The National’s new album High Violet doesn’t come out until May 11, but the Brooklyn-based indie rockers gave a sneak preview of the opening track, “Terrible Love,” on Jimmy Fallon last night. Check it out for yourself:

The band will be playing sold-out shows at the Bell House in Brooklyn tonight, March 11, and tomorrow, March 12, and will launch a full-blown tour at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 28. The dates are below:

3/28 Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theatre (Big Ears Festival)

4/22 Richmond, VA - The National

4/23 Richmond, VA - The National

5/6 London, England - Royal Albert Hall

5/7 Paris, France - Le Zenith *

5/9 Berlin, Germany - Astra

5/21 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern

5/22 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern

5/23 San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre

5/26 Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre

5/27 Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre

6/2 Boston, MA - House of Blues

6/3 Boston, MA - House of Blues
 6/4 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory

6/5 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory

6/6 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall

6/8 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall

6/9 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall

6/11-13 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo

6/16 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall

7/14 Munich, Germany - Dachau Musiksommer

7/16-18 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock

7/27 Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park Bandshell

*With Pavement

The all-female music festival Lilith Fair has been revived for the first time since 1999, and is set to tour the US and Canada.

The line-up thus far includes: A Fine Frenzy, Ann Atomic, Ash Koley, Beth Orton, Brandi Carlile, Butterfly Boucher, Cat Power, Ceci Bastida, Chairlift, Chantal Kreviazuk, Colbie Caillat, Corinne Bailey Rae, Donna Delory, Elizaveta, Emmylou Harris, Erin McCarley, Erykaah Badu, Frazey Ford, Gossip, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Heart, Ima, Indigo Girls, Ingrid Michaelson, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Knapp, Jill Hennessy, Jill Scott, Julia Othmer, Kate Nash Katzenjammer, Ke$ha, La Roux, Lights, Lissie, Loretta Lynn, Marina & The Diamonds, Mary J. Blige, Meaghan Smith, Melissa McClelland, Metric, Miranda Lambert, Missy Higgins, Nneka, Norah Jones, Priscilla Renea, Rosie Thomas, Sara Bareilles, Sarah McLachlan, Serena Ryder, Sheryl Crow, Sia, Sugarland, Susan Justice, Tara MacLean, Tegan and Sara, Toby Lightman, Vedera, Vita Chambers, The Submarines, The Weepies, Ximena Sarinana, and Zee Avi.

Although no dates have been confirmed yet, the list of cities that Lilith Fair has included on its tour can be found on their website, as well as any additional information.

Audible Treats, the Brooklyn-based entertainment marketing and publicity firm specializing in print and online media coverage, has announced their first Official SXSW 2010 Showcase.

It will be at The Independent on Saturday, March 20^th, and will feature hip-hop acts, including co-headliners Black Milk and Black Sheep, along with Donwill and Von Pea of Tanya Morgan, One Be Lo, Diamond District, Finale, Crown Royale, Bisco Smith, League510, iLL-Literacy, and TRUTHLiVE. The official DJ for the evening will be Amp Live of Zion I.

If the lineup isn’t enough to get you there (even though it should be), there will also be free goodies throughout the show.

Beyond Race Magazine, along with BrooklynVegan.com, CokeMachineGlow.com, and The Smoking Section, are all official media partners for the showcase.

As a SXSW-sponsored event, all badge and wristband holders will be allowed in for free, while a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door.

The Details:

When: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 7:30PM - 2:00AM

Where: The Independent @ 501 Brushy Street Austin, Texas 78702

BRM: Why is Little Brother breaking up?

Phonte: I mean, there's nothing else to say. Me and Pooh been doing it for a while and we're both going in different directions. We're still very good friends, he's still my man. But in the course of business relations, sometimes you see yourself going in different directions. So you stop the business relationship so your friendship can continue. So that was the decision we came to regarding this record.

So is this like closure?

Well, yeah. Originally, LeftBack was supposed to be an EP of stuff, but in the time that the deal was signed and the actual album was done, a year had went by. So in that year, a lot of stuff had happened. I was touring with Foreign Exchange, Pooh was working on his solo record and doing mixtapes and stuff. So, once we came back to release the record and decided it was going to be our last one, we decided to go in and do some fresh stuff as well to give the fans some new music.

Have you been getting any letters or emails from fans begging you to stay together?

I haven't gotten any emails [laughs], the fans aren't that crazy. But you know, you get the requests from fans, "c'mon please don't do this." It happens and I know it's coming from a good place. It doesn't bother me. But either way this is still the last one.

Why isn't 9th Wonder on it?

We don't work together, we don't have a business relationship, we don't have a personal relationship. I can't speak for Pooh on this matter, but I knew I wasn't about to reach out to him on some “hey let's do a song together for old times sake, just 'cause it's the last album.” I personally am not big on nostalgia and all that shit. If we don't fuck with each other, we just don't fuck with each other, last album or not. I'm not gonna let nostalgia or "for the fans" change that. To me, that would be phony. So, we don't fuck with each other, we haven't for some time. I didn't feel the need to change that.

What would you tell the Little Brother that was first coming out around the time of The Listening?

Phonte: Really, I wouldn't change anything. But if I were to have the same perspective as I have now, back then? [laughs] First off, I would say don't make your producer a part of the group. That situation just doesn't seem to work out well in a lot of cases. If you got your man doing beats, he's crazy, he's talented, he's dope, just let him do the beats. Don't officially put him on paper as a member of the group because that shit will cause a lot of the problems for the group. Second thing I would say is do not sign with a major label, you're better off financially doing it yourself. Third would have to be don't sign with an indie label, shit [laughs]. That would probably be it… Also, just know that nobody's going to work harder for you as you're going to work for yourself. Don't put your faith in labels to save the day and expect them to be great people that are going to help you. It doesn't work like that, or it didn't work in our case. That's what I would tell Little Brother from ten years ago. But then again, I wouldn't change any of that because all of that were things that we had to go through to make us a lot wiser and stronger as far as business goes.

What's your favorite Little Brother track?

I don't know. If I had to pick one I would have to say "Speed" because that's the first Little Brother song.

Okay, let's talk about the new album. How far are you guys pushing this album? Tours, videos?

We'll be putting out videos. That's something we wanted to do, give our fans some more visual stuff. We've only had one real video in our career. That was an area we were lacking in and we wanted to give the fans more of that. In terms of touring and stuff, we'll probably do some dates. We're not doing a massive eight, nine week tour, but we'll probably do some spot dates, East and West coast, some Midwest dates. Just do it like that. It won't be like a world-takeover farewell tour or something like that, it's not that major.

What tracks are you aiming to put visuals to?

That, I don't know yet. We'll pretty much see. The first single "Curtain Call" is going to be the first video we're going to do. In terms of what's coming after that, I don't know. We'll let the fans decide.

I see these remixes on the project, can you tell us about that?

Those were joints that came about when we first started working on the record. It was an EP that was supposed to be remixes and a couple songs that didn't make LeftBack. Like I said, a year went by between signing the deal and getting everything together. Then when we decided to make it a full-length record and do some new songs, I didn't want to just let the remixes go because them shits is dope. My mans S1 & Caleb, they remixed "After the Party" and my man Zo remixed "Two Step Blues" and they did an incredible job. I didn't want them to go to waste just because it was now an "album". When shit is dope it's dope.

I always wanted to ask, would you ever consider doing a collaboration with Kid Sister? Maybe something about family?

No, that's not going to happen.

Alright… Anything you want to leave the fans?

I just want to say thank you to everybody who supported the music. Buying the music, downloading it, passing it around, going to the shows, spreading the word. Anything you've done to promote the name Little Brother, we can't thank you enough and we sincerely appreciate it.

Words by Rek