A Jethro Tull Italian fan convention has been announced for September 24th, 2011.

Ian has posted a lengthy New Year’s Greeting to his online diary:

The 40th Anniversary of Jethro Tull is upon us in February 2008. Having initially thought that it was all best avoided in any reference to our upcoming concert tours, I slowly changed my mind after chatting to the others in the band and to some of the fans. Now I have agreed that we will celebrate the tours with a full laser light show, a dancing troupe of honed and bronzed young men fresh from the Madonna boudoir, 60 foot inflatable flute-phallus on stage, Chinese acrobats and fireworks nightly – and – live prostate examinations for lucky competition-winners during the concert intermission.

The official Jethro Tull online store is offering the following specials. Now when you buy any Jethro Tull CD, get 10% off any T-Shirt purchases in the same transaction. Or, if you spend $60 or more, you will get 15% off your entire order.

Here’s the first of many holiday contests we’ll be reporting this December. Here’s your chance to win an autographed “Jethro Tull Christmas Album”. Visit the official Tull website to learn more.

The current issue of Acoustic Magazine chats with Ian about his new acoustic album, current tour and his music, of course. There’s also some speculation of a new Tull album in the Fall.

Can you tell us about the new album, The Best Of Acoustic Jethro Tull and what else Jethro Tull are up to?

It’s basically a selection of acoustic Jethro Tull stuff, spread through the years with a couple of recently recorded bonus tracks which are re-recordings of songs we’d done The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull front coversomewhere in the past. There’s also a Jethro Tull Live In Montreux DVD scheduled for release later this year and another one that is recordings from various German concerts through the years – all live recordings that have never been released. Then there’s a new album which I’m about to start work on which will be recorded on and off over the next few months because we have some tours coming up, but it will be scheduled for release in September.

Tull’s official website is reporting that Planet Rock, the UK’s classic rock station, has partnered up with Pure Digital, Marshall Amps and Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity to offer offer a DAB radio autographed by Ian Anderson. View the auction here.

FYI – DAB (a digital format) has only been implemented in the UK, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.

Jethro Tull will give away “an Ian-autographed copy of the new Live at Montreux DVD and CD” to 10 lucky winners in a just announced contest. Entries are due by October 31st, 2007. Visit this link for more details.