We celebrate the end of the year today with the second annual New Year’s Eve Tribute to Trane–music for ringing in, or recovering the next day, or both. A lightning strike of an Afro Blue from the fall of 1963 opens the mix, followed by some musings on Trane from Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus.

Derek Trucks pays tribute with an early version of his cover of My Favorite Things, and the quartet plays a popping rendition of Inch Worm in Europe in 1962. We close out with a long, languorous I Want To Talk About You, that final solo stretching even farther than usual. A happy and prosperous New Year, and as always, enjoy!

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE STORMY NEW YEAR’S MIX

December 30 has always been a major holiday for jambands. Nearly every major act took to the stage last night for their last standard show before busting out all the stops for tonight’s New Year’s Eve concerts. Let’s take a look at what went down last night across the country…

[Photo via Mule.net by Chris Rushin]

Gov’t Mule - Hammerstein Ballroom - NYC [via JRoxx]

Set 1: Blind Man In The Dark, Lola Leave Your Light On, Gameface, Towering Fool, She Said, She Said-> Tomorrow Never Knows, Spanish Moon *with Marc Quinones and Ivan Neville*, Into The Mystic *with Marc Quinones*, Kind Of Bird *with Marc Quinones*

Set 2: Like Flies, I Think You Know What I Mean-> When The Levee Breaks, Time To Confess, Red Clay *dedicated to the memory of Freddie Hubbard with Jimmy Vivino, Jeff Young and Marc Quinones*, Drums *with Marc Quinones*, I’m A Ram, Mule *Who Do You Love Tease*
Encore: Come On Into My Kitchen Intro -> 32/20 Blues *with Jimmy Vivino and Jeff Young*

The Skinny - Most expected Ivan Neville of opening band Dumpstaphunk to sit in throughout the night, but it was Warren’s ABB band mate Marc Quinones who spent the most time on stage with the Mule. The Mule also enlisted Jimmy Vivino [Fab Faux, Max Weinberg 7] and Jeff Young [Jackson Browne, Steely Dan] to celebrate the life of Jazz Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who passed away on Monday in LA. Of course, Neville did make his way to the stage for a cover of Little Feat’s Spanish Moon.

READ ON for setlists and reports from Phil and Friends, RatDog, Umphrey’s McGee, the Disco Biscuits, Widespread Panic and more…

Sometimes widespread speculation ends up totally bupkes…and sometimes it’s widespread speculation because, well, it just friggin’ makes sense. In that regard, saxophonist extraordinaire Jeff Coffin has confirmed that he is officially joining Dave Matthews Band in 2009. Coffin is, of course, a longtime associate of Dave & Co through his work with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and he belonged on a shortlist of great DMB sit-ins even before he joined the DMB in 2008 to spell an injured LeRoi Moore.

[Photo via The Dead Hub]

Coffin has posted the following to his website:

There have been many people asking and, yes, I will be joining Dave Mattews Band starting in 2009. I am honored to be asked to be part of such a fantastic group of musicians and people and am looking forward to making some great music! Thanks to all the many for their support and encouragement. See you out there.

Tragically, Moore passed away from complications of the injuries he sustained in an ATV accident. As it’s spawned a period of forced transition for DMB, having Coffin in Moore’s stead permanently has been a little jarring at first. But that’s only because Moore was an iconic image onstage (not to mention a crucial flavor in DMB’s sonic stew) with the band for so long—up there with Carter Beauford’s wide grins, Boyd Tinsley’s sawing violin, Dave’s goofy dancing and Stefan Lessard’s bass grooving.

Where this longtime Dave fan’s concerned—and yeah, pallies, I like to say I’ve “outgrown DMB,” too and also have no problem remembering their good old days and some of my favorite concert moments—there’s no one I’d rather have on horns than Coffin. Godspeed, Jeff—we’re sure you’ll kick ass.

Needless to say, Coffin’s going to be an even busier bee than before, what with his Flecktones commitments and the albums he’s released with his own Mutet. Dude gets around, too; Umphreaks caught him last night in Chicago, and if like much of Hidden Track’s NYC bureau you’re headed for My Morning Jacket at the Garden tomorrow night, you’ll see him there, too, alongside Steve Bernstein and other rumored special guests.

Remember when you’d have to wait weeks to hear your favorite band’s big shows? We’ve all gotten used to hearing audio within 24 hours of a concert ending, but it isn’t often high quality video footage surfaces quickly. Last night, prog-jammers Umphrey’s McGee kicked off their New Year’s run at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre and the band has already made a clip of the action available with the promise of more to come.

The setlist from yesterday’s show looks impressive with mashups, guest spots by guitar legend Buddy Guy and newest DMB member Jeff Coffin and a bustout of Billy Joel’s Scenes From An Italian Restaurant for the first time since December 31, 2002 . The fine folks at UMVideo, Umphrey’s McGee’s official YouTube channel, have started taking advantage of the video portal’s new Hi-Def capabilities with the release of the second set closing Hajimemashite from last night…

Keep your eyes on the UMVideo channel for more videos over the next few days. Tickets still remain for both tonight’s show and tomorrow night’s three-setter at The Auditorium Theatre. Umphrey’s will be joined by another master of the sax, Joshua Redman, as well as guitar virtuoso, Stanley Jordan this evening. Chicago blues siren Koko Taylor join us the band on NYE.

More From UMVideo:

• 10/25/2008: White Man’s Moccasins
• 04/20/2008: Plunger
• 12/13/2002: Carol of the Bells Jam

With 2008 rapidly coming to a close, we can start looking forward to the plethora of festival line up announcements that will be coming our way in the next few weeks and months. So, to get you used to the constant bombardment that is headed your way, we thought we’d tell you about the initial line up for the 37th annual RockyGrass Festival - which is set to take place from July 24 - 26 at the Planet Bluegrass Ranch in Lyons, CO.

The almost four decade old festie features the likes of Steve Earle & the Bluegrass Dukes, Hot Rize w/ Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers, Del McCoury Band, Earl Scruggs w/ Family & Friends, Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band, Mike Marshall & Darol Anger w/ Väsen and many more.

If a bluegrass festival isn’t your thing, than maybe one of these recently announced tours will be for you…

• Dr. Dog put together a short Southern February run (begins: 02/11)
• The legendary Charlie Louvin schedules dates through June of next year (begins: 01/17)
• Morrissey lines up a lengthy US tour that includes rare club dates (begins: 02/28)
• Reggae-infuse funk-rockers Slightly Stoopid head out (begins: 02/05)
• Prog-rocker legends Yes schedule the second leg of their In The Present tour (begins: 02/05)
• Athens rockers The Whigs open dates for KoL before a headlining tour of their own (begins: 01/20)

Finally, former Jayhawks band mates Gary Louis and Mark Olsen lined up the first batch of dates behind their new Chris Robinson-produced album - Ready For The Flood - which hits stores on January 24. The duo will perform throughout the month of February at a variety of clubs and theaters throughout the Eastern part of the country with more dates forthcoming.

“I hate New Year’s Eve, it’s always so anticlimactic.” - Friends of yours that don’t see live music every year.

Perhaps you’ve already got a show picked out for New Year’s Eve 2008-2009. Maybe you lucked out and it’s local or maybe you’re traveling 3,000 miles or even crossing an ocean to get there. Regardless of the status of your plans, it’s always fun to know what else is going on at that exact moment all over the country.

[Photo via Phishpics.net]

Well maybe not that exact moment, we’ve got those damn time-zones to deal with. When My Morning Jacket rings in New Year’s in New York, Umphrey’s McGee will be one hour behind in Chicago, followed by Widespread Panic in Colorado and finally Phil Lesh & Friends play the last notes of 2008 in the Continental United States.

So we’re sorting this guide in the following manner: First by Time zone then State then City then Band Name. Whenever we could, we linked directly to ticketing information. This post will be continually updated.

EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Ryan Montbleau Band with Zach Deputy & Jesse Dee, The Warehouse - Hartford ($30-65)

Earth Wind & Fire, Foxwoods - Mashantucket ($60-95)

The Breakfast with Shakedown, Toad’s Place - New Haven ($12.50)

Hall & Oates, Mohegan Sun Casino -Uncasville ($55-90)

READ ON for the rest of our New Year’s Eve Concert Guide…

I thought that I had cemented my list of favorite albums of the year about a month or so ago, but after listening to All Songs Considered’s Year In Music show I was introduced to the music of the indie-folk duo Blind Pilot. Unbeknownst to me the Portland, OR band released their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound back in July, but it’s been the most played thing on my iPod since I grabbed it a few weeks back.

I’ll be pimping this album out hopefully later this week with my Top 6 Of The Last 6, so until then I figured I’d give you a taste of what just what these guys sound like. Here’s their video with Go Say On It, enjoy…

Blind Pilot currently only have two live dates scheduled up in the Pacific Northwest, but I’ll be keep my fingers crossed that they make it East at some point in the coming months.

More Blind Pilot:

• The Story I Heard - Live
• Three Rounds & A Sound - Live @ PDX Pop Now! 2008

On Saturday afternoon, I had a pang to listen to my favorite tune written by a member of Phish since the band broke up, Suskind Hotel. After rockin’ the YouTube clip of GRAB’s incredible version from PNC Bank Arts Center it made me very excited to see the whole band demolish this tune.

[Photo by Joel Berk]

Perhaps my pang was a premonition as Mike Gordon and his solo band actually played Suskind Hotel for the first time at their mini-run opener at Lupo’s in Providence on Saturday night. Mike and the boys debuted their take on Suskind in the middle of a set chock of full of tunes from The Green Sparrow. Recordings of both shows are already available and let’s check out Suskind:

Here are the setlists from this weekend’s shows via Mike-Gordon.com…

12/27/2008

Set: Another Door, Willow Tree^, Suskind Hotel, Andelmans’ Yard, Pretend, Only A Dream*, Meat > River Niger, Crumblin Bones, Dig Further Down
Encore: She Said She Said

Show Notes:
^ Scott Murawski original
* Mike original, first time played

12/28/2008

Set: Morphing Again, Rhymes, Only A Dream, Living For the City*, Voices, Cruel World, Ain’t Love Funny > Kryermaten > Ain’t Love Funny, Radar Blip, Things That Make You Go Hmm.., Jaded, Traveled Too Far
Encore: Sound, Taking It To The Streets

Show Notes:
^ Scott Murawski original
* Stevie Wonder song, first time played

Mike and his band return to the stage tonight at the Pickle Barrel in Killington, VT before concluding the brief tour tomorrow night at the Higher Ground.

• Previously on HT: Mike Gordon - Cactus Comes Clean, Picture Show - Mike Gordon’s Variety Show and Interview - Mike Gordon’s Solo Story

Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule kicked off their two-venue New Year’s run with a couple of killer shows at the gorgeous Angel Orensanz Center in New York City on Saturday and Sunday. The two intimate shows at the neo-gothic synagogue were billed as acoustic gigs, but the majority of the shows were electrified. Haynes channeled Nirvana’s legendary Unplugged performances by covering About A Girl and All Apologies as well as the traditional tune In The Pines over the course of the two shows.

[Photo via Mule.Net's From The Road]

Here’s the setlists from the two Angel Orensanz shows…

12/27/2008

Set 1: Glory Road@, Affair On 8th Avenue@, Broken Promised Land, Get Behind The Mule, Raven Black Night, I’ll Be The One, Afro-Blue, Bus Stop, About A Girl*

Set 2: Hallelujah, The Shape I’m In, I Believe To My Soul, Don’t Let It Bring You Down, It Hurts Me Too, Drums, Child Of The Earth, Sugaree, Thorazine Shuffle
Encore: Forevermore, In The Pines*

* - First Time Played
@ - Warren Acoustic

12/28/2008

Set One: Loves Open Door, The Real Thing, In My Life, Painted Silver Light, Beautifully Broken, Patchwork Quilt> Wild Horses, One, Long Distance Call, So Weak, So Strong, Kind Of Bird

Set Two: John The Revelator> When The Levee Breaks> John the Rev> Levee, A Change is Gonna Come, Fallen Down, Other One Jam, Drums, All Apologies (Nirvana), Endless Parade, Hide Your Love Away, Soulshine
Encore: Hallelujah Boulevard, Goin’ Out West

[via EMule]

The Mule continues their New Year’s Run tomorrow and Wednesday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom with Dumpstaphunk opening tomorrow’s show.

Besides singer/guitarist Jim James falling off a stage, 2008 couldn’t have treated My Morning Jacket any better. The boys roll into New York City for the biggest gig of their career headlining Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve on top of the world. Their latest release, Evil Urges, was ranked in most critics Top 10 lists and Jambase recently named them the Band of the Year. Things couldn’t be better for the Kentucky-based quintet.

[Photo by likethetwilight]

New York Magazine spoke with James and drummer Patrick Hallahan about MMJ’s epic rise, James’ epic fall and what we can expect for at Wednesday night’s New Year’s show…

“After this huge election, and such a big, crazy year that had so much to do with New York for me, to be tying things to a close at the Garden is such a big deal,” says James, who admits to being nervous about his injury while still promising the usual marathon performance, special guests, and new covers. “It’s one of those transformative nights, because no matter how bad the year has been, I feel like I’ve got a new chance.”

Marathon performance, special guests and new covers are the key words we’ve been hoping for and expecting. We already know that Sex Mob slide trumpet great Steven Bernstein and sax star Jeff Coffin will join the band and that we’re in for some Zeppelin covers, but we’re sure MMJ has plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Tickets for Wednesday night’s show are still available.

READ ON for setlists from MMJ’s rescheduled shows in Chicago…