Sub Pop Features Bands Old and New at Its 20th Birthday Bash

Sub Pop Records has turned 20 years old, and of course they had a concert to celebrate the occasion. Many people just know of Sub Pop as being Nirvana's label, but they've had plenty of other strong acts through the years. An article about Sub Pop's birthday concert makes clear that the label is still signing great acts, some of which I didn't know were even on Sub Pop. (I've discovered a number of good tunes from the label through their podcast... check on iTunes to see what songs they've been featuring lately.)

Of course, Mudhoney is on Sub Pop, and they've been touring with some new songs. And Scottish duo The Vaselines, who could count Kurt Cobain among their admirers, are back together again, and have played a number of shows in the U.S., including gigs in New York and Hoboken's Maxwell's.

I had forgotten that Sam Beam, better known as the performer Iron & Wine, is on Sub Pop; in fact, he's one of their all-time bestselling artists. Also on Sub Pop these days are Helio Sequence and Canadian indie rockers The Constantines and Wolf Parade, as well as Flight of the Conchords, Fleet Foxes, and a bunch of others.

Happy birthday, Sub Pop, and here's to many more.

The CBC Summer Road Trip Mix Tape is Out

If you want some great traveling music, head over to the CBC Radio 3 podcast Web page and download the Summer Of 2008 Roadtrip Mixtape Special (show #163). As in years before, it's a virtually nonstop playlist of great Canadian indie music tunes just right for driving down the endless highway with the windows down. Host Grant Lawrence keeps the talk to a minimum so you can enjoy the songs almost nonstop, nearly one and a half hour's worth.

U.S. audiences may recognize artists like Sloan, Kathleen Edwards, and Matt Mays on the mix tape, but there are also great lesser-known (in the 50 states, anyway) Canadian indie artists such as Ladyhawk, the Wet Secrets, and Malcolm Bauld.

And while you're at the CBC Radio 3 site, download podcast #164 too, which announces the 10 finalists for the Polaris music prize, and features a song from each artist that made the final cut.

Crazy Rhythms: The Feelies Return to Maxwell's

The Feelies were one of the bands that helped cement the reputation of Hoboken's Maxwell's as a rock mecca in the early '80s. Their first album, "Crazy Rhythms," was named #49 in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of the 1980s," and it received acclaim from other critics as well. Someone hearing The Feelies today would remark that they sound a lot like early R.E.M., but R.E.M. has reported said that it was influenced by The Feelies, which makes sense since they were around earlier.

In any case, the band that originally arose from Haledon, New Jersey (that's HALE-dunn) is back and performed two shows at their old home away from home, Maxwell's. These two shows were billed on the band's Web site as a "warm-up" for their spotlight as the opening act for Sonic Youth in the big Fourth of July free concert in lower Manhattan, they were in fine form in the show that I saw, Tuesday night's gig at Maxwell's.

The Feelies made several more albums after "Crazy Rhythms" and then broke up for good in the early 1990s, though various members were reunited in a range of other bands, including Speed the Plough and The Trypes. (You can find more about Feelies history and spin-offs at their MySpace page.)

Last night's show revealed that they still had the chops and intensity that made them so acclaimed back in the day. And playing two 45-minute sets, they clearly have the stamina.

They played plenty of old favorites from their albums, of course, along with a few cover tunes and, surprising to me, a couple of songs that bassist Brenda Sauter referred to as new tunes. Is there a new Feelies album in the works, I wonder?

The Bon Jovi Central Park Free Concert is On - July 12th

The rumors of a free Bon Jovi Central Park concert have been confirmed. The band will perform a free show in the Park on July 12th as part of the festivities surrounding the baseball All-Star Game, which will take place at Yankee Stadium on July 15th.

The possibility of a Bon Jovi Central Park concert arose when the singer inadvertently let a comment slip about the idea in an interview back in April.

In giving a free Central Park concert, Bon Jovi is joining a long tradition of performers who have performed free in New York City's largest park, including Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, and the Dave Matthews Band.

Bon Jovi also has concerts scheduled for Madison Square Garden on July 14th and 15th.

Billy Preston: He Played with Everyone from Ray Charles to Beatles and the Stones

Seeing Billy Preston on last night’s replay of the first Saturday Night Live show reminded me of what an amazing talent he was. Preston, who died a couple of years ago at the age of 59, had a number of hits in the 1970s as a solo artist (including “Nothing from Nothing,” which he performed on SNL) but he is best known as a versatile keyboard player who collaborated with a who’s who of star musicians.

Billy Preston started performing as a child, playing with gospel and soul legends including Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, and Little Richard, among others.

He is the only musician to have played with both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and was often called the “fifth Beatle.” In fact, when the Beatles were nearing their end there was discussion of making Preston an official member of the band. That didn’t happen, but their single "Get Back" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston" – said to be the only time that the band allowed a side player to be so credited. And Preston also was playing with the band their final public performance, the famous rooftop gig they played in London.[

Despite being hospitalized with kidney disease in his later years, Billy Preston continued to record and tour with various musicians. I was lucky enough to see him playing at part of Eric Clapton’s band a couple of years before he died, in a concert at Madison Square Garden. I was surprised to see him playing, since the show was not that long after he had been hospitalized.

It was good to see Billy Preston in his prime on SNL, but it was also sad to think of how many great talents from that show died too young: Billy Preston, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and of course George Carlin.

Rockin' in Weehawken: NJ's Smithereens Play the Waterfront

Jim Babjak, Pat DiNizio, and Derek "Toledo Tornado" Anderson of The Smithereens in Weekhawken

After 28 years, The Smithereens are still rocking, and sounding good, and were in fine form Wednesday night at a concert in their home state of New Jersey. Playing in a park just steps from the Hudson River, and in the shadow of the Lincoln Tunnel, Pat DiNizio and company played a solid hour and a half set that was spirited and very much appreciated by the audience.

The Smithereens got serious airplay on the old progressive rock station WNEW-FM, which bit the dust long ago. DiNizio remarked at one point that while WNEW is long gone, his band is now played on the "classic rock" stations.

The band played many of its hits from its various albums, from "Blood and Roses" to "Only a Memory" and "House We Used to Live In," as well as a number of Beatles covers that the band did on their album "Meet the Smithereens." Being a weeknight concert, the audience thinned out a bit as the clock approached 9 p.m., but the majority of the crowd that stayed was rewarded by a lengthy encore set by the band.

Bruce Springsteen isn't the only Jersey rocker from the '80s that's still out there rocking hard.