Reuters – Craig Finn of the Hold Steady says that one way he knows his Brooklyn-based band has reached a certain level of success is that when it plays smaller markets — as it did during an early-April trek that included stops in Rochester and Syracuse, New York, and Morgantown, West Virginia — people turn up.
Reuters – Indie bands and high-end food usually don’t go together — most of the independent road warriors are stuck chowing on fast food to save money, not tucking into meals at three-star restaurants or whipping up gourmet fare.
Reuters – At 23 years old, singer-songwriter Gin Wigmore has won an international songwriting contest, worked with a Grammy Award-nominated producer and snagged a partnership with shoe designer Steve Madden.
Reuters – Willie Nelson’s “Country Music” album just arrived, but he’s planning more country music in the very near future.
Reuters – The loud, colorful traders who jostle for deals in Chicago’s famed open-outcry pits now face an even greater threat than the advent of electronic dealing systems — the algorithmic trade, says the director of a new documentary charting the demise of floor trading.
Reuters – Bianca Cassidy, one half of eccentric freak-folk act CocoRosie, describes the group’s new album, “Grey Oceans,” as a “metamorphosis.”
Reuters – Atlanta rapper/singer B.o.B and Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy share a knack for bridging the gap between hip-hop and rock. But their current hit singles reveal another common thread between them: Bruno Mars.
AP – Los Angeles authorities say the attorney-husband of actress Catherine Bach has been found dead in an apparent suicide. Coroner’s office operations chief Craig Harvey says entertainment attorney Peter Lopez died Friday at his home in the Encino Hills. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter says a neighbor reporting hearing a gunshot and someone at the home found Lopez’s body.
AP – A sequel to “The Dark Knight” will swoop into theaters in 2012.
AP – Bret Michaels’ is expected to make a full recovery, according to his doctor.
Reuters – Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys have been working together for so long they might as well be brothers. And just like siblings, once in a while they need time apart.
Reuters – Despite a combined sales total that tops 25 million albums and fame that can turn off-the-cuff comments into political firestorms, Dixie Chicks Emily Robison and Martie Maguire aren’t relying on their past achievements to drive sales of their new project, Court Yard Hounds.
AP – The suit O.J. Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted of murder has been delivered to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where it will be part of a display focusing on the trial that was viewed by millions.
AP – Actor Charles Grodin has sent a letter to the federal judge who will sentence a former New York Senate leader on two corruption charges, pointing out the politician’s role in getting clemency in the mid-1990s for four female inmates.
AP – A sequel to “The Dark Knight” will swoop into theaters in 2012.
AFP – President Barack Obama hosted activist and U2 frontman Bono at the White House’s Oval Office Friday to discuss US development policy ahead of key international meetings later this year.
The multi-platinum selling country singer will appear in TV, print and in-store advertising, hawking a yet-to-be-revealed product line.
Reuters – “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane has compared a tough new immigration law in Arizona to those of Nazi Germany.
AP – Soul legend Aretha Franklin has canceled her appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, but organizers and fans got lucky with a replacement.
Reuters – Comedian Conan O’Brien says he has no regrets on any of his decisions in January when NBC pulled the plug on his short-lived stint as host of “The Tonight Show” and installed Jay Leno in his place.
Reuters – The third single off Ke$ha’s debut album, “Animal” — also known as every bad girl’s sleepover soundtrack — “Your Love Is My Drug” is unforgiving in its mission to equate lustful romance with substance abuse. “I’m looking down every alley/I’m making those desperate calls,” the “Blah Blah Blah” singer narrates over a deeply layered electronic backdrop that knocks even harder than that of her first single, the No. 1 “TiK ToK.” “The rush is worth the price I pay/I get so high when you’re with me/But crash and crave you when you leave,” Ke$ha belts on the bridge. “Is my love your drug?” she asks later — a silly question in theory, but when delivered with spunky vocal conviction and a healthy dose of humor, it’s hard not to answer “Yes.”
Reuters – The loud, colorful traders who jostle for deals in Chicago’s famed open-outcry pits now face an even greater threat than the advent of electronic dealing systems — the algorithmic trade, says the director of a new documentary charting the demise of floor trading.
AP – Hey, didja hear the news? Beyonce and Jay-Z are moving to Schuylkill County, Pa.!
Reuters – Lala, the online music service, will be shut down on May 31, just five months after Apple Inc bought the start-up fueling speculation the iPod maker plans to launch a new Web-based version of iTunes.
Reuters – A group of film industry luminaries, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, on Friday called on the Iranian government to release jailed director Jafar Panahi.