Rufus Wainwright, courtesy RufusWainwright.com

The musical lineup for the 12th Annual NON-COMMvention is beginning to take shape with a slew of announcements.

Brandi Carlile, Sinead O’Connnor, Rufus Wainwright, and Diego Garcia are scheduled to perform at the Philadelphia-based conference May 17-19.

Also announced are Dry the River, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Lee Fields, and Father John Misty. Many more artists are yet to be announced.

Sinead O'Connor by Kevin Abosch, courtesy of sineadoconnor.com

As the NON-COMMvention returns to Philly from Wilmington, performances will take place at World Cafe Live, adjacent to the WXPN studios.

Early Bird registration rates are currently in effect, with multiple radio station employees able to attend for as little as $50. See the NON-COMMvention registration page for details.

The official hotel will again be the The Inn at Penn, with reservations now being taken. Learn more at the NON-COMMvention hotel page.

TheTop22.com will have complete details as the conference further develops. Information is available via the 12th Annual NON-COMMvention tab on the top navigation bar.

Feist: The Pantsuit Days

Nova Scotia’s Leslie Feist won the hearts of AAA with her second album Let it Die and the track Mushaboom.

But it was the homespun video for 1234 that broke her nationwide, thanks to Apple. As lo-fi as that clip was, the new mini-movie for The Bad in Each Other is at the other end of the spectrum.

With the new album having scanned more than 120,000 units and Bad having just debuted in the Public Radio Top 22, Feist appears set for a strong year. KBCO, WXRV, KCMP, and WFUV are just some of the stations on board.

Check out the clip, a performance for the excellent Black Cab Sessions, and tour dates below…

And here’s a performance from the UK’s Black Cab Sessions…

Feist from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

Feist has announced the first leg of her upcoming tour…

April 14th Indio, CA @ Coachella
April 21st Indio, CA @ Coachella
April 22nd Phoenix, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre
April 26th Austin, TX @ Stubb’s: Outdoors
April 28th New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
April 30th Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room @ Old National Centre
May 1st Nashville, TN @ The Ryman Auditorium
May 2nd Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
May 3rd Raleigh, NC @ Memorial Auditorium
May 5th New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
May 7th Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
May 8th Philadelphia, PA @ Academy Of Music
May 9th Washington, DC @ The Strathmore
May 11th Burlington, VT @ The Flynn Theater

Jane’s Addiction returned in October with The Great Escape Artist, and the track Underground felt like it had huge potential. Now there’s a sepia tone video that offers plenty to look at…

Kate Bush continues to impress with her 50 Words for Snow album, and this inventive clip for Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe continues the compelling story…

Wilco has released their second video for The Whole Love, this time an amazing animation for Dawned on Me featuring the characters from Popeye…

Orbo and the Longshots

Orbo and the Longshots sound like they grew up next door to John Mellencamp. But you’ll likely do a double-take when you find out they’re actually from Bergen, Norway.

Ole Reinert Berg-Olsen (Orbo) put the band together in 2000, and they’ve gone from a Rolling Stones cover band to developing a straight-ahead Americana sound.

For their fifth CD, Prairie Sun, the band traveled to Prairie Sun studios in Sonoma County, California, enlisting engineering and production help from Grammy nominated Erick Jaskowiak (Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, Catie Curtis, Shooter Jennings, Colin Hay).

Winners of the Norwegian Grammy equivalent, the band hopes to make more friends stateside this year with a handful of dates starting on February 29 in Nashville.

Prairie Sun arrives January 31.

Check out this clip in the studio, cutting High Grass Dog…

And a performance video of Highway Tears…

The first track from Prairie Sun to radio is Magic…

Orbo and the Longshots – Magic (radio edit) by TheTop22

Upcoming dates:

29.02.2012     US 2012    Exit/In    Nashville, TN (US)
01.03.2012     US 2012    The EARL    East Atlanta, GA (US)
02.03.2012     US 2012    Local 506    Chapel Hill, NC (US)
03.03.2012     US 2012    Red Palace    Washington, DC (US)
04.03.2012     US 2012    Johnny Brenda’s    Philadelphia, PA (US)
05.03.2012     US 2012    Mercury Lounge    New York, NY (US)

Learn more at Orbo.no

Artist Spotlight is sponsored content in association with A Taste of Triple A.

What to do if you’re Ingrid Michaelson.

The super-clever-funny girl that the AAA and Hot AC radio formats have come to know and love seems at a crossroads.

Known for simple, often ukelele-driven pop songs with BIG hooks, Michaelson’s fanbase should be much bigger than the boutique that is adult rock.

Throw in the risk that, if she were to remain that ukelele playing prankster, she might well get lost among the growing crowd of sound-a-likes that has cropped up in her wake.

And heck, maybe as an artist she just wanted try something different — such as replacing a bit of clever with a bit of deeper. With Human Again, she may have been in no mood to make another version of the first four albums. And that’s laudable.

In hiring veteran producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Shawn Colvin, Regina Spektor, Lana Del Rey) over previous partner Dan Romer, the die was cast.

Unfortunately, Kahne did not seem to have a game plan beyond making sure it didn’t sound like an Ingrid Michaelson album. When compared to her light-tight-and-bright previous work, Human Again largely comes off as over-produced, with everything from bombastic electronic drum kits to an overabundance of strings that, at times, literally overpower Michaelson’s fantastic voice. At other times, such as on the track I’m Through, the strings and vocal reverb take her dangerously close to a Broadway show tunes production value.

Yet there are standouts. Among them is Ribbons, which finally gives us a taste of the clever that we’ve come to expect from Michaelson. The song is thisclose to perfection, but again Kahne can’t resist a soaring chorus that feels mismatched with the rest of the song.

Another strong track is the lead single at radio, Ghost. Ghost may take a few spins before the stealthy hooks emerge. But once they do, the song is hard to get out of your head.

Looking very forward to seeing Ingrid play these songs live. Her tour starts April 9 in Montreal.

Legend Etta James died Friday following a long battle with leukemia and other health complications. She was 73 years old.

James first hit the charts as a teenager with the 1955 #1 R&B hit The Wallflower. Her career took off after signing with Chicago’s Chess Records, which found her a wider audience.

Best known for the international hit At Last, James continued to work as long as illness would allow, releasing her final album The Dreamer in November.

James battle drug addictions throughout her career, and a legal tussle over her estate also brought unwelcome attention from the press.

Johnny Otis with son Shuggie Otis.

Johnny Otis was born Ioannis Veliotes – a child of Greek immigrants – in Northern California and was known as “The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues” for his work as a performer, DJ, and producer.

Otis, who discovered Etta James, Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard among others, passed away January 17 at the age of 90.

In the studio, Otis made his mark by producing the original version of Hound Dog, performed by Big Mama Thornton, and by writing and singing Willie and the Hand Jive, among other hits.

Our sister site, TheBluesMobile.com is the online home of The House of Blues Radio Hour, hosted by Dan Aykroyd in the Elwood character. We dug into the archives for two special shows dedicated to Etta and Otis.

Take a listen to learn more about the contributions of these greats…

Originally signed by Madonna’s Maverick Records, Washington, DC native Eric Hutchinson has received support from some unexpected people.

Maverick folded before the album could be released so Hutchinson put out 2008’s Sounds Like This independently.

It was blogger Perez Hilton, of all people who noticed the album and got things rolling. The tracks Rock & Roll and OK, It’s Alright With Me helped build the foundation. Ultimately, things went almost full circle as Warner Bros. stepped back in and re-released the CD.

Now some four years later, he’s ready with another set of songs, his fourth, called Moving Up, Living Down.

While the album doesn’t land until April, the first single, a very hook-y Watching You Watch Him is making the rounds at radio.

Check the lyric video…

Learn more on Eric’s site.

Artist Spotlight is sponsored content in association with A Taste of Triple A

Alabama Shakes

Houston, we have a buzz band. Discovered by Patterson Hood of Drive By Truckers, Alabama Shakes has so much of the hype machine now running behind them, it threatens to actually run them over. Which would be a shame, because there’s definitely something here. We love this kind of record because it makes hypocrites out of radio guys who otherwise refuse to play the blues. Somehow they’ll argue this is something completely unrelated.

The band is from Athens, Alabama, and they used to just be called “The Shakes.”

Brittany Howard is the lead, and it’s coming out on ATO through RED. Check the lo-fi video performance for “Hold On.”

Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi, Featuring Jack White

In a better-late-than-never clip, this minor public radio hit now has an amazing animated video to accompany Two Against One…

MGMT

While we’re on the animation trip, here’s a different style, but equally compelling clip for MGMT’s All We Ever Wanted…

MGMT – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

Ingrid Michaelson

This has been around a while, but in case you missed it, in a collage of stills, Michaelson and collaborator Deborah Lopez create a lyric video. Michaelson displays a beautiful pair of glasses, but also commits a classic no-no and turns her back to the camera.

Ghost sounds like a significant departure for the AAA fave…

Back in 2004, Cincinnati’s Heartless Bastards got a break from fellow Ohio rising star Patrick Carney from The Black Keys.

Carney delivered a demo tape of the Bastards to the folks at the Keys’ label Fat Possum Records. And off they went.

Now signed to Brooklyn’s Partisan Records, Heartless Bastards are about to release album #4 — called Arrow — produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno at his home studio in Austin.

The first single, Parted Ways had a strong week at Public Radio this week, debuting in The Top 22.

Get a feel for the band as they perform Parted Ways for Austin blog Do512…

And here’s the studio version…

Heartless Bastards – Parted Ways

Paul Weller has a big year ahead of him. Not only will he and his wife have twins in early 2012, but he’ll drop a new CD called Sonik Kicks. The disc features at least one guest appearance from Noel Gallagher.

He’s released a song and video, and if Around the Lake is an indicator, it’s a departure for Weller, who  appears to be channeling his inner Bowie…

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon

There are a number of things we learn from this next video:

1) Justin Vernon has a pretty good fadeaway jumper.

2) Justin Vernon has/had sciatica.

3) The band kills time with light workouts.

Beyond that, we’re not exactly sure what to make of this video…

On the road DVD Trailer from Rogcity Fitness on Vimeo.

The Rodney Dangerfield of late night television

Jimmy Kimmel gets no respect.

He gets decent ratings, and has grown his audience this year. Maybe he’s just on too late for most people.

One of the many great things he’s got going is the recurring bit with artists playing his outdoor stage. The bookings are solid and it makes for a better live concert experience.

This week he had Death Cab for Cutie.

Enjoy You Are a Tourist…

And Underneath the Sycamore…