11. "Shock Me" (Live 1977)*

*Previously unreleased

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Hurray for the Riff Raff Follow Trayvon Martin Tribute With Video to Aid Abused Mother

On the same 2012 day Alynda Lee Segarra, the singer-songwriter behind Hurray for the Riff Raff, celebrated her 25th birthday, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. Inspired by a recent visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Segarra released a video for "Everybody Knows (for Trayvon Martin)" on her next birthday, paying tribute to the slain teenager. The stripped-down folk ballad asks, "Trayvon can you hear me now?/I want to help you but I don't know how," and was re-released by Segarra's label as part of an IndieGogo campaign to raise money for the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which aids families affected by violence, and the Third Wave Fund, which supports youth-led gay and feminist causes.

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Then the August killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, spurred Segarra to get the charity movement going as soon as possible. "The shooting of Michael Brown had everything to do with [it]," she tells Rolling Stone Country. "There has been a what seems to be an unending list of young black men who are getting gunned down for 'looking suspicious.' There's an immense amount of people who are fed up with this. We want things to change. Black lives matter, black youth have bright futures and have great potential. I wanted to show my respect to the families of these victims and to voice how disturbed I am with our current situation."

A portion of the funds raised by the New Orleans-based artist's IndieGogo campaign will go towards the creation of a video for her song "The Body Electric," off her breakout 2014 album Small Town Heroes. That track came from Segarra's feeling of despair with the world's violence, especially towards women, with a refrain of "Tell me what's a man with a rifle in his hand/Gonna do for a world that's so sick and sad?"

"I wanted to let out some of my rage and speak about my desire for the world to change," she says. "I had been reading the news a lot, about young girls in American high schools getting gang-raped by their school mates, about a medical student in New Delhi India who was killed and gang-raped on a public bus. I felt so distraught by the state of our world. Then, I go out to a bar and watch a honky tonk band and they're singing a murder ballad song they wrote, about shooting a woman down cause she did wrong. I couldn't laugh anymore; I was too emotionally connected. I wanted to write a song a woman could sing along to and feel empowered by. It was a feminist statement, but as time goes on I learn more about the song than I knew. It's become about the culture of violence we live in, that accepts the deaths of people of color, queer people and women as commonplace. We are not disposable — we are living our lives as targets and we are tired of that."

With the campaign still going, Segarra teamed up with a number of collaborators to create an animated lyric video (watch above) for the song that tells the story of Marissa Alexander, a Florida woman who was convicted of aggravated assault for firing a warning shot to get her abusive husband to stop attacking her, just 10 days after she gave birth to her third child. He was unhurt in the altercation. Despite using the Stand Your Ground defense, the one that exonerated Zimmerman in Martin's death, a jury took 12 minutes to find her guilty, then sentenced her to 20 years under the state's arcane guidelines. She remains under house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet that costs her $1100 a month and will be re-tried in December, facing the possibility of 60 years in jail.

The IndieGogo campaign, which will also help set up the Body Electric Fund to help aid more causes, ends November 1st. For every $10 pledged, donors will get a copy of "Everybody Knows," while a $2,500 donation will get you a personalized song from Segarra. Meantime, she can't reveal the details of the video just yet, but here's what she promises: "We have a great team on this project. Joshua Shoemaker is directing it and he has a powerful vision. We'll be bringing in a local New Orleans music legend, and trying to make something beautiful that will stay with you. I hope to get my fans excited about these organizations and give back to those who are helping change history!"

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Trace Adkins Plots Theatrical Christmas Tour

Trace Adkins will spread holiday cheer in more than two dozen cities this November and December, as he hits the road for his second annual Christmas Show Tour. (See a full list of cities and dates below.)

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With more than a dozen acting credits to his name — including this year's family comedy, Moms' Night Out — Adkins has made the tour somewhat of a theatrical production, mixing performances of holiday songs with comical, fireside chats on a set made to look like a living room.

"The holidays are my favorite time of year and I'm excited to bring this show back on the road," the Louisiana native writes in a statement. "These shows aren't just a straight up concert, they're bigger and more exciting with the 12 piece ensemble, the storytelling and some of the most beautiful arrangements I've ever heard."

Most carols performed on the tour, including "Away in a Manger" and "What Child Is This," are featured on Adkins' 2013 album, The King's Gift. He has also released a DVD of the Christmas Show, filmed during his tour stop in Clearwater, Florida, last year. It includes guest appearances by Alyth McCormack, Andrea Zonn and Lily Costner.

Adkins' inspiration for his holiday tour came from one of his favorite annual traditions: hosting Disney World's Candlelight Processional. Each December, the singer goes to the Magic Kingdom to narrate Christmas stories, alongside a choir and orchestra.

Trace Adkins' Christmas Show 2014 Tour

November 14 — West Point, New York

November 15 — Worcester, Massachusetts

November 16 — Boston

November 18 — New Brunswick, New Jersey

November 19 — Englewood, New Jersey

November 20 — Wilmington, Delaware

November 21 — Providence, Rhode Island

November 22 — Baltimore, Maryland

November 23 — Verona, New York

November 28 — South Bend, Indiana

November 29 — Wabash, Indiana

November 30 — Dearborn, Michigan

December 4 — Stafford, Texas

December 5 — Greenville, Texas

December 6 — Salina, Kansas

December 7 — Davenport, Iowa

December 10 — Fayetteville, North Carolina

December 11 — Nashville

December 12 — Nashville

December 13 — Cherokee, North

December 16 — Memphis

December 17 — Atlanta

December 18 — Mobile, Alabama

December 19 — Jacksonville, Florida

December 20 — Ft. Pierce, Florida

December 21 — Clearwater, Florida

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Marshall Tucker Band Reach Into Archives for New Live Album

1977 was a good year for the Marshall Tucker Band. Southern rock had become one of the most popular sounds on commercial radio, priming the band — whose members had spent the past half-decade on the road, sharing shows with everyone from Charlie Daniels Band to Bonnie Bramlett — for the sort of mainstream, platinum-certified success enjoyed by groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd. That success officially arrived with 1977's "Heard it in a Love Song," a Top 40 tune that appealed not only to long-hairs and country-rockers, but also soccer moms and pop fans, as well. (Flute fans probably dug it, too.)

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Later that year, the Marshall Tucker Band played an outdoor show in Englishtown, New Jersey. The bill also featured Sea Level, a spin-off of the recently dissolved Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead, whose combined presence brought more than 150,000 fans to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. It was one of the biggest shows of the Marshall Tucker Band's career. Three and a half decades later, the group's 70-minute set is being released as Live from Englishtown, a live album that showcases the Marshall Tucker Band — whose current lineup features Doug Gray as the only original member — with their golden-era membership intact.

"The 1977 Englishtown concert was one of the largest shows in the history of the Marshall Tucker Band," says Gray. "These recordings will give fans and those who attended a chance to relive that special day by hearing the original MTB lineup in its prime."

The album, which includes "Can't You See," "Fire on the Mountain," "Heard it in a Love Song" and other MTB staples, hit stores this week.

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Watch Lindsay Ell Shred Through 'Shut Me Up' in Live Performance

Lindsay Ell's not afraid to find a little space in a song and let her fingers do the talking — take the ample intro she weaves into this acoustic version of "Shut Me Up," premiering exclusively on Rolling Stone Country. It's a moody, bluesy solo that's one half Buddy Guy and one half-Led Zeppelin with nary a trace of vocal until over a minute into the track. Recorded solo with a looping pedal, it showcases the burgeoning singer's ample-skills — something she's gotten accustomed to turning up a notch in order to silence the naysayers who aren’t exactly used to seeing shredding done in a skirt.

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"From day one, when I started playing, I'd walk into venues and get the eye roll," says the virtuosic Ell on the dreaded assumptions that come along with being an axe-wielding female. "But it almost motivates me more to put on that good of a show. To earn that credibility is something I love to watch — to see how quickly I can watch perceptions change."

Certainly it doesn’t take long to see that not only does Ell have a dexterous approach to her instrument, but she also has a uniquely informed sound: raised playing bluegrass, she toured with Guy and moved from her native Canada to Nashville at 21 after studying at Berklee College of Music, where her list of influences from John Mayer to Eric Clapton to Tommy Emmanuel melded with the greats of Music Row. Specifically, fellow import Keith Urban.

"He's always been a huge roll model of mine," she says of Urban, for whom she's opened on a few tour dates. "He's such an incredible player, songwriter and musician, and he's such a great guy, too." The two performed his Miranda Lambert duet "We Were Us" together on stage with Ell singing the Lambert vocals but slinging equally with Urban on guitar.

"I've had people joke, 'you play guitar like a guy,'" she laughs. "I take that as a compliment. But if they can look at me on the same plane as any guitar player and just call me 'good' as they would a guy, then I've definitely done something right."

Hitting the studio between shows, Ell's logged about half of her debut album, expected in 2015. So, in the process of establishing herself as one of country's new guitar heroes, does she ever expect to pull a Jerry Lee Lewis or Pete Townsend and smash hers on stage?

"I don’t know if I could!" she cries. "I look at my guitars as my babies, in a way. It would go against every gene in my body. But, I never say never."

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Damian Lillard Gives 'NBA Live 15' Soundtrack an Assist

The NBA Live 15 soundtrack clocks in at an hour and twenty-five minutes, which is probably twenty-five minutes longer than I spent playing NBA Live 14 before selling it last year.

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When it was released, Live 14 was basically a disaster. In the game's defense, upgrades to graphics and AI behavior reportedly improved the experience months later, but by then, my copy was likely languishing on the shelves of a local GameStop. I'm not saying anything EA Sports doesn't already know – this is their challenge in reviving the once-admired NBA Live brand: The level of advantage that NBA 2K holds on them means they have to start hitting on all cylinders, and that includes the soundtrack.

The NBA Live series was actually an innovator in this regard, sporting licensed tracks as far back as NBA Live 2000 – although the "soundtrack" such as it was featured a couple Rahzel tracks, a George Clinton jam and Naughty by Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray." As basketball titles have gone from presenting the game on the court to immersing the audience in the culture off of it, so too has the importance of the music grown, with Jay Z garnering an "executive producer" credit for curating the music for 2K Sports' NBA 2K13, and the league's last two MVPs, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, taking over duties in subsequent years.

And thus, we have the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard on the cover of NBA Live 15 – the game drops on October 28 – and, at the moment, on the phone, ready to talk about what went into curating the game's soundtrack with producer (and former Cleveland Cavaliers' house DJ) Mick.

"I shared what type of music I like," Lillard says, "and what music I thought would be fitting for a video game, but that's about as far as it went. I wasn't like the final decision-maker or nothing like that. They knew what type of music I liked."

Lillard agrees that selecting the music for a video game is not unlike putting together a good mixtape – something he knows a thing or two about as a fledgling emcee himself and the creator #4BarFriday, which encourages everyone from NBA players like Paul George and Iman Shumpert to any schmo with flow to drop four bars of hotness into one of Instagram's 15-second videos.

"I don't think [the music] has to be related to basketball," Lillard says, "I think change of pace from track-to-track is important. I even notice myself. If I'm playing a video game and the song changes, it brings a different feeling or a different experience. I think change of pace is really important so it's not just hip-hop, hip-hop, hip-hop. You know, switching it up a little bit."

Which is not to say that NBA Live 15 wants for hip-hop. Compared to Pharrell's competing soundtrack for NBA 2K15, which leans heavily on rock like vintage Red Hot Chili Peppers, Depeche Mode and No Doubt, NBA Live 15's track listing skews heavily toward rap.

When it works, the soundtrack feels like a delirious throwback. Chuck Inglish's "Gametime" and Bishop Nehru's "Stressin'" are heavily reminiscent of late '90s Rawkus tracks, while Flatbush Zombies edge closer to the horrorcore heyday of Gravediggaz or the ominous orchestral overtones of Rubberroom.

J. Sands' "Five to Get Live" and Raz Fresco's "Freshest Ever" – which has a Clipse-esque minimalism – are also highlights, but man: at 85 minutes, there's still a lot of filler, mostly in the form of sparkling-yet-empty club bangers and forgettable electro-rock. Cramming in a drop that repeats variations on "NBA Live 15…Mick!" between every song is either endearingly old school or just kind of a handwank. I can't decide which.

But it's not as if this year's Live is going to rise and fall based solely on the soundtrack – like a profile of Mick on EA Sports' site says, you can create custom mixes, allowing the player to pick and choose which tracks to play. It's a nice move (by the time NBA 2K14 dropped I was so sick of Imagine Dragons and Drake that I went directly into the options and turned their tracks off), yet it places the soundtrack in a weird state of limbo: it's pumped-up as integral to the enjoyment of the final product, but you can also completely upend the track selection or cut it out completely.

As important as it is for EA to present a full-featured game with all the bells and whistles, it's the action on the court that will make or break the game. Last year's edition was a frustrating mess in that regard, but it was also important for it to come out, warts and all, so that the company could improve and move forward.

"Live went away for a little while," says Lillard. "I was playing it when they had Tony Parker on the cover." This was NBA Live 09, and even NBA Live 10 holds an 81 rating on Metacritic. It can be easy to forget that as recently as four years ago, Live presented a legitimate alternative to 2K.

"Everybody else was playing something different," Lillard continues, "but I was playing Live for a long time. It's crazy that I'm on the cover of it, so I can't wait to get that game and start playing it."

It would be great for Live to live up to those expectations, to bring back the halcyon days of Michael Jordan in NBA Live 2000, or point the way forward to something new and different. But if this year's Live can at least begin to present an alternative vision of video-game basketball to 2K, it will be a step in the right direction.

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Patti Smith Explains Her Mixed Feelings About Religion, 'Noah' Song

Nearly 40 years ago, Patti Smith announced herself to music fans with the cutting, iconoclastic lyric that led off "Gloria," the first track on her debut album, Horses: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine." Earlier this year, the poet and singer recorded the serene, Biblically inspired lullaby "Mercy Is" for director Darren Aronofsky's biblically huge film Noah.

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"I wrote the first lines of 'Gloria' when I was 20," says the silver-haired singer, who is seated in the conference room of a Times Square office building. "I recorded it some years later for Horses, but really, it was a declaration of self, not so much about Jesus. He is the vehicle, but I was declaring my existence, my right to make my own mistakes, my right to make my own choices. I was defining the type of artist that was entering the domain of rock & roll and the type of artist that I was, one who was going to make her own decisions. I'm not groomed by anyone."

"Mercy Is" shows just how far Smith has been able to take her career. Lushly orchestrated by the Kronos Quartet, the gentle song offers hope and wariness in equal measure as Smith sings of two white doves guiding the listener to peace. The characters played by Russell Crowe (Noah) and Emma Watson (Ila) both sing the song in the film, which ends with Smith's recording. It's the first song Smith has ever written for a movie, and it's an experience that has impacted her immensely. "I have a great life," she says, smiling. "I've had many opportunities and many special things have happened to me, but there's always something new. To be at this time in my life and get the opportunity to write a song for a movie – because I love the movies – it turned out beyond my expectations."

Rolling Stone met with Smith – who recently completed her second book and is currently planning her next album and 40th anniversary Horses celebrations for 2015 – to find out how she arrived at "Mercy Is."

What is your relationship with religion like these days?

I left organized religion at 12 or 13, because I was brought up a Jehovah's Witness. I have a very strong biblical background. I studied the bible quite a bit when I was young and continue to study it, independent of any religion, but I still study it.

My sister is still Jehovah's Witness. We talk all the time. I like to keep abreast of what she's doing and what she believes in. I believe there is good in in all religions. But religion, politics and business, all of these things, have been so corrupted and so infused with power that I really don't have interest in any of it – governments, religion, corporations. But I do have interest in the human condition.

Darren Aronofsky told Rolling Stone earlier this year that you offered to write the song. How did you meet?

I was introduced to him at a small dinner party some years ago, but then we met again at the Venice Film Festival, and he was chairing the jury. I asked him what he was doing. He told me of this project, Noah, that he's been dreaming of since he was a boy. He mentioned he needed a lullaby for it and I just asked him if I could do it, because I love lullabies. I've written a few, and I felt that between my biblical knowledge and my love of lullabies, I could do it.

Is writing a lullaby easy?

It might seem like a modest little song, but it was a complicated task. I had to write a song that Methuselah, Anthony Hopkins' character, sang to Noah's father, and Noah's father sang it to Noah; it was handed down. And then Noah had to sing it to this little girl who might be close to death. And I had to imagine Russell Crowe as Noah and Emma Watson's character having to sing it to her babies, and then I had to sing it at the end. So I had a slew of responsibilities.

It sounds like a tall order.

Well, I asked for it. I went back and looked at the scriptures. I really studied Darren's script. I'm a big follower of Russell Crowe, so I just watched a few of his movies again. I wanted to write something that he could feel in the singing of it. And it had make sense historically, some kind of biblical sense or some kind of sense of its time and its mission. The song is supposed to remember Eden and hope that the Father will come and deliver us back to Eden, the hope of a new world.

These are things I know about because of my own education: The promise of a new world is paramount in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. There was a lot that I could draw from.

Did you workshop it heavily?

Lyric writing does not come easy to me, because you have so much responsibility. When you're writing a song, you have a real responsibility to connect with as many people as possible. And certainly I'm no Smokey Robinson. That's for sure. Just writing, going, trying to say something with simplicity is a laborious process. But I worked very hard. I had Darren's feedback. I made one historical error, so he corrected me.

What was your historical error?

Originally, I'd written a line like, "Two white horses, two white doves to carry you away." And he said, "It's beautiful, Patti, but there weren't any horses in Noah's time." [Laughs] So I just changed it to, "Two white wings, two white doves." But besides that, everything was fine.

And then I asked Lenny Kaye to help me, because Lenny and I have written lullabies or hymns together, and he wrote the second musical change in it. I even sang it to my sister; we still study the Bible together.

You recorded your version with the Kronos Quartet. Have you ever done that before?

No. I've never sang with a string quartet and never recorded with live strings ever. But we did it in a couple of hours. And it's a live take. I do a lot of live recording for my albums, so that wasn't daunting. Darren was there, and he lent his support. In some ways, once I figured out my path, I found it to be liberating. Beautiful. I felt like it was singing a delicate aria or something.

So what went through your mind when you first heard Russell Crowe sing it?

Really, I cried [laughs]. I was so moved. I was moved by this film. I was moved that Darren could bring the urgency of the present concerns or our world, the environmental concerns within the context of this film. And I am a big Russell Crowe fan. He's one of my favorite actors. To see not only someone sing and interpret part of a song I had written but to see someone that I so greatly admire, my words coming out of his mouth, it was a moving experience. I was moved to hear Emma do it. And to sit and listen it at the end, it was exciting.

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