Hot Music Beat

Jason Null, the co-founder of the rock group Saving Abel, and Brandon Danger, the band’s guitar stringer, have both been charged with felony counts of forced oral copulation and forced oral copulation on a minor after police say they forced a 17-year old girl to perform a sex act after the band’s concert in Oakland. Police say that the girl went on the band’s tour bus Tuesday night under the impression that she was getting a chance to be in a video for the group. Null and Danger were both arraigned this past Friday on the charges. The musician has pleaded not guilty and his attorney says that there is a videotape of the incident to prove that the charges are baseless. Danger has yet to enter a plea.

Breakout rock band Saving Abel will join Seether as openers for Nickelback on their North American tour beginning February 25th in Nashville, TN (full schedule below). Saving Abel’s largest outing to date will hit arenas in over 30 cities across the continent. Tickets go on sale beginning Dec. 5th at LiveNation.com.

“We’re thrilled to be opening for Nickelback. It’s crazy, a year ago we were playing small bars and clubs around Memphis and now we’re touring the country in a bus and will be playing with one of the biggest touring rock bands in arenas,” said Saving Abel frontman Jared Weeks.

Saving Abel have been on the road non-stop since the March, 2008 release of their self titled debut from Virgin records and have played with rock heavy weights such as Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold, Puddle of Mudd and Shinedown. The band has enjoyed impressive success with their chart-topping, multi-format smash debut single “Addicted,” which hit #1 at mainstream rock radio, spent 11 consecutive weeks at #2 on the active rock chart and reached #7 at alternative radio. At press time, the track is the most played song of 2008 at the active rock format. “Addicted” found a whole new life in July when it impacted Top 40 radio. The run away hit is now sitting in the top 10 at the format and is top 15 at Hot AC. While “Addicted” is topping the pop charts, Saving Abel’s second single “18 Days,” a huge rock ballad dedicated to the troops, is heating up at rock radio where it is already top 10 at active rock and top 20 at alternative radio. Videos for both tracks have witnessed major play across all video channels including MTV2, VH1, Fuse and Music Choice where “Addicted” is currently the #1 played video an their “Hit List” channel.

Saving Abel continues to reach new heights on the sales charts as well. The album spent 3 consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart before debuting on the Billboard 200 in July. It has sold over 240,000 copies to date. ”Addicted” hit #20 on the digital singles chart and is approaching platinum success with over 800,000 singles sold thus far.

Saving Abel – named after the Biblical sibling of Cain – was formed by Jared Weeks and guitarist Jason Null in 2004 in their hometown of Corinth, Mississippi. Now based in Memphis, Tennessee, the band’s lineup includes guitarist Scott Bartlett, bassist Eric Taylor and drummer Blake Dixon. Combining influences of southern rock, hard rock and alternative music, the band was first heard on a 2005 EP, produced by Skidd Mills (12 Stones, Saliva, Submersed).

Saving Abel on Tour

Radio Shows:
Dec-6 W. Palm Beach, FL Sound Advice Amphitheatre (WPBZ radio show)
Dec-7 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheater (WSUN radio show)
Dec-15 Richmond, VA Toad’s Place (WRXL xmas radio show)
Dec-17 Chicago, IL House of Blues (Q101 xmas radio show)

Headline Shows:
Dec-10 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock Cafe
Dec-11 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
Dec-12 Portland, ME The Station
Dec-13 Townson, MD Recher Theater
Dec-18 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Dec-19 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
Dec-20 Indianapolis, MN The Vogue
Dec-27 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theatre
Dec-31 Jackson, MI Michigan Theatre
Jan-2 Traverse City, MI Streeters

Saving Abel with Seether and Nickelback
Feb-25 Nashville, TN Sommet Center
Feb-27 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena
Feb-28 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
Mar-02 Toronto,ON Air Canada Centre
Mar-03 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum
Mar-05 Worcester, MA DSU Center
Mar-06 E. Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
Mar-08 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Mar-09 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Mar-11 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
Mar-12 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
Mar-14 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
Mar-15 Moline, IL i Wireless Center
Mar-17 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
Mar-18 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
Apr-01 Edmonton, AL Rexall Centre
Apr-02 Calgary, AL Pengrowth Saddledome
Apr-04 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
Apr-05 Winnipeg, MT MTS Centre
Apr-07 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Apr-08 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Apr-10 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
Apr-13 Bossier City, LA CenturyTel Center
Apr-14 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
Apr-16 Houston Toyota Center
Apr-17 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
Apr-19 Little Rock, AR Alltel Arena
Apr-22 Jacksonville, FL Veterans Memorial Arena
Apr-23 Columbia, SC Colonial Life Arena

Saving Abel have just released a brand new video for their radio smash “Addicted.” This is the third time the band filmed a clip for the track. The video was directed by Steven Oritt (Ours, Sugarcult) and shot in Los Angeles earlier this month.

The Mississippi hard-rock group’s self-titled debut album was produced by Skidd Mills who has also worked with bands like ZZ-Top, Saliva, and Skillet. Saving Abel will be heading out on tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry starting November 4th in Casper, WY.

All of the dates can be found on the band’s MySpace page.

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