Wynona & the Big Noise Release Self-titled Debut CD

WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE release their debut self-titled album on Friday, via Curb Records.

Following a one week streaming preview on NPR’s “First Listen,” the album is available now on CD

Special guests on WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE include Susan Tedeschi, Jason Isbell, Timothy B Schmit and Derek Trucks. It was produced by Cactus Moser, WYNONNA’s husband and longtime drummer and includes cuts written by the band, as well as Americana innovator Julie Miller to R&B’s Raphael Saadiq to Music Row legend John Scott Sherrill and multiple CMA Awards-winner and Grammy nominee Chris Stapleton, coupled with WYNONNA‘s commanding and incomparable voice.

Buzz and anticipation has been building for some time and the music is speaking loudly. Rave
reviews are flooding in (see some below) with critics calling this arguably the best album of her career, describing the music as raw, rootsy, joyful, tough and tender, noting that this project marks the beginning of a new chapter in the American music icon’s 30+ year career.

Masterworks Broadway Announces More Winter 2016 CD Releases!

Masterworks Broadway announces a slate of releases for Winter 2016 including the release of three classic albums from the archives – Sweet Charity (February 12), Salad Days (March 18), and Kismet (April 15). And, on February 26, Masterworks Broadway releases The Essential Stephen Sondheim, celebrating the 85th birthday year of the legendary theater composer and lyricist. Upon release, each title will be accompanied by new album pages and photos.

Winner of the 1967 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical, Sweet Charity stars Juliet Prowse as everyone’s favorite dance-hall hostess in the Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields musical. Also featuring Red McLennan, Josephine Blake, and Paula Kelly, the production originated in Las Vegas at the newly opened Caesar’s Palace earlier that year. Sweet Charity – The Original London Cast Recording will be officially released for the first time on CD in the U.S. February 12, 2016.

Stephen Sondheim, the pre-eminent Broadway composer and lyricist of the modern era, has been awarded eight Tonys, eight Grammys, an Oscar, a Pulitzer Prize, five Oliviers and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Essential Stephen Sondheim spans this iconic artist’s unparalleled career, from West Side Story (1957) through Passion (1994), and also includes important works from his forays into television and film. This new 2-CD collection features performances by Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Ethel Merman, Jason Alexander, Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, Victor Garber, Barbara Cook, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Dean Jones, Glynis Johns, Marni Nixon, Lee Remick, Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Peabo Bryson, Nancy Wilson and many more. The Essential Stephen Sondheim will be released on February 26.

Santigold Reveals "Chasing Shadows" Video, Track

Santigold is kicking off 2016 by sharing a new track and accompanying video  , “Chasing Shadows,” from her third album 99¢ due out February 26th via Atlantic Records. Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij produced the track, which also features backing vocals from the West Los Angeles Children’s Choir. “ ‘Chasing Shadows’ (watch below for B&T)  is about with the conflicted reality of an artist's life. Caught in the web we spin around ourselves, a mixture of hubris and the guise of perfection, we fear being swallowed up by our own ambition. Never in the moment, as quickly as we reach our goals, our gaze shifts to those still looming in the distance. We judge ourselves harshly for not being further on the path and revel in the anxiety of racing the rate of consumption. The lyrics weigh the value of going against the current to maintain artistic integrity, and the feelings of isolation and vacancy bred by a persona that is always "on" and ready for show,” says Santigold. The lyrics are underscored by Santigold’s rapid-fire vocals. The video, which premiered on Tidal, was directed by Elliott Lester (Nightingale, Blitz, Love Is the Drug).


In conjunction with the new track and video for “Chasing Shadows”, Santigold has released another comical infomercial.  Following her recent comedic roles on The Office and Adult Swim’s NTSF:SD:SUV, she began creating infomercials for every song on 99¢ as an extension of the album’s exploration of the commercial nature of our world and the ways in which we package ourselves and our lives for consumption. “We have no illusion that we don’t live in this world where everything is packaged. People’s lives, persona, everything, is deliberate, and mediated. It can be dark and haunting and tricky, and freak us out, but it can be also be silly and fun and we can learn to play with it,” she says. She also explores our fascination with perfection and our inherent inability to attain it. The use of playful satire, social critique, and self-examination to explore these themes is reflected in the album’s cover art, a collaboration with photographer Haruhiko Kawaguchi (photographer Hal), which finds Santigold shrink-wrapped amongst her cluttered possessions ready for the store shelves.

Ra Ra Riot's "NEED YOUR LIGHT" CD Out February 19

Need Your Light (out via Barsuk Records), is the fourth full-length album from Brooklyn, NY’s Ra Ra Riot.  And the new album sees the band;  Wes Miles (vocals), Mathieu Santos (bass), Milo Bonacci Beta Love. (guitar), Rebecca Zeller (violin), and Kenny Bernard (drums), getting back to their house party roots without abandoning the more heady soundscapes they explored with 2013's

With a dedicated fan base, big supporters at radio and press, and an extensive touring history, the band will be supporting the February 19, 2016 release of Need Your Light throughout all of 2016.

Genre: ROCK/POP
UPC: 655173116029
Packaging: CD wallet
Redeye Music

"Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin" Out February 26

Legacy Recordings is proud to announce the forthcoming release of Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin on Friday, February 26, 2016. Willie Nelson's new album of pop standards, penned Willie Nelson was honored in November 2015 with a two-day celebration in Washington, DC, culminating in a star-studded tribute concert (scheduled for broadcast on PBS on January 15, 2016).

by America's legendary songwriting duo George and Ira Gershwin, follows the selection of Willie as the 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The first country artist ever to receive the distinguished Gershwin Prize,

President Jimmy Carter, who was unable to attend the concert, wrote in a letter read by host Don Johnson to the crowd that Nelson's music has "enriched the lives of people far and wide for decades" and that the songwriter is truly worthy of this "prestigious and well-deserved award."

"To get a Gershwin award for anything is great but to get one for songwriting is especially great because Ira and George Gershwin were just fantastic writers. They wrote some of the greatest songs ever," said Willie Nelson in response to receiving the Gershwin Prize. "The Gershwin songs have been here for many many years. When I was just a small guy, I remember hearing all these great Gershwin songs and they'll be around forever because great music like that just does not go away."

Willie Nelson's distinctive down home delivery and heartfelt vocal stylings mesh perfectly with the exquisite construction, unforgettable melodies and sublime romance of the Gershwin brothers' songs especially selected for Summertime.

The Dunwells Announce February CD Release

Fresh from a wealth of international heavyweight touring, The Dunwells have announced plans for their hugely anticipated second album, ‘Light Up The Sky’. Set for release February 26, 2016 and released via Concord Music Group,  the band worked with producers including Steve Harris (Kodaline), Dan McDougall (Aurora) and Manny Marroquin (Haim, Sia, Taylor Swift). Check out the brand new video for the single "Hey Now", below from Baker & Taylor.

Though there may only be two members with the same surname, but The Dunwells are very much a band of brothers consisting of two siblings Joe (vocals, guitar) and David Dunwell (vocal, piano, guitar) and their two close school friends, Rob Clayton (bass) and Adam Taylor (drums). Hailing from Leeds, the band formed in 2009, drawn together by a mutual love of bands such as Bon Iver, Elbow, and Damien Rice. Joe (lead vocals) had this to say about the album:

Vince Gill Announces "Down to My Last Bad Habit" CD Release

GRAMMY Award-winning MCA Nashville country star Vince Gill revealed via NPR his new album

Down To My Last Bad Habit is set for release on February 12, 2016.  As part of the announcement, NPR has an exclusive first-listen of Gill’s lead single, “Take Me Down” featuring Little Big Town . Gill wrote/co-wrote, co-produced and is a featured musician on all 12 songs on Down To My Last Bad Habit. “Forty years into this, it’s still as much fun as it’s ever been to play music,” notes Gill. “At the end of the day, what I get excited about is doing something I haven’t done before. When I record a song, I feel successful if I’ve accomplished something new.”

Down to My Last Bad Habit marks Gill’s first solo album since 2011’s Guitar Slinger. In 2013, The Oklahoma native partnered with famed steel guitarist Paul Franklin on Bakersfield as a tribute to the “Bakersfield” sound of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. With 20 GRAMMY Awards to his credit, Gill has emerged as country music’s most eloquent and impassioned champion. He is both a world-class guitar picker and a wide-ranging songwriter whose compositions earned him entry into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Gill has produced albums for LeAnn Rimes, Amy Grant as well as Ashley Monroe and has made guest appearances on over 500+ albums including Barbra Streisand, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, George Jones and more.

Elton John to Release "Wonderful Crazy Night" on February 5

 

Elton John is still at it,  and will release his 33rd studio album in 2016 next year. John's publicists announced recently  that his Wonderful Crazy Night album is due for release on Island Records on February 5. The first single, "Looking Up," was released last month.

Wonderful Crazy Night was co-produced by Mr John and T Bone Burnett, who worked on the piano-playing star's rootsy, well-received 2013 release The Diving Board.  Lyrics are again by Bernie Taupin, John's songwriting partner of almost fifty years.

Mr John, 68, is one of UK's most enduringly successful musicians, and a campaigner for gay rights around the world. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II back in 1998 for his contributions to pop music and to the fight against AIDS.