THE WORLD GETS DONG-ED!
Today is the day! It’s Street Date time for Smog. After several months of free advance CDs and promo copies floating around on eBay (we’ll take that as a compliment, mister), Dongs of Sevotion is now officially Out There, in that big world filled with retail shops, retail shops filled to the brim with Smog fans, both old and new. Now the man on the street can hear the startling new report from Bill “Smog” Callahan - the tall tales, the one-liners and the shaggy-dog stories that he’s been putting to music in the last year. Suffice to say it’s a gut-wrenching, head-turning riot of melody and meaning, and yes, tears and laughter too - everything you want from your new favorite singer-songwriter! Plus cheerleaders! And a number of snappy new songs, as well.

HOLLYWOOD BEAT
Last week, we mentioned that DC superstars Al Johnson (of U.S. Maple) and Liam Hayes (Plush) were making their (non-porno) movie debut in the new John Cusack panty-raid epic, High Fidelity. But that’s not the only Drag City news on the Hollywood ticker this week! In addition to those live-action appearances, it seems that we’ve also managed to place songs from Smog and Royal Trux on the High Fidelity soundtrack LP, just to give Joe Soundtrack-buyer (whoever the hell he is) an opportunity to hear something really fresh on a soundtrack LP here in the “new“ millenium. Yep, and we’re proud also to impart that John Cusack himself mentioned this fact on a VH1 Top Ten Countdown, giving Jane Airhead (haven’t met her, either!) the chance to be influenced by his movie-star ass - and end up buying more Drag City records. And if she does, well then it’s about damn time, basically!

ON THE ROAD
Elsewhere on this very sight, you can learn the exact times and locations of forthcoming live appearances by any number of artists currently breaking all the rules and laws of music as we’ve known it (who also happen to be on Drag City). What a talented bunch! And when they play live in the clubs of this world, there’s nobody quite like them. So go ahead - look up forthcoming dates in Europe for Smog and Papa M, dates in America for U.S. Maple, The Red Krayola and Brother JT3, and dates in Japan and Europe and America for Jim O’Rourke (yes Virginia, there is an O’Rourke show near you). Or email tourdates@dragcity.com for an auto-email-update of the whole DC carnival. But hurry - Papa M opens in Europe this week - and Brother JT3 will be opening shows for Blonde Redhead in the sunny Southland from April 13th through the 22nd. The time is nigh - catch ’em!

CORRECTIONS
The week before last, we were talking about Monday, April 17 as if it were a date on which new Drag City titles would be hitting the streets - specifically, reissues of two classic Half Japanese LPs (Sing No Evil and Our Solar System), Moikai releases for (fully) Japanese artists Space Ponch and Aki Tsuyoko, a book by a music legend (the semi-autobiographical short story collection How Bluegrass Destroyed My Life by John Fahey) and of course, issue #26 of The Minus Times. But those releases won't be out on that previously mentioned date at all! Instead, look towards the following Monday for these prized pieces of sound and vision to come to the shop near you. That’s right - our next new release date is Monday, April 24th. Spread the word! And tune in next week to hear how the Smog saga turned out (hint: it shipped gold!), the DC critical reaction to High Fidelity (hint: the money was green!) and when our next release date really is (hint: watch this space!).