Dirty Linen news: May/June issue; Editors

Check our website for Dirty Linen news:

• May/June issue: The May/June 2010 issue has been canceled. Information will be posted on our website when news about a resumption in publishing Dirty Linen is known.
  A new customer service phone number in California has been set up. All subscription and back issue orders, address changes, and questions about your subscription or other order should be directed here. 1-866-702-7778. Press “2” for Dirty Linen, then “1” for Customer Service. The office is open from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time. (Noon to 8pm Eastern Time.)
• Change in editors: Longtime Dirty Linen editors Sue and Paul Hartman have left the Visionation family of publications.

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WhyHunger Marks 35th Anniversary, Chapin Award Honorees Announced

On Monday, June 21 at Gotham Hall in New York City, WhyHunger will celebrate its 35th anniversary by paying tribute to the 2010 WhyHunger Chapin Award honorees including the grassroots winners of the Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards. These awards will be given in recognition of their inspiring work and dedication on issues of hunger and poverty on a local, national and global level. The annual dinner will be hosted by three-time Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin.
Tickets can be purchased at www.whyhunger.org/dinner.

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King Sunny Ade and his African Beats Tour Cancelled

It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the entire April/May 2010 North American tour for King Sunny Ade and his African Beats.

On March 26th 2010 a tragic car accident took the lives of two members of the African Beats, talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope, who were en-route to a video shoot for a forthcoming recording. When the US Embassy refused to grant visas to replacement members in a timely manner, there was confusion about the possible courses of action.At the same time, it became clear that the artist and the band had neither recovered from the impact of the tragedy, nor were they able to find consensus on how to move forward with normal touring.

As a result, the North American April/May 2010 tour has been canceled until such a time as King Sunny Ade and his group have sufficiently regrouped and are ready to face the rigors of an International tour again.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to the band and the families of the deceased. On behalf of the artist and his band we extend our apologies to all who will be disappointed by their inability to perform in North America this year.

Submitted by Rock Paper Scissors, Inc.

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Great American Taxi Free Download for Earth Day and Coal Miners

Just in time for Earth Day (April 22), Great American Taxi, whose current album Reckless Habits is climbing the Americana radio airplay charts, has donated a free download of a song, “Appalachian Soul” culled from its debut album Streets of Gold, to raise awareness of the plight of coal miners and their communities in West Virginia. The track is offered free to radio stations that agree to direct listeners to http://www.greatamericantaxi.com, which in turn links to West Virginia Council of Churches web site http://wvcc.org, which collects donations for the miners.

GAT frontman Vince Herman, who grew up in West Virginia, comments: “Great American Taxi sends our thoughts out to the families and communities affected by the mining disaster at the upper big branch mine. We hope that their unconquerable Appalachian spirit and families can help them navigate these difficult times. The country and the world share in their grief. We need coal.  We need our miners to be safe. We need understanding on all sides of this contentious issue of our national energy policy. We would like to make Taxis’ tribute to that Appalachian spirit available as a download here and suggest a donation to the WV council of churches to assist  the families of our fallen brothers. Let’s all come together and honor the families who have paid that ultimate price for our energy needs and hope that this is the last such disaster we must face.”

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“I Need That Record…” Released on DVD

MVD Visual is pleased to announce  “I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store” was released for North American distribution on April 17 (Record Store Day). It will be offered exclusively to independent record stores for a period of 90 days. Afterwards, it will be available everywhere on July 27.

Guerilla filmmaker Brendan Toller presents a documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade.

Greedy record labels, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, Ecommerce, shoddy “stars” pushed by big money, and the digital revolution all pose threats on the very well being of our favorite record stores and the music industry at large. Will these stores die? Will they survive?

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No One Knows About Persian Cats Film & Soundtrack

No One Knows About Persian Cats- a film about Tehran’s underground indie music scene that has won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the audience award at the Miami Film Festival -is finally opening across the United States. While the political themes of the film are engaging, eye-opening and supremely important the overarching theme of the film is the shared love of rock & roll music. The soundtrack album (A European Best Seller) was released in the U.S. through Milan Records on April 13. The film was simultaneously made available nationwide on IFC Films’ video on demand platform starting April 16, available to over 50 million homes in all major markets.

Persian Cats follows young singer Negar and her musician boyfriend Ashkan (Take It Easy Hospital), who attempt to form a rock band after being released from prison.Forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran , and dreaming of performing in Europe, they plan their escape. The necessary paperwork proves impossible to come by legitimately, so they team up with Nader, a fast-talking music promoter, who may be able to provide the connections they need.

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Carole King and James Taylor Present VIP Stage Seats

Carole King and James Taylor are offering fans the opportunity-of-a-lifetime, to see two musical icons up-close-and-personal with ‘intimate and in the round’ Stage Seats on their Troubadour Reunion Tour. The VIP Stage Seats were designed as tables for two surrounding the center stage performance. The innovative design recreates the intimacy of a vintage nightclub within the high-energy atmosphere of a modern arena performance–paying tribute to Carole King and James Taylor’s legendary 1970 performances at L.A.’s famed Troubadour club.

All VIP Stage Seat Packages benefit established charities, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Alliance for the Wild Rockies, which Ms. King and Mr. Taylor have long championed–plus more than 90 additional national and local charitable organizations. The VIP Stage Seat Packages are estimated to raise over $1 million for charity and are available for 37 of the Troubadour Reunion North American concerts.

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John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light Photo Contest

This is an open call for photographers of any age, background, skill level, and artistic point of view to participate in Beautiful Empty Photo Conspiracy – a music+photography collaboration. The goal of this project is simple: to use the release of a new record from an indie band as creative inspiration for more and different art, and through this collaboration, to bring the music and photography communities closer together.

Beautiful Empty Photo Conspiracy will be curated by Lucia De Giovanni, an award-winning photographer, internationally known photojournalist, and founder of MYPP, Mentor a Young Photographer Program. Participating artists will draw their inspiration from Beautiful Empty, the new record from John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light. Each photographer will use the music and lyrics from Beautiful Empty as their creative starting point and then do what they do best: make interesting, challenging, amazing, curious, beautiful art.

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Concord Music Group Acquires Celebrated American Roots Label Rounder Records

Acquisition Firmly Establishes the Combined Entity as the World’s Preeminent Independent Music Company

Los Angeles, CA – April 14th, 2010 – The Concord Music Group today announced the acquisition of storied Massachusetts-based independent music label Rounder Records.  Rounder, celebrating its 40^th year as the world’s leading American roots music label, is a major force in a broad range of musical genres including bluegrass, Americana, singer-songwriter, Cajun & Zydeco and children’s music. Rounder possesses an extraordinary recorded catalog  and current artist roster including bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss, singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, actor/musician Steve Martin, jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux, the iconic Robert Plant, notable children’s artist/activist Raffi and country legend Willie Nelson, to name just a few.  The acquisition of Rounder and its essential collection of over 3,000 masters combined with Concord Music Group’s rich catalog of more than 10,000 master recordings strengthens Concord’s status as one of the world’s most significant independent record companies, with a leadership position in multiple genres.

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Indie Acoustic Project Announces “Best CDs of 2009″ Finalists

The Indie Acoustic Project is proud to announce the finalists for the IAP’s “Best CDs of 2009″ Awards.  The 3 finalists in each of 12 categories were selected from the multitudes of CDs that were considered for the awards.  The quality of the CDs submitted was terrific, and this has lead to the only major problem we faced: because there were far more than 36 excellent CDs (and only 36 finalist slots), many deserving recordings could not be included.

It is our hope that these awards will help all indie artists by generating increased awareness of independently produced music from around the world.

FINALISTS: The artist’s name is first (listed alphabetically within each category), followed by the CD title in italics, followed by the name of the record label.

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