"I thought VH1 had it right with their old moniker, 'Music First.' That's what I think for young artists. Keep it about your art. It's really easy for someone to say, 'Well things change. Everything's changed because the music distribution system has changed.' That doesn't change your music."

In the jazz realm, where fans are finicky and standard remakes a dime a dozen, Rene Marie's Voice of My Beautiful Country is grabbing headlines for both quality and controversy.

Although the cliché is that it's hard to imagine Woodstock happened that long ago, I find it hard to imagine that those three days of peace and music happened so recently.

R.E.M. will be releasing Live At The Olympia, a 39-song, two CD set containing "working rehearsals" from 2007. I was lent a track that captures the band's energy and insightful views.

This is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. 500,000 long-haired stoned members of my generation attended this three-day open air music festival. I was not one of them. While half a million rain soaked, bathroom deprived hippies grooved on three days of love and understanding, I was in LA bombarded by news updates on the Charles Manson murders.

In that very different but very catalytic era, 40 years ago, what Jimi Henrix accomplished and what he represented to young America helped bring us to the country and the leadership we have today.

As you're recovering from the joyful overkill that was this year's Comic-Con, take a few moments to catch-up on a handful of the more interesting new press releases.

Built on the whole School of Rock phenomenon, the University of Central Oklahoma has a new music division that teaches all aspects of popular music such as performance, production and business affairs.

Well, it's that time again: Woodstock Fever has arrived (beads and headbands optional) to remind us there actually was music made before American Idol.

If you were expecting another All That You Can't Leave Behind or How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - Part II, forget it. U2 is back to experimenting.