Featured Band of the Week “DeKaN”

By Julie Caldwell

If you are a fan of hard rock, you might want to check out a band called DeKaN, a local Erie cover band who plays everything from AC/DC to Godsmack. DeKaN has been playing together now for over 5 years.

DeKaN is a party band covering all your favorite Hard Rock and Heavy Metal songs, playing out in many bars around Erie and the Crawford County area.

While musicianship is at the top of the priority list, they also pride themselves on their stage presence, and showmanship. "Our goal is to put on the show that no other bar band does, and of course to run the bar out of beer, which we have now done too many times to count," said one of the band members.

DeKaN supplies their own stage when needed and they have an incredible, Must See light show.  All you have to do is check out this band once to see that they love to have a good time, and will do anything they can to make sure everyone that comes to see them does also.

DeKaN’s  covers include songs from the bands Crue, AC/DC, Ozzy, Nickelback, Godsmack, Disturbed, Poison, Twisted Sister, Drowning Pool, Three Days Grace, Metallica, Megadeth, BLS, Dope, Rage Against the Machine, Def Leppard, Gun's N Roses, Judas Priest, Pantera and many more.

The band members include Mike Tomcho-Vox/Guitar, Dan Chelton-Lead Guitar/Vox, Mark White-Bass/Vox, Pete Boyd-Drums/Vox and Sean Dean-guitar/Vox

For more information, shows dates or to contact DeKaN, visit their Facebook page.

Iggy Pop and the Stooges Offer A Punk Rock Celebration For A Fallen Bandmate

From the looks of things, Ann Arbor and the Michigan Theater survived the punk rock bombast of genre pioneers Iggy and The Stooges Tuesday night in fine shape.

The group, fronted by former local Iggy Pop (known here during his high school days by his given name, James Osterberg Jr.) was in town to play a tribute concert for their former bandmate/Ann Arborite guitarist Ron Asheton, who died in 2009.

Around 1,700 were on hand — a full house, according the Michigan Theater's Executive Director Russ Collins, who said three times that many tickets could have been sold, demand was so high. "There's definitely been a feeling of celebration for doing something good for a buddy that has passed on," Collins added. The show was a benefit for local music and animal charities, including the Humane Society of Huron Valley.

The mood at the Michigan was definitely upbeat. The audience appeared to run the gamut of ages, from those obviously too young to know firsthand about the early days of punk to folks who clearly were there and wanted to relive some of the mayhem. There was plenty of black leather, though not so much else in the way of punk fashion. At times it looked a bit like a reunion; there was plenty of hugging and handshaking out in the lobby before the show began. If punk was meant to be angry, this crowd was the absolute opposite.

After the opening act, the outstanding, Stooges-inspired rock band Space Age Toasters, from Ann Arbor's Neutral Zone teen center, Ron Asheton's brother and bandmate Scott Asheton offered a few remarks, as did host Henry Rollins, who also has his roots in early punk rock. "Have fun, get naked if you want … God loves The Stooges," Scott Asheton said. Rollins, his comments a mix of prose and poetry, called Ron Asheton "a young visionary" with a "pulverizing, fuzzed-out blues attack. Who knows where he got it, but he knew he was going somewhere with it."

As expected, the shirtless Pop, poring sweat and guzzling from bottles of water, flung himself about the stage like a madman, writhed on the floor, threw open bottles of water out into the audience and dove off the stage (thankfully someone caught him) all with an impish grin that seemed to say, "Hey, I know what's expected of me, and I love it!"

"Fifty felt like 20 tonight," said clearly elated fan Elaine Roman. "This was like the old days."

"The crowd was sincere and loving every minute of it," Roman said, adding that she could feel the love in the room for Ron Asheton. "Without Ron, there wouldn't have been The Stooges and I think Iggy knows that."

Her friend Amy Garber agreed. "Iggy stage-dove, for God's sake," she said. "I thought it was wonderful. … (The show) was beyond expectations."

"I thought (the show) was wonderful," said Rob Utterback, a harpsichordist from Ann Arbor, who admitted to being unsure about what a harpsichordist sees in punk rock. "When I figure that out, I'll tell you," he finally allowed. "(I like) either 16th century music or some band with the word 'puke' in it."

Security must have had a collective coronary when Pop invited the crowd to "get on stage and dance with The Stooges." What looked like a couple of hundred people took advantage of the opportunity and rushed up front. It was a mob scene where pure anarchy seemed to reign, and it took a few minutes to clear the stage after that was done.

The show was LOUD. There were some 30 speakers aimed at the crowd, not including the onstage monitors. Raw power indeed.

Cameras were everywhere, thanks to a documentary being filmed on Iggy and The Stooges (director Jim Jarmusch was reportedly in the house), and the concert was broadcast live on XM satellite radio.

Just before the show ended, Pop sat down on the edge of the stage and reminisced about Asheton as he and guitarist James Williamson performed a special acoustic tribute song.

"I have to thank Ron for Iggy," he said. "When I wanted to start a band, Ron was the first guy who would get behind me. … He had a gift, sort of a charm — his compositions were very simple but very memorable."

Pop also expressed his appreciation to the audience, and Stooges' fans in general. "Thanks for showing up ... thanks for giving me a life," he added.

The evening's most surreal moment came when each of the band members was presented with a key to the city of Ann Arbor, an awfully establishment gesture aimed at a group that has prided itself on being anything but establishment. Iggy treated it with the gravity it deserved, grinning cheerfully as he mimed an obscene gesture with his microphone.

An after-party at the Necto nightclub, organized by Pop's management, was attended by around 50 invited guests. One notable no-show: Iggy Pop.

In the end, after the kind words and slide shows and remembrances, the real tribute was heard in the music.

Raucous and ragged, the Stooges’ homecoming on Tuesday, a memorial to founding guitarist Ron Asheton, was a fitting homage to their fallen bandmate.

A symphonic orchestra performed a medley his signature riffs over a slide show of pictures from family albums. His brother, Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, always a man of few words, spoke some kindnesses.

And Henry Rollins added a pseudo-intellectual eulogy that somehow seemed to be more about how cool Henry Rollins is than about how cool Ron Asheton was.

But as it should be, rock ‘n’ roll spoke the loudest. The Space Age Toasters, consisting of students from Ann Arbor Neutral Zone teen center, kicked off the evening with a four-song Stooges homage that did the band proud.

After Rollins led the current Stooges, minus Pop, through “I Got a Right,” Pop arrived on stage in his trademark attire of jeans and no shirt and launched immediately into a string of tunes associated with the band’s later period, in which Ron Asheton moved to bass and James Williamson took over on guitar.

“Nice to see you,” Pop said. “We’re still The Stooges.”

Hmmm … not so fast.

Ron Asheton’s playing with the reformed Stooges before he died was sublime, arguably better than the band was in its heyday. Williamson, by contrast, seemed to struggle at times locking into rhythms with Scott Asheton and long-term replacement bassist Mike Watt.

Still, to see Pop crawl, squirm and croon through “Raw Power” relics like “Search and Destroy” and “Gimme Danger” was a treat. And when the band hit its stride, as it did on more than a few occasions, the effect was powerful.

Of course, when Iggy Pop is on a stage, the focus is going to be on him. And Pop, just two days shy of his 64th birthday, remains the consummate frontman — combining a savage magnetism with a sly wit and calculating intelligence, he prowled the stage, he surfed the crowd and he whipped the sold-out audience into repeated frenzies that twice threatened to squeeze him off the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing Ann Arbor dancers,” Pop said as the throngs attempted to exit the stage.

Pop turned the focus back onto Asheton when Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek took the stage to perform a series of songs from the Stooges’ first two albums, on which Asheton played lead guitar. The legendary Radio Birdman guitarist has an uncanny knack for emulating Asheton’s chords and wah-wah-drenched leads and was the perfect fit for Stooges Mach 1 tunes like “TV Eye” (aided, as were several other songs, by the symphony) “Dirt” and “Real Cool Time.”

Pop remembered Asheton with a few poignant words before he and Williamson, on slide guitar, performed a song they wrote for Asheton, “Ron’s Tune.”

Things took a turn toward the ridiculous when the band received the key to the city. But that awkward moment was short-lived, before the Stooges crashed into a set-closing, frenzied run through “No Fun,” during which the stage yet again filled up with dancers and well-wishers.

No fun? Lots of fun, actually. And a perfect end to a loud and lovely tribute to one of Ann Arbor’s overlooked heroes.

Who Is Making Money In Online Music?
By Matthew Stone

There has been much talk about the turmoil facing the music industry, and its fragmented online state. If you keep your ear to the ground, you can get an idea of the online music services that are popular. It’s fairly easy to find rough estimates of user base and internet traffic for this shifting landscape. But popularity alone cannot keep a company afloat, only income can. What is less available online are indications of where money is actually being made. In an industry that is infamous for it’s failed start-ups, and even the quick fall of its old guard, who are the financial successes and failures of online music?

The obvious example of success is iTunes. Although it is definitely not Apple’s cash cow, iTunes was estimated to bring in roughly US$160 to US$390 million in profits for 2008. Even with such domination over the paid-downloads market, iTunes took its time turning into a money earner. Initially it served more to support other Apple products. Now it stands head and shoulder above every other offering.

Amazon mp3 is making money, albeit not in the scale of iTunes, and serves to supplement Amazon’s rising profits. They are now offering a cloud-based music storage service, to further compete with iTunes and potentially Google Music.

Rhapsody has just begun to break even, after its first year away from Real Networks. It expects “reasonable profits in this year.

With 50-million users, Pandora also looks set to start turning its first profit. After years of loss, the last two quarters have now been profitable for the first time.

As of 2010 Spotify was still yet to turn a profit, despite its rapid growth in paid subscribers and the massive amounts of investment pumped in. Even with 10-million users, Spotify announced losses over Ł16.4 million. And we know that the artists make a very minimal amount of their expenses, with most being eaten up by record label royalties. Nevertheless, it’s still hoped that a spread into the U.S. market would turn this around.

Grooveshark, with over 5 million users, still does not seem to produce enough through its paid subscriptions and ad revenue to pay off its debt. Its recent exclusion from Android is unlikely to improve things.

We know that Nokia OVI has pulled their Comes With Music offering because of lack of traction.
The fledgling Bandcamp, is yet to turn into a profitable enterprise. It has also shown that it is looking to monetize, moving from a free to profit-share service, and limiting the number of free uploads allowed by bands.

Last.fm has been a well known black hole of investment for owner CBS Interactive. Nevertheless, losses shrunk from US$17-million to US$2.8-million from 2008 to 2009, suggesting it might find its way to profits soon.

Myspace, after being repurposed as a music site, finds itself as the worst performing of the bunch. Robert Murdoch is surely regretting his US$580-million purchase of the ailing giant, which is now likely to sell for between US$50 and US$200 million.

Of course, Google does have a hand in the pie. YouTube remains the forgotten giant of the music industry. The rise in music video watching has likely helped to finally turn Youtube into a profitable investment, with Google’s advertising strategy coming to success. It’s difficult to find out the numbers, however, as Google’s not telling.

On the same note, we are waiting for more word about Google Music. The rumour is that they are now testing it internally. Interestingly enough, many record labels are apparently happy about Google’s imminent inclusion in the online music sphere, despite reservations about the cloud. The fear is Apple’s domination, and Amazon’s inadequacy as a prime competitor.

Despite online music’s reputation as a financial sinkhole for anyone but Apple, it seems that some of the promising online services are starting to find their way into the black. In this year we’re going to have to wait to see what kind of effect the launch of Google Music has on the industry. Unless it shakes things up, we could be looking at the watershed year for the new big players in online music.

Alyssa Milano Kicks Off Campaign Against Tropical Disease

Alyssa Milano is always sticking her neck out for the underdog, whether it is an actual group of dogs who will be put to sleep unless she saves them or in the case of her latest campaign, a little heard of tropical disease which actually affects millions of people.

Milano has partnered with do-gooder website Tonic.com to raise $75,000 on behalf of the victims of Lymphatic Filariasis (LF). LF, also known as elephantiasis, is found in many tropical climates and transmitted to humans through the bite of a mosquito.

You probably haven't heard about it even though it impacts over 120 million worldwide. If you have heard of elephantiasis it is probably from a joke in the movie 'The Breakfast Club.' (We won't mention it here since it is in poor taste, but it ends with Judd Nelson asking Molly Ringwald, "How does he ride a bike?")

Through Milano's work as the founding Ambassador for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, she recently learned about a project in India that helps over 23,000 people suffering from LF by teaching them how to treat and care for themselves, literally putting them back on their feet. The program also educates families and the community about the disease to make it less stigmatizing.

"To keep the program alive it needs a major funding boost of $75,000. When you think about it, $75,000 isn't very expensive - only about $3.25 per person, per year - a small amount of money can make a huge impact," Milano writes on Tonic.com. "That's why, all this week, I've teamed up with Tonic, and the Global Network to ask all my fans to band together and contribute to this, the worthiest and most cost-effective cause we can imagine."

Bret Michaels And Daughters Cover Poison Classic For Kidz Bop

Remember 10 months ago when rocker-turned-reality star Bret Michaels covered Poison classic "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" with tween pop queen Miley Cyrus? Well, that's so 2010. That rendition gets the kibosh as Bret teams up with his daughters, Raine, 10, and Jorja, 5, for another version of the No. 1 rock ballad that will appear on the new Kidz Bop album, "Kidz Pop Sings Monster Ballads," due out in May.

Kidz Bop asked Bret and his daughters to guest on the album, a spokesperson for the record company told Yahoo! Music. Bret was excited. "The most awesome jobs I've ever had are being a 'Rockstar,' Donald Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice' winner, raising money for kids with Diabetes and, most importantly, being a good father. So rerecording 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' with Raine and Jorja for 'Kidz Bop Sings Monster Ballads' was, by far, one of the coolest ways ever to combine my love for music and family," Bret said in a statement. "Not only do I get to rock out with my two favorite girls, but a portion of the proceeds will go to the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation."

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is one of 16 hair band tributes featured on the album. Other favorites include the likes of Warrant's "Heaven," Cinderella's "Don't Know What You Got Til Its Gone," Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home," Guns N' Roses "Patience," and Bad English's "When I See You Smile."

The original "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" appears on Poison's 1988 album, "Open Up And Say... Ahh!"

In 2003, Bret released the song "Raine" that is dedicated to his daughter.

Brewerie at Union Station

Kenny Chesney Serenades to a Cancer Patient at Concert

Kenny Chesney unknowingly gave 14-year-old Carrington Walker, the Kansas Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's 2011 Girl of the Year, the night of her life at his recent Goin' Coastal Tour stop in Wichita.

According to KWCH-TV, the superstar randomly choose to bring Carrington onstage and then serenaded her with 'Summertime.'

"I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face," Carrington, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoma leukemia in September 2008, told the CBS-TV affiliate.

Several generous events led to the meeting, including the kindness of two "nice, tall men" who made room in front of the stage and a woman who offered to help hoist Carrington up for a better view.

"I was so moved by all the people who reached out to help us that night," reports the teenager's aunt, Therese O'Neal, who took her niece to the concert. "They didn't know Carrington was sick. Kenny Chesney didn't know she's sick. No one there knew. Yet they were kind and generous enough to let us have their spot."

On top of that, it was someone's generosity that had the pair at the concert to begin with. Carrington's mother had been pursuing tickets in an auction, but was surpassed by an anonymous bidder who then donated them to Carrington. Another chance meeting got them even closer. "Someone came over and asked if we wanted these bracelets to get to the stage," the teen recalls. "And we said, 'OK, we'll try them out.'"

Once they got to the stage, Kenny took over. "Just as we lifted Carrington up onto our shoulders, Kenny Chesney turned around, pointed to her, and just started walking over to her," Therese explained. "He gets over to her, grabs her hand and just yanks her on the stage with him."

"It was amazing," Carrington gushes. "I couldn't breathe at all. I just kind of stood there."

In the heat of the moment, Carrington and Therese weren't able to get a picture of her sharing the spotlight with the country superstar, but luckily some fans stopped the two before they left the show to let them know they'd snapped their own photos and would email them to her.

Coachella With Sci-Fi Art: How Intel And David Lynch Infiltrated The Desert Music Festival

Looking back on this year's edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival -- that three-day extravaganza in Indio, California, which drew to a close on Sunday -- one will perhaps recall Kanye West, riding onstage on a mechanical arm and then bursting into tears during his rendition of "Hey Mama." Or maybe one will recollect the seemingly infinite array of flowing knitwear, oversize sunglasses, and floppy hats sported by "High School Musical" sweetheart Vanessa Hudgens, who spent the weekend cavorting all over the Empire Polo Fields. But while the music and the various bright-eyed, vintage-sporting starlets have remained a constant feature of the festival over the years, one notable change for in the event could be found in the festival's art offerings, which got a tech-savvy update thanks to Intel and Vice.

While art at the desert affair is usually marked by a DIY, folksy aesthetic -- with sculptures imported from Burning Man for the occasion -- this year the technology giant teamed up with nefarious-activity-loving publication to deploy their Creators Project, showcasing artists and filmmakers who engage with digital technology. The result was a series of art installations around the festival grounds, as well as enlivening main-stage performances with light shows and futuristic effects courtesy of the U.K.'s United Visual Artists.

Perhaps the most popular of these concert-enhancing art collaborations was "Summer Into Dust," for which American director Chris Milk arranged to have white balloons (inside of which L.E.D. lights gently pulsed to the music) fall into the crowd as the Arcade Fire show drew to a close. Another interesting work titled "Under Surveillance," came during the Interpol concert on Saturday: as the New York band performed their song "Lights," a new David Lynch animation ("I Touch a Red Button Man") premiered, creating a multimedia experience that organizers describe as "a visual juxtaposition of the seen and the unseen" in which the "observer becomes the observed" in order to explore "the fine line between the viewer and the voyeur."

Intel and Vice also organized "Mirage," an installation by Brazilian artist Muti Randolph in the "Sahara Tent" dance hall that was inspired by a Săo Paulo night club and synced light displays with music. The U.K.'s J. Spaceman (from "space-rock" group Spiritualized) joined forces with filmmaker Johnathan Glazer for an interactive installation described as a "physical manifestation" of the band's track "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space," which involved a dark tent into which burst five rectangular beams of light.

In the Creators Project Tent, smaller works by Feng Mengbo, Mark Essen, Hojun Song, and Lumpens were on view, including "The Long March," a video game by Feng Mengbo, in which a Red Army soldier wages war against various villains -- aliens and Super Mario among them -- by dispatching them with well-aimed cans of Coca Cola. Aside from the offerings from Intel and Vice, there were of course still works on view that managed to meld more of a Watts Tower aesthetic with the light-and-laser-filled vibe. "Fledgling," for instance, was a metal sculpture composed of bicycle cranks, chains, gears, and other parts, which flapped its wings when festivalgoers hopped aboard and turned its pedals.

UMKC Faculty Member Wins Pulitzer Prize for Music

By Steve Paul

About five years ago, Zhou and Chen were approached about composing an opera and they met with Cerise Lim Jacobs, a Boston attorney turned writer. Chen decided she was too busy, and Zhou proceeded with the project to put Jacobs’ libretto to music.

“Madame White Snake” tells the story of a reptile who becomes a woman seeking love in the human world, and the project represented its first musical translation to English.

It also was the biggest production ever staged by Opera Boston, with a budget reaching more than $1 million.

For Zhou, the result was a characteristic blend of Western forms with unmistakable origins in Chinese culture, said Peter Witte, UMKC’s conservatory dean, who saw the premiere in Boston.

“It was a very small company that put on an opera of an immense scale,” Witte said Monday. “And it was the colors and the orchestration of the music that was just stunning.”

Along with the production in Boston, “Madame White Snake” was produced again in October 2010 at a music festival in Beijing and broadcast on national television.

Witte is hopeful that “Madame White Snake” will eventually make it to a Kansas City stage. With the Lyric Opera of Kansas City taking a great leap forward in 2012 by staging John Adams’ monumental opera, “Nixon in China,” Witte said it might be natural to come back a year later with a production of Zhou’s “Madame White Snake.” Conversations clearly would be in order, he said.

Typically, Zhou said, one can’t hope for multiple productions of an opera, but now things might be different.

Zhou has recorded widely, and among his most recent CDs is a selection of his chamber music, “Spirit of Chimes,” released on the Delos label in 2009.

Now he has to finish his “1911 Overture” for Beijing, which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution.

Zhou Long, a Chinese-American composer on the faculty of the UMKC Conservatory of Music, has been working late nights on a commission from a Beijing music festival — the deadline is days away.

So on Monday afternoon, he was taking a nap when the phone rang in his midtown condo and his wife, the composer Chen Yi, woke him up with the news: He had just won the Pulitzer Prize in music.

“Really?” he said. “I’m not a finalist?”

No, you won, she told him.

The prize, awarded Monday afternoon, was for his first opera, a four-act work titled “Madame White Snake,” based on an ancient Chinese folk tale. It premiered in February 2010 at Opera Boston.

The Pulitzer board also named two finalists for its prestigious music award — Fred Lerdahl for “Arches,” a concerto, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, for a Latin-American-influenced cantata titled “Comala.”

The Pulitzer jury described Zhou’s work as “a deeply expressive opera that draws on a Chinese folk tale to blend the musical traditions of the East and the West.”

“It has given me a lot of confidence,” Zhou said of the award.

Zhou, 57, has been on the University of Missouri-Kansas City faculty since 2001, along with Chen, and he currently serves as research professor, spending more time writing music than in the classroom.

The two composers both spent their youthful years during the dark era of China’s Cultural Revolution working in the countryside. Zhou has spoken in the past about putting on simple folk-music shows but also toiling on a remote state-run farm, growing wheat and driving a tractor.

After the thaw in the late 1970s, he and Chen Yi separately found their way to the Beijing Conservatory, where their paths crossed and their musical careers began. They came to the United States in the 1980s, studied at Columbia University in New York, and became award-winning and highly sought-after members of a small group of noted Chinese-American composers.

Chen Yi was the first to arrive in Kansas City, joining the conservatory faculty in 1998.

Sonos Makes It Even Easier To Access All Your Music in One Place

Multi-room music systems developer Sonos is making a passel of announcements Tuesday that should make it easier for music lovers to listen to their entire collections throughout the home.

First of all, Sonos is revealing the Sonos Controller for Android, available in the Android Market today. We got a sneak peek at the app in February, but we got to see it in living color the other day.

As a refresher, Sonos S5 wireless speakers can be placed in any room in the house, and use Wi-Fi to tap into your music library, as well as a variety of Internet music services (Rdio was a recent addition). In the past, one could use the Sonos Controller app for iPhone or iPad to control what’s playing in any given room, on any given speaker. One can either listen to different jams in different rooms, or switch to “Party Mode” and flood the entire house with one song.

Now, Android users can get in on the action with a free app for their handsets (any Android smartphone running Android 2.1+ with a screen size of HVGA 320 x 480, WVGA 480 x 800 or WVGA 480 x 854).

Moreover, those users will get a couple of features that iPhone carriers lack, including the ability to control volume via one’s handset and voice search.

In addition to the Android app, Sonos is also rolling out a new, free software update — Sonos System Software 3.4 — that will add even more music to the mix. In addition to adding support for iPad and iPhone multitasking (which means you can text and jam at the same time now), Sonos 3.4 makes it possible for users to stream practically anything to their Sonos systems via Apple Airplay.

Apple added Airplay to iOS 4.2 for iPad and iPhone in November, so this update takes advantage of that addition by letting you unlock iOS apps — not just apps and websites on your Mac — on your Sonos as well.

All one has to do is connect an Apple Airport Express (which costs $99) to a Sonos ZonePlayer, and then one can listen to friends’ iTunes libraries (provided they’re using the same wireless network), or music from Airplay-supported services like Aweditorium and Spin [iTunes link] magazine’s rad new iPad app.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The key to streaming services taking off with consumers is accessibility, and innovations like this are just paving the way for the likes of MOG and Rdio to go mainstream. The only drawback, in this case, is the price — Sonos systems cost around $400 per room, and that’s without Apple Airport Express.

Still, the announcements made today will only make it easier for music lovers to access new jams, so we’re definitely treading in the right direction.

Inside E R I  Jams

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Monkees Reunion Tour 'Doomed Before It's Begun'?

The Monkees' reunion tour has apparently run into trouble before it has even started with reports suggesting rehearsals have been blighted by internal bickering between the three participating band members.

As previously reported by Spinner, the band, minus original member Michael Nesmith, are set to tour the UK next month as part of their 45th anniversary celebrations. However, with their first date at Liverpool's Echo Arena just over three weeks away it would appear tensions between Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz are running high.

An inside source was quoted in The Sun saying, "It's nearly impossible to get them to agree on anything. All discussions are via a third party -- 'Mr Dolenz wants this, Mr Tork is insisting on that.' They're setting up so many obstacles for themselves that their tour looks doomed before it's even begun."

Glossing over the claims of disharmony, a Monkees spokesperson said, "The band members' requests for the tour are far from unusual. They are all very much looking forward to seeing all their fans again."

'80s Pop Rivals Debbie Gibson and Tiffany Planning to Tour Together

The '80s pop scene was ruled by two teen queens, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. The former hit-making rivals announced that they are teaming up to go on a tour together, themed after the decade that made them famous.

"We want to journey through the '80s and all the artists who influenced us," Tiffany told New York Post.

She and 'Mega Python vs. Gatoroid' co-star Gibson will cover hits by the decades' icons, including Stevie Nicks, Reba McIntyre and Guns N' Roses.

Tiffany, now 39, sky rocketed into pop super-stardom overnight with her 1987 dance hit 'I Think We're Alone Now' from her debut album 'Tiffany' -- while Gibson, 40, topped the charts with hits including 'Lost in Your Eyes' and 'Electric Youth' from her 1989 'Electric Youth.'

Tiffany has since made the jump from her pop beginnings over to country music and released her eighth studio album 'Rose Tattoo' in March 2011.

Mary Robbins Dies Just 12 Days after Husband

Actor-director Tim Robbins' mother, musician Mary Robbins, has died. She was 78.
Robbins' father, Gil Robbins, died earlier this month.

Robbins says his mother died Sunday of a heart arrhythmia, just 12 days after her husband of nearly 59 years passed away. She died at the couple's home in Esteban Cantu, Mexico.

Mary Robbins studied music at the University of California, Los Angeles, and performed professionally in the 1950s.

She successfully battled colon cancer through nutrition and alternative medicine, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in holistic nutrition. She volunteered her services at a clinic near the couple's Mexico home.

Robbins says his mother "had a calm and cheerful demeanor, a sharp wit, a gentle spirit and a generous and loving heart."

She is survived by four children and four grandchildren.

Prince's Guitar Fetches $100,000 At Charity Auction

Race car driver Lewis Hamilton is now the proud owner of a piece of music history. The McClaren Formula One driver shelled out $100,000 for a gold guitar owned by Prince, which was auctioned off for charity.

The legendary performer showed off the instrument during a stop at the 'Lopez Tonight,' thanking Hamilton for the bid. "We got $100,000 for that, brother Lewis Hamilton, the race car driver," he said. "It's gonna be hard to part with. A lot of my stuff gets stolen."

Later this week, Prince will resume his 21-night residency at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The 'Purple Rain' singer kicked off his first show last Thursday (April 14), performing a three-hour set that lasted well past midnight.

Proceeds from the sale of his guitar will help fund art, education and environmental projects for Harlem Children's Zone, a non-profit organization located in New York City. Founded in 1970, the Harlem-based organization provides free educational assistance for children and families, and is aimed at doing "whatever it takes" to help young people succeed. Today the HCZ serves over 8,000 children and 6,000 adults offering innovative and efficient programs aimed at shattering the cycle of poverty for the families that it assists.

Benefit Auction For X Japan's 'Crystal Piano' Nabs $1 Million in Bids

With five days left before bidding closes, the "crystal" piano being auctioned by X Japan's Yoshiki has nabbed over $1 million in bids! Yoshiki put the piano up for auction on Sunday, April 17th, in order to generate money for the Japan Relief Fundraising Auction in conjunction with Yahoo! Japan.

The bid shot from $.01 to $42,000 only eight minutes after being posted! The high bid is currently at more than $1.2 million. The piano is a beautiful instrument; it's a custom-made, plexi-glass "Yoshiki Signature Piano by Kawai" and even has Yoshiki's name engraved on it. Yoshiki used the piano when X Japan played a spate of now-legendary shows at the Tokyo Dome.

The earthquake that ravaged Yoshiki's native Japan has sent ripples throughout his life. He was in a Tokyo recording studio when the earthquake hit and he felt the tremors despite not being in close proximity to the epicenter. Yoshiki and X Japan even postponed the release of 'Jade,' their debut US single, in order to offer aid to their fellow countrymen and to participate in recovery efforts.

Besides auctioning off his "crystal" piano, Yoshiki has masterminded a celebrity auction via his Yoshiki Foundation America. The proceeds will benefit quake and tsunami survivors. Fellow rockers Marilyn Manson and Anthony Kiedis (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) have donated items, as have comic book author Stan Lee and actors Robert Pattinson and James Franco.

For more info on the Yoshiki Foundation America, go here.

Stephen King Prefers Metallica and Anthrax to Ozzy and Black Sabbath

Horror author Stephen King admits that he still listens to heavy metal. The literary mastermind recently told The Atlantic Monthly that he listens to a whopping two of the 'Big Four' when writing.

"Metallica, Anthrax, I still listen to those guys," King said. The author also gave a shout out to glammy alt rock band The Living Things, deeming them a "very loud group." King also dropped a potentially controversial bombshell, admitting that he is not a fan of Ozzy Osbourne, solo or otherwise.

"I never cared for Ozzy [Osbourne] very much... [Black Sabbath] don't really work for me," King said.

While most metalheads might consider King's statement to border on blasphemy, we can't fault him too much for not loving Ozzy simply because the man still listens to Metallica and Anthrax. We'd say it's a fair trade-off.

Ronstadt Donates Collection To Univ. Of Arizona

Linda Ronstadt has donated orchestrations, memorabilia and photographs to the University of Arizona's school of music.

The singer's collection also includes manuscripts from Nelson Riddle, with whom Ronstadt had a longtime artistic relationship.

The Arizona Daily Star says the Ronstadt collection joins that of other music greats housed at the Tucson school including Riddle, Artie Shaw, Jo Stafford and Les Baxter.

A Tucson native, Ronstadt attended the university in the 1960s before she left for California and a career in music. She had No. 1 hits in rock and country in a diverse career that spanned the 1970s and 1980s.

Ronstadt also has recorded albums of American standards and mariachi music and has performed light opera, with roles in Puccini's "La Boheme" and Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance."

Jeff Bridges Signs a Record Deal, Inches Closer To Becoming His Character from 'Crazy Heart'

Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for his portrayal of a down-and-out musician on the road to nowhere in Crazy Heart, and now he’s officially on the road to real-life musician-dom with a record deal on Blue Note—the jazz-originated label that is currently home to Norah Jones and Amos Lee, among others.

Bridges will team up with old friend and producer T-Bone Burnett (who also twiddled the knobs on the Crazy Heart soundtrack, which won him an Oscar as well) to release an album. It will contain a handful of original compositions as well as covers of songs by Tom Waits, Bo Ramsey and Greg Brown.

His solo debut, due later this summer, will also feature guest appearances by the likes of Roseanne Cash and Sam Phillips (among others), though there is no word on whether or not Bridges’ greatest duet partner will be along for the ride.

Between the album news and Bridges penchant for getting real with reporters, it’s like the actor really is morphing into his Crazy Heart alter ego Otis “Bad” Blake (though honestly, better him than Clu 2).

Johnny Cash’s Boyhood Home to be Restored, Festival Announced

Johnny Cash’s boyhood home will be saved for posterity. Arkansas State University has purchased the Dyess, Arkansas, home and announced plans to restore the house’s structure and create a museum. At a press conference Thursday, a spokesman for the university said that the plans would be paid for by proceeds generated by an annual Johnny Cash Music Festival.

The inaugural festival has been slated for August 4 at ASU’s convention center. All of the artists announced for the festival were either friends or relatives of the late country legend. The list of performers, which is still growing, includes Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash, brother Tommy Cash, son John Carter Cash, and friends Rodney Crowell, George Jones, Gary Morris and Kris Kristofferson.

Cash, who died in 2003, moved with his family into the house in 1935, when he was three years old. He lived there until he graduated high school in 1950 and left to join the Air Force.