Queen will be named BMI Icons at the organization’s annual London Awards. The ceremony is slated for Tuesday, October 4 at London’s Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane.

BMI honors songwriters who have had “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers” as Icons. Queen’s Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon join a list of past honorees that includes 2010 recipient Don Black, Van Morrison, Donovan, the Bee Gees, James Brown, Willie Nelson, and more.

Outsized. Operatic. Magisterial. Queen defined a new type of rock superstardom. Vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon delivered drama, precision and, perhaps most of all, timeless songs. There are numerous BMI Awards between the four members, who are all songwriters with contributions to Queen’s repertoire, and consequently, the world’s collective pop culture. Mercury penned “We Are the Champions,” “Somebody to Love” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”; May composed “We Will Rock You” and “Fat Bottomed Girls”; Deacon wrote “Another One Bites the Dust”; and along with friend David Bowie, they all came together to write “Under Pressure.” Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, they became the first band ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as a group rather than as individuals. The U.K. Music Hall of Fame welcomed Queen in 2004, while “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” have both been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991; the following year, remaining members orchestrated the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, and the Mercury Phoenix Trust (MPT) was established. To date, MPT has donated more than $15 million to the fight against AIDS around the world.

BMI represents the songs mentioned above and many others from Queen’s legendary catalog in the U.S. The quartet are all members of British performing right society PRS for Music.

Indie acoustic quintet Elephant Revival will tour the Northeast and beyond behind its sophomore release, BREAK IN THE CLOUDS (June 2011, Ruff Shod/Nettwerk Records), with praise for its songwriting, instrumentation, multi-genre style and spirit ringing in its ears.

The tour starts in mid-September, with dates in venues from New York City, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to Kentucky, Boston-area (return show) and Indiana.

Chicago Sun Times says, “The melodic, finely tuned songs are a tribute to the collaborative songwriting talents of each band member,” who are Bonnie Paine (vocals, washboard, djembe and musical saw), Sage Cook (electric banjo/guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, viola and vocals), Dango Rose (double-bass, mandolin, banjo and vocals), Daniel Rodriguez (acoustic guitar, electric banjo/guitar and vocals) and Bridget Law (fiddle and vocals).

The band plays a variety of folk instruments, from washboard to fiddle, electric banjo, djembe to musical saw, but the band goes further with originals that snap and sparkle with traditional balladry, Scottish/Celtic fiddle, psychedelic old-time, indie rock, rustic Americana, world beat, traditional jazz and an occasionally hip-hop beat.

“Elephant Revival is not five musicians supporting one songwriter, but friends in full collaboration for the betterment of music,” says The Huffington Post, “both their own and what folk means to modern America, which is inevitably embedded in the lyrical content.” BREAK IN THE CLOUDS was recorded in Lyons, Colo., and was produced by David Tiller (Taarka) in his studio, The Distillery.

My Morning Jacket’s upcoming performance  for American Express’ “Unstaged” music series – in partnership with VEVO and YouTube – is just around the corner, and the band has revealed new exciting details about the event.  The live-stream of the band’s 5/31 Louisville show, which airs at 9pm EDT, will feature Grammy award-winning singer Erykah Badu and actress Rachel Dratch.  The band has also released a series of trailers for show – click HERE to watch the latest one, a.k.a. “The My Morning Jacket Shower Scene.”  Other recent trailers include  a request for fans to send in artistic photos of their eyeballs, to be featured as a part of the live-stream, which is being directed by award-winning filmmaker Todd Haynes.  The guys have also requested attendees of the show to come dressed in fancy clothes to match the grandeur of the venue, the historic Louisville Palace Theater.

“We are incredibly honored that Todd Haynes has agreed to direct this show for us,” said lead singer Jim James. “We can’t wait to immerse ourselves in his creative vision and masterful take on this live-streamed performance. Fans will certainly be in for a magical and surreal ride.”

My Morning Jacket’s new album, Circuital, will be released on May 31^st by ATO Records.  It was recorded in Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN, and was co-produced by frontman Jim James and Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists). Head over to their Facebook page to hear “Holdin on to Black Metal” and “Circuital,” two of the new songs that will appear on it.

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My Morning Jacket Tour Dates:

* = $1 from each ticket will be donated to a local charity
Go to www.mymorningjacket.com for more details

05/31:  Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace Theater
06/02-06/05:  Ozark, AR @

Boulder-based rock trio Meniskus is taking a unique approach to financing their upcoming album. The premise is nothing new: The band is soliciting sponsorships from businesses and individual fans. What sets it apart from similar efforts is what the band is offering in return. Depending on their contribution level, sponsors receive benefits ranging from autographed copies of the album up to the right to name the album, rename the band, and even to name the unborn children of a band member.

Raising funds from fans is growing more popular in the post-record label era, but Meniskus has taken the do-it-yourself approach to a new level with this campaign. Sponsorship levels and corresponding benefits differ for individuals versus businesses, with business benefits that include logo placement on the album and website, custom composition of a commercial jingle, and for any well-heeled company willing to foot the $400,000 price tag; the right to rename Meniskus. Thank yous for individuals include concert tickets, backstage passes, “Executive Producer” credit, and of course; naming a band member's child. The campaign gets its official kickoff at Meniskus's “Pre-Release Concert” on Saturday, February 26 at Denver's Walnut Room music venue.

“We intentionally limited the right to name the kid to individual donors. We didn't want to wind up with a son named 'Burger King' or something.” Said drummer Cris Ryt. “But if BK wants to put up the dough to rename the band 'The Whopper Juniors,' we're ready. The timing of the album release kind of required us to do something desperate,” added Ryt, referring to the fact that a commercial funding source for the album filed for bankruptcy just weeks before the album's original release date. “We had to find some way to scrape up the money to get this album out there, especially once we'd gotten the official OK to include our version of a Beatles song on the record.” Lead singer Eric Ostberg acknowledged that “For the last couple years, concert venues just haven't been able to pay like they used to. Apparently drinking and dancing are not as recession proof as you might think.”

Contribution levels for individuals range from $50 (“Special Thanks” on the album, and an autographed copy of the disc) to $5,000 (“Executive Producer” credit and a role in a music video); and then there's that big ticket item – the right to name a band member's child – at a cool $750,000. Business sponsorships start at $250 (“Special Thanks” on the album, and a link on meniskusband.com - averaging 30,000 hits per month) and go up through $20,000 (composition of a company theme song and naming rights to the album, among other items). Don't like the name “Meniskus?” Pony up the $400,000 to name them whatever you'd like.

“We wanted to leverage both ends of the spectrum, from small donations from individual supporters of the arts, up to larger investments from corporations looking to align themselves with a strong, hip brand with a dedicated and diverse following.” Band manager and producer Eric Singer noted. “We've had success with support from businesses in the past, from our first endorsement – free beer from a local brewery – up to playing the holiday party for Google last year. We don't know if anyone will actually take us up on the big-ticket items, but we'll certainly take the money and honor the offer if they do!” Meniskus has flirted with the national spotlight with performances alongside artists including Dave Matthews, Tom Petty, as well as members of Guns n Roses, Parliament and even First Lady Michelle Obama. Despite these notable appearances, the band has yet to really break onto the national scene in any significant way. Venezualan-born guitarist Bardusco added “This is make or break time for us. We had to do something big!” More info on the campaign and the band is available at meniskusband.com

About Meniskus:

Meniskus has shared a bill with an amazingly wide array of artists including Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Roots and The Disco Biscuits - and their devoted following (and music) are just as diverse. The unique dynamic of the band starts with a violin and a Spanish guitar - both enhanced by a barrage of effects - and gets driven by an arsenal of percussion. The music is informed by the extensive classical training of Cris Ryt and Eric Ostberg, as well as the unique sound Bardusco brings from his experience as a self-taught guitarist growing up in Venezuela. The three players weave all their diverse flavors into a cohesive, powerful and unique sound. The influences of classic rockers and jam bands, as well as the rhythms of Latin grooves and European house music have found new life in the music of Meniskus.

Check out Meniskus at Red Rocks video here.

San Francisco-based psychedelic rock quartet Tea Leaf Green recently released a new studio album, the band’s first since 2008. Looking West is a compilation of road-tested, fan favorite songs that TLG has never recorded in the studio. “We’ve been waiting a long time to make this record,” says lead singer Trevor Garrod. “It’s almost as if we’ve loved these songs too much to encase them forever behind the iron bars of a vacuum-sealed, shrink-wrapped studio album.”

The decision to record these cherished songs marks a new chapter for TLG. In the past few years, the band has overcome more than its share of adversity, including a line-up change (current bass player Reed Mathis joined in late 2007), as well as a recent split with their record label. The hardships endured by the band have only made them stronger and the release of Looking West is a perfect representation of how far they have come.  “We came to realize that we can only truly set these beloved tunes free by putting them all down on the record,” explains Garrod. “We are ‘looking west’ into the setting sun and launching them into outer space. These songs are messages in bottles washed up on foreign shores, memories from our fading youths and reminders of our endless and repetitious search for love and freedom."

Sharing some of the style and substance of musical contemporaries My Morning Jacket and the Raconteurs, TLG conjures the spirit of artists such as 1970s-era Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and The Grateful Dead. The band takes classic sounds and gives them a present-day polish. TLG reminds us at every turn just how alluring rock and roll can be.

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Tea Leaf Green & The Fox Theater | Thursday October 14^th

Tickets are on sale at Fox Theatre Box Office. Call (303) 443-3399 for tickets by phone.

Tickets are also available through our website @ www.foxtheatre.com.

Individual tickets are $15.00.