Remember, live music festival in Anniston this weekend

The Noble Street Festival is this weekend in downtown Anniston, and you're gonna get sick of us reminding you of it -- especially the Hot Blast MusicFest.

If you don't remember, here's the lineup. Music starts at 2. Thanks to the festival Web site for the info.

Keitha Williams, 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Solo Acoustic singer/songwriter. A longtime local favorite!

Lonely Pines, 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Blues Rock

McPherson Struts, 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Rock

Caribbean Chrome, 5 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Steel Drum Band

Distant Cousins, 6 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
Bluegrass. Featuring Kelli Johnson & Jim Marsh

Ethan and the Ewox, 7:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. until!
Having opened for such artists as The Dave Mathews Band, Drivin 'n Cryin, Chris Whitley, and others, Ethan and the Ewox recently moved from Jacksonville, Alabama to the big city of Atlanta, where they are developing quite a fan base. The band is fronted by the passionate vocals of Ethan Baker. Add to that the distinctive lead and slide techniques of guitarist Rob Bruce. Bassist Lafrandin Minchew's evocative tenor voice keeps the background vocals dripping with soul. Renaissance-man Gary Chumney fills it out with his incredible drumming and talent for being able to play any instrument he picks up. From blistering rock to fusionistic funk to searing swampy blues to contemplative folk and soul, Ethan and the Ewox occupy a distinctive space in the music world.

This time, Chesney's really the man

Gotta hand it to Kenny Chesney -- you don't hear this type of story every day.

Chesney, the country music star, got his foot stuck in an elevator during his show this weekend in South Carolina. He finished the show, even though reports from the event say Chesney crushed bones in his foot and was in considerable pain. No kidding, right?

It's quite an amazing read. There were about 45,000 people at the show -- held at the University of South Carolina football stadium -- and Chesney played the entire show without medical assistance instead of stopping the show and disappointing the crowd.

Wow. It's all over the Internet, but you can read about it here.

Coachella Webcast this weekend

Watch a select group of bands each day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Previous years have rivaled Bonnaroo and this one is no different.

Read more >>

Hip-hop on tour

I love tooling around on the Internet for what other blogs are writing about the music industry and such, and today I found a fascinating story from the Detroit Free Press on the history of hip-hop tours. Here are the first few lines:

Hip-hop had a problem.

By the early 1990s, the style born in the Bronx had become a bona fide national phenomenon, a cultural force with the hits to match.

But the mammoth success enjoyed by rap music in record stores and on the airwaves wasn’t being equaled in the nation’s concert venues. For the most part, successful live hip-hop was a no-show.

Click here to read the rest, which goes into the current Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige tour and its significance for the hip-hop touring industry.

I bet Snoop and Willie are best friends

Like odd duets?

How about Nelly Furtado and Keith Urban?

Read about it here.

Or -- ready ... -- Snoop Dog and Willie Nelson?

Read about that here.

We can't make this stuff up. And Lord knows we can't make up the idea of Snoop hanging with Willie in Amsterdam. I mean, think of the possibilities: Willie, Snoop, the Red Light District, legalized ... Oh, well, you get the idea.

Get your tickets now

The diligent crew here at Off the Record has noticed that it's been quite a few days of announcements of this summer's concert tours.

So we've tried to make things easier for OTR devotees and put together some sort of compilation. Of course, we failed. This isn't an authoritative list. But it's worth reading, at least.

Singer/songwriter John Mayer has released dates for a summer tour with support from Colbie Caillat and Brett Dennen. No word on whether Jennifer Love Hewitt of "Your Body is a Wonderland" fame will be on the bill or not.

Read about it here.

Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, Motorhead and Testament will unite for the Metal Masters Tour this summer. Now, I have no idea why anyone would want to listen to 60-year-old guys scream -- there's irony here, if you can figure it out -- but apparently these guys still have a following.

Read about it here.

Eighties rockers Night Ranger have announced the first set of dates for an international trek in support of the band's first studio release in a decade, Hole in the Sun, and its 25th anniversary. Today, Night Ranger. Tomorrow, A Flock of Seagulls?

Read about it here.

More later, if we can find time.

Leave well enough alone

They were the cautionary tale, the beautiful losers whose songs of youthful pathos and wasted potential gave birth to the "alternative nation."

The Replacements. Possibly the greatest band that nobody's heard of ... or at least the band that nobody's heard enough of. Fueled by alcohol and hopelessness, these Minnesota rockers knew no middle ground, living by the old Neil Young mantra, "It's better to burn out than to fade away."

And they surely burned out. But not before leaving the world with some of the most haunting hard rock ballads ever written. Their first, at best, effort "Let it Be," along with a short catalogue of earlier albums is set for "deluxe edition" remastering by Rhino Records. And while this is a record that absolutely everyone should own (along with several major label releases that are set for the same treatment later this year) "Let It Be" is the pinnacle.

But with such attention come the rumours of a reunion. And that would be a horrible mistake. With only two of the four members still in music - song writer Paul Westerberg and wunderkind bassist Tommy Stinson - The Replacements have long been given offers to reunite.

This was a band beloved for being a drunken mess - either brilliant or wasted - it's something that cannot be recaptured. It would taint a legacy that's fine just the way it is. So go and buy the record and do like so many before have done ... Imagine how great these guys could've been.

Read the whole story here: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003791810