The List will debut as part of NPR Music’s Exclusive first listen series

Two bonus tracks from The List will be available exclusively at Barnes & Noble and iTunes

With the release date of her new album for Manhattan Records, The List, nearing on October 6, 2009, acclaimed singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash has announced a series of upcoming television and radio appearances in which she performs songs from The List and talks about her decision to record her first-ever covers album, which features Cash’s contemporary, stylish interpretations of 12 classic songs culled from her list of essential country tunes that her legendary father Johnny gave her in 1973.

The week of the album’s release, Cash will perform on NBC’s The Today Show on October 6th, followed by a performance on CBS’s The Late Show With David Letterman on October 7th.

Cash will also appear on NPR’s popular programs “Fresh Air” and “Morning Edition,” as well as American Public Media’s “A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor,” which will be broadcast live from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, MN, on October 17th at 4:45 p.m. CT.

In addition, listeners will be able to hear The List streamed in it’s entirety as part of NPR Music’s “Exclusive First Listen” series from September 29th through October 6, 2009.

Following on the heels of triumphant September performances at the Country Music Hall of Fame© and Museum and WNYC’s Greene Space, Cash and her band will open the St. Ann’s Warehouse 30th Anniversary Season by performing The List on October 9th and 10th. St. Ann’s Warehouse is located at 38 Water Street in Brooklyn. Tickets are currently on-sale. Please visit St. Ann’s Warehouse for more information.

Produced and arranged by Grammy Award winner John Leventhal (Cash’s husband), The List gives intimate insight into one of America’s best-loved musical families.

The album includes Cash’s covers of songs written and/or recorded by The Carter Family (“Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”), Hank Williams (“Take These Chains From My Heart”), Jimmie Rodgers (“Miss The Mississippi and You”), Hank Cochran/Patsy Cline (“She’s Got You”), Merle Haggard (“Silver Wings”), and Bob Dylan (“Girl From the North Country,” famously done by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969).

The first single from The List is Don Gibson’s “Sea of Heartbreak,” which features guest vocals from Bruce Springsteen. The track is currently available for download on iTunes.

Two bonus tracks from The List will be available exclusively at Barnes & Noble and iTunes beginning October 6th. The bonus track “Sweet Memories,” featuring Chris Thile, will be on CDs sold exclusively at Barnes & Noble, and “Satisfied Mind,” featuring Neko Case, will be available digitally on iTunes.

Buy Music:

Rosanne Cash on amazon.com

Rosanne Cash on amazon.co.uk

Advance praise for The List is already coming in:

“How can one not get excited to hear Cash wrap that gorgeous, throaty alto around elite, time-tested material handpicked by the legendary Man in Black?” asks USA Today.

“Long revered as a master songwriter, Rosanne is equally talented at reinterpretation, singing with such close-to-the-bone sincerity that you can’t help but think: like father, like daughter,” says Elle magazine of The List in its 25 Essential Happenings feature.

Photo credit: Deborah Feingold

NPR Music Official Website

For more about Rosanne Cash and The List, please visit:

Rosanne Cash Official Website

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash will release her 12th studio album, entitled ‘The List’, on Manhattan Records on October 6th, 2009.

This stunning work features Cash’s contemporary interpretations of 12 classic songs culled from a list of essential country tunes that her legendary father Johnny Cash gave her in 1973, and filtered through her own unique, sophisticated perspective.

Known primarily for her stellar songwriting, Cash showcases her incredible voice on The List — her first-ever covers record. As a result, the album is Rosanne Cash like you’ve never heard her before as she embraces her heritage and sings for the pure love and beauty of these songs which have shaped who she is as an artist.

The idea for The List came about while Cash was on tour promoting her 2006 studio album, the critically heralded, Grammy-nominated Black Cadillac — a reflective song cycle about the loss of her father, mother Vivian Liberto, and stepmother June Carter Cash.

During the well-received multi-media event Black Cadillac: In Concert, Cash told audiences how, when she was 18, her father became alarmed that his daughter appeared to lack a deep understanding of country music (having been obsessed with The Beatles and steeped in Southern California rock and pop music). Johnny gave her a list of the “100 Essential Country Songs” and told her that it was her education and she should learn them all.

“The list was far-ranging and thorough,” Cash says. “It was assembled from my father’s intuitive understanding of each critical juncture in the evolution of country music. There were old Appalachian folk ballads, and the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie. The influence of gospel and Southern blues were crucial. Then he segued into rockabilly and the birth of modern country music by way of Hank Williams, and up to the present, which was then 1973. He also included a couple of his own songs. I endeavored to learn them all and it was an education,” she says. “I looked to that list as a standard of excellence, and to remind myself of the tradition from which I come. This album enables me to validate the connection to my heritage rather than run away from it, and to tie all the threads together: past and future, legacy and youth, tradition the timelessness.”

Through her stylish interpretations, Cash manages to transcend genre on The List, proving that these songs deserve a permanent place in the American Songbook.

Produced and arranged by Grammy-Award winner John Leventhal (Cash’s husband, who also contributes striking guitar work throughout), The List includes Cash’s covers of songs by The Carter Family (“Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”), Hank Williams (“Take These Chains From My Heart”), Jimmie Rodgers (“Miss The Mississippi and You”), Hank Cochran / Patsy Cline (“She’s Got You”), Merle Haggard (“Silver Wings”), and Bob Dylan (“Girl From the North Country,” famously done by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969).

The album also features a host of special guests whom Cash admires, including Bruce Springsteen (on “Sea of Heartbreak”), Elvis Costello (on “Heartaches by the Number”), Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy (on “Long Black Veil”), and Rufus Wainwright (on “Silver Wings”).

The List is the first album Cash has made since she underwent surgery in 2007 for a benign brain condition, from which she has fully recovered. When it came time to record a new album, Cash was happy to step back from the heavy themes of Black Cadillac and do a covers record that showcased her voice. It also has enabled her to finally share with the world the list of songs her father passed down to her alone.

“If my father had been a martial arts master, he might have passed a martial arts ‘secret’ on to me, his oldest child,” Cash says. “If he had been a surgeon, he might have taken me into his operating room and pointed out the arteries and organs. If he were a robber baron, he might have surveyed his empire and said, ‘Honey, some day this will all be yours!’. But he was a musician and a songwriter, and he gave me The List.”

Buy Music:

Rosanne Cash on amazon.com

Rosanne Cash on amazon.co.uk

The track-listing for The List is as follows:

1. “Miss the Mississippi and You”
2. “Motherless Children”
3. “Sea of Heartbreak” (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
4. “Take These Chains From My Heart”
5. “I’m Movin’ On”
6. “She’s Got You”
7. “Heartaches by the Number” (w/ Elvis Costello)
8. “500 Miles”
9. “Long Black Veil” (w/ Jeff Tweedy)
10. “Silver Wings” (w/ Rufus Wainwright)
11. “Girl From the North Country”
12. “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”

For more about Rosanne Cash and The List, please visit:

Rosanne Cash Official Website

The Queen Of Pop is back!!!

Madonna returns to the road with her incredibly successful ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour tomorrow (July 4th) and Sunday with two sold-out shows at London’s O2.

This is followed by a sell out date at Manchester’s MEN and a 26-date trek throughout Europe, culminating with two consecutive performances in Israel.

It’s going to be one of the highlights of the summer and in this oppressive heat it will be both ‘sticky’ and ‘sweet’.

Last year Madonna’s ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour played to 2,350,282 fans and sold over $280 million in tickets.

—
Rufus Wainwright’s debut opera Prima Donna premieres at the Manchester International Festival next Friday (July 10th).

The five performances take place at the Palace Theatre, running from July 10th – July 19, 2009. Catch him on the Jonathan Ross show on the same night, July 10th, BBC1.

Rufus took a break from ‘Prima Donna’ rehearsals last week. His hilarious chat with Jonathan Ross on his Saturday morning radio 2 show was one of the highlights of the weekend. We don’t know who is funnier but they both made us laugh.

Rufus was also spotted at The Killers last Friday before watching his sister Lucy Wainwright Roche play a lovely set at the Borderline. Her sweet voice and touching songs had the audience entranced and her very funny sense of humour (must be a family trait) had the crowd in stitches.
Ade Edmondson was also in attendance and I’m sure he was more than impressed with Lucy’s comic timing.

Lucy also opened up the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury on Sunday and has 6 more dates left to play on her UK tour. Catch her if you can.

—
You can almost smell The Ashes now with the first test spinning into action next week. Preceding The Ashes is the release of The Duckworth Lewis Method’s self-titled maiden album out Monday. The stunning album is full of highlights including the lead single “Age Of Revolution”, “Meeting Mr Miandad” and the fantastically relevant and comedic “Jiggery Pokery”, which details Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ from Mike Gatting’s eye-view, magically. There was a very entertaining interview with The Duckworth Lewis Method aka Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh in Saturday’s Times and an equally amusing chat with the pair in last Friday’s Evening Standard.

—
Tickets for Kasabian’s 10-date November arena tour go on-sale today at 9am. All tickets are priced at £25. Incredible value!

Their Pyramid Stage performance on Saturday before Bruce Springsteen is one of those moments that will be etched into the fabric of Glastonbury history. As a result their album sales are up 20,000!

Kasabian – BBC – Glastonbury

Their epic new single “Where Did All The Love Go?” is out August 17th.

—
Jason Mraz certainly got use out of his wellies at Glastonbury. Jason played a hatrick of shows, which included two sets on Friday at the Acoustic Stage and a headline Q show at the Queens Head, he completed his hatrick with a performance at the Other Stage on Saturday.

Jason’s Q show at the Queens Head was one of the highlights on Friday with the Q tent near bursting point. The crowd enjoyed a mass sing-along to his addictive smash-hit single “I’m Yours”.

—
Jersey Budd releases his new single “She Came Back” on Monday which features backing vocals from Kasabian’s Tom Meighan and has been receiving airplay on Radio 2 and Absolute Radio. Jersey also scored a hatrick of performances at Glasto – he played acoustic sets at the Dirty Boots tent on Wednesday and Saturday finishing up with a performance at the Queens Head Stage.

—
We caught Depeche Mode live in Paris last week performing an electric sell out show in front of 66,000 Depeche Mode fanatics at Stade de France. This is a band who are in the form of their lives and Dave Gahan’s performance was mesmerising! The staging directed by Anton Corbijn was visually spectacular and captured the mood of the band perfectly.

—
Dave Matthews Band arrived in the UK last week for three days and left us craving for so much more.

Seven scintillating live hours, playing to a total of 70,000 fans at two epic sold out Brixton Academy shows and performing as special guests to Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park in a truly remarkable set – Dave Matthews Band came, they saw and they most certainly conquered.

The band now jet off to Europe for a stint of festival shows in Europe having left their indelible mark on the UK.

Here’s a link to a 4* review of their Hyde Park show in The Independent.

Here we are, with our very first Band Weblogs Stance Awards, 2009.

One thing often overlooked when it comes to Rock ‘N’ Roll and unforgettable live performances, are the many great stances that we’ve seen on stage over the years.

With the Band Weblogs Stance Awards, there is a certain criteria to fill when it comes to picking the best stances on stage – along with a unique formula that we’ve used to determine our Top 5.

Since funds are limited this year, unfortunately, we were unable to give the winner an actual, physical award, but what they can walk away with, is knowing how high in our estimation they are.

After lengthy discussion and consideration, and having to narrow down quite a few great Glastonbury stances to the Top 5, the decisions were made.

Counting down from 5:

5. Karen O – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
With her, shall we say, interesting fashion sense and loyal fans, Karen O never lets us down when it comes to stage stances.

Website: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4. Alex James – Blur
During his Glastonbury set, bassist Alex James from Blur played a stand-out performance, but it was his stance that took it to another level. He spent a lot of time standing with both feet on the monitor, looking cool, while continuing to play hit after hit.

Website: Blur

3. Tom Jones
What can we say? He’s Tom frickin’ Jones. It was great seeing the legendary singer at Glastonbury. His voice is so good, it tends to overshadow his stage stances, but he’s able to pull both off with ease.

Website: Tom Jones

2. Gareth McGrillen – Pendulum
The second bass player in the Top 5, Gareth McGrillen from the Australian now British-based band Pendulum was a contender from the start. The band probably played one of the best shows at Glastonbury Festival this year, and it was Gareth’s stance that was a surefire stand-out – and it almost got him to #1.

Website: Pendulum

1. Bruce Springsteen
Talk about unforgettable live performances. Bruce Springsteen blew us away. The band was top notch, playing the classic Bruce Springsteen songs we all know and love, like “The River” and “Born To Run” and the couple of songs that I hadn’t heard before, like “Outlaw Pete”, by the end, I was singing along like I’d been listening to them for years. The band played a 2 hour and 40 minute set, breaking the Glastonbury curfew, which just goes to show the passion and dedication that Bruce has for his craft – and his fans. However, it was Bruce’s legendary stage stances, sometimes reminiscent of Joe Strummer, that got him to #1 on this list, and during the long set, we were entertained with countless amounts of them. 5 stars.

Website: Bruce Springsteen

Hooray!! It’s the festival for sofa louches again this weekend. Yes, this time all over the world via the internet, TV and radio, ladies and gentlemen, Glastonbury is here again.

So there’s no need to go trudging through the swamps and bogs of Pilton to see some obscure musical act in the middle of nowhere. Now we can view the whole thing on our TVs at home or in the car or anywhere I suppose.

Once I’ve digested the usual morsels of the day, I gather up a clutch of lagers from the fridge and then tune the box to the good old BBC for what I hope to be an evening of quality alternative entertainment. The first band I saw on Friday was White Lies. They were nice. Pretty tunes for a pretty evening. The highlight of their set had to be the Bruce Springsteen cover of “Dancing In The Dark”.

Then I pressed the red button as they so often tell you to do, and was confronted by Lady Ga Ga in her glittery world of confuser gender. Playing through all of her current favorites. I think “Poker Face” is mine.

Lilly Allen, God bless her, she is turning into quite the young festival princess and being as she has been coming to this place since she was a child, I suppose she has some sort of right to the title. Her set is fun, with Lilly wearing a purple cat suite and purple wig, flirting with the audience as she entertains everybody by playing all of her hits.

For my money, and to be honest, there isn’t a lot of it, Neil Young is the saviour of the night. This man is one of the last living legends left on this planet and he really brings it to the table tonight.

Mighty is the word you would have to use to describe Neil Young’s presence on stage. The last song of his set was “A Day In The Life”, a Beatles cover. Well you have to see the performance. He ends up tearing the strings from his guitar whilst still playing it. My words will not do this great man justice, so you will just have to check out his live performance to understand what I am saying!

Watch “A Day In The Life” video on YouTube

Neil Young on amazon.com

Neil Young on amazon.co.uk

Neil Young Official Website

By: Dave Tommo

On June 2, 2009 Warner will release Dave Matthews Band’s ‘Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King,’ the group’s seventh studio album and its first since 2005’s ‘Stand Up’. The 13-track record was written by Dave Matthews Band and produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day and My Chemical Romance).

With its celebratory spirit and lyrical ruminations on fragile mortality, ‘Big Whiskey’ pays tribute to the band’s saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, and features some of his last recordings. Moore passed away in the summer of 2008, halfway through the making of the album.

The remaining founding members – Carter Beauford (Drums), Stefan Lessard (Bass), Dave Matthews (Vocals, Guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (Violin) – regrouped at a New Orleans, LA studio in early 2009 to complete the album. They were able to integrate much of the material Moore had recorded during their 2008 sessions in Charlottesville, VA and Seattle, WA, providing an immensely powerful twist to the overall feel of the album. Guitarist Tim Reynolds, trumpeter Rashawn Ross and saxophonist Jeff Coffin also played on ‘Big Whiskey’ and will join the band on tour.

“When Roi died, it shook the whole band and left us saying, ‘What do we do now?’” recalls Dave Matthews. “We knew that first of all, we had to finish this record that he was already in love with. So all of us went back in with the attitude ‘We can’t mess around with this one, because this one is an ode.’”

New York Magazine praised lead single “Funny the Way It Is” as “pure muscle – it’s got a bulletproof groove and the type of bounce that has marked the band all along” while Rolling Stone hailed ‘Big Whiskey’ as the group’s “heaviest album yet, both musically and emotionally.”

P.T.O.

Going on to note: “Throughout, Carter Beauford beats out elaborate, propulsive groves; bassist Stefan Lessard lays down Flea-style funk bass lines; violinist Boyd Tinsley plays cresting, intense runs; and Matthews mirrors Moore’s saxophone lines with scatlike singing.”

Dave Matthews created all of the artwork for the album, including the richly detailed cover illustration that puts a GrooGrux spin on New Orleans’ traditional Mardi Gras parades while evoking the joy and the sorrow expressed in the album’s songs.

The group, named the top-drawing American band in the world by Billboard, kicked off an extensive tour with a show at Madison Square Garden (April 14th) and will be on the road until October 2nd, traveling throughout America and appearing at numerous European festivals.

Dave Matthews Band returns to the UK for the first time since 2007, where they join Bruce Springsteen at the top of London’s Hard Rock Calling bill. Directly before the Hyde Park show they play two dates at Brixton Academy (June 25th, 26th).

Dave Matthews Band UK tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

June 2009
Thu 25th LONDON, Brixton Academy – SOLD OUT
Fri 26th LONDON, Brixton Academy
Sun 28th LONDON, Hard Rock Calling with Bruce Springsteen
Mon 29th WOLVERHAMPTON, Civic Hall

Track listing for ‘Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King’:

1. Grux
2. Shake Me Like A Monkey
3. Funny the Way It Is
4. Lying In the Hands of God
5. Why I Am
6. Dive In
7. Spaceman
8. Squirm
9. Alligator Pie
10. Seven
11. Time Bomb
12. Baby Blue
13. You & Me

Buy Music:

Dave Matthews Band on amazon.com

Dave Matthews Band on amazon.co.uk

Dave Matthews Band Official Website
MySpace
Dave Matthews on Twitter

Kasabian have finally been confirmed to play this year’s Glastonbury Festival, putting an end to months of speculation.

In what will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the year, Kasabian were made an offer they simply could not refuse – playing as special guests to Bruce Springsteen’s Saturday night (June 27, 2009) show on the main stage at Glastonbury.

The Glastonbury show sits in between Kasabian’s 20-date UK tour and those massive stadium shows with Oasis, in what is set to be an epic summer.

Their eagerly awaited new album ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ is released June 8th. Preceding this is their blazing new single “Fire” (June 1st), which was premiered on Radio One by Zane Lowe when he covered for Chris Moyles’ Bank Holiday Monday breakfast show.

Kasabian also play Radio One’s Big Weekend, May 9th.

Watch “Vlad The Impaler” video:

Buy Music:

Kasabian on amazon.co.uk

Kasabian on amazon.com

Kasabian Official Website
MySpace

Glastonbury Festival

Pearl Jam re-issue their seminal album ‘Ten’ on Monday. One of the bonus tracks from the re-issue ‘Brother’ is proving to be a huge radio hit in the US. It makes radio history by becoming the first previously unreleased track to rocket to No. 1 on the US modern rock charts. Following the great success on US radio it is now No. 2 at Rock radio in both Australia and Canada – a universal hit!

Next week is Teenage Cancer Trust week at the Royal Albert Hall, highlights include a headline set from Stereophonics on Thursday (March 26th).

Kasabian bring their thrilling live show and no doubt tracks from their awesome new record ‘The West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ (June 8th) to the RAH on Friday (March 27th). Jersey Budd will be the support for Kasabian.

What do Kasabian, Eskimo Joe and Little Feat all have in common? Jersey Budd! Along with his special guest slot alongside Kasabian next Friday, he also goes on the road with Eskimo Joe in April, fully equipped with his full band. He then plays 3 acoustic shows with Little Feat in May. His eagerly awaited debut album ‘Wonderlands’, out May 11, 2009 is already gaining some nice reviews.

The full programme for the Manchester International Festival was announced yesterday and Rufus Wainwright was in attendance. His debut opera ‘Prima Donna’ premieres the Palace Theatre for five performances from July 10th.

Festival Director Alex Poots said: Rufus Wainwright has an exceptional gift for melody and clearly has a deep affinity with opera. We’re delighted to be working with him as he moves into this new form.”

We can’t wait for Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park this summer. The Pretenders are special guests to Neil Young on the Saturday (June 27th). Neil Young perfectly summed up what we all know about Chrissie Hynde: “She’s a rock & roll woman. She’s got it in her heart. She’s gonna be rocking till she drops.”

The Dave Matthews Band are special guests to Bruce Springsteen (June 28th). They also perform 3 other UK dates including 2 Brixton Academy shows, the first of which is sold out in support of their new album ‘Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King’ out June 8th. The new LP is their first with producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance).

Karima Francis’ debut album ‘The Author’ comes out on Monday and is available to download on itunes now. Her infectious single ‘Again’ is making nice headway – it received 72,000 downloads as the iTunes single of the week and she was featured in a lovely piece in Sunday Times Culture last week.

Karima kicked off her tour with James Morrison in Manchester’s Apollo last night. She supports him on selected dates, which are sandwiched in-between her own tour featuring a show at London’s Bush Hall (March 26th) fully complemented by her live band.

Vagabond’s tour with James Morrison also got under way last night at Manchester’s Apollo. On Monday they played their final gig before the tour at Xenomania’s showcase night in Notting Hill Arts Club.

Their debut album produced by Brian Higgins ‘You Don’t Know The Half Of It’ is out June 22nd, preceded by this is ‘Sweat (Until The Morning)’ (June 8th) – the first taster of Vagabond’s soulful pop sound. The video for the single was shot in the Mojave Desert and directed by Paul Minor (Muse, Editors, Glasvegas).

Delta Spirit are currently in SXSW performing a stint of shows, after which they return to the UK for a string of dates to coincide with their impressive LP ‘Ode To Sunshine’, which is out on Monday.

R.E.M. were the subject of a tribute night at Carnegie Hall last week. The show was the latest in a series of tributes benefiting music charities. Twenty artists performed one song apiece, all drawn from R.E.M.’s resplendent back catalogue. The night was brought to a close with a wonderful performance of ‘E-Bow The Letter’ by R.E.M. with Patti Smith.

Known for his enigmatic and engaging live shows, Texas rocker Alejandro Escovedo will release a live EP ‘Live Animal’ on November 11, 2008, featuring a selection of stellar tracks from his latest release ‘Real Animal’ (EMI/Manhattan/Back Porch).

A masterful storyteller, Escovedo blends introspective ballads with shattering blasts of punk rock and string quintets. On ‘Live Animal’, Escovedo breathes life into his autobiographical tales and showcases the raw emotion and compelling power behind his music.

Watch Alejandro Escovedo, behind-the-scenes video (for ‘Real Animal’):

Real Animal on amazon.com

Real Animal [Us Import] on amazon.co.uk

Featured tracks include: “Always A Friend” – a song Escovedo has performed with Bruce Springsteen, “Sister Lost Soul” – recently performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, “People (We’re Only Gonna Live So Long)” – a song he performed live at the Democratic National Convention, “Chelsea Hotel ‘78″ – about his time living at the famed rock hotel alongside Sid & Nancy and “Real As An Animal” – an homage to Iggy Pop.

All tracks on ‘Live Animal’ were recorded live in New York City at the Sirius Satellite Radio studios.

Heralded as “a collaborative triumph” by Rolling Stone, Escovedo’s ‘Live Animal’ has also been dubbed “the finest album of a career already marked by impressive quality” in a 4-star review from USA TODAY and was featured in TIME Magazine’s “Five Things You Should Know About”.

‘Live Animal’ brings Escovedo full circle and takes fans one step further giving them the incomparable live experience he has perfected over his 30 year career.

Touring in support of both releases, you can catch Escovedo live!

November 2008 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

11/7 Blacksburg, VA Lyric Theatre trio
11/8 Easton, MD Avalon Theatre trio
11/9 Alexandria, VA Birchmere trio
11/11 Boston, MA Museum of Fine Arts trio
11/12 Philadelphia, PA World Café Live trio
11/13 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom 6 piece
11/15 Northampton, MA Iron Horse trio
11/21 Austin, TX Antone’s
11/22 Austin, TX Antone’s

Photo Credit: Mick Rock

Alejandro Escovedo Official Website
MySpace

“To me his voice sounds like the wind forming words and being sent to you from across time. His voice is so alone it defies comparison.” – Tom Waits

“Roy’s ballads were always best when you were alone in the dark. They were scary. His voice was unearthly.” – Bruce Springsteen

On October 13, 2008 (UK), Sony BMG & Orbison Records are proud to release The Soul Of Rock And Roll, the long-awaited definitive 4 CD box set of 107 seminal recordings including demos, live recordings and 12 previously unreleased cuts spanning the entire career of the profoundly influential American singer, songwriter and performer, Roy Orbison.

Roy Orbison – The Soul of Rock ‘n’ Roll on amazon.co.uk

The Soul of Rock and Roll on amazon.com

The Soul Of Rock And Roll, the centerpiece release of Sony BMG’s mammoth Roy Orbison Reissue Project, is the first truly comprehensive Roy Orbison collection, an historic career-spanning compilation of breathtaking scope and variety drawn from all phases of Orbison’s musical history.

Exclusive Barbara Orbison interview

Watch video: Bono on Roy Orbison : Mystery Girl footage:

Disc One of the collection opens with a previously unreleased recording of “Ooby Dooby” Roy’s early group the Teen Kings followed by “Hey! Miss Fannie,” an Ahmet Ertegun composition performed by Roy’s first band, The Wink Westerners, in Dallas in 1955.

The first disc of The Soul Of Rock And Roll continues with a series of Orbison’s 1950s recordings including Teen Kings sides cut with Norman Petty in 1956 and 1957 at Petty’s legendary studio in Clovis, New Mexico as well an unreleased cover of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” from 1956.

Also featured on disc one are an ample selection of Orbison’s early Sun Records rockabilly recordings, produced by Sam Phillips, including both sides of his first US chart hit, 1956’s “Ooby Dooby” and “Go! Go! Go!” and several unreleased demos including “Claudette,” “Night Owl” and “Love Struck” from 1958. The first disc’s fascinating cross section of Orbison’s groundbreaking 1950s roots includes the previously unreleased “Guitar Pull Medley: I Want You, I Need You, I Love You/I Was The One/That’s All Right/Mary Lou/You’re My Baby” recorded in Galveston, Texas in 1956 featuring Roy Orbison solo on guitar and vocal. The disc closes with Orbison’s 1958 RCA Victor single, “Almost Eighteen,” produced by Chet Atkins and a pair of his early 50’s sides for Monument: “With The Bug” and “Pretty One.”

Disc Two of Roy Orbison’s The Soul Of Rock And Roll focuses on the artist’s watershed recordings for Monument in the early 1960s, bringing together emotionally wrenching hits like “Love Hurts,” “Blue Bayou” and “Only The Lonely” with career-defining masterpieces like “Oh, Pretty Woman”, and “Crying” and “In Dreams” alongside a selection of rare b-sides from the period.

Disc Three continues with the Monument years with live recordings from the era and some of his strongest studio work including the signature classic, “Oh Pretty Woman,” Roy’s biggest hit and one of the most immediately recognized and popular rock songs of all time. The third disc of The Soul Of Rock And Roll includes many of the singles Roy recorded for MGM as well as the Orbison songs from the films “Zabriskie Point” and “The Fastest Guitar Alive,” the MGM western-musical which marked Orbison’s only starring role in a movie. Disc three premieres a demo recording from the late 1960s of an Orbison composition, “Precious,” and a previously unreleased live recording of Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1000 Dances” from 1972. Disc Three also includes Roy’s duet with Emmylou Harris, “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again,” (from the motion picture “Roadie”) which won a Grammy in 1981 for Best Country Performance by a Group or Duo.

Disc Four of The Soul Of Rock And Roll collects a fantastic range of recordings from Orbison’s creative renaissance of the 1980s including tracks from the Grammy-winning ‘Class of ‘55′ album with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins; the 1987 recording of “In Dreams” from “Blue Velvet” produced by T Bone Burnett, Roy Orbison and David Lynch; “Not Alone Any More,” one of Orbison’s tracks with the Traveling Wilburys; Orbison’s Virgin Records singles: “You Got It” and “California Blue” produced by Jeff Lynne, “She’s A Mystery To Me” produced by Bono, and “Crying,” his duet with k.d. lang produced by Don Was; songs from Roy’s final studio album, ‘Mystery Girl,’ and tracks from the acclaimed television special, “A Black And White Night Live” including Roy’s Grammy-winning performance of “Oh Pretty Woman” with Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello on backing vocals. The fourth disc of The Soul Of Rock And Roll also includes a selection of tracks from Roy’s posthumous release, “The King of Hearts” and well as Orbison’s tracks for the films “Insignificance” (”Wild Hearts Run Out Of Time”), “The End of Violence” (”You May Feel Me Crying” produced by Brian Eno), and “Less Than Zero” (”Life Fades Away” produced by Rick Rubin).

Executive produced by Barbara Orbison, Roy’s widow, and compiled by Roy Kelton Orbison Jr, Roy’s son, The Soul Of Rock And Roll comes in a limited edition deluxe box set covered in white linen with an 80 page book featuring new liner notes from Barbara Orbison, Fred Foster, Joe Melson, Roy Orbison Jr and a host of testimonials from friends and fans including Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Dolly Parton, Glenn Danzig, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, Lemmy Kilmister, Chris Isaak, Clint Black, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, K.D. Lang, Elvis Costello, and Neil Diamond.

Tracklisting:

(Information subject to change.)

Disc One

1. Ooby Dooby (The Teen Kings) (previously unreleased)
2. Hey! Miss Fannie (The Wink Westerners)
3. A True Love Goodbye (The Teen Kings)
4. An Empty Cup And A Broken Date (The Teen Kings)
5. Tryin’ To Get To You (The Teen Kings)
6. Tutti Frutti
7. Advertisement: Overton Park Shell Concert (June 1, 1956; Memphis)
8. Ooby Dooby
9. Cat Called Domino
10. Go! Go! Go!
11. Rockhouse
12. Guitar Pull Medley: I Want You, I Need You, I Love You/I Was The One/That’s All Right/Mary Lou/You’re My Baby (previously unreleased)
13. You’re My Baby
14. Mean Little Mama
15. Problem Child
16. One More Time (demo)
17. You’re Gonna Cry
18. It’s Too Late
19. Sweet And Easy To Love
20. This Kind Of Love
21. Claudette (demo)
22. You Tell Me (previously unreleased demo)
23. Night Owl (previously unreleased demo)
24. Bad Cat (previously unreleased demo)
25. I Give Up (previously unreleased demo)
26. Love Struck (previously unreleased demo)
27. Baby Don’t Stop (previously unreleased demo)
28. Defeated (previously unreleased demo)
29. Love Storm (previously unreleased demo)
30. Almost Eighteen
31. With The Bug
32. Pretty One

Disc Two

1. Uptown
2. Only The Lonely
3. Blue Angel
4. In Dreams
5. Running Scared
6. I’m Hurtin’
7. (I’d Be) A Legend In My Time
8. Love Hurts
9. Lana
10. Crying
11. Candy Man
12. Night Life
13. (They Call You) Gigolette
14. Let The Good Times Roll
15. Blue Bayou
16. Wedding Day
17. Dream Baby
18. Evergreen
19. Working For The Man
20. The Crowd
21. Leah
22. The Actress
23. Borne On The Wind
24. Falling
25. Indian Wedding
26. Shahdaroba
27. All I Have To Do Is Dream
28. Mama
29. Pretty Paper

Disc Three

1. Mean Woman Blues
2. What’d I Say (live in Holland – Combo Concert)
3. It’s Over
4. Oh, Pretty Woman
5. Yo Te Amo Maria
6. Goodnight
7. (Say) You’re My Girl
8. Ride Away
9. Crawling Back
10. Breakin’ Up Is Breakin’ My Heart
11. Too Soon To Know
12. Communication Breakdown
13. Walk On
14. So Young (from the motion picture Zabriskie Point)
15. Blue Rain (Coming Down)
16. Big As I Can Dream
17. Pistolero (from the motion picture The Fastest Guitar Alive)
18. The Fastest Guitar Alive (from the motion picture The Fastest Guitar Alive)
19. Precious (previously unreleased demo)
20. Unchained Melody
21. Land Of 1000 Dances (live in Australia)
22. Blues In My Mind
23. Born To Love Me
24. That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again (duet with Emmylou Harris)
25. Hound Dog Man

Disc Four

1. Coming Home
2. Waymore’s Blues (with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins)
3. Oh, Pretty Woman (re-record)
4. In Dreams (from the motion picture Blue Velvet)
5. Not Alone Any More (Traveling Wilburys)
6. You Got It
7. She’s A Mystery To Me
8. California Blue
9. A Love So Beautiful
10. (All I Can Do Is) Dream You (live – Black And White Night)
11. Oh, Pretty Woman (live – Black And White Night)
12. Heartbreak Radio
13. You’re The One
14. Crying (duet with k.d. lang)
15. After The Love Has Gone
16. I Drove All Night
17. Wild Hearts Run Out Of Time (from the motion picture Insignificance)
18. You May Feel Me Crying (from the motion picture The End Of Violence)
19. Life Fades Away (from the motion picture Less Than Zero)
20. It’s Over (live – from Roy’s final concert) (previously unreleased)
21. We’ll Take The Night

Roy Orbison – The Soul of Rock ‘n’ Roll on amazon.co.uk

The Soul of Rock and Roll on amazon.com – US release September 30, 2008

Roy Orbison Official Website

Alejandro Escovedo has been confirmed to perform at Harley-Davidson’s 105th Anniversary Celebration in Milwaukee on August 30th, 2008 at the Roadhouse at the Lakefront stage on the same bill with Bruce Springsteen.

This will be the second time Escovedo has shared a stage with Springsteen; the first was in April of this year when they teamed up on Escovedo’s single “Always a Friend”.

This show will mark Escovedo’s return to touring after cancelling a handful of dates due to exhaustion and fatigue.

Escovedo’s 9th solo release, ‘Real Animal’, has been heralded as “a collaborative triumph” by Rolling Stone and “the finest album of a career already marked by impressive quality” by USA Today, and gave him his first-ever chart position on the Billboard Top 200.

The following is the itinerary for Escovedo’s next tour leg.

2008 August/September tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

30-Aug Milwaukee, WI – Roadhouse at the Lakefront
08-Sep San Diego, CA – Belly-Up Tavern
09-Sep Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour
12-Sep San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club
13-Sep Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre
15-Sep Seattle, WA – The Triple Door
16-Sep Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
17-Sep Boise, ID – Egyptian Theatre
19-Sep Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre
20-Sep Lake City, CO – Lake City Wine & Music Festival
25-Sep Austin, TX – Shady Grove
26-Sep Austin, TX – Zilker Park – Austin City Limits Music Festival

For music and more information, go to:

Alejandro Escovedo Official Website

“Meeting Across The River”, off of Born to Run (1975), has the old school Bruce Springsteen sound that I love. With the descriptive lyrics, signature piano and musical arrangement, Bruce Springsteen captured my imagination as though I was watching a scene from a quality Broadway show, playing in my mind. The trumpet in the album version adds to the appeal, like it’s being played at night, from behind a neighbor’s open window.

The story is about a guy who wants to get across the river to make some sort of a shady deal. He’s asking Eddie if he can help him out and give him a ride. By the end of the song, listeners are left to ponder whether or not the deal happened. Or at least, I am anyway.

I’m intrigued now. Is there some sort of sequel? Actually, the beauty of “Meeting Across The River” is that Bruce Springsteen has given me approx. 3 1/2 minutes of listening pleasure and entertainment. Leaving me with questions, curiosity about the song and the inspiration for it.

The “Meeting Across The River” lyrics have a feel of the 60’s and on top of that, with names like Eddie and Cherry making appearances in the song, I couldn’t help but think of the movies Eddie and the Cruisers and The Outsiders. I can picture Matt Dillon’s character Dally from The Outsiders trying to arrange a meeting like this.

Watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Meeting Across The River” live video:

More Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome

By: Jenny May – Band Weblogs

Watch the BBC video of Bruce Springsteen performing “We Shall Overcome”
The BBC Sessions was a great concert and I was intrigued with the idea that Bruce Springsteen would commit a whole night’s worth of music to folk songs by musical and political activist Pete Seeger, which seemed a drastic change from the Bruce Springsteen music we all know and love. I must admit that I didn’t know too much about Pete Seeger and that it was Bruce Springsteen who had brought my attention to him and his music for the most part.

When I was reading about Pete Seeger’s interesting life, family and of course his music, I learned that in addition to the catalog of songs that Bruce Springsteen has covered on his new Live in Dublin CD/DVD, there were surprisingly, some other very familiar song titles.

“Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is A Season),” made famous in the 60’s by The Byrds, was written by none other than Pete Seeger, though the lyrics in the song are text taken from the Bible and then set to music.

Pete Seeger also wrote “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” – which I also hadn’t been aware of. I’ve known that song since I was in the first grade. When our teacher was away on maternity leave, the substitute teacher would come in with her acoustic guitar and sing songs to us kids, including that one. She must have been a Pete Seeger fan and I’ll always remember her for bringing that guitar into class.

Watch Pete Seeger perform Wimoweh and Where Have All the Flowers Gone on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Buy: Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin on amazon.com

More information:

Pete Seeger Appreciation Page
Bruce Springsteen Official Website

By: Jenny May

Other artists on the soundtrack include:

“Lucky Town” Bruce Springsteen
“The Fever” Bruce Springsteen
“Huck’s Tune” Bob Dylan
“The Cold Hart Truth” Drew Barrymore
“Choices” George Jones
“Maybe This Time” Liza Minnelli
“I Always Get Lucky With You” George Jones
“Let It Ride” Ryan Adams
“Viva Las Vegas” Shawn Colvin
“Positively 4th St.” Johnny Rivers
“They Ain’t Got ‘Em All” Kris Kristofferson
“Bartender’s Blues” Bonnie Raitt

Just by the brief plot description, soundtrack listing and the fact that Drew Barrymore has been cast in the starring role as a singer – this sounds like my kind of movie. Sometimes a good soundtrack alone can help to sell a movie to movie goers, and why not? If quality singers and musicians like the ones listed above have signed up, then already they’re supporting the movie just by agreeing to include their music. I can guarantee that there will be other musicians like myself looking forward to seeing a movie that we can relate to.

Let’s not forget about the interesting mix of singers on the soundtrack like the legendary George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Liza Minelli, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

My one time experience in having a song in a movie was in the movie ‘Philadelphia’. There’s just something strange about hearing my voice in amongst such incredible actors like Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks and other musicians like Neil Young – and of course Bruce Springsteen who also contributed his award winning “Streets Of Philadelphia” to the film.

Although you can only hear me for a mere 17 seconds…it was still an honorable experience! Not only that, but it’s a good party piece for whenever it’s played on TV and the conversation usually goes something like, “Shhh here I come!”

By: Jenny May