Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers | “THE LONG-AWAITED ALBUM”

Actor, comedian and bluegrass musician Steve Martin plans to release The Long-Awaited Album on September 22nd through Rounder Records. On his latest LP, Martin reconnects with his backing band the Steep Canyon Rangers, who previously contributed to 2011’s Rare Bird Alert, 2013’s Love Has Come for You and 2014’s Live.

Martin also unveiled his record’s lead single. “Caroline” is a banjo-slathered number that manages to be unfailingly jolly even as it dissects a brutal break-up. The song opens not long after the title character has unceremoniously dumped Martin’s narrator, and he’s still hung up on her: “Can you tell me why you left me standing in the parking structure/ Caroline, I was the almost-perfect boyfriend ever for you/ And you even said that to me one time at the Olive Garden.”

David Bowie A New Career In A New Town 1977-1982 Boxed Set Arrives September 29

Parlophone Records has announced DAVID BOWIE A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN (1977-1982), the third in a series of boxed sets spanning his career from 1969.

The follow up to the award winning and critically acclaimed David Bowie Five Years (1969 - 1973) and David Bowie Who Can I Be Now? (1974 - 1976) will be released on September 29 and will contain a brand new remix of the 1979 album Lodger by long time Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti.

The eleven-CD box, thirteen-piece vinyl sets feature all of the material officially released by Bowie between 1977 and 1982. It includes the so-called "Berlin Trilogy" of albums on which he collaborated with Visconti and Brian Eno as well as the Baal E.P., appearing here for the very first time in its entirety on CD, and is closed by Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).

Lana Del Rey Shares "Groupie Love" off of new "Lust for Life" album

Lana Del Rey has shared a new song with A$AP Rocky, called “Groupie Love;” along with the track list for her new album.  Listen Groupie Love  below from B&T, below.  The track is one of two new Rocky collaborations on her upcoming Lust for Life album, following “Summer Bummer,” which also features Playboi Carti.  Her new release, out July 21, includes the previously shared “Lust for Life,” “Love,” and “Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind.”  As you may recall, before this new work, Lana and Rocky joined up in 2012 for the “National Anthem” video. In it, Rocky played John F. Kennedy and Lana played Jackie Kennedy.

Manchester Orchestra's "A Black Mile to the Surface" Out This Month

Manchester Orchestra will release their new album A Black Mile To The Surface on July 28, 2017 via Loma Vista Recordings. First single “The Gold” premiered earlier this month on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation and its accompanying video — an evocative and surreal animated collage by directors Mike Dempsey and Johnny Chew — can be seen below. http://found.ee/MO_TheGoldYT-r.  A Black Mile To The Surface is available for pre-order now at Title Source 360

Always a band to push themselves creatively with each subsequent release, Atlanta-based Manchester Orchestra has expanded their dynamic sound to peak form on the cinematic and epic A Black Mile To The Surface. The album — featuring production by Catherine Marks (Foals, PJ Harvey, The Killers), John Congleton (St. Vincent, Explosions In The Sky, Angel Olsen), and their longtime studio partner Dan Hannon — showcases a band that rethought, deconstructed, and rebuilt their songwriting process to propel their music into a new emotional arena, drawing on singer/guitarist Andy Hull and co-writer/multi-instrumentalist Robert McDowell’s unique experience scoring the 2016 Sundance hit film Swiss Army Man (directed by The Daniels).

“We’re a band that loves to use heavy, crunchy guitars,” says Hull. “We wondered how we could limit the use of that, so that when the guitars come in they can be creative and impactful. For Swiss Army Man we had to make seventy minutes of music with our hands tied behind our backs. When you’re creating all the sounds you need just from the human voice, it allows you to rethink what is possible, and determine what is really needed. We wanted to make an album in a ‘non-Manchester’ way if there is such a thing.”

"Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real" Set To Release New, Self-Titled Album August 25th Via Fantasy

Since their formation as teenagers 10 years ago, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real have quietly developed into one of America’s most dazzling new live acts, playing hundreds of shows and major festivals all over the world, attracting a deeply devoted underground following.

Still, with a bounty of invaluable experience under their belts, nothing foretold the artistic leap of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real their new, self-titled album, a mesmerizing, emotionally genuine, endlessly rewarding work of cosmic country soul set for release on August 25th, 2017 via Fantasy Records.

Recently,  the band has shared three new tracks from the album exclusively via Rolling Stone. Listen to “Find Yourself,” “Forget About Georgia,” and “Set Me Down On A Cloud, below

Baby Driver Soundtrack Available Now!

The 30-song soundtrack for Edgar Wright’s heavily anticipated, music laden film from Sony's TriStar Baby Driver (#2 film in the USA) in Music From The Motion Picture Baby Driver is available now via B&T from Award-winning producer and artist Danger Mouse’s Columbia Records imprint 30th Century Records.

The soundtrack is available physically as a two LP and two CD set and is out now. Featuring gems from almost every musical genre and spanning across multiple decades,

NEA Honors the First Lady of Children's Music Ella Jenkins with National Heritage Fellowship

The National Endowment for Arts (NEA) has presented National Heritage Fellowships to celebrate and honor master artists working in the folk and traditional arts.  The NEA recently announced this year's recipients, including Ella Jenkins.

Jenkins, The First Lady of Children's Music, celebrates 60 years as a Smithsonian Folkways artist. She has wanted to record camp songs for more than 15 years and assembled a group of children, parents, and teachers from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, along with Tony and Kate Seeger from Camp Killooleet, to sing these rounds, nonsense songs and campfire sing-alongs. The 25-track collection includes familiar camp songs "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," "Kumbaya" and "This Land Is Your Land."

Many of the tunes on Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins and Friends have been sung by generations of campers, including many of the 14 million children and adults who attend camp every year in the United States. The album has its roots in the songs Jenkins' brother brought home with him from Boy Scout camp when she was a child, and begins with a chorus of children singing the familiar round "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." But these selections come from a variety of traditions, among them African-American spirituals, European folk songs, and Jewish summer camps where Jenkins has performed. "Everybody Loves Saturday Night" has lines in a dozen languages, including Mandarin, Hindi, Serbian and Nigerian. The album's final five numbers, which include "Sloop John B." and "Goodnight Irene," are sequenced to resemble a campfire sing-along.

George Thorogood Returns, with a Solo Release Album

Rounder Records has announced the first-ever solo album release from legendary guitarist/vocalist George Thorogood, entitled PARTY OF ONE, which will be out on August 4. The album will feature 14 cuts of traditional blues, classics, and modern blues songs, from John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” to Hank Williams’ “Pictures From Life’s Other Side,” and The Rolling Stones’ “No Expectations.” The CD version of the album will also include a Robert Johnson bonus track, “Dynaflow Blues.”  Check out album preview below and order via Title Source 360.

PARTY OF ONE was produced by Grammy-winner Jim Gaines (John Lee Hooker, Luther Allison, and Stevie Ray Vaughan), who reunites with Thorogood on the debut solo project, having produced several of Thorogood’s biggest albums to date (RIDE ‘TIL I DIE, THE HARD STUFF, THE DIRTY DOZEN). The album’s primarily acoustic instrumentation – including slide, Dobro, and harmonica – is performed entirely by Thorogood, raw and stripped down, with an intimate one-on-one feel.

DISNEY•PIXAR'S "CARS 3" FUELS TWO SOUNDTRACKS

As Lightning McQueen heads to the big screen alongside his new tech-savvy trainer Cruz Ramirez, Disney•Pixar's " Cars 3" fuels two soundtrack releases, both available from Walt Disney Records on June 16 via Baker & Taylor as the film opens in theaters nationwide. The Cars 3 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, features eight tracks, including original songs by Dan Auerbach and ZZ Ward, four covers by various artists, and two instrumental tracks from Brad Paisley. The Cars 3 Original Score Composed and Conducted by Randy Newman reunites the "Cars" franchise with the Oscar-winning composer.

Both soundtracks are available for pre-order now.

"Lightning McQueen is on the journey of a lifetime—traveling cross-country, revisiting the past and looking into his own heart and soul to answer some big questions," said "Cars 3" director Brian Fee. "Just like the music in the first two 'Cars' movies, the songs and score in this film really help support the story we are telling."

     

CARS 3 ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
The Cars 3 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features "Run That Race," an original song written and performed by nine-time Grammy® winner Dan Auerbach that can be heard as the movie opens. "The song is about never giving up and always trying your best," said Auerbach, who met with filmmakers prior to penning the song. "They showed me the storyboards and ran through the plot. I was able to read some of the dialogue and from there I had enough to piece together a story in my mind for the song."

Auerbach, of the band The Black Keys,  will release Waiting on a Song, his second solo album, on June 2 via his new label, Easy Eye Sound.
 
The soundtrack also features "Ride," an original end-credit song performed by Hollywood Records artist ZZ Ward, featuring musician Gary Clark Jr. Written by Ward, Evan Bogart and Dave Bassett, the song was released by Walt Disney Records as a digital single on April 14. It was performed live by Ward April 17 on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Ward's sophomore album, The Storm, will be released June 30.

The soundtrack also features four cover songs, including two bonus tracks.*

• "Kings Highway," originally released in 1991 by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, makes a comeback courtesy of 23-year-old British singer-songwriter James Bay.
• Bruce Springsteen's 1984 hit "Glory Days" gets a modern-day makeover by Grammy-nominated performer Andra Day, who voices Sweet Tea in the film, a performer in the Cotter Pin with a hairstyle reminiscent of Day's signature look.  
• *The Beatles' classic 1965 song "Drive My Car" is back on the road, compliments of Hollywood Records artist Jorge Blanco.
• *"Freeway of Love," made famous in 1985 by Aretha Franklin, is performed for the soundtrack by actress Lea DeLaria, who also provides the voice of Miss Fritter, a school bus-turned-demolition-derby-queen in "Cars 3."

Three-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer Brad Paisley, who has 24 No. 1 singles under his belt, was called on to create two instrumental tracks that are featured on the Cars 3 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. "Truckaroo" and "Thunder Hollow Breakdown" accompany the film's action-packed Crazy 8 demolition derby sequence that puts Lightning and Cruz in the midst of total chaos. "Brad Paisley was part of both 'Cars' and 'Cars 2,'" said Tom MacDougall, executive vice president of music at Disney. "We knew he could have some fun with a demolition derby, and he just killed it. His down-home country tracks really add to the scene's action and humor."

From Walt Disney Records, the Cars 3 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is available June 16 and can be pre-ordered via Baker & Taylor's Title Source 360 ordering platform.

CARS 3 ORIGINAL SCORE SOUNDTRACKNewman, who was behind the Oscar-winning music in Disney·Pixar's "Toy Story 3" and "Monsters, Inc.," composed the score for the first "Cars" movie and penned the Oscar-nominated song "Our Town." For "Cars 3," Newman created a score that reflects the heart and high-octane action of the film—21 tracks are included on the soundtrack. "Randy has a real connection to the 'Cars' world," says MacDougall. "His ability to capture the feeling of this film, its characters, locations and the Americana theme throughout is extraordinary—the music is so naturally fluid and inspired. It really feels like Randy is coming home with this score."

Newman used a 110-piece orchestra to record the score. The Cars 3 Original Score Composed and Conducted by Randy Newman is available June 16 from Walt Disney Records and can be pre-ordered now.

The Rhythm Of Rio, The Romance Of Sinatra: Celebrated Guitarist And Singer John Pizzarelli Revisits A Bossa Nova Classic At 50

Two of John Pizzarelli’s greatest influences, Frank Sinatra and the bossa nova composer Antonio Sinatra & Jobim @ 50.
Carlos Jobim, joined forces in 1967 to present a softer, sultrier side of Sinatra on the heels of “That’s Life” and “Strangers in the Night.” Half a century later, John Pizzarelli is celebrating that unique gathering with his July 28, 2017 Concord Jazz release, order now via Title Source 360.

Sinatraphiles consider the 1967 album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim one of Frank’s greatest, a meeting that found Frank in an out-of-character setting. Yet he delivered a commanding and understated performance over Jobim’s gentle rhythms and Claus Ogerman’s strings. With Sinatra & Jobim @ 50, Pizzarelli pays tribute to those original recordings, enhancing that collection with two originals, Michael Frank’s ode to Jobim and songs that Sinatra and Jobim recorded at a 1969 session.

“Jobim was such a big influence on me in the 1980s—what I was hearing, then translating and what I was taking away from it,” John says. “A lot of what we did on this record, the medleys and the arrangements for the new songs, come out of what they did on their album and the influence they have had on my music.”

Randy Newman's Upcoming Dark Matter

Dark Matter is Randy Newman's first studio album of all-new material since the 2008 release of his acclaimed Harps and Angels, an acerbic take on the state of America that Rolling Stone called
"reason to wrap yourself in the flag and cheer." The ensuing years have proven Newman to be more prognosticator than mere commentator—his "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," its lyrics printed on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times in January 2007, seems even more relevant today, though by no means reassuring. On Dark Matter, Newman jumps right back into the fray, opening the disc with the grand "The Great Debate" a nearly nine-minute opus that feels like the opening number of a zany musical, featuring scientists, religious zealots, and a gospel choir, arguing about the existence of evolution, dark matter, climate change, and religion. It includes a character who steps up to question the merits of a certain Mr. Randy Newman's songwriting gambits. It's by turns cynical and gleeful, and, in the end, true believers and skeptics alike surrender to the sheer musical joy of a catchy gospel coda, with no commitment of faith necessary.

As the album unfolds, it's clear that Newman isn't just going after the big targets, though he does dedicate a cheerfully bombastic tune to Vladimir Putin, conjuring up a choir of salacious "Putin Girls" to extol the Russian leader's patriotism, his tractor-driving skills, and, of course, his impressive shirtless physique. But Newman's storytelling takes a more intimate, character-driven approach on much of Dark Matter. He imagines an Oval Office conversation between John Kennedy and his brother Bobby before the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in which JFK confesses a hitherto unreported love for Cuban singer Celia Cruz (and a concern for her safety). On "Sonny Boy," he envisions the original Sonny Boy Williamson, up in heaven, recounting the true story of discovering that a younger blues musician had stolen his name and his tunes and rose to fame during the British invasion and well beyond. The characters in "On the Beach" and "Wandering Boy"—a surfer dude mired in the sand for life in the former, a father wistfully recalling his long absent son's promising younger years in the latter—are either trapped in the past or full of nostalgia.

Photo: Pamela Springsteen

Gregg Allman, RIP

Gregg Allman, southern rock legend, founding member of The Allman

Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia on Friday

Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times.

Gregg’s long time manager and close friend, NJ's Michael Lehman said of Mr Allman's passing, “I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him.”

Jack White to Pen Kids Book; We're going to be friends !

"We're Going to be Friends" is one of The White Stripes most enduring and loved songs, and soon, a kids book from Third Man Books!  With the help of illustrator Elinor Blake (aka April March), the perennial favorite feels right at home on the page as a children's book. Coming this November, children, adults, and you, too, can join Suzy Lee as she goes to school with her books and pens, looks for bugs, shows and tells, and finds a friend.

• WE’RE GOING TO BE FRIENDS is a new children’s book based on one of the most loved and recognizable songs by The White Stripes.
• WE’RE GOING TO BE FRIENDS is the first book by twelve-time Grammy winning musician, actor, and producer Jack White.
• Illustrator ELINOR BLAKE was an animator for The Ren and Stimpy Show, Pee Wee’s Playhouse & more. As a musician, ELINOR BLAKE is known as singer APRIL MARCH, who’s song "Chick Habit" was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Death Proof.
• The original White Stripes song along with new versions by April March and also The Woodstation Elementary School Singers will be included with the book via download card.
*Available November 7, 2017

The New Broadway Cast Recording of Hello, Dolly Out Now!

Masterworks Broadway proudly announces the release of The New Broadway Cast Recording of the 10-time Tony Award-nominated Hello, Dolly! starring three-time Grammy Award-winning legend Bette Midler as Dolly Gallagher Levi. Produced by multiple-Grammy Award winner Steven Epstein, with a cast of 37 and 28 musicians, the album is available everywhere now.

The Broadway revival of Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman's masterpiece Hello, Dolly! is directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle. Hello, Dolly! is now playing at Broadway's Shubert Theatre.  The official opening night was April 20, 2017.
Hello, Dolly! instantly became the hottest ticket of the year when it broke the record for best first day of ticket sales in Broadway history.  By the time it began previews, it had the largest pre-performance advance sale in Broadway history.  Recently, the production shattered the record for the highest weekly gross of any show in the history of the Sam S. Shubert Theatre – a record set by a previous tenant over a nine-performance week -- in just seven performances.

This Hello, Dolly! is the first new production of this classic musical (based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker) to appear on Broadway since it opened more than fifty years ago.  It pays tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion, which has been hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history.

PRESENTING…THE WHO- Live at the Isle of Wight 2004

On June 2, 2017, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 2004 by The Who on DVD+2CD and Blu-ray+2CD Formats [MSRP $29.98 Blu-ray, $24.98 DVD].

This is the first ever home entertainment release for of this brilliant show, which includes blistering versions of classics like “Substitute”, “Baba O’Riley”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, “You Better You Bet”, “I Can’t Explain”, “Pinball Wizard”, “Who Are You”, “My Generation”, “Magic Bus”, and many more!

TO VIEW CLIP OF "NAKED EYE", click here

In 2004, The Who returned to the Isle Of Wight Festival for the first time since their legendary 1970 performance. After a long absence, the festival had been reborn in 2002 and continues to this day. The Who’s UK concerts in 2004 were the first in their home country since the death of founding member / bassist John Entwistle. As the evening shadows lengthened across the festival site, The Who took to the stage and delivered an incendiary performance packed with hit singles and classic album tracks. The concert more than lived up to the fans’ expectations and memories of 1970.

"American Epic:The Collection" and "American Epic: The Soundtrack" Releases May 12

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release AMERICAN EPIC: The Collection, a 5-CD/100 song deluxe box set, and AMERICAN EPIC: The Soundtrack, a single disc anthology of 15 songs featured in the AMERICAN EPIC three-part historical
documentary on 1CD on Friday, May 12.

AMERICAN EPIC: The Collection and AMERICAN EPIC: The Soundtrack--each available as physical product--lead the way for a series of releases of music associated with the film series AMERICAN EPIC, produced by Allison McGourty, Duke Erikson and Directed by Bernard MacMahon, premiering in the U.S. on PBS on Tuesdays May 16, 23 and 30 at 9 p.m. (check local listings)

The AMERICAN EPIC historical documentaries are a journey back in time to the "Big Bang" of modern popular music.

In the 1920s, as radio took over the pop music business, record companies were forced to leave their studios in major cities in search of new styles and markets. Ranging the mountains, prairies, rural villages, and urban ghettos of America, they discovered a wealth of unexpected talent. The recordings they made of all the ethnic groups of America democratized the nation and gave a voice to everyone. Country singers in the Appalachians, Blues guitarists in the Mississippi Delta, Gospel preachers across the south, Cajun fiddlers in Louisiana, Tejano groups from the Texas Mexico border, Native American drummers in Arizona, and Hawaiian musicians were all recorded. For the first time, a woman picking cotton in Mississippi, a coalminer in Virginia or a tobacco farmer in Tennessee could have their thoughts and feelings heard on records played in living rooms across the country. It was the first time America heard itself.

Timothy B Schmit's new "Pearl on the String" from Leap of Faith Album

After his sold-out winter trek, TIMOTHY B. SCHMIT geared up for his spring tour that launched recently). As TIMOTHY’s new single “Pearl On The String”–off his critically acclaimed new solo album LEAP OF FAITH–heads to radio, listen to it today , below.
Sunday, April 16 in Chicago, IL (see dates below).  But before heading out on the road, TIMOTHY joined NPR’s “HERE & NOW” with host Robin Young for an in-depth interview spanning his music history; listen (here).

Rolling Stone hailed LEAP OF FAITH—out now via Benowen Records—“a soundtrack for that sort of pitch-perfect American landscape, mixing bluegrass, Cajun, rock, Seventies soul and California country…” (9/23/16).  Elsewhere, Bass Player added “…veteran Eagles bassist/vocalist Timothy B. Schmit spins some memorable yarns on his sixth solo outing–all delivered within his folk-rock, country-rock, yacht-rock, and rock & roll wheelhouse. The reggae-tinged ‘Slow Down’ and ‘All Those Faces’ establish Schmit’s overall preference for rich, minor-chord colors. Downstairs, his bass leads the backbeat pulse of ‘What Should I Do,’ while ‘You’re So Wild’ starts with a country two feel before Schmit’s upper-register riffing provides the subhook in the edgy chorus. Closing matters is the horn and accordion-infused ballad gem, ‘This Waltz'” (December 2016). LEAP OF FAITH is available now via Benowen Records as a 180 gram 2-LP vinyl set and CD .

Loretta Lynn's "Wouldn't It Be Great" Album Out in August

Legacy Recordings (a Sony Music Entertainment division ) will release Wouldn't It Be Great, the new studio album from American music icon Loretta Lynn, on Friday, August 18.
One of the most deeply personal albums of her career, Wouldn't It Be Great is comprised entirely of songs written (or co-written) by Loretta, premiering new compositions nestled alongside select soulful reinterpretations of enduring classics from her catalog.

Like its predecessor, the critically-acclaimed, Grammy-nominated Full Circle (released March 2016), Wouldn't It Be Great was mainly recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with producers Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash.

Long Strange Trip Soundtrack out May 26

Long Strange Trip, Amir Bar-Lev's critically acclaimed documentary about the Grateful Dead, will be released theatrically on May 26 in New York and Los Angeles. Rhino will celebrate the premiere by releasing the soundtrack to the documentary, a career-spanning collection of studio and live recordings that includes several unreleased performances.

Two versions of the LONG STRANGE TRIP MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK will be released on CD on May 26. The first is a 2-CD set for $19.98.

Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux and director Bar-Lev co-produced the soundtrack.

Fleetwood Mac's LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM/CHRISTINE McVIE Announce Duo Album

Longtime members of Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have joined together and recorded their first-ever album as a duo. The album is simply titled LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM/CHRISTINE McVIE, and the 10-song set will be released by Atlantic Records this summer, followed by a run of special U.S. concerts. The first single is “In My World” and was made available on Friday, April 14.

The album will be available June 9 on CD, LP, and all digital and streaming services. Their U.S. tour kicks off on June 21.

The collaboration began three years ago, when McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the group’s “On With The Show” tour. The pair went in to record new material prior to rehearsals for the tour and their natural creative chemistry was reignited. According to Buckingham, “We were exploring a creative process, and the identity of the project took on a life organically. The body of work felt like it was meant to be a duet album. We acknowledged that to each other on many occasions, and said to ourselves, ‘what took us so long?!!’”