The Foo Fighters have a new album, Wasting Light (due April 12), that they recorded in front man Dave Grohl's garage. "I literally backed the mini-van out of the garage, pulled the lawnmower out, put a drum set in it and set up mics," Grohl told Q magazine. "We soundproofed the garage door so that my neighbors wouldn't call the cops."

The band also used the opportunity to make a documentary, Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, which recently debuted at SXSW in Austin. To honor both the spirit and content of the album, the band has decided to fully embrace the garage band aesthetic and play a smattering of shows in... well, garages.

To select the venues for the April jaunt, Foo Fighters are hosting a contest that allows fans to submit their garages as candidates in 25 words or less. The tour is limited to specific markets, each tied to a sponsoring radio station. The eight stops include New York, Toronto, Denver, and Chicago, among others.

After that, Grohl and crew will embark on an actual tour, albeit short. The spring run kicks off with Foo Fighters in Tulsa on May 17. Included in the routing are four additional dates along with two festivals – Hangout in Alabama and Sasquatch! in Washington.

Staying mostly in the Heartland, Foo Fighters hit North Little Rock on May 18 and Memphis on May 20 before the Hangout Music Festival on May 21.

Picking up from there, Foo Fighters rock Council Bluffs on May 23. The only other non-festival gig finds Missoula hosting Foo Fighters on May 26 as they make their way to the Seattle area for their May 27 slot at Sasquatch!

Aside from the upcoming album, new documentary, garage adventure, and concert tour, Grohl was also in the news recently because the Foo Fighters joined the ranks alongside Kings of Leon and Guns N' Roses in declining to have their music featured on the smash television show Glee.

Grohl growled, "It's every band's right, you shouldn't have to do f---ing Glee. And then the guy who created Glee is so offended that we're not, like, begging to be on his f---ing show... f--- that guy for thinking anybody and everybody should want to do Glee.

"Slash was the first one. He [show creator Ryan Murphy] wanted to do Guns N' Roses and Slash is like, 'I hate f---ing musicals. It's worse than Grease.' Then [Murphy's] like, 'Well, of course he'd say that, he's a washed up ol' rock star, that's what they f---ing do.' And then Kings of Leon say, 'No, we don't want to be on your show.' And then he's like, 'Snotty little a--holes...' And it's just like, 'Dude, maybe not everyone loves Glee. Me included."

At the moment, Foo Fighters are doing a string of shows down under to raise money for flood and earthquake relief efforts in Queensland and Christchurch. The band jumped in whole-heartedly when they announced the dates a couple of weeks ago. Tickets sold like hot cakes.

Grohl told the sell-out crowd in Brisbane, “I can't fix your roof and I can't mop your floor, but I can play you music. This is all I can do to help."

Last year, the calamity Prince caused with his “The Internet is completely over” statement totally overshadowed his record release, 20TEN. It's a shame, too. By quite a few scores, it was a smashing album.

One critic went so far as to claim that “...it’s as good as his all-time classics like Purple Rain and 1999. 20TEN is a comeback on a par with Elvis reinventing himself in Las Vegas in 1968. 20TEN is as good as anything Prince has done – which means it is as good as anything that anyone has done.”

Others were a little less keen, but not altogether dismissive: “Fans looking for the next 'When Doves Cry,' 'Little Red Corvette,' 'Purple Rain,' or 'D.M.S.R.' will need to keep looking, because you won’t find any of that here. That is not to say this is a bad record, actually, it is quite the contrary.... it’s a shame that grooves this funky, this bad-ass, are wasted on this nonsense.”

In support of 20TEN, Prince and his New Power Generation band have been doing sporadic runs of his Welcome 2 America tour over the past year. More dates lie just around the bend.

So far, the shows have been fairly well received. A recent performance in Oakland earned this praise: “The musicians came to town determined to cement their place in soul history, making many a nod to old school of funk and soul.

“The set started strong, as they rambled through some of their more funky numbers. As they veered off into a Latin theme featuring Sheila E. on percussion, performing her hit 'Glamorous Life,' there was a rumble through the crowd as Carlos Santana took the stage to trade riffs with Prince. That didn’t last long – Prince just handed Carlos his Telecaster, and was content to dance and groove while Santana rocked out like he still had something to prove. Wow. They finished off the set soon after.”

Granted, adding Carlos Santana to the bill is an easy A, especially in the Bay Area which is his home turf. But that was just icing on the purple cake, apparently. Prince can, it seems, still bring it all his own.

The critic continued, “Prince did a stirring version of 'Purple Rain' without a hint of irony … just sweetness and light. He rambled through a super-funky 'Kiss' before giving up the spotlight to his backup singers. On top of all his other talents, Prince proves over and over again that he is a guitar slinger with whom to be reckoned. He then settled into a few of his sexiest soul ballads. There was not a dry eye in the house.”

For the next string of Welcome 2 America dates, it's all about the Carolinas with three shows in each state. Getting things started in the South on March 21, Prince rocks Columbia's Colonial Life Arena.

North Carolina interjects, then, with its three dates. Raleigh hosts Prince first on March 23 at the RBC Center. The next night, Prince hits Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena. The third play in the trifecta comes on March 26 with Prince in Greensboro at the Coliseum.

The last two concerts on the slate are back in South Carolina. Greenville gets Prince first, on March 28 at the Bi-lo Center. Then, on March 30, Prince plays North Charleston's Coliseum.

More than likely, other handfuls of shows will be announced as the year wears on.