Bruce Springsteen gives away another free song

To continue building momentum towards the release of his new album Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen has released another free song from the album. The ninth track titled "Life Itself" is available today via Amazon MP3. The corresponding video for the track is also available on Amazon [or watch the video below].

In another promotion, owners of the Guitar Hero: World Tour game will be able to download "My Lucky Day" and "Born To Run" for free from January 27 to February 4. The songs will be available on all three platforms: Xbox 360, Wii and PlaySation 3.

Springsteen released the title track from the album for free for a day on iTunes in November. The album is due out on January 27 and Springsteen will perform during the Super Bowl half-time show on February 1.

If this album doesn't do really, really well, there's going to be some angry folks at Columbia Records.

[UPDATE: The free mp3 was a one day only promotion. It has now been taken down.]

The Old Ceremony to celebrate new album at Cradle

Valentine's Day this year will come with a new album from The Old Ceremony. The band will release their new album Walk On Thin Air with a show at the Cat's Cradle on February 14. Tickets for the show are on sale now via etix.com for $10.

There is no official street date for the album yet, but copies will undoubtedly be available at the show. Listen to the title track and "The Disappear" from the album now on MySpace.

Here's the track list for Walk On Thin Air.

1. Til My Voice Gave
2. Plate Tectonics
3. Walk On Thin Air
4. By Any Other Name
5. The Disappear
6. Stubborn Man
7. Same Difference
8. Someone I Used To Know
9. Boy Prince
10. Hearts In Four
11. Murmur
12. Ready To Go
13. Don't Parade Your Score
14. Ennio

Annuals perform for NBC 17

Annuals stopped by NBC 17's Studio B on Friday to play some tracks from their latest album Such Fun as well as a song from the Wet Zoo EP. They played "Confessor, "Sore," "Springtime" and "Always Do" as a full band, but stripped down. The guys are getting really good at playing these stripped down sessions. Watch the excellent performance below.

Don't forget that Annuals will hit the road on January 20 for a North American tour that will run through February. Check out those dates here.

In other Annuals-related news, Sunfold has two shows coming up this month. They will play the Soapbox Laundro-Lounge in Wilmington on January 9 and at Local 506 on January 11. Burroughs will open both shows and Lafcadio will also play the 506 show.

[photo from Music.MyNC.com]

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals do 'Sessions'

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals recently stopped by AOL's "Sessions" studio to play some new songs from their latest album Cardinology. Performances of "Magick," "Cobwebs," "Fix It" and "Crossed Out Name" can now be seen here.

For the guitar geeks, check out the giant over-sized Fender Princeton Reverb Amp behind Adams. It's reported that the giant casing houses four original first-year Princeton Reverb Amps running independently, two running for mids and lows and two that are active running a grittier sound with delay and distortion capabilities (most likely the two running from his pedal board).

[photo by Pieter Van Hattem for AOL Music]

Grateful Dead to tour in 2009, kick-off in NC

The surviving members of The Grateful Dead will hit the road in April and May for their first tour in five years. The spark for the tour was lit when the band reunited for two shows in 2008 in support of Barack Obama.

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are all on board and will bring Jeff Chimenti out to play keyboards and Warren Haynes (of Gov't Mule/The Allman Brothers Band) to play guitar.

The tour will kick-off at the Greensboro Coliseum on April 12. The pre-sale for tour tickets will start on Jaunary 13 at midnight via dead.net. No general on-sale info is available yet.

Will you be going to see The Dead?

[UPDATE: Added a few new dates.]

Grateful Dead tour:
04.12.09 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum [Tickets]
04.14.09 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center [Tickets]
04.15.09 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
04.17.09 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
04.18.09 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center [Tickets]
04.19.09 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center [Tickets]
04.21.09 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
04.22.09 - Wilkes-Barre, PA - Wachovia Arena [Tickets]
04.24.09 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum [Tickets]
04.25.09 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden [Tickets]
04.26.09 - Hartford, CT - XL Center [Tickets]
04.28.09 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center [Tickets]
04.29.09 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center [Tickets]
05.01.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
05.02.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
05.04.09 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena [Tickets]
05.05.09 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena [Tickets]
05.07.09 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center [Tickets]
05.09.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum [Tickets]
05.10.09 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
05.14.09 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
05.16.09 - George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre * [Tickets]

* w/ The Allman Brothers Band and The Doobie Brothers