The ex-Vermillion band The Kickback got some great press (albiet short) today from the bible of rock and roll Rolling Stone.

If you are a fan, or want to know more about the band, who now call Chicago home, the Weekender’s Jesse Claeys talked with the band twice in the past year. Here is an interview with Billy Yost.

 

 Hear an interview with Billy Yost: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We also featured exclusive performances by Billy Yost and the band.

Here is a video featuring Yost.

Here is a performance with the complete band.

We love Bingo, and there may be no better event than Saturday in the Park to play the game – this time with “people watching” replacing numbers.

For instance, we don’t need B-14, but rather “Biker dude”. N-35 seems unworthy compared to “Exposed gut”, which should be an easy play. And when you see that greying hippie with a flirtatious young hottie at his waist, you can capitalize on “Dude, she’s too young.”

This isn’t your father’s Bingo – it’s much more fun (and a little humorous).

So print out a card (there are four below) then head to the park and relax knowing that your people watching can actually be more fun when there is competition for a Bingo.

Bingo card 1 || Bingo card 2 ||  Bingo card 3  ||  Bingo card 4

If you’re experiencing deja vu, don’t worry. You really have heard it all before.

Boston-based songstress Sarah Borges (read my interview with her in this week’s Weekender) believes covering a song is a good thing. Her latest record features five of them, many of which she’ll play at a Friday night gig at the Sioux City Live Music Club. 

The chat with her got me thinking about some the most successful cover tunes in the history of music. A tough list to craft, it turns out. What are your picks? Here are five I feel are highly noteworthy (start yelling at me now):

“All Along the Watchtower,” Jimi Hendrix. Bob Dylan is a song-writing God. He’s not a bad live performer either, but Hendrix and his riffs did something for this song Dylan never could. He added a perfect amount of depth, danger and a bit of darkness to the folk offering.

“Nothing Compares 2 U,” Sinead O’Connor. This bald lady took a little-known and critically-ignored Prince track and turned it into a huge hit.

“Proud Mary,” Ike and Tina Turner. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s swampy song never sounded so good. This volatile couple start out slow and then kick it into overdrive. Tina’s thighs never looked so good, too.

“Walk this Way,” Run DMC. Rap in the form of the threesome from Queens slammed into Boston rockers Aerosmith with this cover. The boys in the rock band liked it so much they eventually record the song together, making one big happy mash-up, a first for the two genres.

“I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston. I personally hate this song. Regardless, it spent 14-weeks at the top of the pop charts in Whitney’s hands, more than can be said for Dolly Parton back in 1974.

We all know the last attempt to revive Woodstock failed.

The 30th anniversary festival in 1999 ended when hundreds of police officers were called in to stop rioting fans from torching stages and the booths of price-gouging vendors.

Turns out this isn’t enough to keep the event’s promoter from attempting a 40th anniversary show.

Michael Lang, who organized the original and the 30th, is now out on a mission to raise $10 million in three weeks. If he does he’ll announce the details of a free, green festival to mark the 40th anniversary of the high watermark of ’60s flower power. The event first held on August 15, 1969 attracted an estimated 400,000 people to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm near Bethel, New York.

A few media outlets are reporting talks have been opened with a distinctly retro line-up of bands, including The Who, Santana, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, the Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to perform.

If you’re into pot, free love and nudity, keep an eye our for Woodstock the Third developments in the next few weeks.

Opened my mailbox last week. Saw my first sign of summer.

It was in the form of a colorful music note decorating the corner of a tan envelope.

I groaned. Not because I was being hit up for a cash donation by the organizers of Saturday in the Park, but because I’m worried this not-for-profit concert might face a tough go this year.

And because I was standing outside in 20-degree weather thinking about July 4, 2009.

With finances tight, you may want proof SITP is worth your donation dollars. Look no further than the 2009 class of the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis, Tenn.

This year Taj Mahal and Son Seals will join the ranks of blues immortals. Both men also performed at SITP, free to the public, in 1996 and 2004, respectively.

The list goes on. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (1991), Dr. John (1993), Buddy Guy (1993, 2004), Luther Allison (1994), Koko Taylor (2001), Chuck Berry (2006) and BB King (2007) all performed in this Iowa city (SITP year in parentheses).

The Blues Hall of Fame has been inducting musicians since 1980. Saturday in the Park has been around since 1991. In all, nine SITP alumni can count themselves as members of the Blues Hall of Fame.

Now that’s worth a few bucks, isn’t it?

“The girls cheer when they hear, yeah they high kicked. And if it’s ball, yeah, I beat Kirk Hinrich. J-Hawk beats like it’s my s**t, my shot. Shot clock. Non-stop.”

– “Roth Boys” by Asher Roth

Haven’t heard of Asher Roth? You soon will. So will Sioux City product and current Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich.

Roth, an up-and-coming name in the world of rap, seems to have a thing for the former West High standout. On his single “Roth Boys,” the Philadelphia man name checks Hinrich, probably a first in the hip-hop world.

That’s not mentioning over 10,000 people have viewed the YouTube video “Asher Roth balling like Kirk Hinrich,” where Asher is seen taking Portland Trailblazer Shavlik Randolph on in a game of one-on-one. Asher displays very few skills on the court (he is giving up about two feet in height, though). Not a Hinrich-like performance.

But hey, white guys gotta stick together.

Hinrich, who spent his college days as a Kansas Jayhawk, is wise to welcome Asher’s adoration. The lyricist is poised to blow up everywhere this year. Another of his singles, “I Love College,” which is an ode to late nights, beer pong, sleeping in and eating out, is taking college radio by storm. It doesn’t hurt MTV named him an “MC to Watch” for 2009.

Is Asher the next Eminem? The next thrilla in vanilla? You tell me.

Disk Jockey Spencer Potter though it would be funny to see if he could claim one of rock music’s most famous phone numbers. He did, and it was funny — to the tune of 30 to 40 prank calls a day – for a while.

Now the 28-year-old wants to get rid of his famous phone number and wants you to buy it.

Up for grabs? The digits 867-5309, the number for Jenny, the girl immortalized by the band Tommy Tutone.

The 28-year-old is now selling the New York City-area number on eBay (he’s throwing in his DJ company as well). The highest bid as of Monday afternoon was $5,501.

U2 fans, get your boots on. The first song from the band’s first album in five years is ready for you to hear.

U2 began broadcasting the up-tempo single “Get On Your Boots” Monday — first on RTE, Ireland’s state broadcasters, then for free on the group’s Web site, the Associated Press is reporting.

It’s the Dublin-bred band’s long-standing practice to give hometown fans the first listen of each album. Giving an advance taste on the Internet to the rest of the world is new.

U2’s official Web site lists all 11 title tracks for the new album, “No Line on the Horizon,” which will be released Feb. 27 in Ireland and March 3 worldwide. It is the band’s 12th studio album and the first since 2004’s Grammy-winning “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

In a bit of Bono trivia, the U2 crooner seems to have some friends who live in Omaha and visits the area a few times each year. Last fall I bumped into him at the Dundee Dell in Omaha. The small pub filled up fast after fans spoted Bono enjoying lunch at a table next to the jukebox.