Future Forests, an environmental charity, is encouraging fans of Joe Strummer to plant trees on the Isle of Skye in memory of the late-Clash frontman; Strummer worked with the charity before his death last December . . . Chuck D, Ani DiFranco, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Ozomatli will perform at the Not in Our Name anti-war concert in Berkeley, California on January 31st . . . Songs by Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion and others will be included on Punkarama Volume 1, a new DVD due February 25th . . . Fabolous was arrested yesterday in New York City after police pulled him over and found he was driving with a suspended license . . . Erasure will begin an eleven-date tour behind Other People's Songs (due January 28th) on March 2nd in Washington, D.C. . . .

Ladytron have enlisted Josh Wink to remix their upcoming single, "Blue Jeans"; Wink will release Profound Sounds Volume 2, his first mix CD in three years, on April 27th . . . Arlo Guthrie, Peter Rowan, Janis Ian, Marty Stuart and others will mark Woody Guthrie's ninetieth birthday with a February 5th performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville . . . Gunmen fired shots in the New York offices of hip-hop management company, Violator Management, late in the evening on January 16th; no one was injured . . . Starting next week, Wal-Mart will begin selling Dwight Yoakam's Chicken Lickin Chicken Fries, a new frozen chicken product . . . Lou Rawls was arrested on January 15th and charged with battering a female companion at a hotel in Albuquerque . . .

Carlos Santana will perform with Michelle Branch and Beyonce Knowles at the Super Bowl XXXVII pre-game show on January 26th; STYX will also perform prior to kick-off . . . Van Morrison, Queen, Phil Collins and Little Richard will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12th in New York City . . . About 200 family members and friends, including Michael Jackson, attended a private funeral service for the Bee Gees' Maurice Gibb in Miami on January 16th . . . Course Of Nature guitarist/singer Mark Wilkerson and television actress Melissa Joan Hart are engaged to be married, though no date has been set . . . A Georgia judge issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Bobby Brown after he failed to appear at a court hearing Monday stemming from a November 7th arrest on marijuana possession and various traffic charges . . .

Alan Jackson and Alison Krauss will make guest appearances on Jeannie Kendall's new self-titled album, due February 25th . . . Queen Latifah entered a plea of no contest to two misdemeanor drunk driving charges this week, and received a three-year probation sentence, a $300 fine and was ordered to attend an alcohol-education program . . . The Peter Green Splinter Group will release The Cold 100 on February 25th . . . Soulive will release a self-titled album, their third, on April 8th . . . Etta James will release her next album, Let's Roll, in April . . . Justin Timberlake will begin a seven-date U.K. tour on May 7th in Sheffield . . . Chico Debarge will release a new solo album, Free, on March 25th . . .

A piano signed by Elton John is among the items up for auction on eBay to benefit VH1's Save the Music Foundation and the American Music Conference. Memorabilia from Jennifer Lopez, the Foo Fighters, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vanessa Carlton and others is also available . . . Fabolous, Dru Hill, Sean Paul, Mario, K-Ci and Jo Jo and others will take the stage of the famed Apollo Theater in New York City between January 17th and 21st to tape new episodes of Showtime at the Apollo to air on Showtime later this year . . . Jermaine Dupri, who has produced hits for TLC, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson, has left Columbia and signed with Arista Records as a senior vice president . . .

Biohazard will release a new album, Kill or Be Killed, on March 18th . . . Dean Ween, DJ Spooky, Pete Seeger and Donna the Buffalo's Tara Evans make guest appearances on Stephan Smith's new anti-war EP, The Bell; a full-length album, New World Order, will follow in April . . . Rodney Crowell and former Jellyfish frontman Andy Sturmer make guest appearances on Brady Seals' next album, Thompson Street, due February 25th . . . Jerry Lee Lewis' sister, Linda Gail Lewis, has dropped a lawsuit against Van Morrison in which she charged the singer with wrongful dismissal and sexual harassment . . . Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J and B2K will perform at the NBA All-Star Read to Achieve Celebration, which will be simulcast by twelve networks on February 8th . . .

Songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, ELO, the Doobie Brothers, Judas Priest and others will be included on Mullet Rock, a two-CD tribute to the oft-mocked hairstyle, due March 4th . . . Pete Townshend was released by police on Tuesday morning; the WHO guitarist has not been charged with any crime relating to child pornography . . . The Bee Gees Maurice Gibb will be laid to rest today in a private ceremony in Miami . . . Emmylou Harris will release the fourteen-track compilation Producer's Cut, a DVD-Audio due February 25th. The collection will also include "Old Rugged Cross," a previously unreleased duet with Johnny Cash . . .

Alan Jackson will headline the opening night of the Oregon Jamboree in Sweet Home, Oregon, August 1-3 . . . Tori Amos will launch a twenty-date tour on February 19th in Boca Raton, Florida . . . Starsailor have been in Abbey Road studios in London working on their second album. The group has recorded four songs with producer Phil Spector . . . Assault charges against Fat Joe, stemming from a May brawl in New York City, were dropped last week . . . Sex Mob, Maroon and Paradox Trio will perform at Jazz Against War in New York on February 4th . . . Ritchie Blackmore's new band, Blackmore's Night, will release the two-CD live set, Past Times With Good Company, on February 25th . . . Great Big Sea bassist Darrell Power has left the band . . .

Mariah Carey will sing the national anthem at the Daytona 500 on February 16th in Daytona, Ohio . . . Sparta will begin the twenty-three-date SnoCore Rock tour on February 14th in Austin. The tour will also feature Glassjaw, Hot Water Music and Dredg . . . Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, Keb' Mo', Greg Allman, B.B. King and others will perform at the Salute to the Blues at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on February 7th . . . New Orleans' famed club, Tipitina's, will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary January 15-25 with performances by Dr. John, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Galactic and others . . . Frankie Paul and the Wailers' Gary "Nesta" Pine are among the artists featured on Dub Side of the Moon, a reggae tribute to Pink Floyd . . .

Vanguard will release Skip James Studio Sessions, nineteen rare and unreleased songs by the blues legend on February 11th . . . T. Rex percussionist Mickey Finn died on January 11th; he was fifty-five . . . Geri Allen, Judi Silvano, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and will honor late pianist Mal Waldron at a memorial concert in New York City tonight . . . Eminem has inked a deal with the Nesi Apparel Group to design a new Shady fashion line . . . Hayseed Dixie will release Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to Kiss on February 18th . . . I Can Fly! a children's book based on R. Kelly's life, will be reissued on March 1st . . .

(January 17, 2003)