WHEELS 2.0: A BBQ FRAME OF MIND

This weekend Wheels goes back in time to relive our middle school years. Erica maintains that she was super cool back then—as she is now (of course, sure, yeah, yeah), while Jesse lives vicariously through our one to watch this week (hoping against hope that his moment of cool is still to come).

Don’t forget that Erica will be at SXSW this year; add her on Twitter (rknthefreewrld) for all things related, so buy her a drink and be sure to keep her in the loop on which bands to check out, and maybe, just maybe, you will be included in our special SXSW edition next week. SXSW megasuperheavy Karen Glauber will also be making her annual pilgrimage—make sure you attend her star-studded panel, or else. In the meantime, keep the music flowin’ and our inbox filled with goodies at [email protected].

ONE TO WATCH
Middle School punk rockers Care Bears on Fire, who hail from New York, are signed to Steve Greeneberg’s S-Curve Records. Their name says it all—where there’s smoke there is definitely fire, and these young teens are exploding onto the scene. And remember that Steve signed both Hanson and Jonas Brothers—the man has a real track record. We’ve watched their music video and can’t share it yet, but we can promise you that once you see it, you’ll wish your teenage years were this cool. The girls have already been featured on NPR and Cartoon Network, as well as being written up in USA Today, while frontgirl Sophie was featured in Converse’s “Three Chord” commercial. We’ll be reporting more on this in the coming weeks. (www.myspace.com/carebearsonfire)

BAND UPDATES
Allstar: The band played for hundreds of screaming girls at their Knitting Factory show, which we hipped you to a couple weeks ago. They were also invited to play for the Nickelodeon staff. The song “here with you” was cleared for Radio Disney today and will be featured on their program Next Big Thing. The band has been contacted by both Matt Mahaffey and Howard Benson to produce their debut album. (www.myspace.com/allstar )

ON DECK
The DJ N Project is cooking up exciting new sounds in the world of house music, as the team of swift and Rick G take house to new heights with their infusion of R&B and hip-hop. They broke on the scene in March of ‘08 with the single “Feel for You (Open Bar)” and secured collaborations with house heavyweights such as Louie Vega, Kenny Bobien and Arnold Jarvis after attending the Winter Music Conference. 2009 has brought new plateaus of imagination, and their latest single, “Take You Away” (Vega records) is set for release in spring of ’09. (www.myspace.com/djnproject)