Sometimes you get lucky and come across one of those unexpected gems, such as this acoustic rendition of the “Tidal Wave” by The Killers during a concert last week in Boulder, Colorado. Apparently, the band had some technical difficulties when they decided to continue the set with an acoustic guitar.

From Arjan Write’s Music Blog:

After waiting for a moment to see if their electronics would turn back on, the two decided to just deliver a lo-fi version of “Tidal Wave” without a mic or amplifier. This shows off some true musicianship. And Brandon’s delivery is just gorgeous.

Jon Bream in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune caught the band’s act at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and gave the band props (though I’m assuming the show was mostly, if not all, plugged in):

Frontman Brandon Flowers, 27, proved he is one of the most charismatic rock stars to emerge in the ’00s. At Northrop, he had the right combination of suave swagger and this-is-awfully-important urgency.

The band’s current tour will take them through at least 16 more cities across the country through the beginning of May.

Lyle Lovett. You know, the guy with the weird hair. The guy who was married to Julia Roberts. That country music dude. Whatever your first impression might be, the lasting one should be that he’s one talented Texan. He’s on an acoustic tour right now with John Hiatt, another really talented, multi-dimensional musician.

The Vail Daily has a nice writeup about Lovett’s concert on Wednesday in Beaver Creek, Colorado:

Lovett’s music crosses so many genres that critics have never been able to categorize him. However, they all agree that he’s good. In fact, with homage to his most recent album, “Lyle Lovett and His Large Band — It’s Not Big It’s Large,” Lovett is not just good, he’s great.

Hiatt, apparently, won’t be on hand Wednesday in Beaver Creek but Lovett will be backed by a mandolin and cello player, along with acoustic guitar and upright bass. That’s cool.

In the video above, Lovett performs “I’ve Been to Memphis,” a bluesy, country number, with a touch of jazz off his Joshua Judges Ruth (1992).

I know some folks will probably turn their nose up at the mention of Lovett’s name but those are probably folks who haven’t taken the time to listen to his music. Genre-wise, he may not be your cup of tea. And that’s cool. But the brother has skills.

Radio Girl mentioned in an earlier blog post that she had meant to turn the TV channel before Lovett came on Leno’s show but wasn’t quick enough:

I had planned on turning the channel before they got in their groove, but they caught me off guard w/the slow pulsating rhythm of the song. It really does have some strength. Like an old slave song. Actually it is like an old prison work song. And apparently that was the objective according to some notes that I glanced at briefly.

Download “I’ve Been to Memphis.”

J Minus isn’t well known outside the Pacific Northwest but that could change if they keep putting out songs like “Someone for Everyone” off their new album Mr. Robotron on the Byway. Though they’re not the stereotypical Seattle band, I think it’s somewhat unfair to pigeonhole them as pop rock. They’ve got the soul of an indie band, with meaningful lyrics and vocal harmonies on “Someone for Everyone” that remind me a bit of Death Cab for Cutie.

The driving force behind the band is drummer Dylan Fant, a Seattle sound engineer who writes the songs but doesn’t sing because he says his voice is “lame.” Instead, vocal duties fall to keyboardist Trevor Wheetman and guitarist Chris Mongillo.

Mr. Robotron is the band’s third album, following Under the Blue (2002) and Sun and Moon (2006), a double CD. You can listen to more of their acoustic music on their MySpace profile.

In an interview last year on Newsvine, Fant talks about the band and his songwriting philosphy:

With so many bands and musicians out there…every chord progression has been used in some way. I believe the key nowadays is to be as personal as possible with your lyrics. Your experiences are your own. Sure other people have been through it and wrote about it as well, but it won’t ever be exactly the same. The people that relate to your words will always be your biggest support. Personally, I think mixing up your influences genre wise helps as well. You might stumble upon some pretty wicked combinations that haven’t been done much, or at least haven’t made it to center stage yet.

I actually found these on youtube. These are some new acoustic versions of upcoming tracks from the highly anticipated 3rd album from Franz Ferdinand. The songs are fantastic as expected. The songs I found are ‘Ulysses’ and ‘No You Girls’. Check them out, these are must have’s!!! :

• » Ulysses

• » No You Girls

The version of “Heaven” in the video above was from Bryan Adams’ 1997 MTV Unplugged appearance. Eleven years later, Adams is doing a solo acoustic tour for the first time in his career. Adams told Dave Paulson of TuneInMusicCity.com that the new acoustic arrangements of his songs are giving some of his old hits a second life:

“I just started doing it last year, and now I can’t believe I didn’t start doing it 20 years ago,” he says. “I really enjoy it, and I’m learning a lot. I’m kind of rediscovering the songs. It gives me a lot of confidence that the songs can stand on their own.”

Is there anyone over 40 who didn’t make out to this song in high school? Sean Daly of the St. Pete Times pokes a little fun at Adams’ penchant for writing pop love songs:

And almost every song the 49-year-old sings is a single-minded sentiment about love lost or found. In fact, when he plays tonight’s intimate acoustic show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, it’ll be interesting to see how he intros each tune: “Um, yeah, this one’s about love, too. Except this time, uhhh, it wasn’t a one-night love affair. Nope, this time, uhhh, it kinda cut like a knife . . .”

Leslie Gray Streeter at The Palm Beach Post has a message for the Bryan Adams haters: suck it.  She lists her five favorite songs, though she concedes they’re all at least 22 years old.

On his current tour, unlike the MTV Unplugged appearance where he had a band backing him, it’s just Adams and his guitar. I Need My Fix has some more recent pics of Adams on his solo tour.

Quote of the day from the San Diego City Beat:

“One of the cool things about Meat Puppets is that people always considered us a part of the punk-rock scene . . .But we’re always just about the fuckin’ weird little trip that we’re on. There’s no getting around aging, but if you continue to hone your craft, it will evolve and grow. And I’m really diggin’ where it’s at right now.”

That’s from Cris Kirkwood, who founded the Meat Puppets along with his brother Curt in 1980.  After years of toiling away as a mainstay of the American punk scene, the group hit the mainstream in 1994 after they appeared with Nirvana on MTV’s Unplugged. During that performance, which I put up there as one of the greatest moments in televised rock history, Nirvana covered three songs from the Meat Puppets — “Plateau,” “Oh, Me” and “Lake of Fire.”

While their 1994 album, Too High to Die, was their biggest hit, it also marked the beginning of a downward spiral. Cris Kirkwood lost several years of his life to drugs and a stint in prison for assault.

Now, the brothers, along with new drummer Tim Marcus, are touring and performing all-acoustic sets of their punk hits. They’ll be in Los Angeles at The Casbah on Jan. 12 and then perform at least five more shows this month in California, Oregon, Utah and Colorado.

The video above was shot in the Mercury Lounge in New York City in 2006. Curt Kirkwood and his son Elmo peform “Oh, Me.”

Find Tickets for the Meat Puppets at Ticketmaster.com

From Blabbermouth.net: Former Black Sabbath and Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes has announced two acoustic shows for March: on the 12th at Madam Felle in Bergen, Norway and the 14th at Sigurdsgatan 25 in Västerås, Sweden.

Here’s an acoustic version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” performed by Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner, a former Rainbow and Deep Purple vocalist (Hughes is the one shrieking). Hughes and Turner collaborated on a couple albums under the name Hughes Turner Project. I don’t have any background info on this clip except that it appears they played it live on someone’s radio show.

Flickr photo by *Emalaith

Aaron Lewis, frontman for Staind, is on a mini solo tour through Nevada, California and Florida, according to Rolling Stone’s Rock & Roll Daily. Lewis, whose solo show is mostly acoustic, does a mix of Staind hits, solo work and covers. Lewis tells RS:

“I’ve never made a set list once, I never had any clue as to what I was going to play when I went out there, I just winged it,” Lewis says of his solo shows. “It creates a very fun atmosphere, it’s very loose. People yell out requests, and if they yell out the right song, I might play it.”

In the video above, Lewis covers Pearl Jam’s “Black.”

Aaron Lewis Solo Acoustic Dates:

Jan. 09 – Reno, NV – Silver Legacy Resort Casino

Jan. 10 – West Wendover, NV – Peppermill Concert Hall

Jan. 15 – Lemoore, CA – Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino

Feb. 13 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa

Feb. 14 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa

Feb. 18 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center

Feb. 20 – Verona, NY – Turning Stone Resort & Casino

Feb. 21 – Verona, NY – Turning Stone Resort & Casino

Feb. 26 – Niagara Falls, NY – Bear’s Den

Feb. 27 – Niagara Falls, NY – Bear’s Den

Feb. 28 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun

Marley & Me, the movie about the dog, is tops at the box office for the second week in a row, having brought in $106.5 million since it opened on Christmas Day (I met Marley once. More on that later). That kind of success usually means huge sales for the soundtrack but, in this case, you won’t find the songs from the movie, including several acoustic pieces, on any soundtrack. Instead, Teddy Shapiro’s original score is available for download from iTunes.

If there had been a disc with songs, it would have included “Rockin’ the Suburbs” by Ben Folds, “River Song” by Dennis Wilson, “One Love” by Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. and “Lucky Man” and “Rather Be” by the Verve. We can be thankful that this disc was never put together because it also would have included a cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium” by Bruce Lash, a version I can’t listen to without throwing up a little in my mouth.

Back to Marley and me. My first job out of college was in a small newspaper office in Delray Beach, Fla. One of the reporters in our office was Jenny Vogt, the wife of John Grogan, the author of the best-selling book and now hit movie, Marley & Me. Jenny and John are portrayed in the movie by Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson. Crazy, when I think about it. Anyways, I’m pretty sure that at one cookout or another, Jenny and John brought their dog. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

The beauty of  a show like the Acoustic Diner is that Michaels builds the indie playlist like a master chef might put together a five-course dinner. Imagine a chef who heads down to the open-air market to hand pick the ingredients for that night’s menu and you get the idea behind Michael’s two-hour show.

The pairings are well thought out and include tracks from indie artists you might not hear anywhere else, like Monday’s featured artist Andrew Hrya, formerly of the Atlanta-based folk duo Billy Pilgrim, or John Kinsella, a New Jersey singer/songwriter whose single “Sweet Whiskey Jesus” is one of those hidden, soulful gems that you might hear only if you stumble across it accidently on MySpace or YouTube.

It’s not all obscure stuff, though. Michaels mixes in some recognizable hits such as Colin Hay’s “Beautiful World” and an acoustic version of the Counting Crows’ “Round Here.”

You get the sense that Michaels cares about the music and the artists. He considers it his mission to promote Indie artists:

My job is to make sure that not only are they heard, but given the same chance as the established artists we play on the show. In this modern age, if people would stop watching the joke that is American Idol for more than a minute, they would see truly talented people all around them.

Listen to Monday’s show.