Underground heavyweight Bassnectar released his new album, Underground Communication, on OM Records Tuesday, May 8.  Fresh off a recent appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, look for Bassnectar live at clubs and festivals throughout the U.S. this spring and summer. Voted San Francisco's "number one DJ" three years in a row and currently the eighth most downloaded electronic artist on iTunes, Bassnectar is stirring up quite the buzz. Look for Bassnectar in current/upcoming issues of ALARM, BMP, DJ MAGAZINE, DJ TIMES, HARP, REMIX, URB, XLR8R and many others.

Voted "Best DJ" by Nitevibe.com and SF Bay Guardian, Bassnectar's music is forging new paths in the electronic music world, the Burning Man scene, underground hip hop circles, and beyond. The brainchild of Lorin Ashton, Bassnectar is an experimentally collaborative music project, but it's also a platform for social change and political awareness. It's stylistically specific, yet it's an eclectic, full spectrum adventure.

For Bassnectar's new release, Underground Communication (Om Records/May 8, 2007), Bassnectar takes another step forward in his genre-bending blend of musical styles and emotions, combining the visceral melodic presence of modern listening music, with the force and volume of sound system dancefloor devastation. The new record is an exploration of hip-hop culture, featuring scores of MCs and rhythmic poetics mashed atop a heavy, driving  range of tempo and, of course, those signature throbbing bass lines. Rooted firmly in political conviction and philosophical intention, and backed by a rabid fan base and dedicated following, Underground Communication sets a new standard for the possibilities of merging music, art, new media and social activism.

The list of current Bassnectar appearances is as follows:

July 06-07 High Sierra Festival Quincy CA 

July 21 USC (United State of Conciousness) 10 Year Anniversary - Exhibition Hall Seattle WA

July 27 Sol Y Lago Taho City CA

July 28 Club Underground Reno NV

August 03 Axis Boston MA

August 04 Big Summer Classic - Camp Zoe Salem MO

August 10 Santa Fe Muzik Festival – The Downs Santa Fe NM

August 17-18 Camp Bisco 6 Indian Lookout Country Club Mariaville NY

September 21 Symbiosis Gathering Northern CA

October 26 The Spider Ball –Bentley Reserve San Francisco CA

More dates to be confirmed...

The run continues throughout the Northwest, where we've added a show in Ashland, OR at Mobius. We're also very excited to announce several new late summer and fall festival dates, including Festivus in Cabot, VT (more details soon), Lotus Fest in Bloomington, IN, Magnolia Fest in Live Oak, FL, and the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans.

Dates

(many more coming soon)

6.29 | Petaluma, CA Mystic Theater
www.mystictheatre.com
6.30 | San Francisco, CA 12 Galaxies
www.12galaxies.com
7.06-7 | Quincy, CA
High Sierra Music Festival
www.highsierramusic.com
7.10 | Caspar, CA
Caspar Inn
www.casparinn.com 
7.11 | Ashland, OR Mobius
www.themobius.com
7.13 | Seattle, WA
High Dive
www.highdiveseattle.com
7.14 | Portland, OR Goodfoot Lounge
www.thegoodfoot.com
7.18 | Jackson, WY Mangy Moose
www.mangymoose.net
7.19 | Big Sky, MT Meadow Village Pavilion
www.bigskyarts.org
7.21 | Detroit Lakes, MN 10,000 Lakes Festival
www.10klf.com
7.27-28 | Floyd, VA | Floyd Festival
www.floydfest.com
8.18 | Governor's Island, NY | In the Pocket Concert Series
8.25 | Cabot, VT | Festivus
9.08 | Trade, TN | Trade Music Farm
www.trademusicfarm.com
9.13 | Urbana, IL | Wall to Wall Guitar Festival
www.walltowallguitar.com
9.14 | Chicago, IL | Double Door
www.doubledoor.com 
9.20 |Minneapolis , MN | Cabooze
www.cabooze.com
9.28-29 | Bloomington, IN | Lotus World Music & Arts Festival
www.bloomingtonarts.info
10.25 | Live Oak, FL | Magnolia Fest
www.magmusic.com 
10.26-27 | New Orleans, LA | Voodoo Music Festival
voodoomusicfest.com
1.04.08-1.09.08 | Port Everglades | Jam Cruise
www.jamcruise.com

The String Cheese Incident's 2007 Summer Tour stops in towns that hold plenty of SCI history, and features some of the band's favorite kinds of shows - namely weekend camping events with plenty of musical friends in tow.

Incidents begin on July 11 with a four night run at the legendary Beacon Theatre in New York City. The band then skips to the west coast for two nights in the Bay Area at Berkeley's Greek Theatre on July 21 & 22, with special guests Sound Tribe Sector 9 and The Disco Biscuits on Saturday and Railroad Earth and Hot Buttered Rum on Sunday. The weekend of July 27-29 will include three nights at Horning's Hideout.  Horning's Hideout is always one of SCI's most anticipated and memorable Incidents. This year's festival will feature three nights of music by SCI (Fri, Sat, Sun) plus special musical guests Femi Kuti & the Positive Force, ALO, and many others to be announced . Then, the "Big Summer Classic" will return in the form of a three-day camping festival on the weekend of August 3-5.  In the tradition of the inaugural BSC Tour in summer of 2005, the weekend festival will feature a slew of SCI's musical friends.  Confirmed artists include The Roots, Los Lobos, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Greyboy Allstars, The Wailers, Infected Mushroom, Del McCoury Band, JJ Grey & MOFRO, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Vusi Mahlasela, Bassnectar, David Lindley, Drew Emmitt Band, Buckwheat Zydeco, Chris Berry & Panjea, EOTO, Jonah Smith, The Schwag, Old School Freight Train and others to be announced. The tour will end back home in Colorado at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The complete String Cheese Incident Summer Tour is as follows:
June 15 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN
July 11 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
July 12 Beacon Theatre New York, NY SOLD OUT
July 13 Beacon Theatre New York, NY SOLD OUT
July 14 Beacon Theatre New York, NY SOLD OUT
July 20 10,000 Lakes Festival Detroit Lakes, MN
July 21 Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA w/ STS9 and The Disco Biscuits
July 22 Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA w/ Railroad Earth & Hot Buttered Rum
July 27 Horning's Hideout North Plains, Oregon with Femi Kuti & the Positive Force and others TBA SOLD OUT
July 28 Horning's Hideout North Plains, Oregon with special guests TBA
July 29 Horning's Hideout North Plains, Oregon with ALO and others TBA
August 3 Camp Zoe Salem, MO Big Summer Classic
August 4 Camp Zoe Salem, MO Big Summer Classic
August 5 Camp Zoe Salem, MO Big Summer Classic
August 9 Red Rocks Morrison, CO
August 10 Red Rocks Morrison, CO SOLD OUT
August 11 Red Rocks Morrison, CO SOLD OUT
August 12 Red Rocks Morrison, CO SOLD OUT

As always, not-for-profit Conscious Alliance will be at every show to host food drives. Attendees are encouraged to bring 10 non-perishable food items to each show redeemable for an exclusive event poster.

Over the past decade, The String Cheese Incident has emerged as one of America's most significant independent bands. Born in 1993 in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, SCI has since released 6 albums, 3 DVDs and countless live recordings from their relentless tour schedule. Their 14 year history is packed full of surreal experiences, epic moments, groundbreaking involvement and huge accomplishments. They have been recognized for their commitment to musical creativity and integrity, for their community spirit, philanthropic endeavors, and for their innovative approach to the business of music.

When The String Cheese Incident's growth first started gaining momentum over a decade ago, when the internet was just beginning to take hold and the major-label business model was failing, the band decided to make music on their own terms.

Since then, The String Cheese Incident has gone on to carve out a completely different approach to the business of music; they are truly pioneers of a new way of "making a band."  With the World Wide Web as their tool, SCI was among the first artists to disseminate information via the internet, such as tour dates, release information, and other news, to their growing fan base.  Rather than doing business on such terms as "the bottom line," The String Cheese Incident put their music and their fans first, opening companies of their own, including a ticketing company, a merchandise company and a fan travel agency, to best serve their community. The band's record label, SCI Fidelity Records, has always operated under the same ideals. Even early on, SCI Fidelity embraced downloadable music and file sharing, delivering SCI's "On the Road" series, where every show the band plays is made available for download on the internet.  Whether they realized it at the time or not, The String Cheese Incident was inventing grassroots band development.  Today, literally hundreds of bands are using some version of this same approach to building a band.

The String Cheese Incident's commitment goes well beyond their immediate community, and even beyond the music community as a whole. Early on, the band took a serious interest in giving back to the communities that they visited, and they were among the first performers to encourage "Green" shows and tours.  SCI's support has helped give rise to such not-for-profit organizations as Conscious Alliance, Rock the Earth, and Head Count. In 2002, when the band's right to sell tickets to their own shows became threatened by ticketing giant Ticketmaster, the band stood strong for the independent music community and filed a lawsuit against the company.  All the while, The String Cheese Incident has stayed committed to music as a creative endeavor, not just in their recordings but also in their live performances.  The list of SCI's special guests and collaborators is long and diverse. Their annual events such as Horning's Hideout, and holiday shows such as New Year's and Halloween, have helped redefine the concert experience and has garnered the band a reputation as live music vibe innovators.