Eddie Vedder Plots Spring Tour

Pearl Jam frontman and ukulele enthusiast Eddie Vedder is planning a Spring tour of the Southern United States. The singer-ukulele player will play a string of dates starting April 11 in Las Vegas, according to Billboard.

Vedder also will promote 2011’s Ukulele Songs with a stop at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, before the tour wraps up on May 16 in Orlando. Glen Hansard, known for fronting The Frames and the Swell Season, will open the shows.

Of course, Pearl Jam also has plans to tour this year. The band has announced a summer European tour that begins in Manchester, U.K., on June 20.

Eddie Vedder tour dates:

April 11: Las Vegas (The Pearl)
April 13: Phoenix, Ariz. (Comerica Theater)
April 16: Albuquerque, N.M. (Kiva Auditorium)
April 19: Tulsa, Okla. (Brady Theater)
April 22: Houston, Tex. (Jones Hall for the Performing Arts)
April 25: San Antonio, Tex. (Lila Cockrell Theatre)
April 27: Austin, Tex. (Bass Concert Hall)
April 30: Dallas, Tex. (The Music Hall at Fair Park)
May 3: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 8: Jacksonville, Fla. (Moran Theater)
May 10: Clearwater, Fla. (Ruth Eckerd Hall)
May 13: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Broward Center for the Performing Arts)
May 16: Orlando, Fla. (Bob Carr Performing Arts Center)

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Lita Ford Plots ‘Real’ Return

Lita Ford is planning a May release for her new album, Living Like a Runaway, on SPV Records.

The album will feature guitar hero Gary Hoey. “Gary Hoey and I wanted to approach this record by getting back to basics,” Ford explains. “We want to strip away all the electronics and plug-ins and keep it to vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Going back to basics is going back to what punk, metal and The Runways was for me. Living Like a Runaway means freedom and empowerment. To do what I want and to pursue my dreams while answering to no one.”

Ford’s previous album, Wicked Wonderland, was panned by critics for what some saw as a focus on Ford’s now ex-husband, Jim Gillette, rather than on Ford’s own vocals and guitar playing. Ford recently told Classic Rock Revisited, “the last album I did was called Wicked Wonderland, I put it out with Jim Gillette, and we were married at the time. It is kind of a Jim/Lita album and not a really true Lita album. I got a lot of schpeel about that. A lot of people have told me that they want a real Lita album, and I know what they mean. They are going to get it.”

SPV A&R Representative/Product Manager Olly Hahn said, “When I bought Dancin’ on the Edge back in 1984 I never thought that I would ever sign Lita Ford to a label. But a dream of mine came true and it’s a huge honor for us at SPV/Steamhammer to have one of the leading women in rock ’n’ roll on our label.”

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Alice Cooper Plots New <em>Nightmare</em>

Alice Cooper is 63, loves to play golf and is looking forward to grandchildren. But he is not done with rock ’n’ roll horror just yet. He is working on a sequel to his best-selling 1975 solo album Welcome to My Nightmare… with three guitar players.

“What would Alice’s nightmare be 35 years later?" Cooper asked the Vancouver Sun. “Well, there’s technology. Alice is a technotard. Disco is still a big enemy of his, so disco would be in there. But I allowed this album to have a great sense of humor, even though there’s some very, very dark moments.”

Cooper – born Vincent Damon Furnier – is working again with producer Bob Ezrin. The original Nightmare album was co-written with Ezrin. Recorded with most of the original band members, the forthcoming record has a vintage ’70s sound, and is “as good if not better than the original,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

Cooper will spend most of the summer touring North America and Europe before the album’s release. “I designed the show to be a little bit more of a big thick, heavy Alice show, and I added a new guitar player so I have three lead guitar players now,” he said. “That solidifies that big heaviness.”

Cooper also offered some romance tips. “I am smart enough to keep romance in the marriage,” he said. “Most guys don’t get it. How many guys know what color your wife’s eyes are? How many know what size shoes she wears? What colors does she wear? I can go shopping and buy a full outfit for my wife. That’s what keeps it going.

“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t go out looking for girls. I go to sleep and get up the next morning and play golf. That’s my party.”

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