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It's vacation time. See you next Monday.

Headed to N.C. for a few days. Talk amongst yourselves.

Former TimesCast production genius Vineyard lives in Austin, Texas, these days, and posted this bit of sniz about last weekend's South by Southwest fest:

>Yesterday was the official end of SXSW '09 - my second SXSW experience since living in Austin. Here is a list of bands that I was stoked to check out (all were free):

>MADBALL
>YOUNG WIDOWS (x2)
>ANNIHILATION TIME
>THE BRONX
>IREPRESS
>EARTHLESS (FEAT. J. MASCIS)
>TRASH TALK
>ZOROASTER
>RWAKE
>DETROIT7
>RED FANG
>MY DISCO
>TURBOSLUT
>TROPHY WIFE
>PYGMY LUSH
>WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
>JUNIUS
>CASPIAN
>TOMBS

>This is a partial list of bands I remember seeing from Tuesday, March 17 - Sunday, March 22.

Yes, ladies and germs, it's the warning against placing brown M&Ms among the band's backstage snacks.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1211081vanhalen1.html

Enjoy!

Chuck Brown spent some time with us, and what a cool guy he is. Read the full story here. Brown brings the funk to Jeff Center on Friday night.

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For some reason, Seth Williamson's review of the Vince Gill show was not online all weekend. Here it is now.

And here are a couple of photos from the show.

We just didn't have nearly enough room for this in print, so here's a link to a huge list of Halloween party songs. Check it out at ocregister.com.

Here you have two music writers -- Ben Wener and Keli Skye Fadroski of the Orange County Register -- having way too much fun compiling scary-day faves. It's a fun list.

From an Awful's myspace.com e-mail:

Here is our November schedule a few stand outs to hit you with are The Mighty Mcfly downtown on the 8th, Villanova on the 7th and 8th at Towers and Salem, Wrong Way (The Sublime Tribute) at Towers on the 1st, The Soul Brothers at Towers and Blacksburg, and of course Tim Reynolds and TR3 in Blacksburg as well as THE Dave Matthews Tribute the very next night.

Read more »

I'm transcribing my interview with Secor, for a story (with podcast) that's scheduled to run Monday. I hasn't posted an item all day, so I figured I'd drop a couple of lines from Secor.

At the time, were were talking about the song "Methamphetamine," from the band's really fine new albumm, "Tennessee Pusher." I told him I thought that particular song would have a long life among people who dig good folk music. He said:

"It’s a folk song. All of the songs we’re playing, even the ones that have a real contemporary feel, they’re all, linguistically, they’re all the language of folk music.

"You know, when you sing a song about the coal district, you can’t help but be evocative of other songs, ‘The L&N Don’t Run Here Anymore,’ and ‘Paradise’ and ‘Hazard Holler’ and ‘Dark as a Dungeon.’

"And all of those great songs from the coal district, I’m trying to evoke them in singing a song about methamphetamine."

Secor and Old Crow are playing Oct. 25 at Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre.

The magazine is going from its old-school large size to something that looks more the size of other magazines. Here's the story: Rolling Stone ends large format after 4 decades

Stone editors say the next issue's 148 pages will contain as much material as 100 pages in the old style, according to the Associated Press.

I'll miss the old, larger Stone, which I guess means that I'm getting old.