MOVED!

This site has moved to http://www.paulwesterberg.com.

Second Pressing!

Good news! There will be a second pressing of the new single, so check back in 10 days or so and there should be an update!

Sold Out!

Hope you were quick to order yours because the new PW/GB/Mr. F record is SOLD OUT.

New Paul Westerberg Music!

Drum roll, please: I have news to share! We have NEW Paul Westerberg music today! The details:

This is a vinyl release - "This Machine" b/w "Foolish Hand Shake", by Mr. F (aka Grandpaboy aka PW)

• LIMITED EDITION multi-colored vinyl with picture sleeve
• BONUS: Comes with free download card which can be redeemed for the epic "Grandpaboy's Last Stand" (meaning in addition to the vinyl record, you get additional music to download!)
• $8 + shipping and handling
• Limit 1 per customer (orders for more than 1 single will not be shipped)

That's the cover below, click on it to see a larger version. Is it me or does the face look a tiny bit like a van Gogh self-portrait? Note the "Coming soon - Son of a Depression"...a hint of things to come? We can hope. This is being offered via nimbit music, just visit their site to place your order, then go sit by your mailbox! And to think, I was considering mothballing my turntable just last weekend. Silly me.

While I have your attention, if you're in the Mpls area, First Ave is hosting a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of "Tim" (so we can all feel ancient) on Nov. 26, click here for all the details.

Paul Plays Target Field

Brain malfuntion on my end, I could have sworn I posted this item about Paul performing (privately) at Target Field last week, but it appears I didn't. So here it is - on Wednesday May 19, Paul played 2 songs at Target Field, for an upcoming documentary called "40 Nights of Rock & Roll." About the film, according to their website:

40 Nights of Rock & Roll is the latest undertaking of the rock-fanatic duo Steve LaBate and Scott Sloan. Over 40 continuous days in the summer of 2010 Steve and Scott will drive all over the United States to watch 40 concerts, interview 40 bands, and come up with the answer to one question:

What is the current state of Rock & Roll in America?

Paul played "Dangerous Boys" and "Time Flies Tomorrow" (by request) and was interviewed sitting cross-legged on top of the dugout. There's a very brief snippet of the interview in the video below (too brief):



On another film front, "Color Me Obsessed" is hitting in the road and pulling into Minneapolis next week. They will hosting a meet up for Mats fans at The CC Club on Sunday, June 6 @ 10am. For more info, visit the revamped CMO website, which has some great content. Check out Dave Minehan's story about Joe Strummer, very funny (click the volume knob to hear it).

Paul Westerberg and Glen Campbell

Billboard reports that Paul is just one of the people Glen Campbell has collaberated with on his upcoming album entitled "Ghost on the Canvas." If that title sounds familar to you, it should. it was one of the tacks on the 6-song EP Paul released through Amazon.com last fall. In 2008, Campbell released "Meet Glen Campbell", a covers album that included "Sadly Beautiful". Other folks working with Campbell on the album include Jakob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Bob Pollard (interesting!) and Josh Freese.

Paul Westerberg on Alex Chilton: Times Op-Ed

Paul published a wonderful op-ed piece about Alex Chilton in the NY Times today. "The great Alex Chilton is gone — folk troubadour, blues shouter, master singer, songwriter and guitarist. Someone should write a tune about him. Then again, nah, that would be impossible. Or just plain stupid."

Color Me Obsessed

And one more thing today: Check out 2 teaser clips from the upcoming Mats fan documentary, "Color Me Obsessed": the first one features The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid, and the second video includes Ira Robbins of Trouser Press, Dave Minehan and Jesse Malin. To keep tabs on the progress of the film, check out the blog; if you're interested in being interviewed and sharing your story about the band, contact the filmakers here. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook.

Paul Westerberg in SPIN

Be on the lookout for the April issue of SPIN, which features Billie Joe Armstrong interviewing Paul (the theme of the issue is "Stars grill their idols"). There are three different covers so make sure you get the good one! Click on the image below for a larger view of the cover.



A few more Alex Chilton links to follow-up on yesterday's post:

• Music world, friends, fans pay tribute to Memphis legend Alex Chilton - The Memphis Commercial Appeal

• Alex Chilton, R.I.P: Paul Westerberg, Craig Finn and Patterson Hood - EW

• Alex Chilton Tribute Set For Saturday At SXSW Festival - MTV.com

Alex Chilton Dies at 59

I had been planning to update the site this upcoming weekend, even though there wasn't any real Paul news, just to kinda say "hey". But unfortunately I now have a real reason to post, a very sad one. Alex Chilton died yesterday in New Orleans. He was 59 years old. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack. Big Star was scheduled to play SXSW on Saturday, and take part in a scheduled panel discussion about the band called (what else?) "I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star". The timing is surreal. From what I understand, both the panel discussion and the show will still take place, with the show becoming a tribute show. My source: Twitter, so take it with a grain of salt.

Paul made a statement to the Associated Press:
In my opinion, Alex was the most talented triple threat musician out of Memphis — and that's saying a ton," Paul Westerberg, the former Replacements frontman, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "His versatility at soulful singing, pop rock songwriting, master of the folk idiom, and his delving into the avant garde, goes without equal. He was also a hell of a guitar player and a great guy."

Honestly, what more is there to say? If you've made your way to this site, you already know what a huge loss this is, how amazing his music was and how much influence the music of Alex Chilton and Big Star had on the music we all love so much. There's not a lot I can add, so I've put together some links below.

• Memphis music loses ‘Big Star’ — singer, songwriter Alex Chilton dies at 59 - TheMemphis Commercial Appeal
• Underrated Iconoclast: Alex Chilton's Lasting Influence - The Atlantic Wire
• Alex Chilton dies on the eve of South by Southwest tribute - The Chicago Sun-Times
• Alex Chilton dies at 59; mercurial leader of the Box Tops, Big Star - • The LA Times
• A Couple Alex Chilton Songs - Amazing tribute from Alex Pareene at Gawker

Congressman Steve Cohen commemorates the life of Alex Chilton in the House of Representatives, watch this clip below, you can tell it's from the heart.


I found this picture of Paul and Alex Chilton on this blog , it was taken during a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken in 1987. I love it.



And finally, here's PW doing "Alex Chilton" at the Guthrie in 2002. Sing along, won't you?

Happy 50th Birthday, Paul Westerberg!

Happy Birthday to Paul (born Dec. 31, 1959)!

The Mpls Star-Tribune has a very nice article on Paul to mark his 50th birthday.

PW's New Publishing Deal

Interesting PW news: He has signed a new publishing deal with Bug Music Publishing. From the press release:

Bug Music Publishing, the largest independent contemporary music publisher in the world, has signed a new publishing deal with Paul Westerberg, solo artist, songwriter and front man of the seminal alt-rock group The Replacements, it was announced today by Bug Music CEO John Rudolph.

Under the terms of the deal, Bug Music and Westerberg have entered into a publishing agreement encompassing Westerberg’s recordings with The Replacements, solo works and future recordings.

“We look forward to working with Paul’s Replacements and solo catalogs,” said Eddie Gomez, Sr. VP of Creative Services, Bug Music. “Paul is a major link in a respected chain of modern songwriters and his songwriting continues to resonate and influence a whole new generation of listeners.”

“To be a musician, performer, and songwriter is a juggling act,” said Westerberg. “Throw in the bowling ball of publisher and it becomes downright work. The good people at Bug Music – I hear only of their imagination and proficiency – have stepped in to facilitate with Dry Wood, Elegant Mule, and Nah Music, leaving me free to augment my juggling feat with the flaming chain saw of snooker.”

I lost the metaphor there with the snooker reference, but sounds like good news overall. Hopefully it's in anticipation of a boatload of new PW tunes that need to be published, right?

The "Let It Be" tribute that took place on Nov. 27 at First ave. sournds like it was a resounding success, read all about it in the Star-Trib. Next up, a "Tim" tribute?

Let It Be 25th Anniversary

Reminder: If you haven't had a chance to find out about the Mats fan documentary "Color Me Obsessed", now's the time to check it out. You can visit their web site, become a fan on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or help them kick start the project. Or you can just email them. This has the potential to be something great, if enough people get involved and share their stories.

Another reminder: Don't forget about "A Tribute To The Replacements: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Let It Be", taking place at First Avenue on Nov. 27. The event will also mark the paperback release of Jim Walsh's "The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting" and is a benefit for Twin Cities Music Community Trust. Sounds like a fun night, enjoy yourselves, Twin Cities folks.

9/22: New Paul Westerberg Music!

Well what do you know, some honest-to-goodness news to post. And not just any news, but new PW music being released news. On Sept. 22, Paul is releasing a 6-song EP for download (get it here). The EP is called "PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys", costs $3.89 and includes the following tracks:

1. Ghost On The Canvas
2. Drop Them Gloves
3. Good As The Cat
4. Love On The Wing
5. Gimmie Little Joy
6. Dangerous Boys


click here for hi-res cover art

"Dead Man Fake": PW Tribute CD

I'm happy to tell you that a second PW tribute CD has been put together by the folks on the message board. Dead Man Fake: Bring Your Own Lampshade Volume 2 is now available for download. With covers ranging from "I'm In Trouble" to "My Daydream", it covers the entire PW spectrum. Enjoy!

In other PW-related news, Warners released a CD called "Covered: A Revolution in Sound", featuring some of their newer bands covering some of their older bands and Against Me! covers "Here Comes a Regular". You can listen the entire CD on MySpace, including Adam Sandler seriously covering "Like a Hurricane". Scary. And Tommy commented on the (un)likliehood of a Mats reunion a few weeks ago, the probability of which seems to fluctuate every few years. Tommy said: "I just don't know if we have it in us...Why would we do it? Well, they'll pay us really great. Is that the reason to go do it or not? I don't know."

If you like the Justin Townes Earle cover of "Can't Hardly Wait" a few inches down on the page, you'll be pleased to know that it's included on his new album "Midnight at the Movies".

Magnet Magazine: Paul Westerberg 2002 interview and more

It's been pretty slow around here as of late, so thanks to MAGNET magazine for giving us some Mats content today. First up is a post about the five most over- and under- rated Mats songs. I would beg to differ on their picks for over but I agree with 3 out of 5 of their unders. Next, their excellent 2002 cover story on Paul is now up online. This is one of the best interviews with Paul from that tour and I highly recommend it. Also online is the sidebar to that interview, with Paul's comments on his discography - those of you who have always wondered "WTF?" about the cover of "Tim" will appreciate Paul's comment on that: "The cover is the worst piece of shit. [The label] hired Robert Longo: World Famous Artist. Nobody liked it—I can’t believe that Robert liked it." Hah! Oh and one more thing, and this one made my day. It's a short piece from George Pelecanos, who in addition to being a novelist, was also a writer/producer on "The Wire", which as you know is the greatest show in the history of television. So thanks to MAGNET for all the links and sorry we were kind of tough on your under/overs on the message board, we're just a wee bit opinionated!

Paul Westerberg Covered (again)

Thanks to forum poster Schecky for sharing this video of Justin Townes Earle (son of Steve "Walon" Earle) covering "Can't Hardly Wait".

Paul Westerberg Covered

Happy belated New Year. Here's hoping we see even more new Paul music this year...and maybe that we even see Paul. I have a few links to share with you on this snowy Sunday:

• This is a lovely cover of "Meet Me Down The Alley" by Alison Scott, a Minneapolis artist who included it on her recent covers CD, "Hiding Under The Covers" (which was produced by Kevin Bowe of Paul's Westerberg's Only Friends). Enjoy!

• Speaking of covers, I'm posting a link to yet another of Bill Janovitz's Cover of The Week songs. This one isn't a Mats cover (it's Blondie's "Dreaming" mixed with "Till The Next Goodbye", which is enough of a reason to get it right there) but the accompanying post includes a Westerberg story. So it's got that going for it.

• If you have any cash burning a hole in your pocket and you don't have a Paul Westerberg First Act Guitar yet, well, now might be the time to get one. They are marked down to $89.99 on the First Act site, such a bargain!

• The latest issue of MAGNET (Nick Cave on the cover) has a look back at some of their most memorable stories, including their PW cover story from 2002. They also posted a nice item on the "D.G.T." release.

• Profilc video maven Blasty posted another great clip on YouTube, this one is PW solo from...I'm gonna guess on this...2005? It's Paul doing "here Comes A Regular" ("here goes a career").

Happy Holidays: New MP3 Download From Paul!

Ho Ho Ho!

Download 3 songs from Paul Westerberg for $0.74!

You'll get 3 tracks in MP3 format (320kbps), plus very cool,
very plaid, cover art for only $0.74:

1: Always In A Manger (listed as "Always", should be "Away")
2: Streets of Laredo
3: D.G.T.

Misc. Westerberg Links

• Ground Control magazine posted a review of all of the Mats reissues, from "Sorry Ma" to "All Shook Down", "All For Nothing/Nothing For All" and "Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?". It's a comprehensive look at the Mats catalog and I recommend it even though they don't give PTMM the proper respect, tsk tsk.

• On Wednesday Dec. 10, WNCI's Dead Air Radio Show will devote their entire program to the Mats and PW. You can join host Paul Sweeney at 90.9FM if you're in the New London, CT area or listen online at www.wcniradio.org. The show runs from 6pm-9pm EST. Enjoy.

• Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom) posted a lovely acoustic cover of "Little Mascara" on his blog.