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JJ Cale and Refugee All Stars documentaries will, coincidentally, be featured in consecutive screenings at the upcoming Nashville Film Festival on April 24. The award-winning Refugee All Stars documentary chronicles the journey of a group of musicians who came together in the refugee camps of Guinea after fleeing the civil war in Sierra Leone. To Tulsa And Back, the JJ Cale documentary, follows the legendary musician and songwriter on his most recent tour including a visit to his childhood home and high school and interviews with many of his long time friends and associates. Watch for the Cale documentary to be available on DVD in North America in late June. For more information on the Nashville Film Festival, please go to
The Refugee All Stars continue to make headway on multiple fronts - even prior to securing distribution for their award winning film and accompanying CD. On the weekend of April 8 - 9, NPR aired an interview with the group on "Studio 360" and they will have additional coverage on NPR coming shortly on “The World”. The documentary on the group also won two major awards that same weekend at the prestigious Full Frame Documentary Film Festival including the Grand Jury Filmmaker’s award as well as the Emerging Pictures Audience Award (bestowed on the winner of voting by audiences in 11 cities). The film also won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the AFI Film Festival, Audience Favorite award at the Miami Film Festival and was runner up in the same category at the SXSW Festival. Congratulations to the group and to the filmmakers, Zach Niles and Ed Banker on the success of the film. The band's summer tour continues to add major events such as Bonnaroo, Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto’s Power of Place Festival, New York Summerstage, Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival, Fete de la Musique in Miami, Chicago Folk & Roots Festival, and many more dates across North America. We'll advise news on plans to release the group's CD and for theatrical distribution of the documentary in the coming months.
On April 5th The Blind Boys of Alabama took home the Traditional Gospel Album of the Year honor for their current release, Atom Bomb at the 37th annual GMA Music Awards (formerly the Dove Awards) held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. That makes five consecutive albums that have been awarded Grammys and/or GMA Music Awards in the last five years! The Blind Boys are also featured, along with Natalie Merchant, Nick Cave, the Kronos Quartet and others, on Catch That Train! - Dan Zane’s first children's album since his Grammy-nominated House Party. The band joins Dan on a soulful recording of “Welcome Table,” in stores May 16.
Charlie Musselwhite will join an impressive list of artists, including Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzman of the Grateful Dead, Little Feat, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, McCoy Tyner, and others in a special collaborative performance at the sixth annual Jammy Awards on April 20 at Madison Square Garden. Charlie's new Real World CD, Delta Hardware, is scheduled for release 5/16/2006 with a major Spring Tour to follow.
The Tommy Castro Band has released a DVD entitled Whole Lotta Soul. The DVD features Tommy Castro and his band performing live at The Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA and demonstrates why their live shows have captivated legions of fans. The 11 song set features 9 songs from their current Blind Pig release, Soul Shaker, which spent 19 weeks in the Billboard Blues charts. The Tommy Castro Band received two Blues Music Award nominations this year, including Best Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year and Best Contemporary Album of the Year for Soul Shaker. Tommy and the band tour year round throughout North America and Europe - see Tour Dates for details >>. "Whole Lotta Soul" and other Tommy Castro CD/DVD are available at tommycastro.com >> |
J J Cale and Refugee All Stars Documentaries Double Bill at Nashville Film Festival
The Refugee All Stars - Documentary Awards, NPR Feature
Blind Boys awarded GMA Album of the Year / Featured on new Dan Zane's release
Charlie Musselwhite To Guest at Jammy's at MSG in New York on April 20
The Tommy Castro Band releases Whole Lotta Soul DVD