The 9513 Country Music — Two Auburn University students, Ryan Leander and Michael Wekall, created a website in January for the sole purpose of soliciting a hug from Taylor Swift, which they collected on Monday when Swift surprised them with a free mini-concert. New release... more info

New Times Broward-Palm Beach, FL — David Lowery has a gift for writing great punk and roots rock loaded with humor and irony without straying into the land of novelty. With Camper Van Beethoven in the '80s, he gave us "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Eye of Fatima." Then, after CVB b... more info

The 9513 Country Music — The last time Lonestar had a Top 10 single was in 2006 (“Mountains,” from the album of the same name). Then in November of 2007 lead singer Richie McDonald left, handing the lead vocal reins over to Cody Collins, who eased into the role v... more info

Live Daily — Singer/songwriter Mark Linkous, who performed and recorded under the name Sparklehorse, committed suicide Saturday in Tennessee. He was 47 years old. According to his manager, Shelby Meade, Linkous shot himself in an alley outside a friend's home.... more info

Live Daily — Currently out on the road with a scaled-down, two-man, acoustic version of the group, Cracker [ tickets ] has lined up co-headlining dates with Reverend Horton Heat for later this spring. Pared down to frontman David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hi... more info

Live Daily — Rockabilly revivalists Reverend Horton Heat [ tickets ] will embark on a spring tour with Cracker beginning in May, after the band finishes up its own headlining dates over the next few months. The group--led by singer/guitarist Jim Heath, also kn... more info

LargeHeartedBoy — Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Britt Daniel (Spoon): 2010-01-23, Brooklyn (Sound Fix records instore) [mp3,ogg,flac] "Written in Reverse" [mp3] Britt Daniel (Spoon): 2010-01-23, Brooklyn [mp3,ogg,flac] "I Summon You" [mp3] other Britt Daniel p... more info

Brooklyn Vegan — by BBG The Reverend Horton Heat The Reverend Horton Heat will be spending lots of time on the road in February, March, April and May, both here and abroad. That includes a thirteen night tour with Cracker that brings the... more info

Live Daily — Cracker will set out next month for a stretch of acoustic-only road dates, stripped down to a duo, as the band continues to support its most recent studio album. The group--pared down to frontman David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman for the u... more info

Big Apple Music Scene — It seems like Cracker has been around forever, right? Well, only since 1991, but that’s still a long time! And the group is still touring! They’ll be at Highline Ballroom on Friday, January 15, along with Camper Van Beethoven (buy tickets here). ... more info