Maybe the moon has aligned with the stars a strange way, or perhaps someone made a deal with the devil. Whatever the reason, Athens musicians amd Athens Alumni seem to be getting a lot of national Attention as of late.

Before we get to the good news, some sad news. Scott Bell is no longer the booking manager for the Blue Gator (a.k.a. Swindlefish). No news on who the new guy is. If your band was booked through Scott, best to make sure it is still booked with whoever the new guy is.

Now for the good news.

Have you heard the word? Homunculus is last self-produced CD, "Words", is been re mastered and re-released by Howling Records and is distributed NATIONALLY by Ryko! It should be available in many fine retail stores across the country Homunculus features local boy done good, Adam Schoen.

Speaking of local boys done good, Jason Allen Phelps and Drew Phillips and their new band Pay The Girl are were recently signed to TVT records. You might remember Jason Phelps (he's dropped the Allen) from his days in Athens playing at Night Court on Thursdays. Phillips was in the popular Athens band Kid Charlemange which became T.V. Yellow when then moved to Cincy. Pay the Girl mentions on their web site that Jason and Drew got their start in Athens. The band has a national tour coming up to support their single, Clueless, which is on the Swimfan movie soundtrack. I don't know about you guys, but I find it exciting when soon to be national acts claim Athens as a hometown

Kid Charlemange on stage at Palmerfest 1998

The Athens News reported that The Union won the distinction of being on of the nations top 20 U.S. "dives" by the editors of Stuff Magazine. The phrase "Dive" was meant as a compliment by the editors who stated that "The Union is cool without trying to be cool. Pictures of the bar will be included in the January edition of Stuff Magazine which will be available at newsstands in mid December.

More national spotlights, granted this may be old news as I discovered this tid bit while "reading" an old, June 2002 edition of Playboy while on the office can. It seems "Coming Back To Me", an old Jefferson Airplane tune, is on the soundtrack for the new Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon film entitled "Moonlight Mile." In case you don't know, Jefferson Airplane features Fur Peace Ranch co-owner Jorma Kaukonen and Fur Peace Ranch instructor Jack Casady. When not at the Fur Peace Ranch, these two can be seen on stage as members of the band Hot Tuna.

Lastly, Joel Walters, former bassist for the Athens based bands, Pasquali and Public Nuisance, will be opening for Eyes Adrift this Sunday, October 20th at Little Brothers in Columbus with his new Columbus based band, The Handshake. The Handshake teams Joel up with members of Superstar Rookie. Eyes Adrift features former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, The Meat Puppets’ Curt Kirkwood, and Sublime’s Bud Gaugh. In case you didn't know, Nirvana was a pretty huge band a few years back. The Meat Puppets had a huge influence on the Seattle scene as well. Oh, another factoid... both Sublime and Nirvana's lead singers killed themselves. One with a shotgun and the other via a drug overdose. Cheery, eh?

Joel Walters of The Handshake pictured in 2001at the Union with his band at the time, Public Nuisance.

While I'm on a Seattle kick, did you know that Nirvana has a new song out called "You Know You're Right" and Former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has a new tune out called "Cochise" with his new band Audioslave. Wow, what's next? --Unrelaeased Alice in Chains singles? By the way, AOC lead singer Layne Staley also recently died of a drug overdose. Oh, I know what would be even stranger, a Guns and Roses arena tour. Wait a minute, that is actually really happening... It's the end of the world I tells ya! Run for the hills!

That's it for the national stuff for now.

If you know of any buzz worthy news, feel free to email me. The link is on the right side of every page on this website... it's listed under CONTACT AMN. Better yet, hop on yahoo messenger and send me an instant message.