WRMF Music and Star News

ARTIST INFO

THE WALLFLOWERS - Back On The Bus!
The band will launch a short outing on January 15th in Boise, Idaho. The tour supporting The Wallflowers' latest CD, "Red Letter Days," stops in Missoula, MT 1/16, Vancouver, British Columbia 1/17, Seattle, WA 1/18, Portland, OR 1/19, Santa Rosa, CA 1/21, San Francisco, CA 1/22, Las Vegas, NV 1/24, Los Angeles, CA 1/25, Anaheim, CA 1/28, San Diego, CA 1/29, Tucson, AZ 1/30, Dallas, TX 2/1, Austin, TX 2/2, Houston, TX 2/3, and New Orleans, LA 2/4. Warren Zanes will be the support act for The Wallflowers beginning with the January 18th show (Seattle). The Wallflowers will spend the remainder of February touring Europe. Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers will serve as a presenter on ABC's "American Music Awards" on January 13th. Photo Credit: Tom Craig

PAY THE GIRL - Payday! The group from Cincinnati got their name while hanging out at a local diner near their college digs in Athens, Ohio. The struggling students had a running gag every time the waitress would show up with the bill, the guys would look around at one another and say "Go ahead! Pay the girl!" Pay The Girl is led by singer/songwriter Jason Phelps. Phelps got his start playing original music in the Cincinnati acoustic coffeehouse circuit, where he played as a solo artist for years. Eventually, Phelps hooked up with rock guitarist Mark Cooper as the music began to grow beyond him. Together with Cooper, they write the core of Pay The Girl's output. But their signature sound is only completed with the help of Drew Phillips on bass, Dave Harris on guitar and Greg Braun on drums. PTG's philosophy, says Phelps, is simple: "We're gonna write great songs and keep playing our asses off until the world realizes how good we really are!" That philosophy is paying off! Pay The Girl is gaining adds at Hot AC stations with "Freeze," the first single from their upcoming self-titled debut CD, due in stores on March 4th. Pay The Girl is currently on the road opening for Shakira. Look for them in Chicago, IL 1/18, Dallas, TX 1/20, Houston, TX 1/22, San Antonio, TX 1/23, Las Vegas, NV 1/25, Denver, CO 1/28, Phoenix, AZ 1/31, Oakland, CA 2/2, and Laredo, TX 2/5-6. "Shakira definitely has a rock edge, and we're a rock band with some of the same appeal," says Phelps. "It's really cool that she wanted to do something adventurous in having us open for her."

BON JOVI - Ready To Rock! Bon Jovi will kick off their anxiously awaited North American tour in State College, Pennsylvania on February 8th. The Goo Goo Dolls will be special guests during the three-month arena outing. The announced dates include East Rutherford, NJ 2/10-11, Atlanta, GA 2/13, Nashville, TN 2/14, Columbus, OH 2/16, Auburn Hills, MI 2/18, Toronto, Ontario 2/20, Montreal, Quebec 2/21, Atlantic City, NJ 2/23, St. Paul, MN 2/25, Milwaukee, WI 2/27, Chicago, IL 3/1, Albany, NY 3/3, Boston, MA 3/4, Uncasville, CT 3/6, Philadelphia, PA 3/7, and Washington, DC 3/9. Fans with the band's latest CD, "Bounce," can score a ticket pre-sale by registering and joining American XS through an access number on the CD booklet. The free membership will also allow fans to into members only areas at Bon Jovi's Web site (http://www.bonjovi.com). Bon Jovi will spend most of January touring Japan. For the first time ever, the band will perform an entire full-length concert as an acoustic show. The January 19th show in Yokohama will be captured on audio and video for the archives. "Misunderstood," the new hit from Bon Jovi's "Bounce" CD, is moving up the Hot AC chart.

VANESSA CARLTON - Big Year! Vanessa won the coveted "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" trophy for her hit "A Thousand Miles" at VH1's "Big In 2002 Awards" on December 15th. Carlton beat out Avril Lavigne, Nelly, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Eat World, and John Mayer for the `best song' honor. "I don't want to stalk you with my song," Carlton said in her acceptance speech. "But I'm glad you liked it." Vanessa will kick off 2003 with a European tour that begins January 29th in France and wraps up February 17th in London.

O-TOWN - Hit Days!
"These Are The Days," the lead track from O-Town's sophomore CD, is gaining adds at Hot AC stations. The group's Erik-Michael Estrada told Launch that although they didn't write their new hit, they can relate to it personally. "I feel that that's what we're going through right now," he explained. "We're kind of stuck in the middle and we hope that in the end there's going to be a light at the end of the tunnel. And this song definitely speaks of that. 'These Are The Days'...these are the days that we should be harnessing and holding on to and loving our families, and embracing the good things in life." "O2," the followup to the group's 2001 self-titled debut, hit stores on November 12th. "O2 is definitely not what you would expect from us," the group's Dan Miller told Launch. "We're just coming from a totally different angle this time." "We had 10 times more input then we had on the first album," Trevor Penick added. "On the first album we really had no input except for our vocals--that was really the only input we had and Jacob wrote one song. This album we were hands-on with every single bit of the album from the artwork---you know, the inside of the album--we chose the photographer that was gonna shoot that. We told him what kind of area we wanted to be in to shoot that. And as far as writing goes, and the order of the songs--just everything--we were so much more hands-on this time and it was so refreshing." Miller said the album's title could mean different things including the fact it's their second album and it's being released in 2002. "I personally think "O2" is kind of like oxygen," he said. "I feel like we've got a little breathing room now--you know, we've kicked open the door a little bit, and we can call a couple of shots, and we didn't really have that breathing room before."

PUDDLE OF MUDD / CREED - The band took home four prize rock awards at the December 9th "2002 Billboard Music Awards" in Las Vegas. Launch reports Creed's frontman Scott Stapp was surprised to win four Billboard Awards. "Tonight's a shock, to win four awards, you know, especially...what was it, group of the year...you know, that's an accomplishment for us. And we're just happy to be here and we're looking for anything to bring a smile to our face. You know, we're not always walking around with our fist up, trying to be mad and write mean things. You know, we're normal people like everybody else." Puddle Of Mudd is gaining adds at Hot AC stations with "She Hates Me." Creed is leaping up the Hot AC chart with their latest hit, "Don't Stop Dancing."

CHRISTINA AGUILERA - Future Plans!
MTV recently caught up with Christina Aguilera at the taping of the "VH1 Big In 2002 Awards" and asked her about her plans for 2003. Although no dates have been set yet for her highly anticipated tour, Christina says she's hard at work on rehearsing. "I'm working with my choreographers, putting together some really amazing things. I'm definitely going to mix it up, put some acoustic stuff in there." Aguilera told MTV she's also busy looking over scripts in search of the perfect role. "Something edgy would be good," she said. "I like the kind of roles Angelina Jolie usually plays, like 'Girl, Interrupted.' Something with substance." Christina says if she doesn't find the right role, she might just create it herself. "I have some ideas of my own, so maybe I'll get with a screenwriter to put them to paper," she explained. Christina Aguilera is moving up the Hot AC chart with "Beautiful."

JACK JOHNSON - Bubbly Love Song! "Bubble Toes," the latest hit from Johnson's "Brushfire Fairytales" CD, continues to move up the Hot AC chart. Jack told Launch he never imagined the unusual love song would become a hit. "That song's just a goofy love song I wrote around the house. It's like, one of those tunes that, if I knew it was ever going to get played on the radio, might not have ever written it, you know? 'Cause it's just sort of a, silly little love song. My wife, she has some big fat toes, so I call her 'bubble-toes' sometimes, and like, it started out as just a little love song for her and then it's also got, sort of, lyrics about any kind of person in a relationship in general, you know?"

CHRISTINA AGUILERA - Eye Of The Beholder!
"Beautiful," the second single from Christina's new "Stripped" CD, is scoring strong adds at Hot AC stations. Former 4 Non Blondes leader Linda Perry, who wrote and produced the song, told Entertainment Weekly she played the song for Aguilera when they first met at Perry's Los Angeles studio. "I never in a million years expected her to gravitate towards that," says Perry. "And when she did, it was hard for me to let go of that song, because it's really special for me. So the deal was, 'I need to hear how you sing it.' And when I heard her, I said, 'okay.'" But when Christina began recording the ballad, Perry says she didn't like Aguilera's vocal interpretation, what she calls "hoo-ha." "When she sang it, I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves," Perry says. "Every time she'd start going into hoo-ha, I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again.'" Perry resolved the problem by using Aguilera's rough first-take. "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. It's not a perfect vocal -- it's very raw," says Perry. "She's a perfectionist. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch."