Is anybody headed down to New Orleans Jazzfest? If so, come and hang with us the very last night, Sunday, May 4 @ The Blue Nile. We've got our whole crew on the bill. It'll be a fine way to kiss and say goodbye to what's sure to be another unforgettable experience in The Big Easy. The show starts early. Here's the line-up:

HYENA Records Presents...
"Live" At The Blue Nile (buy tix here)
MARCO BENEVENTO TRIO / 8PM
SKERIK'S MAELSTROM TRIO / 9PM
MIKE DILLON'S GO-GO JUNGLE / 10PM
JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE / 11PM
JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / Midnight

And here's a schedule of other performances going on from these fine freaks...

Saturday, April 26
SKERIK'S MAELSTROM TRIO / Hi Ho Lounge / 10PM
Monday, April 28
MARCO BENEVENTO / WWOZ Piano Night @ House of Blues / 8PM
Tuesday, April 29
JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / Hi Ho Lounge / 9:30 PM
SKERIK'S MAELSTROM TRIO / Hi Ho Lounge / 9:30 PM
JAMES BLOOD ULMER / Ponderosa Stomp @ House of Blues / 11PM (Parish Stage)
Wednesday, April 30
JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE / Louisiana Music Factory / 1PM
MIKE DILLON'S GO-GO JUNGLE / The Howlin' Wolf / 9:30 PM
JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / Blue Nile / 10PM (*w/ Deitch, Daniels, Neville & Big Sam)
Thursday, May 1
JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE / The Fairgrounds / 12:15 PM (WWOZ Jazz Tent)
JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / D.B.A. / 10 PM (Lil Tae Rides Again NOLA Release Party)
Friday, May 2
MARCO BENEVENTO TRIO / One Eyed Jack's / 9PM (Invisible Baby NOLA Release Party)
JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE / Snug Harbor / 1AM
MIKE DILLON'S GO-GO JUNGLE / Dragon's Den / 2AM
Saturday, May 3
JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE / Donna's / 10PM
MIKE DILLON'S GO-GO JUNGLE / Les Bon Temps Roule / Midnight

We're getting ready to drop The Brakes' new album, Tale Of Two Cities. It'll be available everywhere on May 6th. And in the meantime, tour dates are stacking up. Here's what it looks like as of now. Make plans, get your tickets, let some real deal rock n roll save your soul!

Our good friend and super-inspired music journalist Mike Greenhaus is going to host Marco Benevento on his podcast Cold Turkey to talk about the new album, Invisible Baby. However, he's looking for the questions to come from you. I'll let him explain it in his words:

Pick Marco Benevento’s Brain  

Marco Benevento will make his third appearance on Relix’s Cold Turkey later this month to celebrate the release of his first solo studio album, Invisible Baby. But, taking a cue from our regular Jambands.com Reader Interviews, the enthusiastic keyboardist will field questions primarily submitted by Jambands.com and Relix readers. So, if there is something you’ve always wondered about Benevento’s new CD, weekly residency at New York’s Sullivan Hall, arsenal of keyboards or myriad of other projects please send an e-mail to mike@relix.com with the subject "My Marco Interview." Benevento will sit down with the Cold Turkey team the afternoon before his CD release party at Sullivan Hall on January 31. Also, be sure to include your full name so we can give you credit on the air.

Benevento’s residency at Sullivan Hall will continue this Thursday with special guests Stanton Moore and Marc Friedman. For more on Cold Turkey, please click here.

There's been an amazing outpouring from friends and fans of Joel since his passing. The most important is the first one here, a tribute to Joel by his son Adam that aired today on NPR's "Weekend Edition."

NPR Weekend Edition

Culture Catch

New York Times

Los Angeles Times

Washington Post

Philadelphia Daily News

All Music Guide - Thom Jurek's blog

Harp Magazine

MusicSojourns - Old JD Interview

Over the coming months, we'll be building a page with links to old JD interviews. Nobody could tell it like Joel. The stories he had to share and his insight into American music history (all history, for that matter) was profound.

Shit, all these damn year end lists I keep reading everywhere, it's driving me crazy. But hell, I figure rather than fight city hall, I'd jump on the bandwagon with my own lists. So here ya go...

Top 10 Albums of 2007

***I couldn't pick ten, so here's 18 and if you're wondering why so many of our own HYENA records are on my list, less you think it's obnoxious, it's because we only put out records that we totally dig like crazy...and please disregard the numerical order, it's only as they came to mind, it doesn't represent a favorite to least favorite order.

1. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
2. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
3. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
4. Backyard Tire Fire - Vagabonds & Hooligans
5. Lucinda Williams - West
6. Mushroom with Eddie Gale - Joint Happening
7. Xavier Rudd - White Moth
8. Brothers Of A Feather - Live At The Roxy
9. Mike Dillon's Go-Go Jungle - Battery Milk
10. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
11. James Blood Ulmer - Bad Blood In The City
12. Magnolia Electric Co. - Sojourner
13. Mocean Worker - Cinco De MoWo!
14. Olav Larsen - Love's Come To Town
15. Harlem Experiment - Harlem Experiment
16. Seth Walker - Seth Walker
17. Grayson Capps - Songbones
18. Amy LaVere - Anchors & Anvils

Austin's SETH WALKER Signs with HYENA Records

Set To Release Self-Titled New Album on October 23

Southern U.S. Tour Dates Announced Through Remainder of 2007

"Seth Walker swings, rocks, boogies, and plays low down blues all in one set, all on one record. He’s a great singer, and authentic performer of real American music, and he’s writing new classics. Don't miss a chance to hear Seth. In person or on record, he’s the real deal."
- Marcia Ball

"This young man is pure talent, a masterful blues guitarist, a singer with swing in his voice and a writer whose originals such as "Gone Before I Knew It" and "2' Left to the Ceiling" sound less composed than unleashed."
- Austin American Statesman

Hey Everybody--

We hope you're all doing well. We're pushin' on, ever forward over here. Our release schedule has slowed down a bit. It occurred to us that we've gathered such an amazing collection of diverse artists, we should take the summer to get their music into as many hands as possible. And so far, so good. We've got tours crisscrossing all 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii one day we'll reach you too) and even hopping the pond for Europe and beyond. A number of local shows and festivals have been an incredible experience in recent months. It's amazing that despite what's being forced down our throat by the majority of corporate media (couldn't they just once do a story on, oh say, Son Volt, Mavis Staples, Dale Watson, Doc Watson, David Murray, somebody besides an American Idol graduate or those poor lost souls Britney and Paris), there are as many people as ever excited about a staggeringly eclectic breadth of music and artists. I watched with my own two eyes as 500 or so kids hung on every last note that stuttered, sparked and zinged out of James Blood Ulmer's guitar during his Bonnaroo set. Damn, did that reaffirm my faith 'cause sometimes it gets frustrating trying to find ways to sneak the good stuff through the machine. But hey, ain't that what Yankee ingenuity is for?