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The Lizards Announce Simultaneous CD and DVD Releases

PR reports: Neo-Clasic Rock aficionados The Lizards have released a new DVD and CD simultaneously, much to the elation of their devoted fanbase worldwide. Featuring drummer Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow/Black Sabbath/BOC) and vocalist/keyboardist Mike DiMeo (Riot/Masterplan), along with bassist Randy Pratt (who also plays harp with Cactus) and guitarist Patrick Klein, The Lizards have released 4 critically acclaimed albums and two live DVDs in the past 4 years. The band's 2006 release 'Against All Odds' has garnered rave reviews from the music press worldwide, catapulting The Lizards into legendary status!

The Lizards new live DVD entitled '4.2.11' (an inside nod to 'Spinal Tap'), features the band in top performance at various locations and is peppered throughout with new interviews. "The gig at B.B. King's was us opening for Cactus, the band I play harp in," explains band leader and bassist Randy Pratt. "The Farmingdale, NY gig, we were opening for Zebra. The German gig, we were on tour with UFO, and Sweden Rock was Sweden Rock. We were well seasoned and fired-up at these gigs. There are songs from all our CDs on the DVD, including some rarely played live." The performances featured on the new DVD were filmed with multiple cameras for maximum visual excitement.

In conjunction with the release of The Lizards live DVD comes a new studio CD comprised of classic rock covers called 'Archeology', in which the band rocks new life into each legendary song. "For The Lizards this album is a love letter to our youth," says Pratt. "Heavy as hell, with a sleazoning of blues, these are great songs by great bands" Songs include "Fire and Water" (Free), "Head First" (The Babys), 'I'm Mad" (John Lee Hooker), "Juke It" (Boomerang), "Thunder Box" (Humble Pie), "Tramp" (Stray Dog), "The Wizard" (Uriah Heep) and "One More Heartache" (Detective). - more on this story

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Pro-Pain Ink with Regain

PR reports: Pro-Pain has signed a deal with Regain Records for the release of its 11th album, "No End in Sight," in North America.

"We feel that Swedish-based Regain Records is a solid and up and coming label here in the US," said Gary Meskil. "They have a professional staff and the resources that are necessary to promote and further develop artists such as Pro-Pain. We look forward to a sound and successful partnership with Regain!"

"'No End in Sight' is a great record track after track," said Dennis Clapp, Managing Director, North America. "This was not a hard decision to make. Pro-Pain are also a very hard working band with a die-hard following and Regain is very happy to be working with them." - more on this story

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Porter Batiste Stoltz Live Release

PR reports: George Porter Jr., Russell Batiste Jr., and Brian Stoltz are part of the rich history that is New Orleans' musical ancestry. Today, Porter Batiste Stoltz announce the hard hitting trio's first-ever live release MOODOO, featuring special guest keyboardist Page McConnell (Phish) sitting in on select songs.

The recording offers highlights from an epic November 2, 2007 gig at Burlington, Vermont's Club Metronome, where McConnell joined PBS on stage for part of their performance. Documentation of the evening has been highly sought after by fan communities, yet there have been no known recordings of the show - until now.
MOODOO, which will be available at retail stores and online beginning September 30, documents an evening ripe with musical mojo. What else could happen when New Orleans' funk royalty blends utterly with one of Vermont's finest? Page McConnell and Russell Batiste have a musical history - playing together in Vida Blue, a band that Page formed in 2001. Most recently, Page also performed with PBS at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on the Acura Stage (main).

In conjunction with the release of MOODOO , Porter Batiste Stoltz featuring Page McConnell will perform select shows this fall.
- more on this story

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VMA Video of the Year and Rock Video Noms

antiMusic reports: You may have read a little about this yesterday with Idolator's mini-rant, but we have since been sent the "official announcement" with the full list of nominees for this year's VMAs for the Best Rock Video (the usual suspects including MTV's current spokesmodels Fall Out Boy) and the Video of the Year (why CDs sales are way down) - note we did reorder the announcement so it would make better sense and removed some redundancies. So find out who hopes to join past winners like Hootie and the Blowfish, Spice Girls, Jesus Jones, Ricky Martin, Michael Penn, Paula Abdul, Suzanne Vega, a-ha, Coolio, Natalie Imbruglia, Limp Bizkit and Sisqo:

Viewer voting for the 2008 MTV VMAs nominees has ended with a bang! For the fourth consecutive week MTV viewers have helped determine nominees for the "2008 MTV Video Music Awards" and this Friday on FNMTV Premieres artists up for "Best Rock Video" and" Video of the Year" were revealed.

The "2008 MTV Video Music Awards" nominees for "Video of the Year" includes multiple nominees Britney Spears � "Piece of Me, Jonas Brothers - "Burnin Up," Chris Brown � "Forever," and Pussycat Dolls � "When I Grow Up." Rounding out the "Video of the Year" noms is British duo The Ting Tings with "Shut Up And Let Me Go." Artists vying for this year's "Best Rock Video" are Paramore, Slipknot, Linkin' Park, Foo Fighters and Fall Out Boy. - more on this story

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Jody Raffoul Sets National Debut

PR reports: There are not many musicians that can say their music appeals equally to fans of Kid Rock, Nickelback, Collective Soul, Joe Cocker, Blues Traveler, Richard Marx, and the Allman Brothers.

Jody Raffoul is not your average artist. Not only has he shared the stage with all of these aforementioned acts, JODY was also the National winner of Bon Jovi's 2006 "Have a Nice Gig" contest, in which he was hand-picked and announced personally by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

Jody went on to open a sold out show at Giant's Stadium in Bon Jovi's home state of New Jersey. Big Sky � which is Jody Raffoul's first national U.S. album release, via Fontana/Universal on September 16 - is poised to be his big breakthrough. - more on this story

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Matt Keating Books Impressive Backing Band for Upcoming Tour

PR reports: On his upcoming September tour, Matt Keating will be accompanied by a band comprised of some pretty fantastic musicians.

For September 3 - 15, he'll have guitarist Chris Masterson (Son Volt), bassist Jason Mercer (Ron Sexsmith, Ani DiFranco), and drummer Mark Brotter (Hem.)

Then for September 19 - 28, he'll be touring with bassist Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams) and drummer Greg Wieczorek (Joseph Arthur.) - dates

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Gabe Dixon Band Tour

conqueroo reports: To kick off the release of their eponymous Fantasy Records debut, the Gabe Dixon Band will tour clubs nationwide in September and October, including shows at New York's Bowery Ballroom, Philadelphia's Theatre of Living Arts, Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre, and San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. The band will share the stage with Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers September 10 �14, and with VH1 "You Oughta Know" buzz artist Justin Nozuka September 18�October 21.

The band will make their network television debut Labor Day week on "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson." Even before the release of the album, the band is being lauded by a choir of fellow musicians: chart-topper Sara Bareilles says "Gabe's voice is flawless, and it delivers some of the most well-crafted, heart-felt, kick ass songs I've heard in a long time. He and the band are truly gifted, and we're lucky they decided to share those gifts with the world." Adds international sensation Jamie Cullum, "Seeing and hearing Gabe Dixon inspires me and upsets me. It inspires me because he plays superbly written songs, beautifully with a superb band. It upsets me because I fret that I may never be this good!" And Grammy Award-winning songwriter Dan Wilson comments, "I can't decide whether Gabe Dixon's secret weapon is his brilliance on the piano or his heart-melting voice. I guess I'll call it a tie. We fans have already witnessed this trio's blazing live performances � their self-titled album is the recorded proof. I'm guessing that Gabe won't be a secret for long after people hear these songs." - more on this story

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Homeless Blues from Guitar Red

PR reports: On July 29, Decatur, Georgia based blues guitarist and singer Guitar Red fulfilled an unexpected lifelong dream with the release of his debut album that truly lives up to its moniker Lightnin' In A Bottle.

As the first release by recently launched Atlanta indie label Backspace Records, the day could have easily called for a dual celebration. But there was no formal fanfare, no scheduled record release party at a big club, no streamers and balloons or packaged performance with a backing band.

Instead, the 44 year-old street musician�real name, Billy Christian Walls�spent the day doing what he always does around the square of Decatur, strumming his guitar and singing songs of women, drinking and hard times in the raw, unvarnished tradition of real blues. Not those slick modern pop-rock blues of Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and B.B. King�no offense meant to those legends at all. But those raw, Robert Johnson blues that can only come from knowing hunger, poverty, heartache, loss, drug and alcohol addiction, not to mention homelessness. - more on this story

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Benjy Davis Project Inks Deal

Rock Ridge reports: Louisiana-based band the Benjy Davis Project has just signed with Rock Ridge Music and plans to release their album "Dust" nationally (with distribution via ADA) on November 4, 2008. The album will be different from the version by the same name that the band released last year: all of the songs were remixed and three new songs were added.

Says Rock Ridge Music A&R Consultant Bobby Capps, who brought the band to Rock Ridge Music: "The Benjy Davis Project is one of the coolest acts I've come across in years. The band is tight live, and they deliver a knockout punch with singer/songwriter Benjy Davis. I'm very happy to have had a hand in getting them into the Rock Ridge family." Concurs Rock Ridge Music CEO Tom Derr about the band's songs: "In the end, it all leads to great songs, and there you have the Benjy Davis Project."

Says the band's manager, Jim Bateman, of Real Records: "This is a dream deal with an artist driven approach to the music business. At Real Records, we have used a similar concept in developing artists, with an emphasis on live performances. Tom Derr of Rock Ridge has a proven track record developing artists for the major labels. He has been instrumental in the success of the Dave Matthews Band and Three Doors Down. We have always felt that similar success lies ahead for the Benjy Davis Project. We look forward to working with Tom Derr and Rock Ridge Music." - more on this story

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The Heart is a Drum Machine

PR reports: "The Heart is a Drum Machine," the music documentary from the producers of 2006's "Moog" feature, has wrapped production and added to an already impressive cast of musicians, music historians, critics and scientists including MTV's Kurt Loder, Tool's Maynard James Keenan, former New York Times music critic Neil Strauss, KCRW's Nic Harcourt and actor/musicians Elijah Wood, Jason Schwartzman and Juliette Lewis.

The film, directed by Christopher Pomerenke and produced by Ryan Page and Hans Fjellestad, explores music's role in shaping human history, the profound connection people have had to music throughout human history, how it has shaped our experiences and its involvement in our daily lives.

New additions to the cast include George Clinton, Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, the aforementioned Kurt Loder of MTV fame, Carl Sagan's widow Ann Druyan, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (Grey's Anatomy, Mad Men) and Metalocalypse's Brendon Small amongst others (a complete list is below). Already confirmed participants include filmmaker Penelope Spheeris, Tool's enigmatic frontman Maynard James Keenan, Jimmy Tamborello of the ground-breaking Postal Service, Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, DJ Z-Trip, music collector/actor/label owner Elijah Wood, Los Lobos, Jason Schwartzman, KCRW's Nic Harcourt, former New York Times music critic Neil Strauss, Spoon's Britt Daniel, The Silversun Pickups, Juliette Lewis, X's John Doe, Sleater-Kinney's Janet Weiss and many others. - more on this story

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Blistering New Label

PR reports: Blistering Records is pleased to announce the launch of their exciting new record label, with a focus on signing and developing recording acts in a wide spectrum of rock music, including but not limited to: Melodic Rock, Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Progressive Rock, Metal and all combinations of these styles.

The label has a simple philosophy: "Treat the artists the way we would like to be treated. We all started out as struggling musicians in bands so we know all-to-well what it feels like to be on the other side of the desk. More than ever with today's tough and ever changing music market survival is determined by understanding, appreciation, innovation, commitment and team-work. We are true supporters of the scene(s) that we help represent and are determined to prove ourselves to be survivors by becoming one of the leading independent record labels for Rock and Metal."

Blistering will release its first titles in the U.S. through Ryko/Warner Distribution on October 7th. Among those titles will be new releases from Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Michael Kiske (Helloween), House Of Lords and Revolution Renaissance which features former Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki. - more on this story

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. Mayhem Fest

Since everybody who came to this thing was an angry young adult like myself who wanted to shake his head mercilessly for a good 10 hours, I'd say Mayhem succeeded in what it set out to do. - Read the full Mayhem Fest review

. The Biz: AC/DC's Latest Dirty Deeds Not Dirt Cheap

This AC/DC album is unique as that their record label Columbia is bartering this deal in partnership with AC/DC, a first for the major labels. Surprise, surprise, it's the most expensive exclusive so far and there does not appear to be any added incentives. - Read the full AC/DC's Latest Dirty Deeds Not Dirt Cheap op/ed

. Imagika - Feast for the Hated

Being an enormous fan of thrash and power metal, I appreciate a little medium resting on epic pastures and bloodthirsty alleys simultaneously, which is why Feast for the Hated easily wins my seal of approval. - Read the full Imagika - Feast for the Hated review

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