Around the Tubes: 3/20/15

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Blues Traveler, Backstrom, Idiotest, It Takes a Church, Deep Web, StarTalk, CPO Sharkey, Broadchurch, Loaded, and VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

- The legendary, Grammy-winning Blues Traveler have just finished recording a highly anticipated new album via Loud & Proud Records, and have turned to direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic to allow fans to pre-order and interact with the band leading up to the album release. A clever collaboration between various artists, Blow Up The Moon sees Blues Traveler keep an open-minded perspective on making music and enlists an eclectic mix of songwriters. For Blow Up the Moon, featuring "Castaway", the first track premiered, the band collaborated with respected musicians such as Thompson Square, Plain White T's, 3OH!3, Hanson, Jewel, Secondhand Serenade, Dirty Heads & Rome Ramirez (Sublime), JC Chasez (*NSYNC), Bowling for Soup, New Hollow and Thomas Ian Nicholas. Plain White T's, Secondhand Serenade, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Bowling for Soup have also used PledgeMusic to release their music.

- This Saturday, March 21 from 11pm – 2am FX will air the first three episodes of FOX’s new crime series Backstrom. Backstrom stars Rainn Wilson as Det. Lt. Everett Backstrom; Genevieve Angelson as Det. Nicole Gravely; Dennis Haysbert as Det. Sgt. John Almond; Kristoffer Polaha as Sgt. Peter Niedermayer; Page Kennedy as Officer Frank Moto; Beatrice Rosen as Nadia Paquet; Thomas Dekker as Gregory Valentine.

- GSN is dishing out the laughs and plenty of April Fool’s-themed fun for the Season 2 premiere of hit game show Idiotest, on Wednesday, April 1 at 8:00. Comedian Ben Gleib (“Chelsea Lately”) returns as the wildly witty host dishing out even tougher brainteasers to contestants competing for a $10,000 cash prize. Gleib will also play an integral role in the season two premiere which will feature some April Fool’s-related stunts being kept under wraps. The remainder of the season will feature new types of tests and rivalries, as well as a variety of themes amongst the competitors.

- GSN’s hit matchmaking show, It Takes a Church returns for a second season on Thursday, March 26 at 8:00. Each week, It Takes a Church visits a congregation from across the country to surprise one unsuspecting single with the news that they’re about to be saved from the dating world. The church's Pastor will task their congregation of aspiring matchmakers, to find the best possible catch for our dater, but in the end, our single will decide which suitor to put their faith in. The congregant who brought the chosen suitor will make a difference to their church by winning a donation on its behalf.

- Reunited for the first time since working together on the Bill and Ted film franchise, Keanu Reeves joins Alex Winter's documentary Deep Web as the narrator. Y ou can hear Keanu's voice in this NEW Clip explaining what the Deep Web really is! This upcoming documentary premieres at SXSW this Sunday March 15 with a world television premiere following on EPIX in Spring 2015!

- National Geographic Channel took SXSW-goers on a deep dive into outer space last night during a sneak peek presentation of its first-ever late-night talk series StarTalk, where show host and prominent astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) — joining via Skype — answered fan questions and revealed the series premiere date of Monday, April 20, at 11 p.m. ET/10 p.m. CT (with encores each Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT). World-renowned cultural luminaries across science, entertainment and politics, like President Jimmy Carter, Richard Dawkins, Chris Hadfield, Norman Lear, Christopher Nolan, George Takei and others, were announced as guests.

- This May, the TV DVD archivists at Time Life invite home audiences to enlist for high seas hilarity and military madness with a never-before-released television classic: CPO Sharkey: The Complete First Season. Previously unavailable on any format, the '70s-era sitcom was a showcase for iconic comedian Don Rickles, who played U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Otto Sharkey, an abrasive, sharp-tongued veteran in charge of a company of new seaman recruits on a San Diego naval base. Setting sail on May 19 and sure to thrill any fan of classic comedy or television, the 3-disc set ($29.95srp) will feature all 15 30-minute long episodes from Season One, along with a special Johnny Carson clip from "The Tonight Show".

- Called "a bona fide national obsession", the critically acclaimed second season of the top-rated British mystery series Broadchurch returned to the U.S. airwaves this March on BBC America. And on May 19, mystery buffs, TV DVD aficionados and anglophiles are invited to return to the stunning Dorset coastal town of Broadchurch for more mystery, heightened drama, and taut thrills with Broadchrurch: The Complete Second Season, a 2-disc DVD set from Entertainment One.

- It’s a different kind of road trip in Loaded, starring Patrick John Flueger (Chicago P.D., Brothers, Scoundrels), Kumail Nanjiani (HBO’s Silicon Valley, which returns for season 2 on April 12, and co-host of Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail), Andrew W. Walker (Wedding Planner Mystery, Against the Wall) and Alexandra Holden (In a World…, Rizzoli & Isles), when two estranged friends come together under the pretense of moving a third back home, who desperately needs an intervention. The unexpected reunion turns bitter at times, as past wounds are revealed, and they’re forced to confront the choices they made leading to the current direction of their lives. Stranded overnight, the strain comes to a head in an explosive night of drinking and purging. Set along the California freeways, Loaded takes the audience on a funny, but prickly trip in which lost friendships are found again. The journey will change each of them, and their lives will–hopefully–never be the same.

- This week, Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino, members of the songwriting duo A Great Big World, joined forces with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to announce their participation in the second annual Keys + Kids initiative open to K-12 public schools. The program was created in response to the growing need for high-quality, functional pianos in schools, and to provide students with an opportunity to have their school be an environment where their talent can shine. Beginning March 16th and through April 17th, interested K – 12 public schools can submit their application at h1savethemusic.org/keyskids to receive one of ten packages valued at $10,000.  Each grant includes a Kawai piano to support their music and arts program. A Committee made up of members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, VH1 Senior Staff and patrons of the Keys + Kids Leadership Circle will judge applications. Grant winners will be announced on the Foundation’s website on May 20, 2015. For more information, contest rules or to see how you can get involved please visit www.vh1savethemusic.org.