NEWS

Skanksgiving | posted 7.17.08
Ska Is Dead is sponsoring two big East Coast Ska Festivals this fall. “Skanksgiving” will take place in Foxborough MA and Sayreville NJ and feature one of the strongest lineups seen in quite some time. Saturday November 15, 2008 @ Showcase Live! In Foxborough features The Pietasters, The Toasters, Mustard Plug, Westbound Train, Bomb The Music Industry, plus more. Sunday November 16, at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ features The Piestasters, Big D and The Kids Table, Mustard Plug, The Toasters, Bomb The Music Industry, Flatfoot 56 plus more TBA. Both events are on sale at Ticketmaster.com (under “Ska Is Dead”).

Riot Fest | posted 7.16.08
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mustard Plug and Leftover Crack will be playing this year’s Riot Fest in Chicago. Other bands to appear include ALL, The Casualties, TSOL, Big Drill Car, DOA, Teenage Bottlerocket, Valient Thorr, and The Methadones. More info is available at RiotFest.org.

Deal's Gone Bad | posted 7.15.08
On Monday July 14, Todd Hembrook, vocalist for Chicago Ska/Jamaican Soul band Deal's Gone Bad was rushed to the hospital with extreme stomach pains. Todd then underwent surgery to have his appendix removed. He is recovering well but his condition is forcing the band to cancel most of their East Coast Tour which was scheduled to start Friday. The band is hoping he'll be well enough to still play the last three dates on the tour. More info will be put up on their website as soon as it is known.

Deal's Gone Bad plans to re-schedule dates as soon as possible. The band is currently touring to support their most recent CD, "The Ramblers" which was released in conjunction with Jump Up and Megalith Records. The band has also just released a 3 CD box set of their earlier CDs.

New Site!! | posted 7.11.07
The new site is up!! Please be patient while I work out the bugs. Thanks for the help Bret!
- Jim Plug

International Ska Circus | posted 6.22.07
The International Ska Circus has annouced it's line up and it looks amazing:

ISC 2007, Saturday, Sept 8th
Clark County Ampitheatre
Las Vegas, Nevada

The English Beat
The Slackers
The Toasters
Mustard Plug
The Pietasters
Buck-O-Nine
Westbound Train
Hub City Stompers
Deals Gone Bad
Goldfish Don't Bounce

2 more bands will be added as well as a soundclash tent with national DJ's spinning and a merch village and band signings. Plus there will be a pre-party at Jillian's nightclub on the Friday night, as well as an after party!!

Ska Is Dead Compilation | posted 4.5.07
This July, Ska Is Dead is co-releasing a compilation CD of 23 of the best bands currently performing today. This promises to be the best Ska compilation CD in years and features many as yet unreleased and hard to find tracks. What's more, Ska Is Dead will have the pleasure of working with two of our favorite labels, Stomp Records who is releasing it in Canada and Asian Man who is releasing it in the U.S. What follows is an alphabetical track listing:

Against All Authority - Silence is Golden but Duct Tape is Silver
Big D & the Kids Table - Noise Complaint
Bomb the Music Industry - I'm Terrorfied!!!
Buck O Nine - I'm Not Dead
Catch 22 - The Spark
Chris Murray - Dangerous Hearts
Deals Gone Bad - Messin' Around
Fishbone - Skank N' Go Nutts
The Flatliners - Open Hearts and Bloody Grins
Go Jimmy Go - Don't Stop Everything (Dancehall Version)
The Johnstones - Action
King Django - Hard, Hard Thing
MU330 - Please Don't Run
Mustard Plug - Puddle of Blood
Pietasters - Don't Wanna
Planet Smashers - Raise Your Glass
The Porkers - Too Big For Your Boots
Streetlight Manifesto - A Better Place, A Better Time (Live in Boise, ID)
Subb - I've Got it All Wrong
Tip the Van - Circles
Toasters - Night Train to Moscow
Voodoo Glowskulls - DD Don't Like Ska
Westbound Train - Please Forgive Me

Submissions | posted 3.7.07
SkaIsDead.com is always looking for review and interview submissions. Interested writers should contact mpbooking@aol.com.

2007 Year of Ska? | posted 2.21.07
2007 is sizing up to be an amazing year for ska in terms of tours, festivals and releases...so much is going on. This is just a partial list of bands that are planning new releases for the year: Big D, Mustard Plug, Flatliners, Pietasters, MU330, Voodoo Glowskulls, Streetlight Manifesto, The Toasters, Buck O Nine.....Also look for the long awaited Ska Is Dead compilation CD to come out this summer!

Go Bears | posted 2.2.07
Just in time for the Super Bowl, Chicago Ska-punkers, Manic Sewing Circle have done their own version of the Chicago Bear's fight song, "Bear Down". They even got the chance to perform it on WGN's morning news show. You can see this amazing performance here.

Studio News | posted 1.8.07
SID alums Mustard Plug and Big D and the Kids Table are both presently in the studio recording and mixing new albums. Mustard Plug are recording and mixing with Bill Stevenson of All/Descendents/Black Flag fame at his studio, the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, Colorado. In addition to Bill's previous work with Mustard Plug he has recorded notable albums by the Suicide Machines, Kemuri, NOFX, MXPX, etc. Mustard Plug's album is yet untitled and will be released once again on Hopeless Records. Big D is recording at Camp Street Studios with Joe Gittleman of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones producing. Their record, entitled "Strictly Rude" will be out on Side One Dummy Records. Check out both bands' respective websites for more info.

Breaking Up | posted 1.8.07
After 8 years, Florida ska-punkers The Know How are breaking up. They will be playing 2 final, farewell shows at Club 1982 in Gainesville Florida, February 16 & 17. For info on tickets, go to their website.