HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE MILLS!
Happy birthday wishes from all of us here!
News
FIND OF THE WEEK: GA MUSIC HALL OF FAME
This photo was taken by Chris Bilheimer of the exhibit he designed and installed to coincide with R.E.M.’s induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
NICE NPR FEATURE ON MUSIC PICK BY KCRW’S ANNE LITT
A nice feature this morning on NPR featuring our old friend Anne Litt of KCRW and her latest favorite music discovery–Jagwar Ma from Sydney Australia. More at NPR.org.
NEW MOUNTAIN STAGE DOCUMENTARY
One Sunday morning almost 23 years ago, R.E.M., on what became a six-year break from actually touring, descended on the great state of West Virginia–and appeared for the fairly new Public Radio show Mountain Stage. Others on the bill were friends of the band, including Billy Bragg and Robyn
JOSEPH ARTHUR TO PERFORM AT THIRD ANNUAL TODOS SANTOS MUSIC FESTIVAL
Hotel California and Vaso Loco, LLC, a company formed by former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, have announced the addition of Joseph Arthur to the lineup for the third annual Todos Santos Music Festival, a seven-day music event benefiting local charities. The festival will be held in Todos Santos, located in
WATCH TIRED PONY’S ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW PERFORMANCE
Tired Pony was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier today. Watch the clip of their performance of “All Things All At Once” here.
A LOOK BACK AT 12-12-12
A year ago today, Michael was busy in NYC, and a nice blogpost at slicingupeyeballs.com sums up the day and music.
MIKE MILLS AND ROBERT MCDUFFIE, FRIENDS FROM MACON, GA DAYS, AND STILL
My old friend Robert McDuffie has been accomplishing amazing things since we were in choir together as teenagers. I hope to join him in an endeavor in the near future. Meanwhile, here are some of the things he’s been up to.
Rome Chamber Music Festival at romechamberfestival.org; also
CATCH TIRED PONY ON THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW FRIDAY
Tired Pony, featuring Gary Lightbody and Peter Buck, will be on the Ellen Degeneres Show tomorrow afternoon. Please be sure to check your local listings for air time and visit ellentv.com for more information.
NELSON MANDELA: 1918-2013
All of us were admirers of this complicated and great man and although we never had a lot of contact with him, there was this one time, in London in May of 2001 on the promotour for REVEAL. The band played a wet Trafalgar Square for South Africa Freedom Day
PETER SET TO DJ AT THE SAVOY IN PORTLAND DECEMBER 15TH
FIND OF THE WEEK: PRESERVATION NEWS
Years ago, when Athens faced a roiling political controversy involving building a civic center on the site of an old warehouse district, the band offered to underwrite a study of the area’s history conducted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It helped to preserve the old firehall on
“BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME” AT ATHENS CINE FRIDAY
This Friday in Athens, Cine will be featuring the film, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. This documentary about the legendary band from Memphis features interviews and performance footage from the band as well as a host of artists who were influenced by Big Star, including Mike Mills and
PETER AND SCOTT MCCAUGHEY PLAY WITH PEARL JAM IN PORTLAND
oregonlive.com reports that Peter and Scott McCaughey were among the guest musicians to join Pearl Jam onstage at their recent show in Portland, Oregon. The pair joined their friends from Seattle for a blistering version of Neil Young’s “Rockin in the Free World.” Members of Sleater-Kinney
PARIS 1983 THANKSGIVING REMEMBERED
A great Thanksgiving memory was one of the most memorable early R.E.M. shows–Thanksgiving night 1983– at Les Bain Douches in Paris. It was a fairly early show I guess and afterward they took us upstairs to the restaurant and one of the entree selections was luncheon meat turkey–it was the