“The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration” kicks off June 18 in Pittsburgh, where Haynes will be joined by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The tour will continue with two bursts of dates throughout the summer, with Haynes being accompanied by local orchestras in each of the eight cities. (Full list of performances here.)

Haynes, of course, has a history with the Grateful Dead. He played in bassist Phil Lesh’s band, Phil Lesh & Friends, for years, and produced Lesh’s 2002 album There And Back Again. He also did some time in The Dead, which featured Grateful Dead members Lesh, guitarist/singer Bob Weir, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

Haynes organizes some annual musical events — the Mountain Jam festival every summer and the Christmas jam in December — but he says this tour wasn’t his idea.

“We got a call from the people representing the Garcia Estate, saying they wanted to do a series of symphony shows doing Jerry’s music, and that they were going to have a few guest performers, and they wanted to know if I wanted to be the first guest artist,” he told Radio.com. “I was very honored.”

It turns out, Haynes had wanted to go the orchestral route for some time, but never had the right concept, until now.

“I’ve always wanted to do something with a symphony, but I never have, so it’s a really great challenge for me, and I was really psyched. I think it’s gonna be really amazing.”

Of course, a hallmark of both Garcia’s and Haynes’ music is improvisation. But how much can you improvise with an orchestra, particularly when you are performing with a different one every night?

“I felt like it was very important that we take the Grateful Dead spirit and to approach the symphonic production in a way that is different from the norm,” he explained. “I didn’t want it to be just like a symphony playing that music. We’re starting to figure out that there are ways to make it work. There are going to be certain windows that allow for improvisation. Other times, I have to keep my solos more part of the structure.”

Read more at Radio.com

– Brian Ives, Radio.com 

Every Thursday, Billy Z attempts to play a hit from the 60s, 70s, or 80s on his accordion. This week he attempted a Hall and Oates hit. Even though he is really bad, someone always manages to name that tune.

CLICK BELOW to hear Billy Z take on a rockin’ 80′s love song…

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Billy Z tackles the stories you may have missed. This morning he shared stories about bomb sniffing bees, Apple Paltrow’s birthday wish and pigs on grass. Sometimes you gotta wonder what goes through Bill Zimpfer’s mind while he’s hard at work, collecting his Knucklehead News. And whether or not he’s completely sane.

CLICK BELOW for what you may have missed.

The Hangover 3 opens today, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis…and the boys seem to be as confused as ever.
Zach Galifianakis arrived at the premiere with an interesting date. The comedy actor, who reprises his role as the weird friend Alan in the film, brought with him an old friend he met almost 20 years ago in a Los Angeles laundromat. She’s 87-year-old “Mimi”Haist, and she met Zach when she was working for tips at their local laundromat. The actor stopped going to Fox Laundry after “The Hangover” came out, and Haist thought “well maybe he has his own washer and dryer now.” Two years ago, Galifianakis found out Haist was homeless and took action. He got her a one-bedroom apartment, and also pays her rent and all utilities. Apparently, even Renee Zellweger has gotten involved. She bought furniture for Haist and reportedly buys her groceries. Maybe Renee knew Zach through her relationship with Bradley Cooper. Anyway, this isn’t the first time on the red carpet for Haist. She also went as Galifianakis’ date to “The Hangover II” . She said: “If he’s in town, he takes me.

CLICK BELOW for more gossip but don’t forget to listen to the Buzz live at 605am and 805am Monday through Friday…

One lucky Cannes Film Festival-goer will get to go into outer space with Leonardo DiCaprio!  Yes, one of the auction prizes at Thursday night’s amfAR gala at Cannes will be a trip on Virgin Galactic’s space flight with “The Great Gatsby” star.   Page Six reports seats on the world’s first commercial space flight cost $200,000, but sources say this auction item was “priceless” because the highest bidder will be personally escorted by DiCaprio.  Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said he hopes to launch the first manned flight from his spaceport in New Mexico around Christmas this year. The ship will carry six passengers and two pilots at a time and soar to an altitude of 360,000 feet above the earth. The trip into space and back will last around 2 1/2 hours, and passengers must first go through three days of training.  Virgin Galactic says 65,000 people have already put their names down on the waiting list for seats on the flights, and celebrities reported to have bought tickets include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, scientist Stephen Hawking and Ashton Kutcher. Expected guests at tonight’s 20th anniversary amfAR bash at the Hotel du Cap, benefiting AIDS and chaired by Harvey Weinstein and Kenneth Cole, include Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Jeremy Renner, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Chastain, Karolina Kurkova and Janet Jackson, with performances planned by Duran Duran and Shirley Bassey.   Wow!  Blast off!

Don’t forget to listen to the Buzz live at 605am and 805am Monday through Friday…

A spokesperson for Franklin said that the 71-year-old singer will reschedule her two dates from May 20th in Chicago and May 26th in Connecticut and pick up the remainder of her tour in July.

Franklin announced the canceled dates earlier this month to seek medical treatment under doctor’s recommendations for an unspecified health issue. This isn’t the first time the Queen of Soul had to postpone shows due to medical reasons in recent years. Franklin previously canceled a tour in 2010 to undergo surgery for a pain her side, which sparked rumors that she was seeking treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Though her health has posed some interference with shows in the past, Franklin has never been interested in divulging specific details of her health with the media. After her surgery in 2010, Franklin told Jet magazine that she doesn’t “talk about my health with anybody other than my doctors” and only revealed that “the problem has been resolved.”

Last week, Franklin appeared in good health when performing on the season finale of American Idol via satellite singing a medley of her greatest hits with the female finalists.

– Britt Bickel, K-EARTH Los Angeles

From the booth at Williamsburg, Brooklyn, nightclub Output, the 73-year-old spins a tale of recording “Love to Love You Baby” with Donna Summer, kicking everyone out of the studio and dimming the lights so she would feel inspired enough to moan just right.

And soon enough, he says the words that so many on the floor came to hear: “My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but you can call me Giorgio” (just slightly different than how he phrases it on the record). With that, the beat for Daft Punk’s “Giorgio by Moroder” drops, and the staggeringly brutal sound system at Output carries Giorgio Moroder into the future.

On the eve of Random Access Memories’ release, it seemed odd to be celebrating an Italian producer whose connection to the record was at most tangential, if influential. But his influence on disco and funk (and subsequently, Daft Punk) is undeniable, evidenced by the rousing cheers for his spin of the aforementioned Donna Summer classic.

The party that hosted Giorgio is called Deep Space, a Monday night jam hosted by Paradise Garage and Studio 54 veteran Francois K that’s become a fixture in Manhattan’s West Village. This particular event was put on by the Red Bull Music Academy, and the crowd skewed young — a room filled with twenty- and thirtysomethings gawking at a senior citizen who made the records their parents got wild to in the discotheques. The music had transcended generations.

Read more on Radio.com

It’s the Memorial Day weekend and this Sunday morning we kick off “The Summers Of Elvis”.  Three hours of hot fun in the sun……Elvis’ summer releases, songs about the beach, dancing, stock car racing and of course those world famous Elvis Summer Festivals in Las Vegas. Be listening 7am to 10am this Sunday for the good times. Be sure to also join us for the Elvis & Friends Dinner Show Saturday July 13 …details at: www.memphismemoriesproductions.com   America’s longest running, #1 rated and Award winning tribute, the Elvis & Friends Show is right here on 98.1 WOGL, Philadelphia…..and coast to coast at www.wogl.com   Live it, Love it, Feel it.

One name says it all, E-L-V-I-S…..nothing or no one even comes close !!!!

Titled Rolling Stones: 50 Years Of Satisfaction, the exhibit will chronicle the band from the very beginning to present through artifacts from private collections and band members.

Carl Harp from our sister station WNCX in Cleveland took a tour of the exhibit earlier this week; here is his report:

“As visitors exit the escalator on the museum’s 4th floor, they are greeted by several video screens with around 100 still photos and music on a 9-minute loop.

The entrance to Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum’s 5th floor. (Photo Credit: Carl Harp / 98.5 WNCX

Visitors then move up the stairs to the fifth floor, where a giant mouth with drapes for a tongue mark the entrance to the exhibit. Among other things, you’ll see vintage photos of Rolling Stones members, memorabilia from the band’s late keyboardist/road manager Ian Stewart, and records from Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters on display in the “roots section.”

MORE: See a full photo gallery from the Rolling Stones exhibit.

Digital installations are placed throughout the exhibit giving visitors the opportunity to interact and learn more about the band, their place in music history, and innovative impact. iPads programs enable you to dig deeper into the music, explaining Jagger/Richards’ songwriting approach and describes how the Stones were able to take popular techniques and styles of various time periods, like disco and funk, and convert them to their formula. During the press-only tour, the museum’s Director of Education, Jason Hanley, demonstrated the interactive iPads by showing off a video presentation and “Guitar Hero-like” graphics that dissect individual songs.

The Rolling Stones’ Mellotron on display in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. (Photo Credit: Carl Harp / 98.5 WNCX)

The items on display on the fifth floor move throughout the Stones’ early years, ending right around 1970. Visitors will see how the band transitioned from playing mostly cover music, to originals. Featured artifacts include signed merchandise like toy guitars, a Brian Jones dulcimer used on Aftermath‘s “Lady Jane” and “I Am Waiting”, a Sgt. Pepper-esque military jacket, the Mellotron (an early analog predecessor to the synthesizer) used on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” drawings from the Stones’ drummer and art director Charlie Watts, the red shirt worn by Keith Richards when the band played Altamont, and a poem written by Jim Morrison following the death of Brian Jones.

Rehearsal song lists from the 2002-2003 Rolling Stones Licks Tour on display in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. (Photo Credit: Carl Harp / 98.5 WNCX)

As visitors move up the spiral staircase to the sixth floor, various takes on the “tongue and lip design” are pasted on the walls – one with spikes or thorns on the tongue, another with a nail driven through it, and the standard design are included. More memorabilia line the walls of the top floor where the exhibit starts where the fifth floor left off and moves to present day. You will see where Ronnie Wood was made a member of the band after the departure of Mick Taylor, the Lotus flower stage design from the 1975 tour, various clothing worn by Jagger and Richards, instruments, and even the rehearsal song lists on dry erase boards from the 2002-2003 Licks Tour.

Fans and visitors are asked to contribute to a fan-generated interactive exhibition through photos of memorabilia, artwork, Rolling Stones concerts and more. The content will populate a multimedia display in the Rolling Stones exhibit and online. You can contribute to the submission feed by uploading original photos and using the hashtag #rockhallsatisfaction on Twitter and Instagram.

The exhibit opens May 24th and runs through March 2014.

- Carl Harp / 98.5 WNCX