PowerBlogs: Rumour Mills

Smashing Pumpkins are holding open auditions for a bassist and a keyboardist.

Their current bassist, Ginger Pooley, is leaving the band to raise her new baby.

Billy Corgan says he’s heartbroken that Pooley is leaving, but respects her decision to put her family first.

The band did not have a permanent keyboardist but Corgan says he wants someone who is a fan of and can play in the style of Jon Lord of Deep Purple and Rick Wakeman of Yes.

Smashing Pumpkins found a drummer, Mike Byrne, through open auditions.

(Interested musicians can send their age, resume and Web links to their performances to either PumpkinsBassgmail.com or PumpkinsKeysgmail.com by March 31st.)

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Pink Floyd has gone to court to fight for digital rights.

The band’s lawyer, Robert Howe, tells a London court the band’s contract prohibits selling tracks in ways other than the original configuration of the band’s albums.

Pink Floyd’s label, E-M-I, claims the rule applies to physical albums, not the Internet.

Pink Floyd is also disputing how royalties for online sales are computed.

Yesterday’s hearing is the start of an expected lengthy legal fight.

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Kiss wants younger fans.

They’re working on a half-hour T-V comedy for children based on the Kiss personas.

The series doesn’t have a title yet, and details on what the show will be about have not been revealed.

Gene Simmons says like all things Kiss, they intend to make it a very special show for their fans.

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Simon and Garfunkel are getting back together for a series of concerts, but only a handful are in the U-S.

They will play the New Orleans Jazzfest in April, then kick off a tour of Canada April 29 in Vancouver.

The only U-S dates are Fargo, St. Paul, Detroit and Madison, Wisconsin.

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The Goo Goo Dolls are ready to release their ninth studio album.

It’s called “Something For The Rest Of Us,” but the release date has not yet been set. They will preview some of the new songs on tour beginning April 6 in Augusta, Georgia.

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Devo will perform a new song tomorrow on Nickelodeon’s “Yo Gabba Gabba.”

They will perform “Watch Us Work It.”

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It looks like the Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part One might come out a year after its initial September 2009 release date. Adam “M-C-A” Yauch, who had surgery and radiation treatments for a salivary gland tumor last summer and fall, tells Entertainment Weekly that he’s getting his energy back and that “we may or may not [release it] depending on how my health is come September. We want to, but we have to play it by ear.”

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A London tabloid says Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is thinking of getting married for a third time. A so-called source tells the Daily Express that Ronnie thinks 30-year old Ana Araujo could “be the woman to make a life with… She’s such a positive influence on him, and they’re very relaxed in each other’s company. They’re happy enjoying the simple things in life, like staying in, making meals and watching films.” The source adds that they could get married as early as this summer.

Wood divorced wife number-two, Jo, last November.

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Look for three releases from The Doors over the next month. The first two are vinyl editions of Absolutely Live and Live in New York, both of which come out on Tuesday. The third is the soundtrack to When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors. The C-D is due on April 6th, and the film opens in select markets on April 9th. The soundtrack contains narrator Johnny Depp reading several selections of Jim Morrison’s poetry, 14 songs from The Doors’ catalog and interview clips with all four band members.

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Korn will hit Alaska and Canada on a brief tour later this month before they head to South America for two weeks in April. The band will be debuting tracks from its as-yet-untitled studio disc that’s out in June.

They’ll be in Vancouver March 29th at the Queen Elisabeth Theatre.

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Switchfoot will appear on N-B-C’s Tonight Show With Jay Leno on St. Patrick’s Day. They’ve also extended their Hello Hurricane tour by a week and will now wrap things up in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 30th.

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The release of Godsmack’s new disc, The Oracle, has been moved up to May 4th.

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Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament are the latest subjects on I-Tunes’ Celebrity Podcast Playlist. It can be downloaded for free through I-Tunes.