On Friday evening, B.B. King will travel to Erie, PA for a performance at the Warner Theatre. King will be sure to make it to town well before the gig, however, for a ceremony in his honor. Mayor Joseph E. Sinnott will proclaim Friday, March 14th, 2008 ‘B.B. King Day' in the city of Erie. The octogenarian bluesman is a seemingly tireless performer who will travel from Erie to Buffalo for a performance on Saturday night, which he then will follow up with over 30 upcoming gigs across the country through his appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June.

The official proclamation reads (with some slight bluster from Mayor Sinnott):

Whereas, B.B. King, born Riley B. King, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi in 1925, hitchhiked to Memphis, Tennessee in 1947 to pursue his musical career, playing street corners for change and sometimes in as many as four towns a night; and

Whereas, Mr. King, one of the most influential guitarists of our time, has had a major impact on the development of modern blues and rock music, influencing such musical greats as George Harrison, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name only a few; and

Whereas, B.B. King is one of the most honored musicians of all time, he is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he has been awarded seven Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy's coveted Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of the Arts and has his own Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and

Whereas, B.B. King's most identifiable trademark is his guitar Lucille, with B.B. since 1949, Lucille is credited with taking B.B. a long way throughout his illustrious career, keeping him alive and putting  food on his table, she has stayed with him continually, playing nothing but the blues; and

Whereas, Mr. King continues to tour extensively, still averaging over 250 concerts per year, performing before a live audience, which B.B. feels is the most important aspect of being a blues artist;

and NOW, THEREFORE, I Joseph E. Sinnott, Mayor of the City of Erie, in recognition of his musical accomplishments, wish to honor Mr. B.B. King for his lifetime commitment to that which is his passion, for sharing his time and talents with each of us here this evening and do proclaim this Friday, March 14th 2008, B.B. KING DAY in the City of Erie and call upon our citizens to join with me in recognition of this Blues Legend.

Last night in Houston, My Morning Jacket performed its first gig since completing the forthcoming studio recording, Evil Urges. The band took the opportunity to debut much of the material before a receptive crowd at the Verizon Wireless Theater. The group opened up the evening with the title track before returning to familiar climes with "Off The Record" and "Gideon." All in all, the group's twenty song set presented eight of the fourteen songs from the release. Other new offerings included "I'm Amazed," "Smokin From Shootin," "Sec Walkin," "Aluminum Park" and "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2." Evil Urges is slated for a June 10 release on ATO Records.

For many, the 2008 festival season kicked off over the weekend with the sixth annual Langerado Music & Arts Festival. Having outgrown its recent home in Sunrise, FL, the annual gathering moved down the road to the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, boasting headlining performances from the Beastie Boys, Phil Lesh & Friends and R.E.M., who were opening a tour in support of the new release,<i> Accelerate</i>.

Despite inclement weather late Friday night and some unavoidable growing pains, including heavy traffic entering the festival on Thursday, Langerado adjusted to its new size and expanded scope, without losing the modest charm of years past. Langerado's new location awarded fans onsite late night shows as well, including choice performances from Sound Tribe Sector 9, Umphrey's McGee, the Lee Boys, the Disco Biscuits and Bassnectar, the latter of whom nodded to the Beasties with a remix of "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)."  Indie-rockers were also treated to a hip after hours performance from Pelican, a main stage set by Dan Deacon and a bizarre vaudevillian performance by the Yard Dog Road Show.

The Beastie Boys anchored Friday's festivities with a packed performance that sprinkled instrumental cuts from last year's <i>The Mix-Up</i>  with classics like "Root Down," "Intergalactic Planetary" and "Sabotage." Like many of the weekend's performers, the Beastie Boys also urged the Florida audience to vote Democratic in 2008 Presidential Election, though the trio avoided endorsing Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama outright.

Friday 's festivities also featured standout sets from longtime Langerado favorites G. Love & Special Sauce, current New Groove of the Month The Heavy Pets, rock-trio Earl Greyhound, experimental indie-rockers Built to Spill and Brooklyn's Matt Pond PA, who revealed to Jambands.com/Relix that they planed to regroup under a different name for their next studio album.

Saturday's offering were similarly electric: R.E.M. made a rare festival appearance, playing new songs like "Supernatural Superserious," "Houston" and "Sing for the Submarine" alongside hits ranging from "Losing My Religion" to "Man on the Moon" to "Orange Crush" and "The One I Love." Michael Stipe also told fans that the Beastie Boys' Mike D. sent him a text message earlier in the day saying, "It's going to be good."  

Like Friday, a number of festival favorites delivered standout performances, particularly Medeski Scofield Martin and Wood, Dr. Dog, whose experimental brand of pop won over a number of new fans, the always outspoken Antibalas, who ended the stage playing at the front of the stage without microphones  and the New Mastersounds, who filled in for Vampire Weekend after the Columbia grads scored a spot on <i>SNL</i>.

Sunday featured a number of festival heavyweights like Gov't Mule, the latest incarnation of the funky Meters, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Keller Williams and Ani DiFranco, whose band included Mike Dillon on percussion and vibes. Steel Train bolstered its set with a number of covers, including Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" and Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk," while the recently reunited Blind Melon rolled out a new version of "No Rain" and the National's set peaked with the beautiful, emotive "Slow Show."

Keller Williams took home the weekend's collaboration award, sitting with <i>Relix</i> recording artist Jonah Smith on a version of the Grateful Dead's "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" and inviting out fellow progressive singer/songwriter Martin Sexton for a version of ""Hallelujah." Matisyahu also got into the collaboration game, beatboxing with Ozomatli and joining the Disco Biscuits for the second Langerado in a row on "tomorrow Never Knows." STS9 bassist David Murphy stuck around an extra day to help the Disco Biscuits to play keyboards on a first time reading of Marc Brownstein's new "Caves on the East." Joe Russo remained busy as always, performing with American Babies, Chris Harford and the Band of Changes and The Duo, the latter of whom brought of Tom Hamilton for a handful of songs includes "Sunny's Song" and "Powder."

Despite the festival's expanded scope, a number of performers celebrated Langerado's roots in live improvisational music. Matisyahu paid tribute to Jerry Garcia from the stage and offered a version of "Morning Dew," while Athens-bred indie-pop stars Of Montreal covered "Shakedown Street." A few months after parting ways, Phish cover band Phix  reunited for a late night performance that included on point versions of "Divided Sky," "Reba" and "Destiny Unbound." Mickey Hart also showcased a new band featuring recent collaborator George Porter Jr., Jen Durkin, Steve Kimock, Particle drummer Darren Pujalet and Sikiru Adepoju. Several groups associated with the indie and alt-rock roots also discussed their love of Phish backstage, including 311 and The National, the latter of whom actually spent their formative years playing Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers covers before rising to indie-fame. Of course, Phil Lesh closed out the weekend with a two-set show that included such familiar selections as "Uncle John's Band," "Sugar Magnolia," "The Wheel" and "I Know You Rider."

A number of performers also recorded exclusive sets for Relix's Cold Turkey, including Dr. Dog, Matt Pond PA, the Felice Brothers, Martin Sexton, American Babies and Matisyahu. Please check out www.relix.com/radio in the coming days.