From Curry's blog:

What a day it has been!!! I think that the jet lag is still an issue even 3 days since we landed. We met up with the rest of the crew this morning at the Melbourne airport and after waiting what seemed like forever, finally got a couple of van's to drive to the hotel. It's a fairly large team, Steve Potts on drums, Lester Snell on organ and keyboards, Steve Cropper on lead guitar, Duck Dunn on bass, Carl Dimataga on rythym guitar, Matt Ottignon on sax, Ben Gurton on trumpet, Guy and also 3 background singers!!! Laura and I got to ride with Guy, Gary Pinto (background vocals) and Ben on the way to the hotel. It was a fun ride and we got some insight into how Guy really feels about David Jones department stores, the way Gary can tell a real motorcyclist from an amateur and why Ben thinks we need to try a "pie floater". A very fun way to save us a 50 dollar cab ride from the airport. We had a fine time getting to the Soul Lounge just in time tonite. After losing track of time (since neither Laura or I remembered to bring a watch with us), me forgetting the paper with the address to the venue on it AND 2 CAB DRIVERS NOT KNOWING WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!....we arrived to see lines going around both sides of the theater. That was pretty freakin cool. Tonite we thought Steve Cropper was going to do the session with us but he was unable to attend, Titus assures us he will be joining in on the Sydney show. Guy had a surprise for everyone though, he had his little brother Chris come out and sing a song while he sat at the piano. Then if that wasn't cool enough, when Gary sang his tune, Guy sat in on the drums!!!! What a pleasure it is to be surrounded by so much talent. It's makes the whole experience that much sweeter...I can't wait for the Sydney show......talk to ya soon.

Don't miss the orchestral psych rock of Antenna Shoes on The Ardent Sessions today. And don't miss them when they play this month at the Six Degrees of Memphis party on March 14th during SXSW!

Listen Here

Playlist
01:03 Wait
06:01 Open Arms
10:41 MIA
17:16 T-New
20:57 Singer
24:27 Now & Then
27:16 Nonsense
29:43 Summer's End
36:06 Bitches in the City
43:03 All You Left Behind

Upcoming Tour:
Mar 14, 2008 Opal Divine's Freehouse Austin, TX
Mar 22, 2008 HiTone Cafe Memphis, TN
Apr 4, 2008 HiTone Cafe Memphis, TN
Apr 11, 2008 The Basement Nashville, TN
Apr 12, 2008 Barley's Taproom Knoxville, TN
Apr 24, 2008 Daytrotter Davenport, IA
Apr 24, 2008 The Hideout Chicago, IL

See Also: http://www.myspace.com/antennashoes

L to R: Susan Marshall, engineer Jeff Powell, and assistant Lucas Peterson

Ardent veteran Susan Marshall was back in the studio this month continuing work on her new record with engineer Jeff Powell and assistant Lucas Peterson. Susan has lent her voice to a wide range of records recorded at Ardent over the years, including Cat Power's The Greatest, which she then went on tour in support of. We are proud to have her back home working on her new solo record.

The album, to be titled Little Red, should be complete in the near future. In the meantime, check out Susan's Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/susanmarshall.

In the picture: Nick Redmond of Ardent Studios with David Porter.

This year's Staxtacular event took place on March 7th at the Stax Museum in Memphis. Several Ardent employees were in attendance, and had a blast. Despite a rare snowy night in Memphis, the auction raised more than $115,000 for the Stax Music Academy, making this the event's most successful year ever!

From the Staxtacular Web site:

All proceeds from Staxtacular benefit the life-shaping music programs and unique performance opportunities offered by the Stax Music Academy. With your help, the Stax Music Academy will use music and creativity to mentor nearly 350 young people this year at a time in their lives when they need us the most. For more information, please visit www.StaxMusicAcademy.org

The Soulsville Foundation is happy to announce that its Stax Music Academy’s SoulSchool Spring Break Concert will be held Wednesday, March 19th, at Buckman Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. and will feature Stax Music Academy students joined by visiting Music Directors from Berklee College of Music and Internationally Renowned Kirk Whalum. For more info, visit www.staxmuseumnews.blogspot.com.

In the picture: Andy Summers of The Police with Dave DiMartino

In this interview between rock critic Dave DiMartino and A. C. Rhodes, DiMartino talks about his experiences with Big Star just after the release of Radio City.

In East Lansing, there was a club called the Brewery, which would often offer top-name national/international talent regularly on certain nights. On their “off nights” they would feature local bands on a week-by-week basis. So, it turns out that Big Star was such a non-commercial blip that they have been booked to be that week’s “local” band, playing four or five consecutive nights. I was ecstatic, so three things happened.

Read more..

via Chorley Citizen

DESCRIBED as one of the most promising blues talents to emerge from Britain in a long time, 18-year-old Oli Brown and his band have been taking the industry by storm.

This year is shaping up to be an exciting one with the release of their debut studio album, a European tour supporting the legendary Edgar Winter and appearances in America.

Oli spoke to us ahead of his appearance at one of the biggest events in the blues calendar - the Burnley Blues Festival.

See Also: The Ardent Sessions featuring Antenna Shoes

Generous Gambler by Antenna Shoes is set for release on April 1st, 2008.