Music News Net

DAVE DAVIES Sets New Release Plans

MUSIC NEWS - The man who forever changed the sound of rock 'n' roll when he invented distortion, Kinks' legend Dave Davies, has recorded a brand new solo album of all original material! I WILL BE ME will be released on Cleopatra Records on June 4^th and features guest appearances by The Jayhawks, Anti-Flag, award winning UK blues guitarist Oli Brown, Chris Spedding, US stoner
rock band Dead Meadow, Aussie rockers The Art, Geri X and others!

In support of Dave's new album release, a special engagement of Live performances in New York
and Los Angeles are scheduled for the end of May to mid-June!  See below for current tour itinerary.

ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER New Tune and Tour News!

MUSIC NEWS- IL rocker and 1/2 of Fiery Furnaces, Eleanor Friedberger has debuted a new song from her forthcoming, second solo album, Personal Record, out on June 4^th, 2013 via Merge Records.  The track, entitled “She’s A Mirror,” is streaming now (listen below).

Personal Record was recorded in late 2012 in New York and Los Angeles, and written with musician/ novelist Wesley Stace, Personal Record is full of love songs; hellos and goodbyes, infatuation, pre-occupation, loss, but not simply about romantic love. Eleanor explained recently, “They’re also love songs to music: how you feel on stage when you do something spontaneous and it works, how you feel when you hear someone sing a song for the first time, what it's like to watch a friend perform, how you can feel close to someone you barely know because you both happen to love the same record, or playing the same song forty times in a row, not being able to rest until you own every song recorded by your favorite singer, or every version of your favorite song. “

KINKY BOOTS Cast Recording Releasing

MUSIC NEWS - The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Tony nominated Kinky Boots is out soon!  The MASTERWORKS BROADWAY (Sony) release was produced by Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Oremus, William
Wittman and Sammy James, Jr., the album will be available on Tuesday, May 28, 2013.

Kinky Boots opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4, 2013 to rave reviews.  In Kinky Boots, Charlie Price (Tony Award nominee Stark Sands) has suddenly inherited his father’s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Wanting to live up to his father’s legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola (Billy Porter).  A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he’s meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely duo finds that they have more in common than they ever thought possible and discovers that when you change your mind
about someone, you can change your whole world.

IRON and WINE Announce More 2013 Tour Dates

MUSIC NEWS - Iron and Wine makes its Nonesuch Records debut with Ghost on Ghost, out now. Ghost on Ghost is the fifth release from singer-songwriter Sam Beam using the pen name Iron and Wine. The album was produced by Beam’s longtime associate Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Califone, Fruit Bats) and follows up on Kiss Each Other Clean (2011). To celebrate the release, Iron and Wine will performs on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 24. Beam and the band continues his tour throughout 2013. See below for details. For Ghost on Ghost, Beam sought to move from what he called the “anxious tension” of his two previous records. “The manner in which I went about making this record felt like a reward to myself after the last few,” he says. See full track listing below.

Helping achieve Beam’s vision was a group of wonderful musicians that included Rob Burger, Steve Bernstein, Brian Blade, Curtis Fowlkes, Tony Garnier, Marika Hughes, Briggan Kraus, Maxim Moston, Tony Scherr, Doug Wieselman, Kenny Wolleson and Anja Wood. Burger (Tin Hat Trio) has worked with Beam intermittently through the years and also handled the arrangements for strings and horns on Ghost on Ghost. For the album’s cover, Beam, who is also a visual artist, chose an image from the series “Private Views” by noted photographer Barbara Crane.

 

PET SHOP BOYS Return With "Electric", Listen to AXIS

MUSIC NEWS - Pet Shop Boys return with their new studio album 'Electric', the first to appear on their own label x2 (via Kobalt Label Services). The album is the first Pet Shop Boys studio album to be
produced by Stuart Price.

'Electric' features nine tracks in total, eight brand new Pet Shop Boys' songs plus a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'The Last To Die'.  The result is a collection of dance anthems the Pet Shop Boys are known for.  Pet Shop Boys said: "'Electric' is very much set on the dance floor.  Our latest album often evolves as a response to our previous album and, whereas 'Elysium' had a reflective mood, 'Electric' is pretty banging! And working with Stuart Price on a studio album is something we have wanted to do for a very long time".  

Genesis Guitarist, Steve Hackett, Announces North American Concert Dates

MUSIC NEWS- As his Genesis Revisited live experience adds concert dates around the globe, and now a full USA tour, Steve Hackett announces the release of Selection on May 13th in the UK; the single CD album will feature a collection of songs taken from Genesis Revisited II and include a newly recorded version of Carpet Crawlers, a pre-tour treat from the legendary guitarist with Ray Wilson on vocal duties. Carpet Crawlers will also be available as a single track for digital download.

"This single CD album features some of my favorite shorter songs and highlights from Genesis Revisited II", said Hackett recently, "along with additional track 'Carpet Crawlers' sung by Ray Wilson, who joined Genesis as singer on Calling All Stations."  "He does a great job here filling Gabriel's shoes, but with his own special style. It's great to be flying the flag once more for the early Genesis sound on the eve of the World Tour."

Ex-POCO, EAGLE Member Randy Meisner Hospitalized

MUSIC NEWS- Poco's Rusty Young recently reported that fellow POCO founding member, and ex-Eagle RANDY MEISNER has been ill. Rusty wrote on the POCO website, PocoNut recentlly;

Some of you may have heard that Randy Meisner is in a California hospital and you're concerned. I just talked to his wife Lana and want to give you guys the latest. Randy was at home when something he was eating obstructed his breathing and he lost consciousness. Lana rushed him to the emergency room where he got immediate care.Things are going to be a little rough for Randy for a while, but his doctors are optimistic he’ll recover from this incident.  If you can, say a little prayer or just send love Randy’s way.  
Rusty

We'll keep you posted with updates as available.

In other POCO news, the current line up recently released a new album,  "All Fired Up," out on March 5.  It's the group's first album of new material in more than ten years.

Tour Announced for John Mellencamp & T Bone Burnett's GHOST BROTHERS of DARKLAND COUNTY

MUSIC NEWS - The southern gothic, supernatural musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, written by Stephen King, with music by John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett, has confirmed a tour of 20 American cities this fall throughout the Midwest and Southeast beginning October 10 in Bloomington, IN, and ending November 6 in Grand Rapids, MI. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 17 at 10am at aeglive.com.

This collaboration, 13 years in the making, is a haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge, which will be performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a four-piece live band. The album of the musical will be released on June 4 via Hear Music and the Concord Music
Group. Complete tour itinerary is listed below.

FLASH Returns After 40 Years with New Album

MUSIC NEWS- Just months after the untimely passing of founding member, Peter Banks, British progressive rockers Flash, featuring Ray Bennett & Colin Carter, will be releasing their new CD on May 21, 2013 via Purple Pyramid Records.  And not surprisingly, the new release is named  'Flash featuring Ray Bennett & Colin Carter', and it'll be the first album by the group in 40 years.

Founded by lead vocalist Colin Carter, original YES member, guitarist Peter Banks, bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough, Flash released three critically acclaimed albums in the 1970's and and made several highly regarded concert tours of the US and Europe. In the USA, their single “Small Beginnings” reached a respectable #29 on the Billboard charts, and their first album 'Flash' made the top 50, propelling the band into major venues on their first tour. In the US, Flash went from intimate, small venues like L.A.'s  Whisky A Go Go, to large concert halls like New York's Avery Fisher Hall, to a wild crowd of 300,000 music fans at the Soda Pop Festival in Indiana.

PATTY GRIFFIN Announces "American Kid" Tour

MUSIC NEWS - Patty Griffin has announced her late spring and summer 2013 tour dates. This tour of North America and UK will kick off in Asheville, NC on May 30 and make stops along the east coast, midwest, and west coast before heading to the UK on July 19.  The tour picks up back in America with a performance at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado on August 17.  Additional concert dates will be announced soon. Ms Griffin will be performing "Don't Let Me Die In Florida" from her new album, American Kid, (on New West) on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on release day, May 7.

American Kid, co-produced by Griffin and Ross, is her seventh and first for New West. It is her first album of mainly new material since the acclaimed Children Running Through in 2007.  In between then and now, she made the Grammy Award-winning Downtown Church in 2010 and became a member of Band of Joy alongside Robert Plant.

Glen Campbell's New SEE YOU THERE Album to Release August 6

MUSIC NEWS- Announced today, Glen Campbell will release a new album, See You There, on August 6.  Campbell, who celebrates his 77^th birthday today, offers new takes on his career-defining hits, including "Gentle On My Mind," "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," "Hey Little One," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "True Grit" and "Rhinestone Cowboy."

The new collection, which will be released by Surfdog Records, was produced by Dave Darling (Brian Setzer) and Surfdog founder Dave Kaplan. It also includes "There's No Me...Without You," which Campbell wrote with Julian Raymond for 2011's acclaimed Ghost On The Canvas, "What I Wouldn't Give" and "I Wish You Were Here," which were bonus tracks from Ghost On The Canvas, and the previously unreleased "Waiting on the Comin' of my Lord," a track that was recorded during the Ghost On The Canvas sessions but never completed until now. 

HUEY LEWIS & the NEWS Back for 30th Anniversary of "Sports"

MUSIC NEWS- Huey Lewis and The News' 1983 'Sports' album has spawned four Top 10 hit singles (and another that broke into the Top 20), an iconic music videos, and has sold almost 10 million copies. To celebrate the album's 30th anniversary, Lewis has personally overseen an expanded commemorative edition, which will be out on May 14 via Capitol/UMe.

Having gone through a digital remastered process for CD and standard and high definition digital audio, 'Sports (30th Anniversary Edition)' pairs each of the original album's nine songs with choice live versions on a second disc, many of which have never before been released previously,

DALE EARNHARDT JR JR Announce EP Release and Tour Dates

MUSIC NEWS - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are back. The Detroit duo of Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott are
currently wrapping up sophomore album, which will be out later this year. But in the meantime, DEJJ will offer a taste of what's to come. Patterns, their brand new EP, will be released by Warner Bros. Records in the USA on April 16th digitally and April 20th physically as a vinyl only Record Store Day piece. The physical version of the EP will include two exclusive remixes. The band just premiered their new song, "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)" on their website, give it a listen below.

The band will be celebrating the release of Patterns with a select number of headlining shows, including a special hometown Record Store Day show in Detroit at The Majestic Theater for the second year in a row. They'll also be performing in NYC, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. All confirmed tour dates are listed below.

MATTHEW MORRISON To Release "Where It All Began"

MUSIC NEWS - EMMY, TONY, and Golden Globe-nominated star Matthew Morrison will release a new studio album, Where It All Began, on June 4, 2013 via Adam Levine's 222 Records.  Featuring a collection of classic standards, many of which were first made famous in Broadway musicals.  Morrison turned to legendary producer Phil Ramone (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett), along with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Gregg Field, to create the twelve songs featured on the album.

“I enjoyed the journey back to my roots on this new album,” said Morrison.  “This is the album I’ve always wanted to make, and I am looking forward to sharing the experience with everyone.”

THE MUSIC IS YOU: A TRIBUTE TO JOHN DENVER Out April 2

MUSIC NEWS- Fifteen years after his death and 40 years after the release of his widely beloved song “Rocky Mountain High,” ATO Records will celebrate John Denver’s life and music with The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver, out on April 2. The album features covers of Denver’s most popular songs by a diverse group of artists including Dave Matthews, My Morning Jacket, Train, Amos Lee, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Brandi Carlile & Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter and Barnstar!, Old Crow Medicine Show, Kathleen Edwards (produced by Jim James), Brett Dennen & Milow, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Allen Stone, Blind Pilot, J Mascis & Sharon Van Etten and Evan Dando. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Wilderness Society in Denver’s name. Full tracking listing is below, from MNN.