01.31.06 (MusicPortal.com) "Songlines," the new studio album from THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND, is now set for a February 21st release via Columbia Records. The album had been previously slated to hit stores February 7th. "Songlines," the band's first new studio album in nearly four years, signals THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND's arrival at a spiritual plateau after a decade long journey of musical discovery. While "Songlines" embraces the group's big-eared love of Rock, Blues, Jazz, Latin and World Music, it is unquestionably their most cohesive album to date. It's the first studio offering to showcase the straight-up band, direct and pure and working-as-one, striking an uncanny balance between the power and mystery of the group's transcendent live performances and the coherent focus of a beautifully conceived and realized studio production. Also the first release to feature the full-throated, impassioned vocals of their newest member, Mike Mattison, "Songlines" features several originals written by THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND with collaborator Jay Joyce - from the Hammond B3 groove of 'I'll Find My Way' to Joyce's anthemic, fiery 'Revolution' and the shimmering Derek Trucks instrumental, 'Mahjoun.' Elsewhere, traditional Blues (a wickedly funky 'Crow Jane' rendered in with a cutting falsetto by Mattison) mingle with the band's stirring, tent revival take on Roland Kirk's classic 'Volunteered Slavery,' and their epic reading of the Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn composition, 'Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni' - a song that swells from a delicate tone piece to a whirling dervish and back again. "Songlines" takes its name from an Aboriginal tradition which claims the culture's totemic elders traveled the Australian continent literally singing their world into existence. In turn, the "songlines" they created became a map for finding one's way through life. Derek Trucks has followed his own songlines from a very early age. A professional, touring musician since the age of twelve, Trucks now spends over 300 days a year on the road with THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND. Now 26 years old, Derek Trucks is the youngest guitarist to place on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time" list last year. As always, THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND are currently out on the road touring, and will be playing these upcoming dates and venues: 02/08 Crystal Bay, NV [Crystal Bay Club & Casino] • 02/09 Santa Cruz, CA [Rio Theatre] • 02/10 San Francisco, CA [The Independent] • 02/10 San Francisco, CA [The Independent] • 02/12 Sacramento, CA [Crest Theatre] • 02/15 Eureka, CA [Indigo Nightclub] • 02/16 Portland, OR [Aladdin Theater] • 02/17 Bellingham, WA [Nightlight Lounge] • 02/18 Seattle, WA [The Show Box Theatre] • 02/19 Eugene, OR [Taboo] • 02/21 San Luis Obispo, CA [Cuesta College Auditorium] • 02/23 West Hollywood, CA [The Roxy Theatre] • 02/24 Solana Beach, CA [Belly Up Tavern] • 02/25 San Juan Capistrano, CA [The Coach House] • 03/30 Savannah, GA [Trustees Theater] • 03/31 Athens, GA [The Georgia Theatre] • 04/08 Washington, DC [9:30 Club]
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01.27.06 (MusicPortal.com) On March 7th, Milking Bull Records will release the self-titled debut from Norah Jones side project THE LITTLE WILLIES, an album that perfectly distills the fun, down-to-earth spirit of this New York quartet's club shows. The group -- Lee Alexander (bass), Jim Campilongo (electric guitar), Jones (piano, vocals), Richard Julian (guitar, vocals) and Dan Rieser (drums) --tears through a mix of covers and originals on the album, from the revved-up Western Swing of Fred Rose's 'Roly Poly' and Willie Nelson's 'I Gotta Get Drunk' to the cutting wit of Kris Kristofferson's 'Best Of All Possible Worlds'; from the poignancy of Townes Van Zandt's 'No Place To Fall' to the cosmic absurdity of their very own 'Lou Reed.' THE LITTLE WILLIES formed for purely practical reasons. In 2003, the group of five friends, who were all individually involved in other projects, booked a gig at The Living Room on New York's Lower East Side as an excuse to spend an evening playing music together. They soon discovered that they shared a deep musical vernacular. Although they hailed from the far corners of the country -- California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Delaware -- the members of THE LITTLE WILLIES all grew up listening to a certain breed of classic Americana music: the songs of Hank Williams, Nelson, Townes Van Zandt and Kristofferson, just to name a few. As one band member notes: "Something about living in a big city like New York makes you miss the stuff you grew up with, and in our case it was some of these songs. The original idea was to just be a cover band and play all these great songs we knew. It became really fun to have that outlet, and also a great excuse to seek out other songs we didn't know." Over the next couple years, THE LITTLE WILLIES continued to play at The Living Room whenever all five members were in town. They added a few originals to their setlist along the way. The group initially contemplated a live album, but when Jones and Alexander completed work on their home studio, they decided to christen the space with a LITTLE WILLIES recording session. The resulting album showcases the group's core strengths, from Jones and Julian's sublime vocals, to Campilongo's stinging guitar licks, while maintaining the loose, spirited, bar-band feel of THE LITTLE WILLIES' live experience. "The Little Willies" Track Listing: 1. Roly Poly (Fred Rose) • 2. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (Fred Rose/Hank Williams) • 3. Love Me (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller) • 4. It's Not You It's Me (Richard Julian/Ashley Moore) • 5. Best Of All Possible Worlds (Kris Kristofferson) • 6. No Place To Fall (Townes Van Zandt) • 7. Roll On (Lee Alexander) • 8. I Gotta Get Drunk (Willie Nelson) • 9. Streets Of Baltimore (Tompall Glaser/Harland Howard) • 10. Easy As The Rain (Richard Julian/Jim Campilongo) • 11. Tennessee Stud (Jimmy Driftwood) • 12. Night Life (Walter M. Freeland/Paul F. Buskirk/Willie Nelson) • 13. Lou Reed (Lee Alexander/Richard Julian/Norah Jones)
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01.26.06 (AP) Over the years, fans have seen NEIL YOUNG the hard rocker, the angry protest singer, the Rockabilly crooner, the Grunge hero, and more. However, for two nights at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium last August, audiences got the comforting, friendly, reflective NEIL YOUNG, a pair of shows distilled by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme into the concert film "Neil Young: Heart Of Gold," which has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film captures the 60-year-old Young in grand form alongside such long-time musical comrades as Emmylou Harris, steel guitarist Ben Keith, keyboardist Spooner Oldham and Young's wife, Pegi, on backup vocals. At the Ryman, Young debuted his latest album, "Prairie Wind," a return to the Country/Rock style of his beloved albums "Harvest" and "Harvest Moon." Coping with a potentially fatal brain aneurysm diagnosed in the Spring of 2005, Young wrote a cycle of songs examining mortality, the loss of loved ones, and his own fleeting presence in the revolving stage of music. Young underwent surgery, but at the time he recorded the album, he was working under a shadow. "I think when you're thinking that you may not be able to perform, that there's an unknown," Young told The Associated Press in an interview alongside director Demme. "Most of the time when I'm in there, I feel like, well, this is a record I'm making. I'm going to get this record. This time, I was thinking, this may possibly -- very unlikely -- but there's a chance that this may be my last record, so, you know, then you want to do the best you can with it. Even more, in a way, is that's not tangible. What the difference is, I can't really tell you, but I'm sure the effect was there." Nine of the 10 "Prairie Wind" songs make up the first part of "Heart Of Gold," some accompanied by moving introductions from Young, who informs the audience he's playing a guitar he bought in the 1970s that belonged to Hank Williams and relates stories of his father, who had recently died after suffering from dementia. The film's second half presents NEIL YOUNG classics such as 'Old Man,' 'Harvest Moon,' 'Comes A Time,' 'The Needle And The Damage Done' and the title song, along with his cover of Ian Tyson's 'Four Strong Winds.' A 12-piece string ensemble, a horn section, and a 10-member vocal choir accompany Young and his friends on some songs. "The idea evolved of doing a beautiful old dream concert," said Demme, an Oscar winner for "The Silence Of The Lambs" who also directed the TALKING HEADS concert film "Stop Making Sense." "We wanted it to feel a little bit like it's Neil Young's dream concert, his dream venue, his dream fellow performers." After Sundance, "Heart Of Gold" opens February 10th in a handful of theaters, expanding to more cities in the following weeks. Young said his surgery seems to have corrected his problem, and that his health is fine. "Knock on wood, everything's good," Young said. "I feel strong, I feel good. I feel just like I did before. I feel like my life is progressing in a natural way, but I just have another feeling now that I'm not sure about the things that I never used to think about. I used to be so sure that everything was all right... "I'm looking forward to every day and having a great time, but I just don't have the illusion that everybody's safe, that I'm safe, and that everybody else is safe. I just don't believe that anymore."
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01.24.06 (MusicPortal.com) Kill Rock Stars recording artists THE GOSSIP have revealed another winner in the new "Standing In The Way Of Control," released today. With THE GOSSIP, the first thing that strikes you is the rhythm. The band have been making punks dance since they debuted 5 years ago, before what is dubbed as today's version of Dance Punk existed. Soulful and jagged, you can hear everything from Dischord to Motown stylings in guitarist Brace Paine's playing. Now, with the addition of new drummer Hannah Blilie (Shoplifting, ex-Chromatics), they have a new thundering beat for the kids to dance to on the corners and in the clubs. However, the strongest thing that smacks you about THE GOSSIP is vocalist Beth Ditto's killer pipes. With all the guttural Blues and Soul of the South, her voice resonates with a confident howl that has quickly shot the band into league with other notable Punk/Garage bands of today. "Standing In The Way Of Control," their third album, was recorded by Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) at Seattle's Bear Creek Studios. From heartbreakers like 'Coal To Diamonds' to the anthemic title track (released in October as a single with a LE TIGRE remix), THE GOSSIP are unafraid to put it all out there and take their audience to new places. "Standing In The Way Of Control" is quite simply the sound of a band destroying and surpassing all expectations placed on them. Don't miss THE GOSSIP out on tour in support of the new album starting tonight. Tour Dates: 01/24 Portland, OR [Jackpot Records] • 01/25 Portland, OR [Wonder Ballroom] • 01/27 San Francisco, CA [Bottom Of The Hill] • 01/28 Los Angeles, CA [Echo] • 01/29 San Diego, CA [Casbah] • 01/30 Pomona, CA [Glass House] • 02/01 Eugene, OR [WOW Hall] • 02/02 Seattle, WA [Chop Suey] • 02/03 Tacoma, WA [UPS Wheelock Student Center] • 02/04 Olympia, WA [Capitol Theater Backstage] • 02/09 London, UK [Buffalo Bar] • 02/11 London, UK [Cargo] • 02/25 Melbourne, Australia [Spanish Club] • 02/27 Perth, Australia [The Rosemount] • 03/01 Adelaide, Australia [Jive] • 03/02 Brisbane, Australia [The Zoo] • 03/03 Sydney, Australia [Gaelic Club] • 03/05 Sydney, Australia [Laneway Festival] • 03/12 Salt Lake City, UT [Urban Lounge] • 03/13 Denver, CO [Larimer Lounge] • 03/16 Austin, TX [KRS SXSW Showcase] • 03/21 Atlanta, GA [Drunken Unicorn] • 03/22 Greensboro, NC [TBA] • 03/23 Washington DC [Black Cat] • 03/24 Philadelphia, PA [First Unitarian Church] • 03/25 New York, NY [Knitting Factory] • 03/26 Cambridge, MA [Middle East] • 03/27 Northampton, MA [Iron Horse] • 03/28 Montreal, QUE [La Sala Rossa] • 03/29 Toronto, ONT [X Space] • 03/30 Chicago, IL [Abbey Pub] • 03/31 Milwaukee, WI [TBA] • 04/01 Minneapolis, MN [Triple Rock] • 04/02 Fargo, ND [Aquarium] • 04/05 Seattle, WA [Neumos]
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01.18.06 (MusicPortal.com) Sixties supergroup BLIND FAITH's debut was in front of a cool 100,000 people on a warm day in London's Hyde Park. Since June 7th, 1969 when that historic concert took place, it has never been seen in its entirety. That is until now, as Sanctuary Visual Entertainment have announced the upcoming release of a DVD entitled "Blind Faith - London Hyde Park 1969" on April 10th. The audience gathered that day were filled with anticipation awaiting BLIND FAITH's debut. The newly formed collective of four virtuoso musicians who individually were already Rock royalty, were the talk of the town and expectations both within the band and out amongst the counter-culture generation crowd were high. Fusing the Psychedelic Blues of Eric Clapton and the soulful vocals and keyboards of Steve Winwood, with Rick Grech on bass and Ginger Baker on drums, they didn't disappoint. The set may have lasted just over 40 minutes long, but fans were treated to a selection of timeless tracks including 'Presence Of The Lord,' 'Sleeping In The Ground,' and THE ROLLING STONES' classic 'Under My Thumb.' "Blind Faith - London Hyde Park 1969" also boasts archive footage of the various members of BLIND FAITH performing within their earlier musical guises. Clips of THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP performing 'I'm A Man,' TRAFFIC's 'Hole In My Shoe,' FAMILY performing 'Dim' and CREAM doing 'Sunshine Of Your Love' act as a gentle introduction to the main concert event. There is also a discography for all the members of BLIND FAITH pre-1969, plus a collection of rare photos set to the sounds of 'Well All Right.' By the end of the 1960s with hippies still dancing on the horizon and a man on the moon, a new form was taking shape on this musical stage: the "supergroup": a band of highly talented individuals creating a new musical experience. One of the very first of these was indeed BLIND FAITH, consisting of Steve Winwood, the "original blue-eyed Soul boy," who came from a musically supportive family and shot to prominence shortly after he joined THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP in 1963 at age 15. He went on to forge a wider musical path with TRAFFIC, who spawned hits like 'Paper Sun' and Hole 'In My Shoe.' Eric Clapton, however, was the "superstar" of BLIND FAITH, joining THE YARDBIRDS in 1963 and later leaving to join JOHN MAYALL'S BLUESBREAKERS. "Eric Clapton Is God" was a well-documented graffiti tag of the times, as his stature grew even further with CREAM. BLIND FAITH's Ginger Baker also came from the same group as well, previously gigging with several Jazz ensembles and R&B outfits. His unconventional playing, which got him sacked in some of his early bands, developed into a creative force that would later be admired by numerous other notable drummers. The final member of BLIND FAITH was bassist Rick Grech, who first joined THE FARINAS (who eventually evolved into FAMILY, a progressive, arty Folk/Rock band from Leicester. Grech did not come from the same Rock royalty as the other members of BLIND FAITH, but had nonetheless been admired for some time by Eric Clapton, and provided the essential solid support the band needed. "Blind Faith - London Hyde Park 1969" Track Listing: 1. Well All Right • 2. Sea Of Joy • 3. Sleeping In The Ground • 4. Under My Thumb • 5. Can't Find My Way Home • 6. Do What You Like • 7. Presence Of The Lord • 8. Means To An End • 9. Had To Cry Today
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01.10.06 (MusicPortal.com) 2006 brings a new state of mind for guitar great ERIC GALES with his new release, "Crystal Vision," set for release via Blues Bureau Records on January 24th. The new album takes the next logical step in Gales' career, further establishing him as one of the rare musical talents of his generation. The left-handed guitarist, who possesses extraordinary ability and expressive vocals, is a natural for people to compare to Jimi Hendrix. Over the years, ERIC GALES has developed a unique hybrid Blues/Rock sound that also draws upon influences as diverse as Albert King and Eric Johnson. Utilizing a unique amalgam of styles, Gales easily stands head and shoulders among other guitarists in his genre. ERIC GALES grew up in a musical family with four brothers, two of them who learned to play the guitar upside down and left handed in the same fashion that he does. His brother Eugene Gales also played bass in THE ERIC GALES BAND, and brother Jimmy King had a thriving career as a blues artist before his untimely death. ERIC GALES released his first record at the tender age of sixteen for Elektra Records to an amazing response from the media and music fans around the globe. A Guitar World magazine reader's poll named Gales as "Best New Talent" in 1991. After recording a second record for Elektra, all three brothers teamed up for "The Gales Bros. Left Hand Brand" which was recorded for the House Of Blues label in 1996. Over the years, it has not been uncommon to look out in the audience and see artists like Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, B.B. King and Eric Clapton looking on with interest as ERIC GALES has taken his God-given talent and worked crowd after crowd into a frenzy. The new millennium presented new opportunities for Gales, as he was signed to a deal with Nightbird Records, which was affiliated with Jimi Hendrix's sister Janie Hendrix and Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and distributed through MCA/Universal Records. Under that deal, ERIC GALES recorded the critically acclaimed "That's What I Am" in 2000 and hit the road, mesmerizing fans around the world with his uncanny connection to his guitar. In 2004, Gales made headline music news when he was chosen to perform with Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell and others on the "Experience Hendrix" tour to honor the late, great, Jimi Hendrix. ERIC GALES' masterful guitar and vocal performances on "Crystal Vision" portend a great response from loyal music lovers, as musicians of his quality and intensity are few and far between.
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01.10.06 (AP) The discovery of a long-lost letter offers rare insight into bluesman ROBERT JOHNSON's life and confirms that he indeed recorded at a downtown Dallas, Texas building, music historians have revealed. Blues fans have long thought Johnson recorded 13 songs in 1937 in a building two blocks east of Dallas City Hall. The building was home to Brunswick Records at the time, but there was no known documentation to confirm where the recordings took place. That was until San Diego Blues enthusiast Tom Jacobson tracked down a 1961 letter unlocking the mystery. In the letter, the producer of the recordings, Don Law, wrote that the session took place in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Records office - a three-story building now owned by a drink distribution company. Johnson died 18 months after the recordings at age 27, but his music lived on and was hugely influential on 1960s musicians like Bob Dylan, THE ROLLING STONES and LED ZEPPELIN. "It's just an incredible document," Jacobson told The Dallas Morning News for its Monday editions. "It's an important piece of Americana about a musical genius." Law was the only producer to ever record ROBERT JOHNSON, including another session in San Antonio eight months before the Dallas recordings. Law died 23 years ago. Jacobson donated the letter to the Library Of Congress in December. It also includes information about other Johnson tales, like the night in San Antonio that he asked Law for money to pay a prostitute, and how he was so secretive about his guitar technique that he would actually face the wall while playing when other musicians were present. Jacobson found the letter in the New York City basement of Frank Driggs, a former Columbia Records employee who wrote the liner notes for the 1961 release of Johnson's music, "King Of The Delta Blues." Michael Taft, the head of Folk culture archives at the United States Library Of Congress, says the letter and recording site are important because so little is known about ROBERT JOHNSON's life. "It's a big deal for us," he said. "To finally be able to say this is the building he recorded in, that's a way of bringing Robert Johnson back to life."

01.06.06 (AP) LOU RAWLS, who earned fame with his smooth voice and respect through his prodigious fundraising for the United Negro College Fund, died today of cancer. Rawls began as a Gospel singer ,and spent nearly five decades working his soulful, velvet-voiced magic on classic tunes including 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine' and 'Lady Love.' "His voice was so unique," said legendary producer Kenny Gamble, who with Leon Huff wrote 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.' "The other thing was that he had a sense of community. Thousands and thousands of young kids benefitted from his celebrity." With his wife Nina at his bedside, Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer, said his publicist, Paul Shefrin. Rawls' family and Shefrin said the singer was 72, although other records indicate he was 70. A long-time community activist, LOU RAWLS played a major role in United Negro College Fund telethons that raised more than $200 million. He often visited and performed at black colleges. "He's just someone who recognized, like many African-Americans of a certain generation, that education was something that our kids didn't get access to and that it was critically important for their future, and for our communities' future and for the nation," said Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund. In September, LOU RAWLS performed in that organization's "An Evening of Stars," which was to be televised nationwide through the weekend. "He appeared frail, but he was in good voice, and he was in great spirit," Lomax said. "He was there with his son, newly adopted, and his wife. He was a happy and contented man." Aretha Franklin said Rawls was a "memorable musical stylist ... who made a serious impact in the interest of historically black colleges and black folks." Rawls' trademark was his smooth, four-octave voice, which Frank Sinatra once called the "silkiest chops in the singing game." Starting as a church choir boy, Rawls ultimately applied those silky tones to a variety of musical genres and more, including movies, TV shows and commercials. As a pitchman for Anheuser-Busch breweries, his was the familiar voice that said, "When you've said Budweiser, you've said it all." Rawls was raised on the South Side of Chicago by his grandmother, who shared her love of gospel with him. He also was influenced by Doo-Wop, and harmonized with his high school classmate Sam Cooke. The two friends were part of groups such as the TEENAGE KINGS OF HARMONY. When he moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, LOU RAWLS was recruited for the CHOSEN GOSPEL SINGERS, then moved on to THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS. He enlisted in 1955 as a paratrooper in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, and rejoined THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS three years later after becoming a sergeant. While touring with the group, Rawls and Cooke were in a car crash that nearly ended Rawls' life. Cooke was slightly hurt, but another passenger was killed and Rawls was actually declared dead on the way to the hospital, according to Shefrin. Rawls was in a coma for 5 1/2 days and suffered memory loss, but was completely recovered a year later. "I really got a new life out of that," Rawls said at the time. "I saw a lot of reasons to live. I began to learn acceptance, direction, understanding and perception - all elements that had been sadly lacking in my life." LOU RAWLS performed with Dick Clark at The Hollywood Bowl in 1959. Late that year, he was singing for $10 a night plus pizza... [full story]
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[Blues News: December 2005]
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