Serious Saddlelight

For those of us who cannot stand these busch league commercials haunting radio and have eliminated them with the purchase of satellite radio, this Bud's for you. Many of you may or may not know this, but I personally just discovered this weekend that, after the conglomeration (dictionary.com) of Sirius Satellite and XM Satellite Radio, a litter of new channels has surfaced. I realize this happened almost 7 months ago, but much to my surprise I just discovered it two days ago. The merger actually gave birth to better channels, including Channel 58, Bruce Springsteens "E-Street Radio." I'm not crazy about the Boss and do not dabble into his records too often, however, this channel is exceptional. It includes live acts rarely heard, rare studio recordings, and tracks everyone has heard. With Bonnaroo right around the corner, I expect this channel is going to get more and more traffic as time ticks on. Another channel worth checking out, which will most likely feature artists included in the June Festival, is Channel 56, Jam ON. Jam ON is an original channel from Sirius and has made it through the Red Rover (send someone over) line into the conglomerate's channel list. I heard a couple songs from Gov't Mule, moe., and the Disco Biscuits this past Saturday. These two channels and Ch 47 (alt nation - featuring the likes of TV on the Radio, MGMT, MMJ, YYY's, and a slew of other alternative [which is a terrible title for this genre] artists) should offer a great view into the types of bands that will be rocking roo. In 2008, to promote Viva La Vida, Coldplay had their own channel in which they played only their own songs for a month leading up to the release of the album. I can see this happening this year for some of the festival's artists, especially with expected album releases this summer topping a baker's dozen.

- Pull!!