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PETER SET TO DJ AT THE SAVOY IN PORTLAND DECEMBER 15TH


Peter returns to The Savoy in Portland, OR, for another DJ stint on December 15th. If you didn’t get a chance to catch him in October, make plans to join him for a great night of music and some seriously rare 45’s. More information at the

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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

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“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

MIKE SET TO HIT THE ROAD WITH JOSEPH ARTHUR


I am psyched to be on the road with Joseph Arthur and Bill Dobrow, currently touring as (at least in our minds) Joseph Arthur and the New Professionals. We are playing songs from Joseph’s two Boogie Christ records, plus a few other selections. Look it up on josepharthur.com.

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MICHAEL DESIGNS A SKATEBOARD FOR PROJECT LOOP AUCTION


Michael Stipe and Chris Bilheimer are among the 100-plus celebrated artists from the art, music and skateboarding world who have designed skateboards to be auctioned off to help Project LOOP raise money for a skatepark for the kids of Taylor, Texas. The auction, which began this past

AN EARLY INTERVIEW FROM THE VAULTS


The Guardian has posted a great article from Trouserpress from 1983 in which the band is interviewed during their first stop in Britain. Check it out here.

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21 YEARS AGO TODAY… GREENPEACE BENEFIT AT 40 WATT


With Peter having just played the 40 Watt last Thursday night with Kevn Kinney, we were reminded of another occasion on which the guys played the then brand-new location of the 40 Watt which had just relocated to its current incarnation on West Washington Street. That night, 21 years

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JIM MCKAY FILM FESTIVAL CONTINUES THROUGH MONDAY IN ATHENS


The film festival honoring the work of Jim McKay is going great and has been very well received and well-attended, especially considering how jammed Athens was this past weekend. Michael especially, but also Peter and Mike, have attended some of the screenings, and Michael did a great Q&A after

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MICHAEL CATCHES UP WITH SINEAD O’CONNOR


Here’s a nice photo of Michael and Sinead O’Connor communing at one of her recent shows in New York City at City Winery. The Irish singer is currently on tour in support of her album “How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?

“I’ve seen Sinead many times