XM to sponsor Country Bash

Moving quickly to fill a void created when KZLA-FM (93.9) dropped its country music format last week, XM Satellite Radio said it will replace the station as sponsor for Country Bash ‘06, a concert scheduled for Oct. 14 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine.

XM seized on the event as a marketing opportunity for its financially struggling service, noting that the L.A. area now has no AM or FM station offering country music. XM, on the other hand, offers nine channels of country programming.

Tickets for the concert, which will feature Gretchen Wilson, Phil Vassar and SHeDAISY, go on sale Saturday.

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From a Times staff writer

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FINALLY

Music festival: Beck, Queens of the Stone Age and Basement Jaxx will be among the acts performing at the inaugural LA Weekly Detour Music Festival, an all-day event scheduled for Oct. 7 on multiple stages at 1st and Main streets in downtown L.A. Tickets go on sale Saturday.