MUSIC NEWS - Midas Well & Upton O. Goode, also known as Well & Goode, released a 7" today, mixed and mastered by Brendan Benson and released via his imprint label, Readymade.

Upton O. Goode hails from Ireland while Manitoba native Midas Well moved to Ireland after meeting Upton at a "cold yoga" retreat in Siberia.  "I remember spotting Midas off in a corner practically dead from frostbite, shivering like a junkie going cold turkey. With great haste, I took him into my arms and we fled as fast as our sled dogs could carry us. It took us four days to reach a bus stop.  When your only source of heat is another man's body, you become friends very quickly."

Benson and close friend Mark Watrous (The Raconteurs, Gosling, Loudermilk) just returned from an extensive tour of Brendan's homeland of Ireland. When Brendan was planning the Irish tour, Well & Goode wrote him exactly twenty-six emails, eleven text messages, and left three rather disturbing life-threatening voicemails, and finally two suicide notes, all in the span of twenty-four hours.  "I happened to be spending time with family in a remote part of Tennessee without any cellular service.  So, when I returned home I was both amused and horrified to discover what had transpired while I was away." 

No surprise, Well & Goode were not invited on the tour, but perhaps out of pity, Brendan and Mark offered to help with their single as a trial run as long as they were never in the same room. Being touched by how much they wanted to work with him, but put off by the nature of the demanding emails, Brendan thought it would be a good idea to maintain a very long distance work relationship with them...and never to meet them.

Surprisingly, it was a huge success and at the record launch party at The Cheesecake Factory, the four were formally introduced.  All was forgotten and they have since been seen frequently at The Cheesecake Factory.  The new release is the first music available on Benson's newly re-launched website at brendanbenson.com.  The two new tracks will also be available digitally on all major digital retailers worldwide as well as at select, cool vinyl shops.

In November, Benson will hit the road on a North American co-headlining concert tour with The Posies and special guest Aqueduct (full itinerary below).  Posies' members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer (both of Big Star and Stringfellow of R.E.M.) will be performing with Brendan as his backing band.

Brendan Benson Autumn 2010 Tour w/ The Posies and Aqueduct-
November

5 - Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee WI
6 - Bottom Lounge, Chicago IL
7 - Southgate House, Newport KY
9 - The Majestic Theatre, Detroit MI
10 - Outland Live, Columbus OH
11 - Mr. Small's Theatre, Millvale PA
12 - Water Street Music Hall, Rochester NY
13 - The Highline Ballroom, NYC, NY
14 - The Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia PA
16 - Royale, Boston MA
18 - Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC
19 - Exit/In, Nashville TN
20 - The Loft, Atlanta GA
21 - Minglewood Hall, Memphis TN
26 - La Zona Rosa, Austin TX
27 - The Argentum, Houston TX
December

 1 - Gothic Theatre, Englewood CO
 3 - Club Nokia @ LA Live, Los Angeles CA
 5 - The Independent, San Francisco CA
 8 - Aladdin Theatre, Portland OR
11 - Showbox at the Market, Seattle WA