GEORGIA THEATRE MEMORIES


Many have probably heard the sad news of the terrible fire at the Georgia Theatre this morning in downtown Athens, just a block away from where we work at REMHQ. We have enjoyed a really good relationship with the wonderful people at the Theatre all these years, and our

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BONNAROO PHOTOS OF PETER


Thanks to Nic Close for sending these shots of Peter, Robyn Hitchcock, Bill Rieflin, and Scott McCaughey from their weekend performance at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee.

RECKONING DELUXE GETS 4-STAR RS REVIEW, MERCHANDISE SALE, AND MORE


Rolling Stone has given the soon-to-be released Reckoning Deluxe Edition a strong 4-star review in their current issue. (Click here to read). The Deluxe Edition, out on June 23rd, features a remastered version of the original CD as well as a bonus disc of a previously unreleased

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PETER BEGINS THE BEGIN WITH THE DECEMBERISTS


Peter made a surprise appearance Wednesday night at Radio City Music Hall where he joined The Decemberists for a rousing version of R.E.M. standard “Begin the Begin” during the Portland-based band’s concert at the venerable New York City venue.

Peter is currently on tour with

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HISTORIC NIGHT FOR CHRIS BILHEIMER


Chris Bilheimer, R.E.M.’s artistic design director, was honored last night for his exemplary service to the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation at the local preservation group’s annual awards ceremony. Chris was presented with the organization’s Volunteer of the Year Award for his outstanding contributions to “Heritage,” the Foundation’s quarterly newsletter.

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R.E.M. RELEASES FONT COLLECTION


In the past, R.E.M. have had countless unique logos and typography. From Ed Rogers’ handwriting on Out Of Time to the many hand-drawn song titles of Reckoning, typography has been an important part of R.E.M.’s artwork. Until recently, individual letterforms were made as needed, but for the last five years,

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WEEKEND REPORT: PETER HITS THE ROAD WITH ROBYN AND MORE


Peter returns to the road again next week with Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 with shows in Philadelphia, Annapolis, DC, Boston, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, June 6th-June 11th. The band will also play the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 13 (read the HQ interview with Peter in

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WATCH THE MAKING OF MURMUR INTERVIEW HERE (UPDATED)


This past Friday night in Winston-Salem, Mitch Easter and Don Dixon (producers of R.E.M.’s Murmur and Reckoning) got together with former Rolling Stone writer Parke Puterbaugh to discuss the making of Murmur. The panel was part of the Revolve Film Music Festival’s music night and it was generously

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DEMO BUZZ AND OTHER NEWS


As Paste.com and Pitchfork.com reported earlier this week, Peter and Mike recently recorded demos in Portland, Oregon, with producer Jacknife Lee (Accelerate) and engineer Tucker Martine (The Decembrists). The sessions yielded 14 instrumental tracks which Peter describes as running the sonic gamut from “pretty acoustic things,

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PETER, MINUS FIVE ROCK FOR SCHOOL


Thanks to Scott McCaughey for the following update:

The Minus 5, sporting yet another one-time-only line-up of Peter Buck, Scott, current M5 drummer Ezra Holbrook, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Dave Depper (Norfolk & Western, Loch Lomond, Jolie Holland), and Rebecca Gates (Spinanes), performed at a benefit for the LEP (Leadership &

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RECKONING ANNIVERSARY REISSUE WITH BONUS DISC DUE OUT IN JUNE


On June 23, 2009, Universal Music will release Reckoning – Deluxe Edition (I.R.S./A&M/UMe), a two-CD set, featuring the original album remastered, plus a bonus disc of a previously unreleased concert recorded during the band’s “Little America” tour at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom on July 7, 1984 (broadcast on WXRT) (see