The members of Mumford & Sons have never hid their love and affection for the music of The Band. In fact, the entire group performed as part of the Levon Helm tribute at February’s Grammy Awards. Last week Mumford and Sons debuted a cover of Don’t Do It – a song originally performed by Marvin Gaye that was a staple of The Band’s live sets. The expanded touring version of Mumford & Sons teamed up with Deap Vally to cover the tune at Palacio Vista Alegre in Madrid, Spain.

We dig Marcus Mumford’s vocal delivery but in our opinion the screeching of Deap Vally’s Lindsey Troy leaves something to be desired. That said, overall it’s an enjoyable version of Don’t Do It.

[via Bob Dylan and The Band]

Esteemed music critic Greg Kot often breaks the news about Lollapalooza headliners before event organizers do. That trend continued this morning when Kot posted an article on the Chicago Tribune website detailing the headliners for this year’s festival. Kot says that Vampire Weekend, The Killers, Mumford and Sons and Phoenix will be a top the lineup when C3 Presents officially unveils the Lollapalooza ’13 lineup next month.

The writer also reveals that Postal Service and The National will appear at Lollapalooza 2013, which takes place in Chicago’s Grant Park on August 2 – 4. Early bird tickets go on sale this Tuesday, March 26th, at 10AM CT via Lollapalooza.com.

[via Chicago Tribune, Hat Tip - Brooklyn Vegan]

Montreal’s Osheaga Festival, which takes place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 2 – 4, has just revealed this year’s lineup. HT faves Mumford & Sons, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Pretty Lights and Beach House are all aboard for Quebec’s premier festival as are bands such as The Cure, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Hot Chip and dozens more.

Here’s the full lineup for the 2013 Osheaga Festival…

[CLICK FOR FULL SIZE]

Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 15th, at noon ET via the event’s website.

[UPDATE: 12:30PM 2/22 - Wax Poetic has updated their list to reveal more information about the Trey Anastasio 7" Picture Disc. See the entry below.]

Record Store Day returns on April 20th to independent record stores across this country and as we reported earlier Jack White will be this year’s “Ambassador.” Today, the folks at Wax Poetic have given a preview of what we can expect in the way of exclusive RSD releases by posting a list of 144 Record Store Day titles that include releases by some of our favorite artists.

You can check out the whole list HERE, but we’ve assembled some highlights…

CDs:

• Grateful Dead are Cuts & Oddities 1966

This compilation was released on CD in 2005 but seems to be out-of-print

• Mumford & Sons Live at Bull Moose

A live set performed by Mumford at the Scarborough, Maine record store last August

7″

READ ON

After the “who we lost” montage at last night’s Grammys detailing the many legendary musicians and music industry vets who passed away over the last 12 months, Mavis Staples, Mumford and Sons, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Elton John, T-Bone Burnett and Zac Brown paid tribute to the last person listed in the montage, The Band drummer Levon Helm, by performing The Weight.

Elton introduced the tune and dedicated The Weight not only to the musicians we lost but also to the Sandy Hook school victims before handing it off to Zac Brown for the first verse. Mavis Staples, who made her presence felt not only throughout the whole cover, but also after it ended, handled the second verse. The Mumford Boys harmonized on the third verse, while Howard absolutely stole the show with the “wait a minute, Chester” verse followed by Elton singing the final verse of The Weight. All in all, it was a nice tribute to one of our heroes. If you missed it, here’s the vid…

• 2013 Grammys: The Black Keys w/ Dr. John & Pres Hall – Lonely Boy

The Grammys take place this Sunday night and as part of the ceremony, a number of musicians will pay tribute to the late Levon Helm. According to the AP, both Elton John and Mumford and Sons will take the Staples Center stage in Los Angeles on Sunday to perform a tribute to Helm.

[Photo by Parker Harrington]

T. Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples, Zac Brown and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes will pair up with Elton and the Mumford boys to perform The Band classic The Weight in honor of the group’s drummer. Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, the Black Keys, Fun., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Jack White, Maroon 5, and Justin Timberlake are among those expected to perform at the Grammys on Sunday. The ceremony airs on CBS.

Last year Mumford and Sons threw a series of multi-band festivals dubbed “Gentleman Of The Road Stopovers” in small cities across the U.S. and in the U.K. The band described the events as such…

“The Gentlemen of the Road Stopover is based loosely upon our favourite festivals like Colorado’s Telluride Bluegrass and Scotland’s Loopallu Festivals. We want to stop off in towns not usually heavily toured by bands, and celebrate the people, food and music that inhabit them. We’re keen to promote the town’s local businesses, and we’ll be using the local bars and venues for aftershow parties, whilst working closely with the local people to get everyone involved in making these shows spectacular.

There will be a host of our friends playing too, and the vibe falls somewhere between ‘travelling Victorian circus’ and ‘Victorian travelling circus’. It should be a whole lot of fun.”

Mumford and Sons will host another batch of Gentleman Of The Road Stopovers in 2013 and have just revealed where they will take place. Lewes, UK; Simcoe, Ontario; Troy, Ohio; Guthrie, Oklahoma and St. Augustine, Florida will all host Stopovers. Ticketing information can be found on the Stopover website.

Joining Mumford and Sons at all Stopovers will be Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and The Vaccines. Alabama Shakes, fun., Old Crow Medicine Show and Vampire Weekend will be among the acts performing at one or more Stopovers.

Here’s the list of what bands are playing where…

READ ON

All week long we’ve been looking at our staff’s choices for the best albums of 2012 five LPs at a time. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between. At the end of the day, we’re a music blog. Everyone is encouraged to write about what they like with no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’re in the home stretch, so let’s check out numbers 10 through 6…

10) Mumford & Sons – Babel

Key Tracks: I Will Wait, Lover of the Light, Broken Crown, Ghosts That We Knew

Sounds Like: The Avett Brothers on steroids harmonizing with CSN at an Old Crow Medicine Show hoedown

The Skinny: Marcus Mumford and his boys from London delivered one of the most contagious albums of the year. A non-stop euphoric choke hold to the senses, the punchy Babel unleashes the bluegrass and folk quartet into a hooting and hollering love fest complete with vulnerable and dark lyrics that provide adept imagery into the plight of tormented heartbreak. Lyrics that pull one’s heart strings, strongly influenced by literature, are covered by heavenly harmonies over banjo picking, mandolin strumming and plush piano playing. Mumford’s vocals touch deep into the soul, like a more powerful raspy David Gray, warranting repeated listening to discern meaning in grand scope within the musical adventure.

- Chadbyrne R. Dickens

• Previously On HT: #25 – #21, #20 – #16, #15 – #11
• Spotify Playlist: Hidden Track’s Top 25 Albums Of 2012

9) Fang Island – Major

READ ON

My mom told me once that we were all born into this world with a special talent that’s unique to us. Well I’m sure glad excellence in handfarting isn’t my skill, but I can still appreciate the HandFartMaster.

This gentleman has shared his “Handmonica” talents with the world through covers posted on his YouTube channel. Let’s start with HFM’s take on Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd…

Now how about Mumford and Sons’ oh so solemn The Cave…

READ ON

Los Angeles’s Flogging Molly and London’s Mumford & Sons share this weekend’s episode of Austin City Limits on your local PBS station. The former offer hits from throughout their illustrious career while the latter make their ACL debut in this repeat from last season.

Friday, November 16 [All Times ET]

• AC/DC – Live at River Plate [AXS TV 1:50PM]
• Wilco, DMB and Flaming Lips – Hangout Fest ’12 [Palladia 3PM]
• Divine Fits on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM]
• Vampire Weekend on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC Midnight]

Saturday, November 17

• Flogging Molly / Mumford & Sons – Austin City Limits [PBS]
• Stone Temple Pilots – Live From Chicago [Palladia 11AM]
• The Civil Wars on Unplugged [Palladia 3PM]
• Maroon 5 on Saturday Night Live [NBC 11:30PM]

Sunday, November 18

• U2 – Saturday Night Live [VH1 Classic Noon]
• Queen – Rock Montreal [Palladia 3PM]
• Ladies and Gentlemen – The Rolling Stones [VH1 Classic 6:30PM]
• Fountains of Wayne – Special Performance [AXS TV 9:35PM]

It was just three short years ago that Mumford and Sons played the 250-capacity Mercury Lounge in New York City for an October 2009 CMJ showcase. In February the Londoners, who have become one of the top-drawing bands in the world, will make the huge step up to arenas. Marcus, Ben, Ted and Winston are set to perform at four massive venues in the Northeast – TD Garden in Boston (2/5), Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (2/6), the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia (2/13) and the indoor section of the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey (2/16).

If a night with Mumford and Sons isn’t your cup of tea, then perhaps one of these recently announced tours will float your boat…

• Passion Pit w/ Matt and Kim: Winter Tour (2/5 – 3/2)
• Joan Osborne: NYE at Terrapin Crossroads (12/31)
• ALO: Tour d’Amour VII (1/30 – 2/23)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Fall Tour (11/10 – 12/22)
• Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers: Winter Tour (12/15 – 2/10)
• Galactic: Fall Tour and January 2013 Tour (12/9 – 1/19)

As the Northeast continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy, it’s no surprise to hear that celebrities and musicians are already eager to get involved in benefit shows to help relief efforts. NBC has announced that it will air the first of what will likely be many such specials with “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together” on Friday. The special, which will air at 8PM ET on NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, E!, Style Network and G4, and online at NBC.com, Today.com and NBCNews.com, is currently set to feature Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Sting, Jimmy Fallon and more. Money collected will go to the American Red Cross, which is providing food, shelter and other support to those affected by the hurricane and other disasters. You don’t have to wait till Friday to donate though, as you visit RedCross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

• List Time: 7 Supremely Bizarre ’90s PC Games That Feature Musicians
• According to Buddy Miller, Robert Plant will release a new solo album in 2013
• Cover Alert: The Gaslight Anthem tackle Bon Iver
• Check out some odd band merch courtesy of the UK newspaper The Guardian
• Download This: Hard Times (come again no more) – Fuel/Friends Autumn Mix
• The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach has produced a track for ABC’s Nashville

Finally, Mumford & Sons are looking to continue their dominance of the music world. The English folk-rock act’s sophomore album Babel had the best debut sales week of 2012, and currently sits at number 5 on the Billboard charts, while their 2010 debut album Sigh No More, which has already sold more than 2.5 million copies is at number 25. On January 22, Marcus Mumford & Co. will release the concert film The Road To Red Rocks, which mixes performances and backstage footage of the band as they make their way to the historic Colorado venue for two sold out shows during their past summer’s Gentleman Of The Road tour. Watch the film’s trailer…

DVD Tracklisting

Lovers Eyes, Little Lion Man, Below My Feet, Roll Away Your Stone, Lover of the Light, Thistle & Weeds, Ghost That We Knew, Awake My Soul, Whispers, Dustbowl Dance, I Will Wait,The Cave

After a relatively strong season opener, Saturday Night Live’s second show of the year had way more misses than hits. While we will save the critiques for other sites that do that kind of stuff, we can enthusiastically get behind Mumford & Sons debut appearance on the iconic sketch comedy show.

The London-based band, who will release their highly anticipated sophomore effort tomorrow, first performed their anthemic sing-a-long lead single I Will Wait accompanied by a three-piece horn section. For their second tune of the night, the Mumford boys plugged in ditching their acoustic set up for an electric guitar and bass, to perform the slow-building foot-stomper Below My Feet.

Mumford & Sons – Below My Feet

Since we first wrote about Mumford & Sons back in February of 2010, the London-based folk-rockers have been on a remarkable meteoric rise unlike any we’ve seen in quite some time. In just a few short years, the bluegrass-playing blokes have moved from clubs to theaters and outdoor sheds to recently performing for over 15,000 people at a pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, as part of their innovative Gentlemen Of The Road summer package tour, which brought them to a number of off-the-beaten path cities across the United States.

The tail end of 2012 will likely-see the band get even bigger, as first Marcus Mumford & Co. will make their debut appearance as the musical guest on the September 22nd episode of Saturday Night Live and will follow that just three days later when they will release their highly anticipated sophomore effort, Babel, via Glassnote Records. Earlier this week Mumford & Sons dropped the video for the album’s anthemic sing-a-long lead single I Will Wait, which was shot this summer at the band’s stop at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Let’s check it out…

Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait

The next season of legendary television program Saturday Night Live begins on September 15th and the hosts and musical guests for the season’s first three episodes have been revealed. Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane will host the season premiere which will feature Frank Ocean as musical guest.

On September 22 HT faves Mumford and Sons will make their SNL debut on an episode hosted by Phish fan actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Then, on October 6th, Daniel “James Bond” Craig will host while Muse serves as musical guest.