On September 4, Columbia Records released Patti Scialfa's third album Play It As It Lays. Patti is the wife of New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen and a background singer with his E Street Band. Scialfa composed all of the tracks on Play It As It Lays, which features Springsteen playing guitar on four songs. Bruce's next album, Magic, is due out on October 2. It marks his first album with the E Street Band since 2002.
NBC-TV will air the National Football League's "NFL Opening Kickoff 2007" on September 6. The broadcast will include concerts by John Mellencamp, Faith Hill and Kelly Clarkson. Following the pre-game festivities in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Indianapolis Colts will face the New Orleans Saints at the RCA Dome.
On September 6, the Dave Matthews Band, Nas, John Mayer and Country singer Phil Vassar will play a free concert for students and faculty at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. A limited number of tickets will be available to the public. Dave Matthews and Phil Vassar were born and raised in Virginia.
The 2007 "Fashion Rocks" show will take place on September 6 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. This year's performers include Carrie Underwood, Aerosmith, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Ludacris, Martina McBride, Santana and Usher. CBS-TV will broadcast the 4th annual "Fashion Rocks" concert on September 7.
Sirius satellite radio will launch a Grateful Dead channel on September 7. Channel 32 will kick off with a broadcast of the band's 1974 concert at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to Grateful Dead songs, the channel will play some of the group's unreleased performances, bootleg performances donated by fans and archived interviews with the band's late lead singer Jerry Garcia.
NEW ALBUM RELEASES
New albums scheduled for release on September 4 include: "Ocean Drive" by Johnta Austin, "Sweet Danger" by Suzy Bogguss, "Love Grenade" by Ted Nugent and "I Created Disco" by Calvin Harris.
AWARDS PRESENTATIONS/WINNERS
Brad Paisley and George Strait lead the nominees for the 41st annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. Brad's nominations include Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for "5th Gear," Single of the Year for "Ticks" and Music Video of the Year for "Online." Strait earned nods for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for "It Just Comes Natural" and Single of the Year for "Wrapped" and Musical Event of the Year for "Hey Good Lookin'," which also features Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson. Other leading contenders include Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride and Alison Krauss, who each received four nominations and Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and John Rich with three apiece. CBS-TV will air the 2007 CMA Awards live from Nashville's Sommet Center on November 7. (Complete list of nominees at www.cmaawards.com )
50-year-old Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra earned five Latin Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Merengue Album of the Year for La Llave De Mi Corazon. Guerra has also been chosen as the Latin Recording Academy's 2007 Person of the Year. Following close behind are Ricky Martin and Puerto Rican reggaeton group Calle 13 with four mentions each. Venezuelan singer Franco De Vita and Panamanian-born singer Miguel Bose received three nods apiece. The 8th annual Latin Grammy Awards will take place in Las Vegas on November 8. (More info at www.grammy.com/latin)
TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION
On September 7, British rock band Genesis will kick off its 25-date North American reunion tour in Toronto, Ontario. Group members Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks will take their "Turn It On Again" tour to 20 cities before wrapping up shows in Los Angeles on October 13. Multiple concerts will take place in Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. The group doesn't have a new studio album planned, but they say a live album and DVD of performances from the reunion tour will be released later this year.
Sheryl Crow, Avril Lavigne and Fiona Apple will headline an all-female artist benefit concert, set for October 27 in Irvine, California. A portion of the box office proceeds from their "Girlfrenzy Music Festival" will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. More performers will be announced soon.
