July 23, 2004 - Country legend Buck Owens sure knows how to throw a birthday party and on August 10th Owens will celebrate his 75th with a star studded group of friends including Dwight Yoakum, Raul Malo, and Cake's John McCrea.

Not surprisingly the Cake frontman and fellow California central valley native is a fan of Owens and actually met the legned at the venerable Crystal Palace club in Bakersfield (which Owens owns, incidently) when Cake played there last year (in another incidental side note, Cake is one of the only non-country bands to every perform at the venue).

"It was a real thrill to play there and I was really impressed with the guy," recalls McCrea of the enounter. "He is a formidable songwriter as well as performer with a huge catalogue of quality work, including two of my favorite songs." The two favorite songs in question would be "Excuse Me, I Think I've Got A Heartache" and "Foolin' Around," which are guaranteed to appear on Cake's setlist when they begin touring later this summer and into the fall.

In addition to McCrea's Buck Owens birthday appearance and the impending Cake tour, the band has just finished work on their new album Pressure Chief, which the album was recorded entirely in a converted house in the band's hometown of Sacramento and is slated for release October 5th on Columbia Records.