John Darnielle signs to Merge as The Mountain Goats and The Extra Lens; celebrates with grits, tobacco, and other stereotypes from NC

By Shane Mack on Aug 16 2010

From Tulsa World (via The Daily Swarm):

The “Godfather of Bass Guitar,” Robert Wilson of the legendary Tulsa R&B and funk group the GAP Band, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 53, confirmed his publicist and manager, Don Jackson, in a late-night Sunday phone call to the Tulsa World.

Wilson died from a massive heart attack in his home, Jackson said. His family became concerned about him when they didn’t receive their regular phone calls, and his adult son found his body on Sunday afternoon in Palmdale, Calif.

• Robert Wilson: http://www.myspace.com/390170049
• The Gap Band: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gap_Band

By Nobodaddy on Aug 11 2010

Black Francis (a.k.a. Frank Black, a.k.a. Charles Thompson IV, a.k.a. “Sugarbear”) is perhaps best known as the frontman for the veteran indie-rock poster-band known as Pavement. He is perhaps known second-best-ish-ly well as the honey-voiced man behind those famous 1980s Golden Crisp cereal commercials. Given all of this notoriety, it is sometimes hard to remember that Mr. Francis is also a talented singer/songwriter in his own right (his latest release, NonStopErotik is available now on Cooking Vinyl).

Next week, Frank will force us all to reckon with his solo-artist status on a small tour, during which he will perform a very unique and memorable selection of songs from his 20-year career, including “Cut Your Hair,” “Two Headed Boy, Pt. 1,” “Lady Picture Show,” and fan-favorite “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Francis will also be joined on-stage at many of these shows by his friend and former collaborator Eric Drew Feldman, with whom he most notably co-produced Tripping Daisy’s 1998 smash album Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb. The two of them also have some connection or another to a band listed on Wikipedia as “The Pixies.” Hey, I remember them. They did that “Possum Kingdom” song, didn’t they? Man, the 90s were rad.

Black Francis tourdates:

08.15.10 - Big Sur, CA - Henry Miller Library Outdoors **
08.16.10 - Santa Barbara-Goleta, CA - Mercury Lounge **
08.17.10 - Visalia, CA - Cellar Door **
08.18.10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall **
08.19.10 - Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery **
08.20.10 - Portland, OR - Portland Zoo **
08.21.10 - Seattle, WA - Triple Door (2 shows) **
08.22.10 - Vancouver, BC - Malkin Bowl **
09.02.10 - Wellfleet, MA - Beachcomber
09.03.10 - New York City, NY - Joe’s Pub
09.04.10 - New York City, NY - Joe’s Pub

** Eric Drew Feldman

• Black Francis: http://www.blackfrancis.net
• Cooking Vinyl: http://www.cookingvinyl.com

[Photo: Angie Garrett]