News - Page 187

Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh will be celebrating his 80th birthday this year. The Lockn’ Festival has already announced they’ll be honoring him in June, but now Lesh himself has unveiled a string of dates leading up to his birthday.

The Free Nationals have gained notoriety as Anderson .Paak’s live band, but now they’ve struck out with an album of their own. Anchored by Kelsey Gonzalez, the album includes .Paak, the late Mac Miller, Daniel Caeser, Kali Uchis, and more.

Each year, the Winter NAMM Show brings the top industry talent to Anaheim, California. That includes bassists, who all flock to the Bass Bash. This year the event returns on January 16th and 17th with one of its best lineups yet.

Deep Purple has released “Live in Rome 2013,” which captures the group during their “Now What?!” tour. The recording captures the band performing songs from their then-new record as well as their catalog of hits.

Sam Smith and his band Decently Dangerous have released their debut album, “Falling With Style.” The quartet, which includes Andrew Jordan, Joe Spinelli, and Bryan Ponton, is bass-heavy with Smith taking melodies and using a vocoder to perform vocals.

Opeth bassist Martin Mendez has announced that he has a new band called White Stones, and that band will be unleashing a new album called “Kuarahy” in 2020.

Bassist Max Gerl has been playing along some of the most exciting band leaders in jazz today, and now he’s stepping out front. He’s just released his debut album, “Tbilisi,” which features his work on both electric and double bass.

Last year we shared the news that Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey were working on a new “Bass Extremes” album. Now it seems things are continuing to move forward with the group as they'll be hitting the road for a week of dates in January.

After confirming a reunion for two shows, Oysterhead has added several new performances for 2020. These are the first concerts Trey Anastasio, Stewart Copeland, and Les Claypool have performed together since 2006’s Bonnaroo Festival.

George Clinton is holding off on his retirement, opting instead to extend his farewell tour with Parliament Funkadelic into 2020. The band has had many fantastic bassists, but the current and longest-standing player is the mighty Lige Curry.

The Cro-Mags have returned with their second EP of the year. “From the Grave” is a three-song followup to “Don’t Give In,” which was the first time in two decades that the group released new music.

The Wood Brothers are releasing a new album in January called “Kingdom in My Mind.” The trio announced an extensive tour to support the album, plus they’ve just released a new single entitled “Little Bit Sweet.”