Man, thoughts and prayers go out to the families and the community where the 19 firefighters lost their lives in Yarnell, AZ near Prescott. This heat is causing terrible conditions all over the place, so please, if you are camping, make sure your campfires are doused when you leave or if you are a smoker, do not throw that lit butt out the window. Please!….Pulse Content reports rumors continue to persist Pearl Jam will release a new single called “Mind Your Manners” later this month. Australia radio station Triple M reported, “We just heard the new Pearl Jam song ‘Mind Your Manners’ from the upcoming album and what a cracking 3-minute beauty it is . . . short, sharp, hard and loud.” (Ooooh, goody!) An alleged title for the album, Tides, as well as a track list, have also surfaced online, but nothing has been officially confirmed by the band itself. The only official Pearl Jam activities for now are two shows on July 16th in Ontario, Canada and July 19th in Chicago. (FMQB/Consequence Of Sound)….Billboard reports Skillet looks set to make its second Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart this week, with industry sources saying the Christian act’s ninth album Rise should end up with a first week sales tally of 50,000 copies. The group’s last effort, 2009’s Awake, debuted at Number Two with first-week sales of 68,000 copies. The first mainstream single from Rise, called “Sick Of It,” is a Top 15 track at rock radio, while a second tune, “American Noise,” is climbing the Christian Songs chart….3 Doors Down begins a co-headlining U.S. tour with Daughtry on Wednesday (July 3rd) in Raleigh, NC, and the trek will introduce American audiences to temporary bassist Justin Biltonen, who’s filling in for founding bass player Todd Harrell. Harrell faces charges of vehicular homicide in Tennessee following an April 20th accident in which another man was killed. We asked 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold about Harrell’s situation: “He’s just in my prayers, you know? That’s my brother, and he always will be. There’s never been a time in my life that I don’t remember knowing him, and he actually sent me a text a couple of days ago and it’s been a while since I talked to him, and he said he was doing really good and, you know, he wished he was here, and there’s nothing really good I can say about it, you know. It’s just, it’s very unfortunate, and my heart goes out to everybody involved.” Meanwhile, Halestorm will be special guests on the run. And speaking of Halestorm, Lzzy Hale just told the Oakland Press she only just received her Grammy Award. Guess it takes a long while for the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to get those little metal statues together. Congrats again!….Speaking of awards, Blabbermouth reports several days after the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in six games to win the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons, several Blackhawks players accompanied it to Tinley Park, Illinois, where Canadian rock legends Rush were playing. Blackhawks left wing Daniel Carcillo carried the Cup onstage, where in videos posted online you can see drummer Neil Peart play a couple of beats on it and bassist Geddy Lee gently touch it with reverence. The Rush guys are, of course, devoted fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have not won the Cup since 1967….Adam Gontier will be announcing his first solo tour very soon. This will be the former Three Days Grace singer’s first national tour after performing at a couple of charity events in the U.S. and Canada. He will be dropping by the hardDrive studios in the coming weeks…..Celebrating birthdays today: Blondie’s Debbie Harry turns 68, Dan Aykroyd (SNL, Blues Brothers) is 61, Pamela Anderson (whatever happened to her?) is 46 and Liv Tyler is 36.
