Sixpence None The Richer
Photo: Squint

Sixpence None the Richer have finished recording the long-awaited follow-up to their eponymous 1997 breakthrough album and will release it in the fall.

The as-yet-untitled record was produced by Paul Fox (Phish, Semisonic) and features string arrangements David Campbell (Beck's father), a spokesperson for the group said.

While the album's track listing is still being finalized, fans can expect to hear the live favorites "Dizzy" and "Melody of You." Sixpence None the Richer formed in Austin, Texas, during the early '90s but didn't gain national attention until their single "Kiss Me," featured prominently in the teen flick "She's All That" and on the "Dawson's Creek" TV series, climbed to the top of the charts in 1999, two years after it was released on the group's third album.

The group toured behind the album for years before taking a break. Last year singer Leigh Nash recorded a track with ambient dance duo Delerium (see "Delerium Teams With Matthew Sweet, Leigh Nash").

• Sixpence None The Richer

Swag

NASHVILLE — It's not often, say the members of all-star ensemble Swag, that artists can form a band just for the hell of it and have some fun.

But that's what this assemblage of players from the Mavericks, Wilco, Cheap Trick and Sixpence None the Richer are doing with their one-off group and their new album, Catch-All. "We're having fun," Robert Reynolds of the Mavericks said. "Recording was like a slumber party, where nobody's funny about anything. There's no 'You're stepping on my guitar part.' This was comfortable. This is low-budget, with no compromise to what you're doing. We all play music for a living in major-label situations. Now we're making music just for the sake of making music." This current incarnation of Swag is made up of Reynolds, sometime-Maverick and Sixpence None the Richer musician Jerry Dale McFadden, Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, former Wilco drummer Ken Coomer, and Nashville musician and singer Doug Powell. An earlier version of the group — which then included Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, the Mavericks' Paul Deakin and steel player Richard McLaurin — issued a vinyl single as a tribute to Lucinda Williams. "Sweet Lucinda," backed with "Every Little Truth," was a Nashville best-seller and garnered much attention.

With such Nashville friends as power popster Bill Lloyd and guitarist Kenny Vaughan, the current lineup got together, jammed and turned on the tape machine. The atmosphere was so loose, Reynolds said, that an answering machine message from his then-wife, country star Trisha Yearwood, is included (on purpose) in one song.

"If you look closely at that collage of stuff that we put together for the album cover," Reynolds said, "you'll see my wedding ring on there." "We made the record ourselves," he said, "and then we started figuring out who could put it out, and put out a few feelers. We had a couple of feelers from major labels, but decided we didn't want that. Yep Roc [Records] genuinely liked the record." The result is a highly melodious amalgam of new power-pop songs, sounding very much like a new Paul McCartney work. Songs such as "I'll Get By" and "Ride" jangle and jump out of the speakers. Word about the group spread quickly.

"Other indies were interested, but I think they felt they could play off the fame factor, whatever it might be," McFadden said.

Yep Roc "really liked the music," Reynolds added, "and not just because of who was involved. They weren't into it to sell a few records just by throwing some names around." Because of each bandmember's involvement in other groups, organizing a tour is hardly a simple task.

"I don't really know what'll happen, with the record out, once we have to start really playing these dates we promised," Reynolds said. "It's been a scheduling nightmare, and there's no management for the group — we've been reluctant to get that official.

"We don't know Ken's schedule. ... Jerry Dale will have to see what's happening with Sixpence None the Richer. Doug, the other singer/guitar player, is a little freer, but he's got responsibilities to make ends meet at home, with a wife and two children. Cheap Trick is busier than ever right now, so Tom Petersson is in the heart of it." The Swag tour begins with an album release party at Nashville's 12th & Porter on Tuesday and then the group will head to the South by Southwest music conference to play Austin, Texas' Continental Club on Thursday.

Swag tour dates as provided by their record label:

• 3/13 - Nashville @ 12th & Porter
• 3/15 - Austin, TX @ Continental Club
• 3/16 - Houston, TX @ Rudyard's
• 3/18 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
• 4/06 - Chicago, IL @ Abbey Pub
• 4/07 - St. Louis, MO @ Rocket Bar
• 4/18 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
• 4/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber
• 4/20 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
• 4/21 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
• 4/22 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Club

• The Mavericks
• Cheap Trick
• Wilco
• Sixpence None The Richer

Canada's Delerium is currently finishing up a new album which features guest vocals from Matthew Sweet, Sixpence None The Richer frontwoman Leigh Nash, and the Mediaeval Baebes, among others.

Delerium, an ambient pop project conceived and anchored by Bill Leeb with occasional help from his former Front Line Assembly bandmate Rhys Fulber and longtime studio cohort Greg Reely, has recorded close to a dozen albums since its inception in 1986, mostly for the Nettwerk label.

Nettwerk is the Canadian home of Sarah McLachlan, who teamed up with Delerium for the club hit "Silence," which was released on Delerium's 1997 album "Karma." Remixes of the song were recently packaged on a commercial single in the U.S. with a new Delerium track, "Aria," that features the U.K's Mediaeval Baebes.

Currently "Silence," which was prominently featured in the trailer and on the soundtrack for the 1999 film "Brokedown Palace," is enjoying overseas airplay, with the single sitting at number three on the U.K. singles chart.

The new Delerium album, titled "Poem," is due out on November 21 through Nettwerk America and will include the group's first-ever collaboration with a male vocalist, Sweet.

• Sixpence None The Richer
• Matthew Sweet

Aspiring new actors, directors, and producers will descend upon Park City, Utah beginning this week for the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, and Third Eye Blind, Matthew Sweet, and Sixpence None The Richer will all participate in the fest's music event.

-- David Basham

• Sixpence None The Richer
• Matthew Sweet
• Third Eye Blind

How frustrating is it to get repeatedly dissed in favor of shirtless, singing hunks? Leigh Nash can tell you all about it.

• Sixpence None The Richer

Monica, Mya, the Dixie Chicks, the Pretenders, Melky Sedeck, Luscious Jackson, Sixpence None The Richer, and Cibo Matto will be among the artists making their first trips to Lilith Fair this year when the tour gets rolling on July 8 in Vancouver.

The acts will join Lilith vets Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, the Indigo Girls, Beth Orton, Aimee Mann, K's Choice, and others on Lilith's final outing, which will make 40 stops this year.

Queen Latifah, Me'Shell N'degeocello, Deborah Cox, Bijou Phillips, and Cree Summers will also be among the acts dropping in on the tour, which will feature a revolving lineup of artists throughout its run. Tour founder Sarah McLachlan will once again headline each date of this year's outing, while Sheryl Crow will play all but a handful of dates on the tour.

Details of Lilith's swansong were announced Tuesday morning at a press conference staged at New York's Irving Plaza. McLachlan and Lilith newcomer Monica were on hand to talk about this year's outing.

"One of the things we always tried to provide is a really wide spectrum of different musical tastes," McLachlan told MTV News. "I think this year is really, really strong in that capacity. I think the last years' [tours] were too... I know we got a lot of, like, flack for not being enough of this or enough of that. Basically, very early on, we just realized we had to sort of remain ruthless to the integrity of what we wanted in the first place, which was really good music from all different fields."

Monica added, "You see myself, you see Mya, you see Dixie Chicks, you see Sarah McLachlan; this will be another good representation for each of us as women, to show that there's no reason for competition because music is universal." [RealVideo]

Here's where Lilith Fair will be stopping on its farewell tour (to see precisely which artists will be playing each date, check out www.lilithfair.com):

• 7/8 - Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
• 7/9 - Seattle, WA @ The Gorge
• 7/10 - Seattle, WA @ The Gorge
• 7/11 - Portland, OR @ Civic Stadium
• 7/13 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 7/14 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 7/16 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
• 7/17 - Los Angeles, CA @ Rose Bowl
• 7/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ Desert Sky Pavillion
• 7/20 - Austin, TX @ South Park Meadows
• 7/21 - Dallas, TX @ Starplex Amphitheatre
• 7/23 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood
• 7/24 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood
• 7/25 - Nashville, TN @ First American Music Center
• 7/27 - Charlotte, NC @ Blockbuster Pavillion
• 7/28 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavillion
• 7/30 - Philadelphia, PA @ Entertainment Center
• 7/31 - Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
• 8/1 - Buffalo, NY @ Finger Lakes Performing Arts Centre
• 8/3 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
• 8/4 - Hartford, CT @ The Meadows
• 8/6 - New York, NY @ Jones Beach
• 8/7 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
• 8/8 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
• 8/10 - Columbus, OH @ Polaris Amphitheatre
• 8/11 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Amphitheatre
• 8/13 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Star Lake Amphitheatre
• 8/14 - Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob
• 8/15 - Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob
• 8/17 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
• 8/18 - Indianapolis, IN @ Deer Creek
• 8/19 - Chicago, IL @ The World
• 8/21 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
• 8/22 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
• 8/24 - Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre
• 8/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ Canterbury Park
• 8/26 - Bonner Springs, KS @ Sandstone Amphitheatre
• 8/28 - Denver, CO @ Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre
• 8/29 - Denver, CO @ Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre
• 8/31 - Edmonton, AB @ Commonwealth Stadium

• Sheryl Crow
• Luscious Jackson
• Sarah McLachlan
• Monica
• Sixpence None The Richer

Sixpence None the Richer climbs into the Top 5 on this week's Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart with "Kiss Me," the breakthrough single from the group's 1997 self-titled debut (which was re-released in February 1998).

• Sixpence None The Richer