Briefly: Melissa Etheridge, Bobby Brown, The Clash, Rites of Spring
Melissa Etheridge took the top music honor at Sunday's (2/25) Academy Awards ceremony with her song "I Need to Wake Up," a cut featured in former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," pulling down the prize for Best Original Song.
During her acceptance speech, Etheridge thanked Gore "for inspiring us, inspiring me and showing that caring about the Earth is not Republican or Democrat. It's not red or blue. We are all green. This is our job now. We can become the greatest generation, the generation that changed, the generation that woke up and did something and changed."
Bobby Brown 's latest in an ongoing series of run-ins with the law took place today (2/26), when the R&B singer was jailed in Massachusetts for allegedly failing to pay thousands of dollars in late child-support funds and court fees, according to published reports.
Brown is being held in county jail until he pays $19,000 to Kim Ward of Stoughton, MA, the mother of his two teenage children. The singer's lawyer told the Associated Press that Brown as "been struggling to meet monthly payments."
"Although this agreement was put in place when he was Bobby Brown the star," attorney Phaedra Parks of Atlanta was quoted as saying, "this agreement is being enforced when he is not always able to find work. He hasn't made an album in quite some years."
The Smithereens, Camper Van Beethoven, Jon Langford & Sally Timms, Amy Rigby, Katrina Leskanich (Waves), Wreckless Eric, Willie Nile, Matthew Ryan, Stew, Sex Clark Five and Sid Griffin & Coal Porters are among the artists who have signed on for "The Sandinista!," a two-disc set that pays tribute to The Clash 's 1980 album of the same name. Proceeds from the set, which is due in stores May 1, will benefit Amnesty International and the Joe Strummer Memorial Forest, according to a press release.
The Roots , Wolfmother , Drive-By Truckers, Keller Williams and Mat Kearney will headline the April 20-21 Rites of Spring Music Festival at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Tickets go on sale Saturday (3/3) via Ticketmaster, according to a press release. (Ticketmaster is LiveDaily's parent company.)
Live Review: Melissa Etheridge in Danbury, CT [June 2008]
Festival Guide: All Points West Music & Arts Festival, Jersey City, NJ [June 2008]
The Roots, Gnarls Barkley lead Southern Comfort tour lineup [June 2008]
Weekend Ticketing: Madonna, New Kids on the Block, Eagles, Kenny Chesney, Rod Stewart [May 2008]
Elvis Costello Tapped For Whistler Music Festival [May 2008]
Album Chart: Madonna makes sweet debut [May 2008]
Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" tour
The Duke Spirit on stage and in the studio
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks
Metallica at the KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, CA
R.E.M. at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA
Herbie Hancock at the Sonoma Jazz Festival
Brad Paisley, Jack Ingram and Kellie Pickler
Dengue Fever at The Independent, San Francisco, CA

