Sting's 2002 Rainforest Benefit Concert will take place at New York City's Carnegie Hall on April 13th; no guests have yet been announced . . . Phil Lesh and Friends will headline the Gathering of the Vibes Festival, which is set for July 4-7 near Albany, New York; Gov't Mule, Soulive and Les Claypool will also perform . . . Bruce Springsteen has donated an autographed Fender Telecaster to the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's ninth annual Winter Semi-Formal and auction, on February 23rd in New York City; proceeds will benefit the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center . . . PJ Harvey won the the 2002 South Bank Show Award for Best Pop Musician in London last week . . . Travis will release a new DVD, More Than Us, on March 19th . . .

Phish keyboardist Page McConnell's new band, Vida Blue, will begin a nine-date East Coast tour on April 18th; the group will release their debut album in the summer . . . Brooks and Dunn will take Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allan and others out on their Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2002, which will begin April 12th in Minneapolis . . . Cracker will begin a thirty-five-date tour behind Forever on March 8th in New York City . . . Puddle of Mudd will launch their first headlining tour March 13th in South Padre Island, Texas . . . Alicia Keys received four Soul Train Award nominations to lead all acts. The sixteenth annual awards show is set for March 20th in New York . . . Lil' Bow Wow has enlisted NBA hoopsters Jason Kidd, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett to appear in his feature film debut, Like Mike, which is due in theaters this summer . . .

(February 11, 2002)