Produced By Don Was And Featuring Guests Bonnie Raitt And Jim Keltner, 'Echo' Is Set For August 11th Release; Lead Single "John Q. Lonely" Was # 1 Most Added At Triple A Radio For Two Consecutive Weeks

U.S. Headlining Tour Underway

Heralding Maia Sharp as "A Songwriter Set To Arrive," NPR's All Things Considered recently aired two separate segments with Sharp.

Sales of her latest album, 'Echo', exploded thereafter on Amazon.com. By that Friday, the album ranked #11 on Amazon's Bestsellers in Music - Adult Contemporary chart.

Buy Music:

Maia Sharp on amazon.com

Momentum has been building ever since lead single "John Q. Lonely," went to radio in June. The track was #1 Most Added for two consecutive weeks at Triple A radio and can be heard on such influential stations as Sirius/XM Loft, KPRI in San Diego and WYEP in Pittsburgh.

Produced by Don Was, 'Echo' will be released physically by Crooked Crown Records on August 11, 2009 but is available now at www.maiasharp.com, iTunes and everywhere music is sold online.

Watch video: "John Q. Lonely":

The album features Bonnie Raitt singing background on the track "Death By Perfection." Sharp wrote three songs for Raitt's 2005 album, 'Souls Alike', and Raitt introduced Maia to producer Don Was at a subsequent recording session, thus setting the wheels in motion for 'Echo'. Jim Keltner plays drums on all 12 songs.

Early reviews of 'Echo', Sharp's fourth full-length solo album, have been stellar. The Boston Herald called it "a nifty power-pop record that could be her breakthrough...studded with hard-to-resist hooks, 'Echo' trades the folk and jazz elements that colored Sharp's earlier records for a rocked-up take on the classic California singer-songwriter sound" while the Portland Press Herald said: "The album is home to 12 striking songs, and Sharp has never sounded better."

Sharp began her career at a young age, performing her original songs in Los Angeles clubs. She has forged a dual career as a recording artist with three critically acclaimed full length albums - Hardly Glamour (1997, Ark 21), Maia Sharp (2002, Concord) and Fine Upstanding Citizen (2005, KOCH) - and as a sought-after songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, the Dixie Chicks, Keb' Mo', Terri Clark, Trisha Yearwood and many others. In 2005 she collaborated with Art Garfunkel and Buddy Mondlock on the exquisite Everything Waits to Be Noticed (EMI/Manhattan).

Maia Sharp 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

7/18 Easton, MD NightCat
7/21 Charlotte, NC Evening Muse
7/22 Charleston, SC The Pour House
7/23 Decatur, GA Eddie's Attic
7/25 Birmingham, AL O Kafes
7/26 Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley (WRLT will broadcast live)
7/30 Los Angeles, CA Pershing Square Concert Series (KSWD)
8/7 Balsam, NC Writer In The Round
8/8 Balsam, NC Writer In The Round
8/9 Charleston, WV Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences
8/11 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
8/12 Cleveland Heights, OH Night Town
8/13 Columbus, OH Thirsty Ear Tavern
8/14 Louisville, KY WFPK Live Lunch
8/16 Evanston, IL S.P.A.C.E.
8/17 Saugatuck, MI Saugatuck Center for the Arts
8/19 Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
8/20 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
8/22 Middleton, WI Capital Brewery
8/29 Los Angeles, CA Hotel Café
9/4 Santa Rosa, CA KRSH Afterwork Concert Series
9/9 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
9/19 San Diego, CA KPRI Greenflash Festival w/Mat Kearney, Brett Dennon & "mystery guest"
11/4 Santa Ynez, CA Maverick Saloon w/Steve Poltz Tales from the Tavern Concert Series

(Additional dates to be announced.)

For the latest tour dates, music and information, go to:

MySpace
Maia Sharp Official Website
Maia Sharp on Twitter

Photo: Mickey Raphael, Don Was, Ziggy, Willie Nelson

Tuff Gong Worldwide will release Ziggy Marley's third solo album, 'Family Time', on May 5, 2009. Marley produced the album with legendary producer Don Was.

The album will feature a variety of family and friends including Rita Marley (Ziggy's mother), Cedella Marley (sister), Judah Marley (daughter), Paul Simon, Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson, Toots Hibberts, Elizabeth Mitchell, Laurie Berkner, Paula Fuga and two stories narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Watch "True to Myself" video: from 'Dragonfly':

Ziggy Marley on amazon.com

Ziggy Marley on amazon.co.uk

"Growing up music was an important part of my childhood," Marley says. "I see it being just as important in my children and all children's growth and development. Music helps children to grow with open minds and open hearts and this is my message. This record represents my daily family life and is inspired by my three-year-old daughter Judah and baby Gideon. It was a joy to make and opened up new avenues in my creativity. Family Time is for all families and especially the world family."

Born in Trench Town, Jamaica, Ziggy Marley's early immersion in music came at a very tender age when he sat in on recording sessions with his father. He later joined his siblings (Sharon, Cedella and Stephen) to front The Melody Makers, whose eight best-selling albums garnered three Grammy awards and generated such chart-topping hits as "Tomorrow People" and "Tumbling Down." 'Dragonfly', his solo debut was released in 2003. His sophomore solo album, 'Love Is My Religion', was released in 2006 and won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album at the 2007 ceremony.

Ziggy Marley has contributed to a variety of children's programming including Nick Jr.'s "Dora the Explorer," the PBS children's show "Arthur," and Shark Tale, in which he delved into acting, playing the character of Bernie the Jamaican jellyfish as well as re-recording his father's "Three Little Birds" with Sean Paul and his brother Stephen Marley for the soundtrack.

In addition to his skills as a singer, songwriter and producer, Marley founded U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment), a non-profit organization that benefits a wide range of charitable children's causes in Jamaica, and other developing nations. More recently he has lent his support to the Fashion Against Aids, Little Kids Rock and Youth AIDS campaign. Proceeds from the sale of this album will benefit Chepstowe Basic School in Port Antonio, JA.

The Tuff Gong label, was founded in 1965 by Bob Marley, with the vision of producing, distributing and promoting his music free from the constraints of corporate label politics. In a time decades before artist-owned record labels were commonplace, the legendary Bob Marley's vision was characteristically well ahead of its time. Now, nearly a half-century later, his dream is being realized.

For more information, go to:

Ziggy Marley Official Website
Ziggy Marley 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