Cobras Busy Livin'

- The Detroit Cobras will incongruously perform an in-store at the Virgin Records Store on the Magnificent Mile this Wednesday night. The Cobras are neither virgins nor magnificent, at least in the North Michigan Avenue sense of the word. They are, however, quite possibly the smokin'est band going, and this chance to see a free in-store should not be missed. The show is scheduled to go off at 7 p.m. See if the Virgin cops cramp Rachel Nagy's style.

- The Waco Brothers' longtime drummer, Joe Camarillo, was injured a car crash earlier this year. It was pretty serious, but word on the music blogosphere is that he's feeling better. But, as is so often the case with musicians, he has no health insurance, and the bills are mounting. Bloodshot Records is holding the second of two local benefit concerts for Camarillo on June 23 at FitzGerald's.

- Backyard Tire Fire reports heat, boredom, beer, and van problems on their summer road trip, which is taking them to 15 states across 10,000 miles of country for 40-some shows. The Tire Fires began their trek at Martyrs' in May opening for Alejandro Escovedo. Kansas has proven to be particularly adventuresome, including an enounter with an 8,000-pound prairie dog. At a steamy Wakarusa Music Festival in Lawrence, the Tire Fires shared the stage with bands such as the Flaming Lips and Cracker. And then they shared a local Firestone garage with a handful of other mopes for a couple hours waiting to get their vehicles fixed. Wracked with angst and dwindling patience, the band reports it was forced to turn to the bottle for relief.

- Will Oldham has teamed up with Dawn McCarthy of the Faun Fables and Bjork producer Valgeir Sigurdsson on a record titled Then The Letting Go, recorded in Iceland. A single is due in July, with the full album scheduled for release in September. Oh, Oldham is pretending he's Bonnie Prince Billy on this one.

- Bob Dylan's new album, Modern Times, is set for a late August release. The record is the third in the trilogy we never knew was that apparently includes Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft. Or maybe that's just a load of crap from Columbia Records Chairman Steve Barnett. Then again, it does sound like yet another dreaded meditation on mortality, with song titles like "When The Deal Goes Down," "Thunder on the Mountain," and "Spirit on the Water."

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