Greetings and salutations, good people. I've been on vacation for the past week, down at Emerald Isle, so I'll be in catch-up mode for the next few days. While I work on that, I can pass along word that Aerosmith's North Carolina shows have been moved from the "postponed" column to "canceled" due to frontman Steven Tyler's recent shoulder injury from falling off a stage in South Dakota; and also that the legendary Memphis musician/producer/raconteur Jim Dickinson has passed on, leaving behind a legacy of great records and fantastic tales. May he rest in peace.

I'll be back soon. In the meantime, here's a little something to help you pass the time.

ADDENDUM (8/18/09): Another Dickinson obit.

The word about Aerosmith's scheduled shows in Raleigh and Charlotte:

Aerosmith has postponed their scheduled shows for July 7th at the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek in Raleigh and July 9th at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte due to an artist injury. Rescheduled dates will be announced soon.

Tickets purchased for the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek concert as well as the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte concert will be honored on the rescheduled dates.

For additional tour and ticket information, please visit www.livenation.com or www.aeroforceone.com.

After four decades as a band, the members of Aerosmith aren't exactly young anymore. In fact, they've had to call off some dates on this summer's tour due to unspecified health issues. We'll see if the Raleigh show scheduled for Tuesday comes off. But Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton is just glad to be back on the road at all, after a bout of throat cancer in 2006.

"I had to go through a nightmare of treatment, but so far so good," Hamilton said in a recent interview. "I'm almost to the three-year point, so it's all good. I never had much appetite, and I do have to put more thought into that now. But when you're radiating that area, it's not like it's a part that only gets used once in a while. Your throat is always busy."

For more, see the interview in Friday's paper.