Jam In The Dam will not return in 2009. The event's promoters have announced that the Amsterdam music festival will take a year off, partially due to health issues surrounding the event's founder, Armand Sadlier. A statement on the Jam In The Dam website explains:

If you are not a frequent guest at our message board you may not have heard about a situation that the JitD founder, Armand Sadlier, finds himself in. You can click on 'message board' to get more details, but the long and short of it is that Armand is in need of a double-lung transplant.

Even in the wake of going through this process, we were striving to still present the show in 2009. We have sadly come to the conclusion that since this is his baby, and something that requires his personal attention, that it just wasn't feasible to pull off the show for 2009. So, it is with great sadness that we announce there will not be a Jam in the Dam for 2009.

We know that many of our fans will be disappointed, but the best thing is for Armand to focus all of his efforts on recovering, and getting back on the case for 2010. Maybe the US economy can also rebound a bit in the meantime. The euro was at an all-time high last year, and made things more expensive than usual in attending this one-of-a-kind event. It has already fallen back within seven cents of where it was two of the first three years, so hopefully that continues.

This is by no means a farewell, and we expect to be back strong for 2010, which will be the "new" 5th Anniversary of the show. Later this Fall, Larry Shapiro will have finished the video capsule from 2008, so we're all looking forward to another slice of Larry's outstanding work that always brings us right back to Amsterdam. All of Larry's past masterpieces can be found on the homepage.

We want to thank the fans profusely, for supporting this show each year, as well as the artists who have agreed to participate. We know it takes much more time and effort to attend than all other festivals, but we know many folks who said it was the time of their lives.

Looking forward to providing more of those times, and please send out some positive vibes for our founder, can't have too many of those!

Donna Jean & the Tricksters return to New York City to play a Rex Foundation Fundraiser at the Knitting Factory this Saturday, September 20. The show will be Donna Jean & the Tricksters' first appearance at the Knitting Factory since their CD release party last February and may be the group's last before the venue moves to Brooklyn in January. The event will benefit the Rex Foundation, with a VIP Meet & Greet scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM and the show proper scheduled to start at 7:30 PM.

The group has a special connection with the Rex Foundation. The Zen Tricksters first reconnected with Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay at a Rex benefit in 2005, which prompted the group to start a full-time band. Donna Jean & The Tricksters will also perform at Plains, PA's River Street Jazz Café this evening.

Kings of Leon will make its Saturday Night Live debut this weekend in support of its forthcoming fourth album, Only By The Night. The Bonnaroo favorites will appear on the program along with actor James Franco three days before Only By The Night hits stores on September 23.

Though based in Tennessee, Kings of Leon’s single, "Sex on Fire," recently debuted at the top of the charts in the U.K. The quartet will kick off a national tour at Las Vegas’ The Joint on October 11, after showcasing shows from the album at New York’s intimate Webster Hall on September 23. Kings of Leon will also make the talk show rounds, with upcoming performances confirmed for both the Late Show with David Letterman (9/23) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (10/14).

As first reported by Relix, the Obama for America benefit will take place at State College, PA’s Bryce Jordan Center on Monday, October 13. The show is expected to be a very large voter outreach opportunity for the Pennsylvania Obama campaign, which has already built the largest volunteer-based campaign in Pennsylvania’s history. The campaign has more than 70 field offices and thousands of volunteers preparing for "an unprecedented Get Out the Vote operation." There are now more than 1 million more Democrats in the state than Republicans, an increase of 500,000 since 2004.

Tickets will be available at 12:00 PM EST on Friday, September 19, and are $50 for the general public/$30 for University Park students with a Pennsylvania State University ID. More ticket information is available online at www.barackobama.com/psu.