Photo: Kohen/Wireimage

While the blockbuster tour featuring Neil Young and Wilco wound to a close last night at Madison Square Garden, Spencer Tweedy was celebrating his coming-out party.  

Spencer -- son of Jeff Tweedy -- celebrated his 13th birthday last night, playing drums on the A Ghost Is Born gem "The Late Greats" during Wilco's set. Then, the entirety of MSG sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Spencer has been playing drums since he was two! He formed his first band when he was six -- their repertoire consisted of one song, Wilco's "Heavy Metal Drummer." The band was called the Blisters, then changed their name to Tullymonster. (They discovered that there's another band called Tullymonster, so Tweedy's trio is currently nameless.) "Hopefully we'll have our #1 album out by next year," he says.

When he's not performing, Tweedy enjoys reading -- he's almost done with the Christopher Paolini's fantastical novel Brisingr -- and venting on his blog. In fact prior to his trip to New York, he wrote:

"On my birthday, I will be with my family for a hopefully and surely amazing rock concert. My dad, Jeff Tweedy, and his band, Wilco, will be performing before the iconic rock legend, Neil Young, takes the stage. I absolutely can't wait."

Yes!

Check out this video of young Tweedy rocking a killer drum solo at Lolla two years ago!

Photo: Dominic DiSaia

Talk about the dream gig of a lifetime...

Everest, an up-and-coming alt-country outfit from Los Angeles, are currently in the midst of opening a string of dates with Wilco and Neil Young!!!

"It's the most amazing thing we've ever done," says frontman Russell Pollard, who we caught up with at a tour stop at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. "We get to watch two of our favorite acts perform every night."

Veteran players on the L.A. scene, the five dudes in Everest hooked up in 2006. "One day, we all just sat around my house listening to records and we started playing demos for each other," says Pollard. "A week later we were in the studio."

Everest quickly got picked up by Neil Young's record label, Vapor Records, after Young got a hold of some of their demos. "It didn't involve the stereotypical big label signing bonus BS that never works out," Pollard said. "It really worked out well for us, man." They put out their debut LP, Ghost Notes, last May, and by summertime, they were on the road with My Morning Jacket. 

But nothing compares to sharing a stage with Wilco and Young. "It's surreal! It's an honor!" says Pollard. "It's a dream come true for us."

The cherry on top might come at the final tour stop in New York, where the triple-bill will play Madison Square Garden on December 15th and 16th. "We're planning on playing a song with them," Pollard says. "It's in the works!" 

For your listening pleasure, check out their tune "Trees," from Ghost Notes. 

Everest - "Trees"

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We got an email yesterday from the desk of Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney:

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Photo: Getty

We were first turned on to the sibling-act Kitty, Daisy & Lewis by our friends, the Pierces, and the kids from North London blew us away.

Raised on a steady diet of old R&B, swing, blues and early rock & roll, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are all frighteningly talented multi-instrumentalists.

Kitty, 15, plays drums, ukelele, banjo, trombone and a bad-ass harmonica.

Daisy, 20, sings and plays piano, accordion, drums and xylophone.  

Lewis, 18, is an amazing finger-picker on banjo and guitar, and also plays lap steel, drums and impressive barrelhouse piano.

Lewis is also obsessed with primitive recording techniques, which he employs on all the band's recordings.

Check it out.

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - "Mean Son of a Gun" (a cover originally cut by Johnny Horton)

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - "Buggin' Blues" (written by Lewis, inspired by Chess Records legend Otis Spann)

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Photo: Getty

Neil Halstead -- the dude behind Mojave 3 and Slowdrive -- has announced a short tour through the US in support of his fine solo album, Oh! Mighty Engine, out on Jack Johnson's label, Brushfire Records:

Nov. 6 - Schuba's Tavern - Chicago, IL
Nov. 8 - The Drake Hotel - Toronto, ON
Nov. 10 - Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ
Nov. 11 - The Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
Nov 12 - Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/Mark Kozelek) - Brooklyn, NY
Nov. 17 - Jammin' Java - Vienna, VA
Nov. 18 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 20 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA

Check out this new video for "Paint A Face."

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Five months after dropping The Age of Understatement, their impressive debut, the Last Shadow Puppets -- Led by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and the Rascals' Miles Kane -- will finally play a few proper gigs in the States!

October 30th: Grand Ballroom, New York City

November 3rd: Mayan Theater, Los Angeles

An orchestra will be on hand to recreate the album's ambitious string and horn arrangements, originally recorded by the 22-piece London Metropolitan Orchestra. 

Coinciding with today's announcement is the release of an EP, My Mistakes Were Made For You, featuring a couple of unreleased studio takes, live performances and even an acoustic rendition of our favorite cut, "Standing Next To Me."  

Click the jump for the My Mistakes Were Made For You tracklisting and click here to visit the Puppets' site. 

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Photo: Getty

We're thrilled to tell you that, after a two-year hiatus, the Strokes will rock again in early 2009. "I saw Julian and Nick last night, and it got me really excited," says drummer Fabrizio Moretti, checking in from his home in Los Angeles. "We're gonna get back together in February and play some musical pingpong. Julian seems pretty keen on it."

In the meantime, we've been way into Fab's other band, Little Joy, named after the bar in L.A.'s Echo Park where they like to hang. With his Brazilian pal Rodrigo Amarante--who also fronts Los Hermanos--and Fab's talented girlfriend, Binki Shapiro, their mellow debut mixes bossa nova grooves with breezy arrangements and low-fi vocals (which remind us of Is This It).

Little Joy heads out for a tour in November, with Fab on guitar. "We'll all be in a van, and we'll want to kill each other," he says. "It'll be just like starting over." Joining them on tour will be The Dead Trees, indie rockers from Portland, Oregon. The Trees will be supporting their own upcoming album, King of Rosa, which releases on October 21st. Click the jump to check out the tour dates. (Note: More will be added soon, with dates extending into December.)

Little Joy - "Brand New Start"

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Photo: Max Dodson

Lately we've been digging Beth Rowley, England's hottest young soul singer. The 26 year-old Bristol native fuses blues, gospel, country and rock on her debut album, Little Dreamer, now available on this side of the pond.

"I was born in Peru and my parents lived in South America for quite a few years," Rowley tells the S.S. "My dad listened to all sorts of Latin music, and old blues and gospel like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Hank Williams. I live in Bristol now and I've been doing non-stop playing in tiny little venues, lugging around my own PA. I did a couple of EPs with my boyfriend, Ben Castle [from Duke Special], producing, and the album is like a snapshot of where I am. It was a lot of hard work, but it was really fun."

Beth Rowley - "Sweet Hours"

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This is our new favorite song, "Listening Man,"  from Britain's The Bees. 

Check out the video. The cut is off their latest album, Octopus. For more info click here.

Photos courtesy of Alive Records

Burbank-based label Alive Naturalsound Records are boasting a sick young roster. Here are a few of our favorite young bands:

Hacienda:

• Brothers Abraham (keys), Rene (bass), and Jaime Villanueva (drums) and cousin Dante Schwebel (guitar).  
  
• Discovered by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who produced their latest album, Loud is the Night.
• Obsessed with the Beach Boys. Look like Mexican-American Kings of Leon.
• On tour now with Dr. Dog.

  Hacienda - "Shake Ya"

• Led by singer John Ziegler and guitarist Nick Waggoner, with Calvin Retzlaff on drums.
• Cross between The Clash and The Misfits. Part fuzz, part grunge and a machine gun back beat.
• Legendary producer Jim Diamond (The White Stripes) produced their latest, We Come In Peace.

  Brimstone Howl - "Child of Perdition"

• Power trio with bassist Zachary Gabbard, brother Andrew on guitar. Joseph Sebaali holds it down on drums.
• Blues, classic rock and lot of hair.
• Dan Auerbach produced the latest record from the Buffalo Killers, Let It Ride.

  Buffalo Killers - "Get Together Now Today"

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