But how the heck do we get those two bonus tracks, Boss?

By Blurt Staff

"Towards the end of recording 'Magic,' excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing. When my friend producer Brendan O'Brien heard the new songs, he said, 'Let's keep going.' Over the course of the next year, that's just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year's tour. I hope 'Working on a Dream' has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end."

That's Bruce Springsteen talking, of course, in a statement released this morning to announce the Jan. 27 release of his next album, Working on a Dream. Recorded with Magic producer Brendan O'Brien in Atlanta (additional recording in NYC, LA and New Jersey), it features 12 cuts (see track list below) plus a pair of bonus tracks, "The Wrestler" and "A Night with the Jersey Devil."

The official press release was unclear as to whether those two extras will be included on the CD or will be targeted as iTunes exclusives, etc. However, sharp-eyed fans already know the sources of both tracks: "The Wrestler" is a track the Boss penned for the new Darren Aronofsky film of the same name starring Mickey Rourke, while "Jersey Devil" is the special Halloween goodie Springsteen handed out a couple of weeks ago as a video and free MP3.

Oh, and the title track? That's the tune Bruce was playing at Obama rallies leading up to the election. See a YouTube clip of him doing the song, below.

Track Listing:

1. Outlaw Pete
2. My Lucky Day
3. Working on a Dream
4. Queen of the Supermarket
5. What Love Can Do
6. This Life
7. Good Eye
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Life Itself
10. Kingdom of Days
11. Surprise, Surprise
12. The Last Carnival

Bonus tracks:

The Wrestler
A Night with the Jersey Devil

Damn. Check out those peace symbols...

By Blurt Staff

Not to be outdone by all the imminent wall-to-wall Chinese Democracy coverage, Slash stepped into the media spotlight the other day - and this time, for a rather worthy reason. The erstwhile Guns N' Roses guitarist, along with his wife Perla Hudson, spoke out against California's recently-passed Proposition 8, which of course stands to institutionalize discrimination in the state unless the burgeoning counter movement can mobilize effectively gain headway among citizens and voters.

Go to www.jointheimpact.com for details on that, and meanwhile check out the YouTube video below featuring Slash. We've come a long way since "One In A Million," eh baby?

Underneath the Owl due March 10.

By Blurt Staff

En route for March 10 is the next album from Austin's Riverboat Gamblers, the Mudrock-produced Underneath the Owl (East West). This will be the followup to their 2006 Volcom Records release To the Confusion of Our Enemies; see below for the bio scoop.

Meanwhile, to drum up some advance buzz, the group's offering up a free MP3 of the first singe, "A Choppy, Yet Sincere Apology". There are several places you can nab it from:

I Like:

www.ilike.com/artist/The+Riverboat+Gamblers

Pure Volume:

http://www.purevolume.com/riverboatgamblers

Official band website:

http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com

***

On the band:

Originally formed in 1997, the Gamblers built a local following and busted out of the Denton TX college scene in 2001 on the back of their self-released 7" single "Jenna Is A No Show". With that the band began to take the show from the dives bars and house parties of UNT on to the rest of the country. Austin punk legend Tim Kerr produced their self-titled debut album that was released on the D.C. based Vile Beat Records. A couple years later, despite rabid major-label interest (in part derived from an explosive set at 2003's South by Southwest festival), the Gamblers released their second album "Something To Crow About" through San Francisco's Gearhead Records. In 2006 the band recorded and released their debut for Volcom Entertainment, "To The Confusion Of Our Enemies", and hit the road with Against Me!, Eagles of Death Metal, Horrorpops, The Rollins Band, X, Joan Jett and co-headlined the inaugural Volcom Tour in the U.S. with label mates, Valient Thorr.

Photo Credit: Gary Copeland

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

SATURDAY, NOV. 15:

11:00 AM & 5:00 PM IFC: Henry Rollins Uncut: South Africa

2:30 PM FUSE: Lil' Wayne's World

4:00 PM PLD HD: Genesis - When in Rome

5:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Morrissey , British Sea Power , Nate James , Ida Maria , Joe Brown , Mayra Andrade

7:30 PM IFC: Grand Theft Parsons (2003)

8:00 PM PLD HD: Rothbury 2008 W/Dave Matthews Band , John Mayer , Widespread Panic

9:00 PM PBS: Austin City Limits:  Aimee Mann / Iron & Wine

9:00 PM PLD HD: Across the Sea - Weezer Live in Japan

9:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live:  Anna Faris / Duffy

10:00 PM ETV: Saturday Night Live (E!):  Lindsay Lohan / Usher

11:00 PM VH1C: That Metal Show: Lita Ford

11:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live:  Paul Rudd / Beyonce

12:30 AM MTV2: Saturday Rock The Deuce:  Oasis

1:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: Glasvegas

SUNDAY, NOV. 16:

7:00 AM A&E: Biography: Jimi Hendrix

8:00 AM A&E: Biography: Janis Joplin

10:00 AM PLD HD: Hall & Oates: Our Kind of Soul

2:00 PM PLD HD: Across the Sea - Weezer Live in Japan

2:00 PM & 12:00 AM VH1C: That Metal Show: Lita Ford

5:00 PM VH1C: BBC Electric Proms: Paul McCartney

5:30 PM CWTV: 4Real: M.I.A. 

8:00 PM HDNet: New Order - Live in Glasgow 

8:00 & 9:00 PM Smithsonian: Sound Revolution: Blues Beginning w/B.B. King , Ike Turner , Buddy Guy , Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown , Etta James

8:00 PM VH1C: Movie: In His Life: The John Lennon Story

8:15 PM NBC: NBC Sunday Night Football: Bruce Springsteen

11:00 PM VH1C: BBC Crown Jewels: Rock Goes To College: Tom Petty

12:00 AM MTV2: MTV Europe Music Awards: Katy Perry , Beyoncé , Kanye West , Estelle , Pink , The Killers

[Photos: Lita (off the web, from an old CREEM pic; Bruce, from staffer's bootleg CD cover!]

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this arrival in today's in-box.

***

How To Save A Major Automobile Company

 
Auto manufacturers taking advantage of a government bailout must only sell clean and green vehicles that do not contribute to global warming.

By Neil Young

Find a new ownership group. The culture must change. It is time to turn the page. In the high technology sector there are several candidates for ownership of a major car and truck manufacturer. We need forward looking people who are not restricted by the existing culture in Detroit. We need visionary people now with business sense to create automobiles that do not contribute to global warming.

 
It is time to change and our problems can facilitate our solutions. We can no longer afford to continue down Detroit's old road. The people have spoken. They do not want gas guzzlers (although they still like big cars and trucks). It is possible to build large long-range vehicles that are very efficient. People WILL buy those vehicles because they represent REAL change and a solution that we can live with.

 
The government must take advantage of the powerful position that exists today. The Big 3 are looking for a bailout. They should only get it if they agree to stop building autos that contribute to global warming now. The stress on the auto manufacturers today is gigantic. In order to keep people working in their jobs and keep factories open, this plan is suggested:

 
The big three must reduce models to basics. a truck, an SUV, a large family sedan, an economy sedan, and a sports car. Use existing tooling.

 
Keep building these models to keep the workforce employed but build them WITHOUT engines and transmissions. These new vehicles, called Transition Rollers, are ready for a re-power. NO NEW TOOLING is required at this stage. The adapters are part of the kits described next.

 
At the same time as the new Transition Rollers are being built, keeping the work force working, utilize existing technology now, create re-power kits to retrofit the Transition Rollers to SCEVs (self charging electric vehicles) for long range capability up to and over 100mpg. If you don't think this technology is realistic or available, check out the Progressive Insurance Automotive X prize. Alternatively, check out Lincvolt.com or other examples.

 
A bailed out Auto manufacturer must open or re-purpose one or more factories and dedicate them to do the re-power/retrofit assembly. These factories would focus on re-powering the Transition Rollers into SCEVs but could also retrofit and re-power many existing vehicles to SCEVs. These existing vehicles are currently sitting unsold at dealerships across America.

 
Auto manufacturers taking advantage of a government bailout must only sell clean and green vehicles that do not contribute to global warming. No more internal combustion engines that run exclusively on fossil fuels can be sold period.

 
No Big Three excuses like "new tooling takes time". New tooling is not a requirement for SCEV transition rollers.

 
Build only new vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming and enhancing National Security.
 

Government legislation going with the bailout should include tax breaks for purchasers of these cars with the new green SCEV technology. The legislation accompanying the bailout of major auto manufacturers must include directives to build only vehicles that attain the goal of reversing global warming while enhancing National security, and provide the financial assistance to make manufacturing these cars affordable in the short term while the industry re-stabilizes.

 
Eventually the SCEV technology could be built into every new car and truck as it is being assembled and the stop gap plan described above would have completed its job of keeping America building and working through this turbulent time.  
 

Detroit has had a long time to adapt to the new world and now the failure of Detroit's actions is costing us all. We pay the bailout. Let's make a good deal for the future of America and the Planet. Companies like UQM (Colorado) and others build great electric motors right here in the USA. Use these domestic electric motors. Put these people to work now. This plan reverses the flow from negative to positive because people need and will buy clean and green cars to be part of World Change. Unique wheel covers will identify these cars on the road so that others can see the great example a new car owner is making. People want America to win!

 
This plan addresses the issue of Global warming from our automobiles while enhancing our National Security and keeping Detroit working.

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

7:00 AM ABC: Good Morning America: John Travolta

11:30 AM Comedy Central: Tenacious D

2:00 PM BET Jazz: Timeless: Keith Sweat

4:00 PM CMT Crossroads: Def Leppard and Taylor Swift

4:00 PM SYN: The Oprah Winfrey Show: Melissa Etheridge

6:00 PM RAVE HD: Other Voices: Ryan Adams , Cathy Davey , The Crimea , Foy Vance

6:30 PM FUSE: Fuse On Tour: Fall Out Boy , Secondhand Serenade , Alkaline Trio , Thrice , The Gaslight

Anthem

7:00 PM VH1C: Bruce Springsteen - Live in Barcelona

9:00 & 12:00 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Gaslight Anthem

9:00 PM Sundance: Live from Abbey Road: The Subways, Gnarls Barkley, Herbie Hancock

10:30 PM IFC: Henry Rollins Uncut: South Africa

11:30 PM PBS:Tavis Smiley: Sarah McLachlan

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: The Answer

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: David Cook , Miley Cyrus

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: T-Pain

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Constantine Maroulis

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Ray Davies

1:30 AM IFC: Henry Rollins Uncut: South Africa

2:40 AM 5StarMAX: Almost Famous (2000)

3:00 AM FUEL: Check 1, 2:  Goons of Doom

Texas-based band supports tour through January.

By Mandy Rodgers

From Austin, BLURT fave The Sword has been making things happen in a metal kinda way since 2003. Comprising John "J.D." Cronise (vocals/guitar), Kyle Shutt (guitar), Bryan Richie (bass) and Trivett Wingo (drums), The Sword is joining Metallica's North American tour. The group has released the two albums Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth, and this tour is helping promote the latter. The doom metal group is performing at the entire 32-date Death Magnet Tour with Metallica, while other bands switch in and out of the tour, including Machine Head, Lamb of God and Down.

The Sword just finished stints in Europe with Bay Area band, a performance at 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival and at Ozzfest. Metallica is promoting its ninth studio album, Death Magnetic with this tour.

Tour Schedule:

METALLICA / DOWN / THE SWORD, except (*) THE SWORD headlining
off-dates

*November 14 Hilton Head, SC @ Shoreline Ballroom 18+
November 17 St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center All ages
November 18 Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center All ages
*November 19 Fort Worth, TX @ Lola's
November 20 Houston, TX @ Toyota Center All ages
*November 21 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks 18+
November 22 Little Rock, AR @ Alltel Arena All ages
November 23 New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena All ages

METALLICA / LAMB OF GOD / THE SWORD

December 1  Seattle, WA @ Key Arena All ages
December 2  Vancouver, BC @ GM Place All ages
December 4  Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome All ages
December 5  Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome All ages
December 7  Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place All ages
December 12 Ontario, CA @ Citizens Bank Arena All ages
December 13 Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center All ages
December 15 San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena All ages

December 17 Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum All ages
December 18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum All ages
December 20 Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena All ages

METALLICA / MACHINE HEAD / THE SWORD

January 12 Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center All ages
January 13 Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena All ages
January 15 Washington, DC @ Verizon Center All ages
January 17 Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center All ages
January 18 Boston, MA @ TD Banknorth Center All ages

January 26 Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena All ages
January 27 Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena All ages
January 29 Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum All ages
January 31 Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center All ages
February 1 Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center All ages

All the concert news ‘n' reviews that's fit to print.

By Blurt Staff

More concert coverage from your friendly neighborhood BLURT - this time, we've got Butch Walker in Atlanta and the Toadies in New York (including exclusive photos).

• *Lavinia Jones Wright caught the Toadies (in concert and on film) at Webster Hall in NYC on Nov. 6. Of the Texas band's welcome comeback, Wright notes, "Those huge nostalgic hits wove together seamlessly with the newer songs for a truly great show."
• *Then this past Monday night in Atlanta, BLURT intern Mandy Rodgers was front and center for intimate performance at the Loft by hometown hero Butch Walker. "This concert wasn't meant to be loud, crazy or surprising like the stellar one earlier in the year. It was, instead, a chance for Walker to tell his story anew to Atlanta, and a reassurance that, after returning from personal tragedy, he and his music are still adored by the home town fans."

Check ‘em out at the provided links, or simply scroll down the BLURT front page to the reviews section. We've also got new book, DVD and CD reviews being added daily.

[Photo Credit: David Reich]

Er, actually, that's a comprehensive, researched history of the band, not an actual diary from the band, but we just liked the headline...

By Mandy Rodgers

Matt McGee is a long-time U2 fan and since 1995 has helmed a Web site devoted to the band. The site, www.atu2.com, is the oldest, independent U2 fansite out there and for his efforts, McGee has won numerous awards from radio shows and magazines, including Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone. All of his hard work and long-researched nights are paying off now with the release of his own semi-biography of the legends, U2: A Diary.

McGee has long considered himself a U2 historian and contacted Omnibus Press for an opportunity to write a book about the rockers. The pitch he gave the company didn't go through, but they asked him to write a sort of diary (like they had previously published about the Beatles) about U2, and he immediately agreed. To gather information for the book, which follows Bono's parents' wedding all the way to the present, McGee enlisted the help of his avid Web site readers. Fans from around the world sent in stories, anecdotes and information about U2 for McGee's compilation. One man from Ireland, Donal Murphy, made several trips to a library in Ireland for information, including the wedding of Bono's parents.

The Web site, www.u2diary.com, served as a ground for conversation and revelation throughout the book's creation. McGee continues to update the blog, now to include news about the book's release and articles written about it. Many key moments in U2's history are highlighted, like U2's first studio session at CBS Records, Bono's visiting Central America in 1986 and his work to support the ONE Campaign.

"He's God's man for this time." - Ricky Skaggs, on George Bush

By Fred Mills

Jack White always got a surprise or two up his sleeve, we'll grant him that. Why, just putting together the rockin' Raconteurs raised a few eyebrows (and we mean that in the most positive sense imaginable... the band kicks ass). Barely two weeks ago White and the Raconteurs dropped yet another 7" single, two versions of "Old Enough" (one of them acoustic and backstage at Bonnaroo) from their latest album Consolers of the Lonely.

Now comes word that the band has recorded yet a third version of "Old Enough," this one in Nashville with bluegrass superstar Ricky Skaggs and Knoxville-based songwriter Ashley Monroe. Apparently a video was shot during the sessions as well, so watch for that on a YouTube channel near you.

Photos from the sessions, taken by famed shutterbug Autumn DeWilde, can be viewed HERE.

Strange bedfellows are nothing new in the world of music, of course, and one should always welcome the meetings-of-minds that can yield unusual and inspiring musical collaborations.

At the same time, it never hurts to be reminded of the personalities behind the music - a little perspective and context, in other words. And there's some whoppingly fine context for Skaggs, to say the least. This is a life-long card-carrying Republican who's been a vocal supporter of George W. Bush from the get-go, and has made outrageous, inflammatory statements from the stage that would have you believe that Dubya strides arm-in-arm with Our Savior The Lord Jesus, is blessed by divine inspiration, and operates literally on a day-to-day basis of divine intervention.

Here are a few choice Skaggs quotes he made a couple of years ago to Baptist Press (read the entire article HERE - a Google or two will net you plenty of other similar quotes):

• "I'm not ashamed to share the stage with our wonderful president. I'm not ashamed to be seen with him. I may not be politically correct. I don't care. I love him. I pray for him. He's God's man for this time."
• "Long before he was elected, we just had a feeling in our heart that he was the right person. We heard him speak. We heard things about him. We knew he was a Christian man... I felt like that was who I certainly wanted to get behind and support, especially in light of what we had had eight years before in the White House."
• "It's just a great thing to know that he loves the Lord, that he seeks God for decisions. The wind of controversy and public opinion does not blow him to the left or to the right. It does not move him one way or the other, and I pray that it doesn't."

Er, Ricky, if Bush has been getting his policy decisions directly from God, then either God gave him some seriously fucked up advice, or there was some static on the line and he misheard the Big Man... How's your 401[k] doing these days, by the way? Know any families whose sons came home in body bags?

But hey, can't we all just get along? The election's over, after all. Well, that depends on how deep the scars of the past eight years run for you, now, doesn't it? Bush certainly was the "man for this time" in one sense. You betcha. So all you Republicans out there still have a lot to answer for that.

By the way, we have absolutely no verification whatsoever that Brooks & Dunn are planning to record a White Stripes tribute album....

[Photo Credit: Autumn DeWilde]