PowerBlogs: Rumour Mills

Jack White swears he really did make up “Fly Farm Blues” on the spot during the film “It Might Get Loud.”

White says the director told him he was setting up the camera for the next scene and he wanted White to compose.

White says a spider walked across his leg, so he sang about a spider, and they were on Fly Farm, and he liked the way that sounded.

“It Might Get Loud” is out on D-V-D today.

Jimmy Page and The Edge also appear in it.

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A lot of guitarists can name the song that inspired them to keep on playing.

Jimmy Page can’t.

He says it was more about the musical movement that was going on during his childhood, rather than a particular song.

In fact, Page says the moment when he realized he wanted to play guitar was when someone showed him how to tune one.

He says the reason he became a professional is the person who tuned up his guitar and stuck it in his hands.

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Carrie Underwood is poised to become Carrie Fisher.

Her publicist confirms Underwood is engaged to Ottawa Senators player Mike Fisher.

They’ve been dating about a year.

They have not set a wedding date.

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The Dave Matthews Band has been named top touring artist of the decade by Pollstar, the concert industry trade magazine. Matthews and company have grossed close to 530-million dollars since 2000. The rest of the Top 10 are Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, U-2, Madonna, the Eagles, Elton John and Jimmy Buffett.

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Reports out of London say The Rolling Stones are contemplating touring next year without guitarist Ronnie Wood unless he gives up drinking. Woody has made headlines this year for his drinking, leaving his wife of 23 years, Jo, for a 20-year old Russian cocktail waitress, and then breaking up with the waitress after reportedly assaulting her. London’s Daily Mail says if the Stones can’t get insurance for Woody, he’ll be left off the tour.

Jo always looked after Woody and kept him healthy enough to tour. The paper quotes a source who says, “All communication has gone through Jo for years, so now Mick [Jagger] has washed his hands of Ronnie… Ronnie has always been a bit lost, and without Jo, nobody can reach him.”

This same story circulated when the Stones did their Licks tour in 2002, with Woody telling us at that time, “I’ve always loved the challenge… Hopefully a lot of people will be proud of what I’m gonna do. Maybe it will rub off a bit.”

A spokeswoman for the Stones was unavailable for comment.

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According to the fan site GreasyLake.org, Bruce Springsteen and members of the E Street Band convened earlier this month at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey to perform all the songs on his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. We’re not sure what they were up to, but it was likely connected to the Darkness box set coming out in the spring. A spokeswoman for Springsteen was unavailable for comment.

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If B-B-C Radio One had its way, Led Zeppelin would never have made it big. Documents from the B-B-C archive reveal that after they’d auditioned for the station in 1969, producers said they were “old fashioned” and “unconvincing,” with another producer saying they were “not for daytime radio — specialist listening only.” As a result, they were invited to perform only on a trial basis, but ended up doing numerous sessions.

Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page tells B-B-C Radio Six, “We’d showcase the material, whatever there was from the album of the time, and for the rest of it we would just jam, and that’s how urgent and how creative it all was at the time.”

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U-2 guitarist The Edge doesn’t see the band changing much in the next decade. He says in the year-end issue of Rolling Stone magazine, “It matters to us that we still make music that connects, and we are still capable of potentially doing our best-ever album. It’s not a foregone conclusion that our best work is behind us. That still makes it really exciting.”

U-2 will resume their 360 Degrees tour in June in Southern California.

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Radiohead will return to the studio next month to continue work on their next album. Guitarist Ed O’Brien writes on Radiohead.com, “The vibe in the camp is fantastic at present… I am so genuinely excited about what we’re doing, but for obvious reasons I can’t divulge anything more… 10 years ago we were all collectively in the land of Kid A. And although [I'm] hugely proud of that record, it wasn’t a fun place to be. What’s reassuring now is that we are most definitely a different band, which should therefore mean that the music is different, too.”

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Marilyn Manson has settled the 20-million-dollar breach-of-contract suit filed against him by former keyboardist Stephen Bier — better known by his stage names Pogo and Madonna Wayne Gacy. No details of the settlement have been made public, but Manson writes on his MySpace blog, “I want to make clear that, aside from the wasted legal fees, in no way did I pay off the person that stood behind a keyboard, pretending to play music other artists in this band wrote. And I would not [urinate] on Pogo if he was on fire.”

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Ronnie James Dio has left a holiday message for his fans as he battles stomach cancer. He says on RonnieJamesDio.com, “I’d like to take the time to thank everyone for the most wonderful gift I have ever received — your good wishes, your prayers, your support, your tears and laughter, your anger, your rejoicing and most of all, the unwavering love you have bestowed upon me. I guess I’ve always felt that we were one person and that you’ve allowed me to be our spokesman, but until this time of my greatest peril, the truth was perhaps slightly hidden. It is hidden no more.”

Dio was diagnosed with the disease last month and has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Houston.

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Theory of a Deadman have added more shows to their winter tour, which kicks off January 18th in Minneapolis. It now wraps up February 21st in Boise, Idaho and includes a performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver on February 19th.

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Sum 41 is one of the headline acts for next summer’s Warped Tour. Also on the bill are All-American Rejects, Reel Big Fish, Every Time I Die and Andrew W-K. The 16th annual trek will kick off on June 24th in Chula Vista, California and wrap up on August 15th in Hillsboro, Oregon.

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Atreyu’s Brandon Saller will play his first-ever solo show on January 14th at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California.

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Deftones’ new album is now due out in April.

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Joe Perry’s wife Billie writes on her Twitter page that she and Joe have started their Christmas shopping and they “bought local and tried to buy all made in U-S products.”

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Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer writes on his Twitter page that he is upset that the Boston Herald is still referring to his new wife Linda as his “gal pal.”

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John Mellencamp’s son Speck has reached the 250-thousand mark in signing up friends on Facebook. If Speck reaches a million, his father promises to quit smoking.