You know that scene in High Fidelity where the dudes wax all achy about how cool it would be to date/live with a musician and hang out and hear them work on songs and find your inside jokes lovingly placed in the liner notes? Yeah, it's allegedly awesome but actually probably tediously repetitive, so I hear. But living with an engineer? In a house, with a studio? Watching awesome local bands traipse in and out? With different bands and different songs all the time? Could be rad, y'all.

Battletapes needs a roommate. (Registration required.) Pros and cons? You tell us.

As you may have heard, The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach is goin' it alone, at least for a spell. But enough about that dude. Joining him on tour early next year will be Murfreesboro's own Those Darlins, who have a record of their own (“Wild One” b/w “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin”) and will also be on tour this fall with O'Death, including a stop at Exit/In on Dec. 1.

Full Darlin itinerary after le jump.

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel of Mates of State. Photo by Steve Cross.

For more photos, check out the slideshow, y'all.

We were nervous, Nashville, we really were. The list of worthwhile bands for whom our showgoing public did not make it worth their while is long—Snowden, +/-, dios (malos), Giant Drag, to name a few—but when The Spin scanned Elliston Place for a parking spot Monday night, we were pleasantly surprised to see a small throng gathered outside the Exit/In. This meant that we wouldn't have to add Mates of State to the ranks of the jilted. Thank fucking goodness.

By the time we made it inside, openers Brother Reade had already finished up, and the place was a little more than half-full. (It would eventually reach about two-thirds capacity.) When Mates keyboardist and singer Kori Gardner walked up to one of the stage microphones and wiped it rather carefully with a towel, a young woman standing next to us wondered aloud to her friend, "Maybe she's sick?"

Broken Social Scene play The Cannery Ballroom tonight with Land of Talk. Big show. Everyone and their D. Patrick Rodgers are likely to be there—including you, if you win the tickets in our caption contest. (Hurry up, you've only got until noon to come up with something funny.) Update: Contest is over.

The Creeping Cruds play The End with Blitzkid & Rock 'n' Roll Hoolligan. Writes Matt Sullivan: "The formula is familiar—rockabilly-informed punk, no frills (save for the occasional frillish movie sample) and a B-movie aesthetic, with songs carrying titles like “Tennessee Bloodbath” and “I Eat the Living.” Bands have done much worse with The Cramps and Misfits as primary influences. A hefty dose of hooks and a little bit of derangement go a long way." (More here and here.)

Also playing: The Elms, The Lonely Hearts, Mike Dunn & more at 12th & Porter.

Looks like we're in for another average Monday night in Music City. But, if you're like me, you don't need any fancy schmancy reasons to be hungover on a Tuesday morning. For those of you seeking exodus from the couch after tonight's episode of Gossip Girl, I'd like to call your attention to two particular Monday night mainstays.

You probably already assumed there was an 8 off 8th tonight at Mercy Lounge, and you were certainly correct in doing so. Tonight's lineup includes Caitlin Rose, Human Voice, Hands Down Eugene, Elle Macho, The Janissary, Vovo, Sleeper Agent and after hours entertainment by DJ Nathan Wheeler.

On the other side of the river is an equal an opposite force to be reckoned with and somewhat of a newcomer to the calendar. For the past couple months, The 5 Spot has ditched the cover charge and emptied the stage in favor of cheap drinks and old records. A crew of DJ regulars have been spinning vintage, vinyl-based playlists of rock 'n' soul to a bumping and grinding mob of drunken Eastsiders that seems to get bigger every week. I haven't seen this get a whole lot of mention in the press, but word of mouth has quickly made this one of my personal weekly staples.

And there you have it. If I don't see you out tonight, we can talk about it by the water cooler tomorrow.

"Out of all the shows on tour so far, Nashville was probably the most like last year, in that shit just hit the fan." That's sound guy Jonny Two Eyes, speaking on the Girl Talk video tour diary, day 29, which includes some gnarly footage of the aftermath.

For more, see The Spin: Girl Talk at The Cannery.

Next Big Nashville '09: The year the our music scene finally blows up and makes Jason Moon Wilkins proud.

So we've got a pair of tickets to tomorrow night's BSS show at Cannery we're looking to give to one lucky Cream reader. Here's the deal: Leave a comment with the sweetest caption you can think up for the above photo. We will judge captions purely by their hilarity/relevance...no commenter bias. Winner gets the tickets. Be sure to include your email address. It will not be published, but we'll need it in order to contact our winner. Go!

Update: We have a winner (see above). Thanks for your entries, and look for the Iron & Wine caption contest later this week.

Hey guitar heroes and rock band playas, have you heard about the Raconteur Action Pack? It's available in egg shell white for a limited time only!

Leading multimedia retailers and home shopping networks across the globe have unveiled The Raconteur Action Pack, available now where all top products are sold. Listed at the special price of $18.98, The Raconteur Action Pack is the finest sound machine on the market, and finally puts the power of The Raconteur into your very own hands.

Based on an original Raconteur, a sound making machine from the last century, The Raconteur Action Pack provides consumers with the ability to generate their very own melodies using three unique controllers. With multiple settings via easy to push buttons, The Raconteur produces the finest in Rock 'n' Roll and Blues sounds.

"Our customers are our first priority, and to be able to provide them with a product of this quality is something of which we're proud," said online retailer Vice President Anna Samson.

Read the news at Market Watch. Check out the video at From Old to Gold. More info on the Old to Gold YouTube channel.

Oh, and you can also call (877) 566-8435.

Would Dre approve of the list? He's on it.

Remember that book about the greatest 1,000 recordings of all time? Well Tom Moon, the fellow who compiled this extremely bold list, will be signing and discussing his book tonight at Davis-Kidd. Read Wayne Christeson's Critic's Pick on Moon.

This Moon character is allegedly a very busy guy, so this could be your only chance to stone him for failing to list anything by Neutral Milk Hotel, Built to Spill or Modest Mouse. No big deal. At least The Dionne Warwick Collection made the list. The shit hits the music fan at 7 p.m.

Just to show how country he's gone, Sebastian Bach has been "woodshedding in a big way," whatever that means, working with a couple songwriters and "demoing our asses off." All that hard work is sure to pay off when this new country album drops, leaks, or otherwise squeezes out of the music industry and onto your face.

"Since the ending of Gone Country 2, we now have between 10 and 15 songs 'under construction,' and we will not stop writing/demoing until we all feel we have a killer record. We all love the song 'Battle With The Bottle', but that is only the beginning." You want video? Here it is.

Mom and Dad rock.

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are married. They have two daughters, Magnolia and June. They're also in a band called Mates of State. (Their first album, My Solo Project, is still one of my favorites. I once carried the LP around all night just so that when I eventually met up with a friend, I could play it for her.) I mention the kids because even though MoS aren't exactly Radiohead, income-wise, they bring their little ones on tour with them, a fact that is both adorable and awesome. And of course there's a blog! It's called Band on the Diaper Run and chronicles cuteness overload via life on the road and at home (but mostly on the road), everything from 4-year-old Mags rocking out on the tambourine while her parents open for Santogold (see above) to the Mates' appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba.

Mates of State play Exit/In tonight. You should go. Their new album is called Re-Arrange Us and you can listen to the song "My Only Offer" here and read Andrew Clayman's story on the band here.

About 100 tickets have been released for tonight's Black Crowes show at The Ryman. The Cream just found out, so we told you as soon as we could. From our understanding these are floor seats and pretty good ones, but that's about all we know. You've got about an hour and a half, so get on it!

Photo illustration by D. Ricky Rodriguez.

Forever testing the malleability of the term “legend,” the John Stamos of country music will be signing copies of his book Country Music: The Masters at the Charlotte Pike Costco Wholesale on Saturday, Nov. 29. According to a press release, Marty Stuart has “appoint[ed] himself a leading curator of roots music memorabilia” to bring us this magnum opus of a book, which “brings country music to life with both photographs, music and the spoken word.” He brings country music to life…using music! Not to mention the spoken word.

Since it’s at Costco, be sure to buy Stuart’s autographs in bulk. And don’t feel bad for asking him to sign your Prime Beef Party Pack. He’s a professional. He can handle it.

It's a safe bet to say that certain readers of this blog are already planning to spend Saturday night glued to their sofas, sipping a cold one and watching the ol' tube. Well, wouldn't you know, those mad geniuses at Club Sportag will bring the Tobin Experience to our favorite rock club tomorrow night where they'll be screening Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising, Daft Punk's Electroma, and the Paper Rad DVD Trash Talkin'. And, of course, staff DJs Justin Kase and Jensen Sportag will be on hand for those who'd rather not spend the night sitting down.

Not your thing? Well, here's some additional Saturday Night goings on:

The Outlaw Lovers CD Release at The End with Turbo Fruits, The Tits, and The Werewolf Killers

Pilgrims and Indians Party at 3609 Pilcher Ave with Caitlin Rose and Heypenny. (Costumes expected—you know, in case it's been like a whole two weeks since you got to dress up as something.)

I'll just let the press release do the talking on this one:

CMT invites the general public and media to a FREE concert event and red carpet featuring the cast of GONE COUNTRY 3. The concert, hosted by John Rich, will feature performances by George Clinton, Tara Conner, Taylor Dayne, Micky Dolenz, Sheila E., Richard Grieco and Justin Guarini, who will debut a country song they have been developing for the series, along with the help of influential Nashville songwriters. The group will also debut an ensemble song that they have written throughout the taping of the series.

That's tonight at 7 p.m. at the Wildhorse on 2nd Ave. Let's try to guess what their country songs will be called.

George Clinton: "She Thinks My Spaceship's Sexy."
Sheila E.: "If These Sugar Walls Could Talk."
Richard Grieco: "(Have You Ever) Heard of Richard Grieco?"
Micky Dolenz: "I'm a Believer (Country Version)."

In other ensemble string band song news, The Raconteurs are "set to return with a new take on the track ['Old Enough'] recorded in Nashville with the help of bluegrass mandolin mainstay Ricky Skaggs and singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe." This according to Pitchfork. Follow the link to see the Racs lined up with ol' "not sure Obama likes bluegrass" Skaggs, or check out the session photos here.