Rosebud Artists Nominated For 13+ OffBeat Magazine 2012 Best Of The Beat Awards

Rosebud Artists have been honored with a total of thirteen nominations for OffBeat Magazine's Best Of The Beat Awards. The 2012 awards mark the publication's 25th anniversary and its long history of promoting and spreading the music of Louisiana, which Rosebud artists have played a key role in over the years. This year, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band garnered four nominations including a nomination for Best Brass Band Album for Twenty Dozen. Members Roger Lewis, Kirk Joseph and Terrence Higgins were nominated for Best Saxophonist, Best Tubaist/Sousaphonist and Best Drummer respectively. Trombone Shorty was nominated in four categories as well: Artist Of The Year, Best Trumpeter, Best Trombonist and Best R&B/Funk Artist. Shorty has scored wins in each of these categories in the past, with multiple wins for Artist Of The Year, Best Trumpeter and Best R&B/Funk Artist. Additionally, Preservation Hall Jazz Band's St. Peter & 57th Street (recorded live at Carnegie Hall) on which Shorty performs, was nominated for Best Traditional Jazz Album.

Jon Cleary proves himself again to be a master of taste. In addition to his Occapella CD project (based exclusively on Allen Toussaint compositions) being nominated for both Album Of The Year and Best R&B/Funk Album, his regular collaborators from Jon Cleary's Philthy Phew are each up for an award on their own instruments. Philthy Phew members James Singleton and Matt Perrine, who alternate playing bass in the group, are both nominated for Best Bassist, and Doug Belote is nominated for Best Drummer. Jon himself is nominated for Best Pianist/Keyboardist for the fifth year in a row. BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet was nominated for Best Cajun Artist, a category that the band has won an astounding fifteen times previously. And Michael Doucet was also nominated for Best Violinist/Fiddler, a category he has also won in past years.

The Best Of The Beat Awards Nominees are selected by the editors and writers of OffBeat Magazine and voted on by the public. To vote and for more information click here. The Best Of The Beat Awards ceremony will take place January 18, 2013 at Generations Hall in New Orleans.

To Catch All The Rosebud Nominees Live, See Tour Dates >>

Loudon Wainwright III's Older Than My Old Man Now Makes NPR's Top 10 Albums Of 2012, Loudon Contributes Song To Judd Apatow's This Is 40 Soundtrack

Loudon Wainwright III's Older Than My Old Man Now was selected by NPR's Ken Tucker (Fresh Air & Entertainment Weekly magazine) as one of the Top 10 Albums of 2012. In the forward to his top ten list, Tucker added that Loudon, along with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bobby Womack, Bonnie Raitt and Iris Dement, represented the "consistent theme that ran beneath music this year...survival of the fittest: the endurance or reemergence of various artists in late or middle age" that have "released strong, vital work in 2012." Loudon's ranking on this list marks his second accolade from NPR for 2012, with his "In C" from Older Than My Old Man Now listed on NPR Music's 100 Favorite Songs Of 2012. Older Than My Old Man Now was also selected by American Songwriter for its Top 50 Albums Of 2012 list. For more details and a complete list of each of the above rankings see: • NPR Ken Tucker's Top 10 Albums Of 2012 • NPR NPR Music's 100 Favorite Songs Of 2012 • American Songwrite's Top 50 Albums Of 2012

Loudon's "Days That We Die" from Older Than My Old Man Now is featured on Judd Apatow's new film, This Is 40, out Christmas Day, 2012. Apatow, who Loudon worked with on Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and the TV series, Undeclared, was recently interviewed by Pitchfork saying, "I've always appreciated people like Graham Parker or Loudon Wainwright III, who spend their entire lives writing songs and working their asses off just to have complete artistic freedom. They're just sharing their lives with you through their music. That's the same kind of work that I'm trying to do, in my own weird way."

This Is 40, a spin-off of Apatow's Knocked Up, features Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and Graham Parker. The film's soundtrack will feature songs from artists including Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Norah Jones, Wilco, Ryan Adams and The Avett Brothers in addition to Loudon.

To Catch Loudon Wainwright III Live, See Tour Dates >>

DECEMBER 2012: Mavis Staples On The Colbert Report With Jeff Tweedy And Sean Lennon - December 13

Mavis Staples, 2011 Grammy Winner for the Best Americana Album, appeared on The Colbert Report Thursday, December 13 on Comedy Central. Mavis was featured as a special guest Caroler for Colbert's Christmas Carol Week and was joined by Sean Lennon and Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco). Tweedy, who produced and wrote two songs on Mavis' Grammy winning album You Are Not Alone, also appeared on the show with Mavis in 2010. Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples are currently in the studio working on Staples' upcoming 2013 release.

Colbert's Christmas Carol Week sees his special guest carolers performing their renditions of Holiday classics. Mavis performed John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Mavis, Lennon and Tweedy were also accompanied by the Harlem Gospel Choir.

To catch Mavis Staples perform live, see Tour Dates >>

Rosebud Artists Nominated For 2013 Blues Music Awards

Congratulations to Bettye LaVette, Ruthie Foster and Elvin Bishop who were all honored with nominations for the 2013 Blues Music Awards. Elvin Bishop was nominated for Best DVD for That's My Thing: Elvin Bishop Live In Concert, giving him a total of seven BMA nominations since 2006 alone. In that same category was Muddy Waters, a Rosebud artist until his passing. Muddy shared a nomination for the DVD, Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones, Live at The Checkerboard Lounge. Ruthie Foster was nominated for this year's Koko Taylor Award (Best Female Traditional Blues Artist). This marks Ruthie's sixth consecutive year of BMA nominations, with a total of eight nominations and four wins to her credit. This comes directly on the heels of her GRAMMY nomination last week for Let It Burn. Bettye LaVette's nomination for Best Female Contemporary Blues Artist this year is her fifth BMA nomination. Bettye won this category in 2010. Bettye also won in 2004 for Best Comeback Blues Album for her Album, A Woman Like Me.

The 34th Annual Blues Music Awards ceremony will be held May 9, 2013 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information and a complete list of nominees check out blues.org/bluesmusicawards. Congrats to Elvin, Ruthie, Bettye and Muddy on their nominations and best of luck to all the artists involved!

To Catch Bettye LaVette, Ruthie Foster or Elvin Bishop Live, See Tour Dates >>

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews Partners With Tulane University To Teach Underserved Students In The New Orleans Community

Five-year-old Trombone Shorty playing at a jazz funeral in the Treme neighborhood.

The Trombone Shorty Foundation has partnered with Tulane University to create an After School Academy to mentor aspiring, high school musicians in the New Orleans Area. The program, beginning in Spring 2013, aims to teach students the musical traditions of New Orleans as well as modern music styles including Andrews' own "SupaFunkRock". The program will feature direction from Trombone Shorty, Jazz pianist and Tulane Instructor, Jesse McBride, and Tulane students. "If we give other young musicians the opportunity, and they want it like Troy wanted it, we will have more successful young people," says Jesse McBride. The program also aims to teach the business know-how that will empower students to choose music as a career.

Andrews will take a hands-on role with the program's mentees, who will have opportunities to perform before large audiences once they achieve proficiency, said Bill Taylor, executive director of the Trombone Shorty Foundation. "He [Andrews] understands the value of receiving opportunity and how much of a game-changer it can be" said Taylor. It is the Foundation's hope that those opportunities will translate to a college education for the students, and although some who will join the academy may not currently aspire to attend college, organizers see bringing them into the campus community as the first step to changing their minds.

To Catch Trombone Shorty Live, See Tour Dates >>

Ruthie Foster scored her second Grammy Nomination for her latest CD, Let It Burn. This is Ruthie's second consecutive studio CD to be nominated for a Grammy after 2009's Truth According To Ruthie Foster. This adds to a very impressive list of awards and nominations for Ruthie in recent years with the most impressive combination being her back to back Blues Music Award wins for Best Contemporary and Best Traditional Blues Female Artist of the year. In other Grammy news, Congratulations to our good friend Bonnie Raitt on her nomination for Best Americana Album for her hit record, Slipstream. Rosebud artist Bill Frisell plays on the CD while Bonnie covered the Loudon Wainwright III / Joe Henry co-write, "You Can't Fail Me Now", on the CD. And Trombone Shorty plays on Zac Brown Band's Uncaged album which scored a Best Country Album nomination. Good luck to all involved.

To catch Ruthie Foster and others Rosebud artists on live, See Tour Dates >>