Blog: Hidden Track

Promoter A.C. Entertainment had staged Moogfest in Asheville the past few years, but this year have ended their relationship with the brand. That hasn't stopped A.C. Entertainment from throwing a festival in Asheville, as they have just announced the lineup for  Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit , a three-day festival set for Oct. 25-27 at the U.S. Cellular Center, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Influential indie-rock act Neutral Milk Hotel, a band we just found out were reuniting yesterday, will play the fest. Also headlining will be Trent [...]

Well today was the day that indie-rock fans had been hoping for ever since the reclusive Jeff Mangum returned from performing live and touring back in 2011, as it was announced that Neutral Milk Hotel will be reuniting for a series of shows later this year. The influential Athens, Georgia-based band , who only released two full-length studio albums, including the much revered  In the Aeroplane over the Sea , have been on "hiatus" since 1998. The group, which will feature Mangum, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster and Jeremy Barnes, currently have five scheduled shows [...]

As they've done in previous years, HT faves Umphrey's McGee interspersed parodies of a famous movie among four sets of music at their annual UMBowl concert on Friday night. This year the band offered their version of Forrest Gump dubbed "Forrest gUMph" starring keyboardist Joel Cummins. This afternoon, the band has posted the first vignette they filmed which aired just before the band took the stage on Friday night at Chicago's Park West for "Q13... Head over to JamBase to [...]

In the decade-plus since the release of their self-titled debut in 2001,  The National have become the model of what it means to be a successful indie-rock band. The Brooklyn-based act have slowly grown their audience through of a series of critically acclaimed albums full of their brand of dark brooding rock, anchored by lead singer Matt Berninger's unmistakable baritone voice. On May 21, the band will release their sixth full-length effort Trouble Will Find Me . The self-produced 13-track effort was mixed by longtime collaborator Peter Katis and features guest appearances [...]

American Babies, ALO & Ryan Montbleau Band @ Highline Balllroom - April 24 Words and Photos : Andrew Blackstein The Ryan Montbleau Band , ALO and American Babies entered the Highline Ballroom on April 24th with an apparent excitement to be playing before a New York City audience. This Wednesday night gig saw the American Babies open the bill. Led by Tommy Hamilton’s insightful songwriting approach, the Babies showcased a vibrant mesh of thick drum driven improvisation that displayed David Butler's versatility. The 55-minute opening slot allowed guitarists [...]

While Broadway musical Hands On A Hardbody didn't last long on the Great White Way, the show has been holding its own in award season. Following a number of nominations for the Outer Circle Awards , Hands On A Hardbody has garned nine nods for the Drama Desk Awards. More specifically, Trey Anastasio - who penned the music for Hands On A Hardbody with Amanda Green - is up for the Outstanding Music Award as well as the Outstanding Orchestrations Award. Trey shares the nomination with Green for the former and with longtime collaborator Don Hart on [...]

Primus front man Les Claypool brought his Duo De Twang acoustic duo to New York City last night for a gig at the Gramercy Theatre. Claypool welcomed his friend and reality TV show co-star Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo out for a cover of Battle of New Orleans. [Photo via Larry Ferrari of Ween Forum] Deaner returned later to provide backing vocals during a raucous version of Pipeline and finished the night by adding some solos to the Duo's take on Cocaine Blues. Lo-res videos of Battle [...]

HT fave Beck had already been announced as one of the headliners for this year's Newport Folk Festival , but that won't be the only gig he plays in the Northeast this summer. Beck has just revealed three additional dates that will take place in Portland, Maine; Boston and Brooklyn. The singer-songwriter's brief Northeast tour starts with his acoustic performance at Newport on July 28th. He'll also play a special acoustic set at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine on July 30th. Then, on August [...]

It’s time to celebrate spring by turning our attention to the music of the good old Grateful Dead , specifically the 1981 spring tour. Early '80s shows can be hit and hit, but when the band was on, it was really on, such as this complete first set from May 9th at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. It opens with a blistering Half Step > Franklin’s Tower > Stranger , and closes in similar form with a fantastic Looks Like Rain > China Cat [...]

With each new Iron & Wine record  Sam Beam continues to build and develop a sound that had its beginnings as a humble intimate bedroom project, and has since blossomed into a full-on folk-rock ensemble. Earlier this month the former film-studies professor released his fifth studio album,  Ghost on Ghost  - his first on Nonesuch Records. The 12-track affair picks up stylistically where Kiss Each Other Clean left off, with Beam not only re-teaming with his longtime producer Brian Deck, but also working with many of same musicians. Back are the jazz-infused [...]

Here's news of a book we can't wait to read - the New York Times reports that surviving Beastie Boys Adam (Ad-Rock) Horovitz and Michael (Mike D) Diamond are putting together a memoir about the group's history. Now, this won't be an ordinary memoir, as the book, which is due in 2015, will be "loosely structured as an oral history" but will also contain bits that aim to challenge the reader and contributions from other writers according to the report. Mike D and Ad-Rock [...]

Phoenix, who continue to make news from the desert of California to the balcony of Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, will visit David Letterman on Tuesday. The band released their latest album Bankrupt! on April 22 and recently played Coachella. Upcoming tour stops include New Orleans Jazz Fest (May 4), the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem (May 13) and a series of European and US festival dates. Before Phoenix's performance on Letterman airs on Tuesday, you watch the band perform as part of the Live On Letterman [...]

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is well underway at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City on this first weekend of the two-weekend event. Yesterday saw performances from the likes of national acts such as Billy Joel, Andrew Bird, Jill Scott and Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper as well as New Orleans legends Allen Toussaint, Michael White, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Jason Marsalis. [All Photos by Dino Perrucci ] Photographer Dino Perrucci was on hand and [...]

Considering how many acts have played the New Orleans Jazz Fest numerous times, it's always been disappointing that Phish hasn't been asked back after their lone appearance at the Fairgrounds in 1996. Today, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell gave some insight into the reason as part of an interview with OffBeat Magazine . [Photo by Parker Harrington] McConnell, who kicks off a flurry of New Orleans appearances tonight at Republic with The Meter Men, explained the issue and espoused his desire to return to [...]

As we reported earlier, Furthur guitarist Bob Weir was unable to finish last night's Capitol Theatre residency finale after he fell on stage during Unbroken Chain and had to be helped to a chair to conclude the tune. He left the stage with his band mates after Unbroken Chain and the rest of Furthur came back minutes later to finish the second set. None of Bobby's Furthur band mates stopped playing while this was all going down. The group's other guitarist, John Kadlecik, weighed [...]

For this week's Full Show Friday we present Between The Teeth, a concert film featuring former Talking Heads front man David Byrne's October 31st, 1992 performance at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. The film is long out-of-print and has never been issued on DVD. Byrne and his band work through solo gems as well as a batch of Talking Heads classics including (Nothing But) Flowers, Life During Wartime and Road To Nowhere. David was in the middle of his Uh [...]

There's only three episodes left in the 38th season of NBC's long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. This morning, SNL has revealed the final three musical guests and hosts. On May 4th comedian Zach Galifianakis will host, while Iceland's Of Monsters and Men will make their SNL debut as that week's musical guest. Then, on May 11, HT faves Vampire Weekend will return to SNL as will longtime cast member Kristen Wiig. Finally, Ben Affleck will join the five-timers club as the host of the May 18th episode, [...]

As previously reported , jam favorites Umphrey's McGee and STS9 will share the bill at a set of dates this summer. Today, the actual dates and locations of these co-bills have been revealed. The band's summer jaunt kicks off on August 15th at the Louisville Palace and runs through a September 1st date at Wolf Trap. Here's the full list of dates and venues... 8/15 @ Louisville Palace - Louisville, KY 8/16 @ Lawn at White River - Indianapolis, IN [...]

Long before becoming a member of Robert Plant's Band Of Joy and eventually tying the knot with the former Led Zeppelin front man, Patty Griffin released a string of critical acclaimed albums that showcased her brand of gospel-tinged Americana. The talented singer-songwriter , who has been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke and the Dixie Chicks, will release her latest studio album,  American Kid , via New West Records on May 7. The album is her first since 20102s Grammy-winning Downtown Church . [...]

We're sad to report that country music legend George Jones passed away this morning at the age of 81, according to his PR firm. Jones had been hospitalized last week with fever and irregular blood pressure at which points rumors were going around about his death. Jones had a distinctive voice that helped score him 12 number one country hits including She Still Thinks I Care, The Door and Still Doin' Time. From 1969 to 1975 we was married to fellow country legend Tammy Wynette. The duo paired [...]