Rock News: Music''s high and low notes

EMINEM AWOL

Eminem dominated the winners at the 30th annual American Music Awards Monday night but the controversial rapper never showed up to collect his prizes. Eminem won Best Male Artist in the Pop-Rock and Soul-Rhythm and Blues categories. "The Eminem Show" was voted Best Soul-Rhythm and Blues album. Other winners in the Pop-Rock category were: Female Artist: Sheryl Crow; Band, Duo or Group: Creed; and, New Artist: Ashanti. In the Soul-Rhythm and Blues category: Female Artist: Mary J. Blige; Band, Duo or Group: OutKast; and, New Artist: Ashanti. In Country: Male Artist: Tim McGraw; Female Artist: Martina McBride; Band, Duo or Group: Dixie Chicks; Album: "Home," Dixie Chicks; and, New Artist: Carolyn Dawn Johnson.

LILLIX LIKES YOU

All-girl teen rockers Lillix will hit the streets in May supporting their debut album on Maverick Records, "Falling Uphill." The band already is getting high profile exposure from its cover version of the Romantics song "What I Like About You," the theme song to the television comedy series of the same name. Trading off lead vocal and songwriting duties among guitarist Tasha-Ray Evin, sister and keyboardist Lacey-Lee Evin and bassist Louise Burns, the Cranbrook, British Columbia, natives are as adept at tearing through power pop hooks as they are at finessing sugary three-part harmonies. With influences that include alt-rockers Radiohead and Weezer, along with the classic rock of Queen, Lillix's collaborative approach results in an engaging mix of dynamics on their debut.

The band's ability to add soulful vocal wrinkles to a variety of compositional styles places gems like "It's About Time," "Tomorrow," "24/7," and "Quicksand" in a league of their own on the power pop landscape. "It's About Time" is the band's first single. The record's punchy, high-voltage sound is a testament to Lillix's energy, and to the expert work of several renowned producers, including The Matrix (Avril Lavigne), Philip Steir (No Doubt), Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, Dave Matthews Band), Linda Perry (Pink) and John Shanks (Michelle Branch.)

BONEARAMA BACK FOR MORE

New Orleans trombone band Bonerama continues it's East Coast swing of return trips this week with a debut at the Stanhope House in New Jersey and a return to New York City's Tobacco Road, where the band recently enjoyed a sellout show. After covering more than 2,000 miles last week, Bonerama seemed content with the groundwork being made as an emerging touring act.

"It's like, now we're going back to these places and finding people waiting for us that know who we are or have heard about us," said group leader Mark Mullins. "To us that means the message is getting to the right people and we just want to be able to continue to bring this music to them as often as possible."

NEW WEST REISSUES

New West Records has announced a Jan. 28 release date for CD reissues of Slobberbone's "Crow Pot Pie" and "Barrel Chested," Jon Dee Graham's "Escape From Monster Island" and Stan Ridgway's "Black Diamond."

Slobberbone is riding high with its critically acclaimed fourth album, "Slippage." Originally released in 1996 ("Crow Pot Pie") and 1997 ("Barrel Chested") on Doolittle Records, both Slobberbone albums include several songs that the band still performs onstage, including "Whiskey Glass Eye" and "I Can Tell Your Love Is Waning" from "Crow Pot Pie" and "Engine Joe" and the title track from "Barrel Chested."

Since joining New West Records, former True Believers member Jon Dee Graham has released two albums: "Summerland" (1999) and "Hooray For The Moon" (2002). With the release of his last CD, the popular singer/songwriter/guitarist did his first extensive national touring, as well as a number of European dates, which expanded his fan base tremendously. "Escape From Monster Island" originally was released in 1997 on Freedom Records.

Los Angeles-based Stan Ridgway has released two previous albums for New West: "Anatomy" (1999) and "Holiday In Dirt" (2002). The former Wall of Voodoo lead singer also has established himself as an in-demand film composer/performer, having written songs for a number of both major and independent movies. Originally released in 1995 by indie label Birdcage Records, "Black Diamond" represents another rock noir gem from Ridgway that's been long sought-after by his fans.

ELVIS STILL LIVES

Fresh from the smash success of the "Elvis 30 #1 Hits" collection, which has sold more than 8 million copies to date worldwide, RCA/BMG Heritage continues its exploitation of the Elvis Presley catalog with the reissue of four essential single-CD collections, each remastered for superior sound quality. The releases come on the heels of the highly rated "Elvis Lives" special on NBC, scheduled for rebroadcast on VH1 and CMT.