Official Statement From Billboard Magazine

Howie Epstein, 47, former bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, died at a hospital in Santa Fe, N.M. late Monday night. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano says that while the cause of Epstein's death was as yet undetermined, the musician had been transported to the hospital by a female companion who told police that Epstein had been using heroin, and had also been taking prescription antibiotics for an illness.

"We are deeply saddened at the news of Howie's passing," reads a statement from Petty & the Heartbreakers. "It's difficult to put into words how much we loved him and will miss him. The world has lost a great talent and a kind and gently soul. We can only take solace in knowing he is now at peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his many friends."

Epstein played with the Heartbreakers from 1982, when he replaced original bassist Ron Blair, until last year; at that time, the band said it had parted company with him "because of his ongoing personal problems." In 2001, Epstein and his then-girlfriend, singer Carlene Carter, were arrested in New Mexico after three grams of heroin were found in the couple's car.

Condolences

Cathy Buffington was kind enough to offer to collect Cards to Howie's Family at this address:

The Epstein Family (and/or Jamie)
c/o Tom Petty/Heartbreakers Fan Club
1926 Contra Costa Blvd., #237
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-3024

Also, Casa Dega made a great suggestion of making a donation to the Humane Society in Milwaukee in Dingo's name. Here's the info...

If you would be interested in doing this also you can mail your contribution to: Milwaukee Humane Society, 4500 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53208. Please put "Attention Dave" on your envelope. If you are sending a check your check needs to be made out to "Wisconsin Humane Society" but your donation will go to the Milwaukee humane society. Please include with your donation a note as to who your dontion goes to...in this case Howie and Dingo. Dave is going to contact the funeral home and get Howie's brother's address so they can be notified of our contributions to the humane society.

I have been talking to a very close friend of Howie's and together we are going to build a tribute page. I will send out more info as I get it!

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"We can't do enough for AIDS," Beatty said. "And I think the country is waking up to that." Added Bening: "I think what President Bush said in his State of the Union address about [helping AIDS patients in the U.S., Africa and the Caribbean] was a wake-up call for our country. In our community, we've been dealing with AIDS for a long time. The fact that the rest of the country is going to become more aware of it through the president's efforts is a great thing."

His brother-in-law died of AIDS, Petty said, so he and his wife try to be as active as possible on behalf of AIDS research and patient services. "We do as much as we can," he said.

Lynch, who left the Heartbreakers in 1994, is a 2002 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Stan brings a little something more to the table,” said Arthur Buenahora, Sony/ATV Tree's Senior Director of Creative Services and Production. “His breath of experience reaches outside the Nashville realm.

Lynch has worked with Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Aretha Franklin, The Eurythmics, Roger McGuinn, Stevie Nicks, Del Shannon, T Bone Burnett, Warren Zevon and Freedy Johnston, among many other well-known acts.

He has also made a name for himself as a songwriter and producer.

In 1985, Lynch began a writing and producing relationship with Don Henley that garnered several Grammy nominations and two ASCAP Pop Music Awards. He also collaborated on The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" album, which has sold more than 10 million records, and co-produced tracks on Henley’s “The End of the Innocence.” Some of his writing credits include songs with The Byrds, Ringo Starr, The Mavericks, Matraca Berg, Trick Pony, James House, Meredith Brooks, Toto, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, June Pointer, Eddie Money, and Restless Hearts, among others.

In a statement, Lynch said, “[Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville] is already putting me together with some of its great writers. This is a huge mitzvah.”

Buenahora said he is not concerned about whether or not Lynch will make it in country music.

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"The Paul Thomas Anderson movies got me to check him out, because those are my favorite contemporary movie scores," Petty says. "We met a few years ago, and I thought he'd be good for achieving the kind of cinematic feel I wanted for this record, and he was."

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"He said in our first meeting," Easton says, "'If you're the kind of guy who's going to want to fix stuff on ProTools, then I'll see you around.' And I said, 'No, let's make a real record, a human being record.' My favorite records are real and not fussed with too much."

Break Your Mother's Heart gets about as fussy as the pump organ Easton plays on "Man That You Need." Most of the album's ten tracks were recorded in one or two takes with Easton playing guitar and singing live with the band. As a result, he says the record "breathes a little more" and sounds more "relaxed." Contributing to that vibe was a month-long trip Easton took to Oaxaca, Mexico. "I did nothing, barely moved from the beach and the shack that I was living in," he says. "I didn't wear shoes." What he did do was pen a collection of songs that suit his restless heart, changing landscapes (Mexico, Kentucky, Los Angeles, upstate New York) as often as sound (wistful ballad, blues, straight ahead rock, folk).

The album kicks off with one of the record's fullest and most unabashedly rock & roll songs, "Poor, Poor L.A.," an ode to the city that Easton had called home (he now lives in Athens, Georgia) and a frequented landscape in his lyrics. "There's so many emotions going on in that town," Easton says, "so many rich people and poor people put into one place together. Everyone always makes fun of it and I get tired of defending it. It's beautiful and grotesque, and that's what the interesting things in life are all about."

On "Amor Azul," a dreamy, acoustic number inspired in name only by the bowl of blue liquid ("some kind of drinky drink") that was at the back of a photography exhibit in Oaxaca. "I had my guitar with me and walked out and wrote the song," he says. The bluesy stomp "Lexington County Jail" is what Easton calls the album's wild card. "That's the kind of song that some people wish my whole album sounded like that and others are like, 'What's that song doing on there?' It breaks up the middle of the record. If it was on vinyl, you'd flip it over, but here I put a few more seconds in between songs."

Break Your Mother's Heart also features two songs, "True Ways" and "Jon Gilmartin," by Brooklyn singer-songwriter J.P. Olsen. "I saw him play music in Columbus, Ohio, before I started playing out live," Easton says. "He was playing his songs mixed with Bob Dylan songs and Hank Williams songs, and he influenced me to get my act together. I still think he's one of the greatest songwriters, so I want to bring his songs to people as much as possible."

Easton will begin bringing those songs to people when his tour kicks off tomorrow in Minneapolis, with a full band behind him, and he's already looking ahead to the next album. "I've got a bunch of songs already and I'll be writing on the road," he says. "I realize that I'm never going to be that still for that long, so I might as well get used to traveling."

Tim Easton tour dates:

2/11: Minneapolis, 400 Bar
2/12: Madison, Club Montmarte
2/13: Chicago, The Abbey Pub
2/14: Columbus, OH, Little Brothers
2/15: Pittsburgh, PA, Club Cafe Live
2/18: Arlington, VA, Iota Club and Cafe
2/19: New York, Village Underground
2/20: Boston, TT the Bear's
2/21: Philadelphia, The Point
2/22: Cleveland, Beachland Ballroom
2/24: Grand Rapids, MI, One Trick Pony
2/27: Asheville, NC, Grey Eagle Tavern
2/28: Winston Salem, NC, The Garage
3/1: Atlanta, Red Light Cafe
3/4: Louisville, KY, Gerstles
3/7: Dayton, OH, Canal St. Tavern
3/8: Nashville, Exit/In
3/11: Dallas, Gypsy Tea Room
3/12: San Antonio, Casbeers
3/20: Los Angeles, Largo
3/22: San Francisco, Bottom of the Hill
3/27: Seattle, Tractor Tavern
3/28: Portland, OR, Aladdin Theater

19th Annual Wing Ding

Royce Learning Center event, at the JEA, 5111 Abercorn St. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Featuring live and silent auctions, a 2003 black Mustang convertible raffle, a Bo Diddley model guitar bearing the original signatures of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for auction, student computer system raffle, food, cash bar and dancing to Spectrum. Proceeds support scholarship program for Chatham Academy students.

Admission: $25 single, $100 Patron couple, $500 corporate table. RSVP (912)354-4047.

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Representing the Recording Artists Coalition, Don Henley appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee yesterday to encourage legislation to temper the consolidation of the radio and concert industries.

At the center of the debate is the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which further loosened restrictions on ownership of multiple radio stations. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) has sponsored a bill that would serve two purposes: Increase governmental regulation of radio station mergers and eliminate record label payments to radio stations for air time.

"Getting on the radio, in one way or another, is the holy grail of our business," Henley told the committee. "In a perfect world, merit would determine which records get played on radio. But this is far from a perfect world."

Henley praised the early years of FM radio in which independent stations offered listeners a broader array of music styles and genres, and he faulted the purchase of indie stations by larger corporations for creating uniform radio playlists. "Listeners were encouraged to explore different styles and to stretch the boundaries of their tastes," he said. "The idea was not to fragment society into what is now called demographics, but rather to bring people together . . . [Today] a recording artist has a much better chance of getting radio airplay if the promotional budget for a record is large than if the record is good. . . . This unprecedented control over the music industry by the conglomerates is hurting the music business and the culture."

According to figures offered by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), who chairs the committee, Clear Channel Communications alone has grown from sixty stations before the 1996 Telecommunications Act to 1,200.

Deregulation was further vilified for allowing the same conglomerates that owned several radio stations, to also own live music venues, agencies and promotional companies, which Henley called an "institutionalized conflict of interest."

In his opening statements, McCain called himself "a firm believer in free market principles," claiming that "anachronistic government regulations do not reflect today's multimedia marketplace." The Senator plans to offer his own Telecommunications Ownership Diversification Act, which would offer tax deferrals and market-based incentives to help smaller businesses.

In contrast to Henley's testimony, Clear Channel chairman and CEO Lowry Mays called the radio industry "healthier and more robust today than ever before." Mays cited radio slumps in the late Eighties and early Nineties as proof that the 1996 act had a positive impact. "With the ability to own more stations, both locally and nationally, radio companies could create economies of scale and benefit from the substantial cost savings that result," Mays said. He also noted that Clear Channel's 1,200 stations represented only nine percent of radio stations in the country, unlike cable television where the top ten companies own eighty-nine percent of the revenues, and film, where the ten biggest companies own ninety-nine percent.

Troubles caused by radio deregulation have been a pet pursuit of several artists, many of whom, like Henley, express nostalgia for the FM of yesteryear. The consolidation informed Tom Petty's most recent release, The Last DJ, an indictment of industry practices with regards to radio and concerts, the title track from which was banned from several radio play lists last fall. "I don't really give a flying fuck about any of it," Petty told Rolling Stone. "But I was elated when my song was banned. In 2002, to have a song banned that doesn't have a dirty word, doesn't advocate violence -- it's fascinating. I remember when the radio meant something. We enjoyed the people who were on it, even if we hated them. They had personalities. They were people of taste, who we trusted. And I see that vanishing."