DWIGHT YOAKAM’S “THESE ARMS” PREMIERED ON NPR’S “ALL SONGS CONSIDERED”

Dwight Yoakam’s “These Arms,” from his forthcoming bluegrass record Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…, premiered on NPR’s All Songs Considered. The album is set for release September 23 via Sugar Hill Records and is available for pre-order now. Of the track, NPR said, “You can hear Yoakam making masterful choices on every phrase of these new versions...[it’s] Yoakam, telling a classic tale in a way that’s just new enough to make it personal again.” Listen to the track, above. The album is currently available for pre-order now thru B&T.

For the making of this record, Yoakam assembled a band of bluegrass luminaries to reinterpret favorites from his catalogue of gems featuring eleven Yoakam compositions and a new cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Yoakam is currently on tour across the U.S. and will perform at AmericanaFest Nashville. The new album reflects the love for bluegrass music that Yoakam developed at an early age in Kentucky, and that has inspired him for many years thereafter. Yoakam’s choice to partner with Sugar Hill for this release speaks volumes about the seriousness of this endeavor; Sugar Hill and its sister label Rounder have long been at the forefront of bluegrass, roots and Americana music. This project was produced by nine-time Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton), Jon Randall (songwriter of “Whiskey Lullaby”) and Yoakam, recorded at both Southern Ground Studio (TN) and the legendary Capitol Records Studio B in Los Angeles, and mixed by Chris Lord Alge. For the recording, the production team gathered together a world-class band of bluegrass’ current greats including Grammy winner and nine-time international Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year Bryan Sutton, Grammy winner Stuart Duncan on fiddle and banjo, 14-time Grammy winner Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin (Alison Krauss), and Scott Vestal on banjo (Sam Bush). The LP also features harmony vocals by Jonathan Clark, Brian Whelan, Davey Faragher and newcomer Bryan Joyce.

Yoakam has recorded more than 22 albums and sold over 25 million copies worldwide with five reaching the #1 spot on Billboard. He is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner. In 2013 he was awarded The Americana Music Association Award for Artist of the Year. He has collaborated with everyone from Beck to Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Hunter S. Thompson and Jack White. He has toured with the likes of Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Hüsker Dü. His most recent album, 2015’s critically acclaimed Second Hand Heart, is included in NPR’s “Best of 2015,” which calls the album “as fresh as anything Yoakam has ever done.” It reached #2 on the Billboard Country chart with Rolling Stone saying the album featured “his best songs in years.”

In 1977, Yoakam left Kentucky for Nashville to embark on a music career but found that the Music City was moving away from traditional county roots to more pop-country. He found himself better suited to the post-Bakersfield movement and became one of the founding fathers of the “L.A. Cowpunk Scene” influenced by second-wave rockabilly and punk alongside X, Los Lobos, The Knitters, Rank & File and The Blasters.

SWIMMIN’ POOLS, MOVIE STARS… TRACKLIST
1. What I Don't Know
2. Free To Go
3. Sad, Sad Music
4. These Arms
5. I Wouldn't Put It Past Me
6. Listen
7. Two Doors Down
8. Guitars, Cadillacs
9. Home For Sale
10. Please, Please Baby
11. Gone (That'll Be Me)
12. Purple Rain

"The Magnificient Seven" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Out Now

Sony Classical proudly announces the release of The Magnificent Seven (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring music by James Horner and Simon Franglen. The soundtrack was made available on CD format on September 16th 2016. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' and Columbia Pictures' in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures' upcoming film The Magnificent Seven will arrive in theatres nationwide on Friday, September 23rd 2016.

Having composed the music for more than 130 film and television productions, including dozens of the most memorable and successful films of the past three decades, James Horner was one of the world's most prolific and celebrated film composers. Horner earned two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his music for James Cameron's Titanic (Best Original Score and the Best Original Song "My Heart Will Go On"), eight Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, and won six Grammy awards. Known for his stylistic diversity, his film credits included Titanic (the largest selling instrumental score album in history, having sold more than 27 million copies worldwide), Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, Glory, Field of Dreams and Star Treks II and III. The Magnificent Seven was Horner's final film project.

Grammy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated Simon Franglen is a composer most recognized for his collaborations on the scores for four of the top grossing films of all time. He worked on the multiple award-winning James Cameron films Avatar and Titanic and the critically acclaimed James Bond thrillers Skyfall and Spectre. Franglen also contributed music to the score for Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, premiering at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. In addition to composing music for film, Simon has over four hundred music credits working with pop, classical, and R&B artists, such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Luciano Pavarotti and Madonna. Franglen was also commissioned to compose a sky-breaking, 3-dimensional immersive symphonic suite for the Shanghai Tower, which is the tallest building in Asia. Simon has an impressive career, working with Hollywood's most renowned composers, including John Barry, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, and most notably James Horner. Franglen and Horner had a very close working relationship, having collaborated on major films such as Titanic, Avatar, The Amazing Spider-Man, Karate Kid and Southpaw. Simon won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for the smash hit "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, and received Golden Globe, Grammy Award and World Soundtrack Award nominations for co-writing and producing the theme song "I See You" from Avatar. Franglen is a visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Simon resides in England and Los Angeles.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Israeli-born American violinist Itzhak Perlman has been chosen as one of 17 recipients of this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was awarded the honor in a ceremony on November 24.

The awards celebrate important lifelong contributions to security, world peace, and the arts: President Obama described Perlman and other recipients from the cultural sphere as "artists who expanded our imaginations...enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans."

The accolade comes the year of Perlman's 70th birthday celebrations, which has seen his complete Warner Classics catalogue of iconic recordings released in a collectors' boxed set of his Complete Warner Recordings (see image below, available from B&T through our Titlesource platform).  He has dazzled generations of music-lovers in repertoire as diverse as Paganini's Caprices and soulful klezmer, collaborating with some of the greatest musicians of the last century - Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern and André Previn - who Perlman counts among his closest friends.

The prize also acknowledges his contribution to the future of classical music and his generosity to young artists through his teaching activities at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1994, with his wife Toby, he founded the Perlman Music Program, an intensive summer school and mentoring program for talented young string players.

"Street Dogs" Out by Widespread Panic

Widespread Panic recorded their new Street Dogs as a band, live in the studio, for the first time. The result is the most fun the veteran sextet has had making an album, which is apparent upon first listen. Widespread Panic’s large and loyal legions of fans have waited five years, since the release of 2010’s critically acclaimed Dirty Side Down, for a new offering from the group, and the ten tracks on Street Dogs are sure to reward their patience, and likely turn on a few more.

For almost 30 years, Widespread Panic (currently guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring) has been known for their masterful improvisational style, but their core has always been built around songwriting. Incorporating a vast range of styles, Panic’s songs run the gamut from compelling narratives to poignant ballads to southern blues to progressive jazz and rock. Street Dogs is a testament to how a veteran band can remain vibrant, relevant and continue to progress. The folk/jazz infused "Angels Don’t Sing The Blues”, the flowing "Poorhouse of Positive Thinking”, the boogie blues of "Street Dogs for Breakfast” and the epic New Orleans inspired "Cease Fire”, with it’s Radiohead-like interlude, have a swing and a swagger the runs through much of the album. Panic’s rock and blues roots shine brightly on renditions Alan Price’s "Sell Sell”, Murray McLauchlan’s "Honky Red” and Willie Dixon’s "Taildragger”, made famous by Howlin’ Wolf.

Yo Yo Ma and Kathryn Scott Release "Songs from the Arc of Life"

"I like to think of Songs from the Arc of Life as an invitation to our audience to remember and imagine what the soundtracks of their lives might be," Yo-Yo Ma says.  "Kathy and I have talked for years about recording an album of music we absolutely love, pieces that express the context of a life, of our lives.  Childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, old age: what do they sound like?"

"I love this title," Stott says, "the 'Arc of Life' – because it is one big arc. Once we arrived at the idea, we began to see a beautiful story, a journey through life's experiences. It has taken us a long time and much discussion, back and forth, to discover what that journey might be, because everyone's journey is slightly different."

Songs from the Arc of Life begins and ends with two, much-beloved settings of the traditional "Ave Maria," opening with the soaring, radiant Bach/Gounod arrangement and closing with Schubert's more serene, contemplative version.

Public Image Ltd's New "WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW" Out Today!

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD released their 10th studio album WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW… today, Friday, September 4. The eleven track album, which is getting rave reviews, follows the huge critical success of 2012’s ‘This is PiL’, the band’s first album in 17 years.

Album opener and lead single “Double Trouble” sees the band launching into a statement of intent. Out now, and currently sitting at No.2 in the UK Vinyl SinglesChart and No.3 in the Physical Singles Chart, the 10″ vinyl version will be backed by “Bettie Page” and also come with additional non-album bonus track “Turkey Tits.”

Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential bands of all time,PUBLIC IMAGE LTD‘s music and vision earned them 5 UK Top 20 singles and 5 UK Top 20 albums. With a shifting line-up and unique sound, JOHN LYDON guided the band from their debut album ‘First Issue’ in 1978 through to 1992’s That What Is Not. After a 17-year hiatus, LYDON reactivated PiL in 2009 by taking them back on the road worldwide.

Boo! "NOW That's What I Call Music!" Reveals "Now Halloween!" Plans

NOW That's What I Call Music!, the world's best-selling multi-artist album series, is pleased to announce the upcoming release of NOW Halloween!, the NOW brand's spooktacular first foray into the tricks and treats of Halloween-themed rock and pop music, ranging from TV ("True Blood") and movie themes ("Halloween," "The Exorcist," "Beetlejuice") to novelty smashes ("Monster Mash," "Werewolves of London") to radio perennials ("Season of the Witch," "Don't Fear the Reaper," "I Put a Spell on You").

A spine-tingling collection of 18 bone-chilling hits, jams and instrumentals, NOW Halloween! will be available Friday, September 11, 2015.

NOW Halloween! showcases 18 Halloween-themed classic hits from a variety of artists including director John Carpenter's Theme from "Halloween," Rob Zombie's "Dragula," Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra & Chorus' "O Fortuna," Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells"/Theme from "The Exorcist," Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," INXS's "Devil Inside," Jace Everett's "Bad Things"/Theme from "True Blood," Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London," The Specials' "Ghost Town," Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party," Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Keepers' "Monster Mash," The Citizens of Halloween's "This is Halloween," Donovan's "Season of the Witch," Nina Simone's "I Put A Spell On You," Danny Elfman's "Beetlejuice: Main Title/End Title," Run-D.M.C.'s "Ghostbusters," DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "A Nightmare On My Street" and Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me."

Tony Bennett Reveals "The Silver Lining : The Songs of Jerome Kern" Album

RPM/Columbia Records is proud to announce the release of The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, a new album from American musical legend Tony Bennett and acclaimed jazz pianist Bill Charlap, arriving Friday, September 25, 2015.

Following the enormous success of his #1, Grammy-Award winning album with Lady Gaga, Cheek To Cheek, this new release continues the classic series of Tony Bennett album releases celebrating the essentials of the Great American Songbook. The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern is an appreciation of the genius of Jerome David Kern (1885-1945), one of the 20th century's most important American composers of musical theater and popular music.

Tony Bennett is the only artist to successfully bridge the worlds of pop music and jazz on an international scale for over 60 years. The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern become parts of a timeless legacy of recordings that Bennett has done throughout his career that have embraced both genres, in particular the revered piano jazz albums that he recorded with the late Bill Evans in 1975 and 1977. Tony has become synonymous with the pop/jazz connection and in recent years has been a mentor to contemporary artists such as Lady Gaga and the late Amy Winehouse in encouraging them to embrace jazz music. With his 90th birthday less than a year away, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern defines what makes Tony Bennett unique in the pantheon of great singers and is a testament to the legacy that he continues to create as a recording artist and influence in the music industry.

Over the course of his career, Kern composed more than 700 songs, creating musical elements used in more than 100 stage works, collaborating with the greatest lyricists and librettists of the era including P.G. Wodehouse, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin, E.Y. Harburg and many others on a seemingly limitless repertoire of classic songs including "Ol' Man River," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Long Ago and Far Away" and many more.

Keith Richards Gives Us "Trouble" - Listen

The perennial rocker Keith Richards, after wrapping up the Rolling Stones Zip Code tour, released his first solo tune in years, in preparation for the release of his third solo album in September. 
Give "Trouble" a listen-

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Announces September "Rattle That Lock" CD Release

David Gilmour, Pink Floyd guitarist, has announced that his new solo album Rattle That Lock will be released worldwide on Friday, September 18, 2015 on Columbia Records. The album will be available to order and the first single, also titled "Rattle That Lock" will be released on Friday, July 17, 2016.

Additionally David Gilmour's first North American concert dates in ten years were announced. The "David Gilmour Live 2016" concert appearances will take place in March & April of 2016 with stops in Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago and New York City.

The "Live 2016" appearances will be David Gilmour's first live concert dates since the "On An Island" tour in 2006, and will follow his UK and European tour this September/October. All tickets for the North American Tour dates go on sale Friday, July 17, 2015

March 24, 2016 – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles – on sale 12p(PST)
March, 31 2016 – Air Canada Center, Toronto – on sale 10am (EST)
April 8, 2016 – United Center, Chicago – on sale 12pm (CST)
April 11, 2016 – Madison Square Garden, New York – on sale 10am (EST)