USA Today Streaming James Cotton's New Star Studded CD, Cotton Mouth Man
USA Today is streaming James Cotton's new CD, Cotton Mouth Man, in it's entirety and it is available to listen to online now. The CD will be officially released on May 7. The USA Today exclusive includes an interview with the legendary Blues harmonica player who is also widely known as "Mr. Superharp." To hear the album in full, check out USA Today: Album premiere: James Cotton's 'Cotton Mouth Man'.
Cotton Mouth Man follows Cotton's 2009 Grammy-nominated album, Giant, of which USA Today proclaimed, "Since 1966 James Cotton has been carrying the Chicago sound to the world. On Giant, he pours 75 years of living into that harmonica and out comes devastating and powerful blasts of notes undiminished by age." On Cotton Mouth Man, the thirteen tracks continue to cover subjects taken from Cotton's storied history and almost 70 year career in music. The CD contains seven songs co-written by Cotton with Grammy-winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, Susan Tedeschi) and features guest appearances from renowned Blues, Rock, and Roots musicians including Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Rosebud artist and 2013 GRAMMY-nominee Ruthie Foster, Joe Bonamassa, Delbert McClinton, and Keb Mo.
As Cotton garners wide spread attention for his forthcoming CD, including the 10 page cover story feature in Living Blues Magazine's April issue, Cotton continues to tour extensively both nationally and internationally with his band. To catch James "Mr. Superharp" Cotton perform live, see Tour Dates >>
Allen Toussaint's 75th Birthday Tribute Concert & Benefit Features All-Star Line-Up
Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Art Neville, Irma Thomas, Cyril Neville, Deacon John, Rosebud artist, Jon Cleary and more will perform at "Tribute to Toussaint," a benefit concert and tribute to Allen Toussaint celebrating his 75th birthday as well as his legacy and influence as a songwriter, performer, and producer. The event will be held at Harrah's Theater in New Orleans on April 30, 2013 at 8:30pm. Proceeds from the event will benefit New Orleans Artists Against Hunger & Homelessness, a non-profit organization that Toussaint co-founded with Aaron Neville in 1985. Toussaint has a history of working or performing with each of the artists involved in the tribute over the course of his long and highly influential career which includes multiple Grammy nominations and a Grammy Trustees Award, as well as induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Toussaint himself is also expected to perform at the event where LAE Productions and WLAE-TV will be filming for their upcoming documentary about Toussaint. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit noaahh.org.
Trombone Shorty Foundation's First Annual "Shorty Fest" Announced, Plus Trombone Shorty Honored With Closing Set At The 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival And Official Jazz Fest Commemorative Envelope
The Trombone Shorty Foundation will host its first annual "Shorty Fest" Fundraising concert May 2, 2013 at Generations Hall in New Orleans. In addition to Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, the event will feature performances from The Hot 8 Brass Band, Cha Wa, the Trombone Shorty Academy Band, and Rosebud artists, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Proceeds will benefit the Foundation, which is currently partnering with Tulane University to mentor twenty-six high school musicians to help them prepare for a career in music. "Shorty Fest" is Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue's only performance during the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival other than at the festival itself. Tickets to the event can be purchased at: TromboneShortyFoundation.org/shortyfest
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue will close New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival's main stage on Sunday, May 5, 2013. This closing set is a highly prestigious time slot that was previously held by The Neville Brothers for over two decades. For more details and the full schedule of the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, please visit NOJazzFest.com.
Trombone Shorty has also been honored by The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and The New Orleans Post Office with their 2013 Commemorative Souvenir Envelope. Previous envelope honorees include New Orleans icons such as Louis Armstrong, Professor Longhair, Mahalia Jackson, Fats Domino, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Ellis Marsalis. The New Orleans Post Office will hold a ceremony for the envelope's unveiling in honor of Shorty at Café Istanbul in New Orleans on April 25, 2013. For more details on the event, please visit CafeIstanbulNOLA.com.
Jon Cleary To Anchor All-Star American Routes 15th Anniversary Concert
Jon Cleary will anchor the All-Star American Routes' 15th anniversary concert event at the Rock 'n' Bowl in New Orleans on Friday, April 19. The anniversary show will feature performances from Irma Thomas, Ivan Neville, Tremé Brass Band, Robert "Barefootin'" Parker, the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Walter "Wolfman" Washington with Jon Cleary and his band performing on their own as well as supporting the All-Star lineup. American Routes presenter, Nick Spitzer, will host the event which will be recorded for a later network broadcast on July 4.
American Routes is a weekly two-hour, New Orleans-produced public radio program that focuses on American music and southern culture. The program presents a wide range of American roots and roots-based music while also featuring artist interviews and cultural documentaries that are rooted in the show's themes. The program is broadcast nationwide on select public radio stations and is also
available online. For more information, see local listings.
American Routes' 15th anniversary concert is open to the public. Learn more about the event and purchase tickets at rocknbowl.com >>
Jon Cleary will be playing shows at New Orleans' top venues throughout the 2013 Jazz & Heritage Festival week, appearing solo as well as in various band formats. He is set to perform at the Festival itself on April 27. In May, Jon and his band will head to Japan for a seven date tour. To catch Jon live, see Tour Dates >>
Charlie Musselwhite And Ben Harper On David Letterman, Plus People Magazine Ranks Get Up! The 5th Best Album Of 2013; Charlie's New Live CD, Juke Joint Chapel, Now Available
Charlie and Ben's recent collaboration, Get Up!, has garnered raves in high profile media including People Magazine, who ranked it fifth in "The 10 Best Albums of 2013 (so far)" and called Charlie "the harmonica godfather...". DownBeat Magazine's March 2013 cover story on Ben and Charlie said "the album conveys the heart of the great American blues tradition."
Charlie has just released his own new album, Juke Joint Chapel, which was recorded live at the Juke Joint Chapel in Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 12, 2012. The album is available for purchase exclusively at Charlie's live performances and from Charlie's online store.
Marcia Ball's recent taping of NPR's eTown, along with Paul Thorn, aired April 3 - 9 , 2013. This performance, which marks Marcia's third appearance on eTown, was recorded live in front of a theater audience at eTown's new solar-powered music facility, eTown Hall, in Boulder, CO. The full audio broadcast as well as three additional videos featuring Marcia, taken from the performance/interview are available at etown.org.
Jim Lauderdale's Mountain Stage performance with Buddy Miller will be broadcast beginning April 19, 2013 (check local listings for details). For more information on Loudon's and Jim's Mountain Stage performances and to view a full schedule of upcoming Mountain Stage broadcasts, please visit mountainstage.org.
Jim and Buddy were also featured on NPR's World Café Live! on April 11, 2013. The World Café Live! interview discussed the collaborators' work over the years starting from their meeting in 1980 to their most recent CD, Buddy and Jim. The interview is available at npr.org. Jim and Buddy, who The New York Times called "longtime pals and longtime pros, songwriters who have collaborated far and wide in the realm of handmade, twangy, tradition-conscious country and roots-rock" will be performing together on select dates this spring/summer.
To Catch Loudon Wainwright III, Marcia Ball And Jim Lauderdale Live, See Tour Dates >>
Mavis Staples Reunites With Wilco's Jeff Tweedy For Her New Album, One True Vine, Out June 25, 2013
Mavis Staples has teamed up again with producer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) for their second full-length record, One True Vine, out June 25, 2013 via Anti- Records. The album follows their Grammy-winning collaboration in 2010, You Are Not Alone. Recorded in Tweedy's renowned Chicago home studio, The Loft, the album features Tweedy playing on nearly every instrument except drums, which were played by his seventeen-year-old son. The album's single, a cover of "Can You Get To That" from the Funkadelic classic, Maggot Brain, premiered on Pitchfork. The album also features tracks written specifically for Mavis by Tweedy and Nick Lowe.
Mavis has been described by Rolling Stone as having "an almost superhuman ability to implant the pure power of passion and emotion." She just returned from a series of dates in Australia with Bonnie Raitt and dates in New Zealand with Wilco directly prior to her appearance at the White House for the filming of a PBS All-Star show dedicated to Memphis Soul on April 9. Mavis will be touring internationally in support of One True Vine.
Harmonica legend and Rosebud's most recent signing, James Cotton, is featured on the cover of the April issue of Living Blues Magazine. The in-depth cover story and interview takes a thorough look at Cotton's life. Starting from his humble beginnings as the ninth child of a rural Mississippi sharecropper family, the article recounts Cotton's legendary meeting with Sonny Boy Williamson (II) at the age of nine. This meeting, where the young Cotton performed the theme song to Williamson's radio show note-for-note, led to Williamson's mentorship of Cotton for the next six years. The feature also highlights Cotton's days playing the Memphis Blues scene, recording at Sun Records with Howlin' Wolf as well as under his own name, plus his twelve year tenure on the road with the late Muddy Waters, a Rosebud artist until his passing. Cotton said of Muddy, "I love Muddy... I loved every minute of it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd be glad to do it... I watched him for 12 years and noticed everything he did." The article then covers Cotton starting his own Blues band in Chicago, where he secured their first gig with help from Paul Butterfield and Rosebud artist, Elvin Bishop. Touring constantly and performing with acts such as Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Santana, and Steve Miller throughout the next several decades Cotton became, as Rolling Stone proclaimed, "among the greats of all time."
Living Blues notes that Cotton is still dishing out "his legendary multi-octave harmonic prowess (to say nothing of his hurricane-like wind power) with undiminished force" on his new album, Cotton Mouth Man. Set for release on May 7, 2013, the new album features an impressive lineup of guest collaborators including Gregg Allman, Joe Bonamassa, Warren Haynes, Keb Mo, Delbert McClinton, and Rosebud artist, 2013 Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster. Cotton will be touring worldwide in support of Cotton Mouth Man.
Jim Lauderdale And Odie Blackmon's "Tough All Over" Performed On ABC's Nashville
Jim Lauderdale's song "Tough All Over", written with renowned country songwriter Odie Blackmon, was performed by actors Chris Carmack and Sam Palladio on the April 3 episode of ABC's hit show, Nashville. "Tough All Over" initially came to prominence when it was recorded and released by country star Gary Allan for his album of the same name. For this recording of the song, Jim and Odie also appeared together in a behind-the-scenes video as part of the series, Nashville: On The Record where they discussed their writing process and what it means to have their song used on the hit show. The video also sees Jim and Odie perform a stripped down version of "Tough All Over", as well as an interview by Nashville creator Callie Khouri (writer of Thelma & Louise). Watch Nashville: On The Record here. "Tough All Over", as performed by the cast of Nashville, is now available to buy on iTunes.
Jim's song, "Lookin' for a Heartache Like You" was also featured on Nashville in their February 13, 2013 episode. The song was recorded with Buddy Miller for their acclaimed Buddy and Jim CD which was released on December 2012. The album spent three straight weeks at number one on the Americana Radio Chart. Jim's most recent solo album, Carolina Moonrise (written in collaboration with renowned songwriter Robert Hunter) also spent five weeks at number one on the Roots Music Report's (RMR) Bluegrass Chart.
To catch Jim Lauderdale perform live, and with Buddy Miller on select dates, See Tour Dates >>
Carrie Rodriguez Featured On Google Play's April Antenna Playlist, Plus The Stone Foxes On Google Play's Free Song Of The Day
Carrie Rodriguez's song "I Cry For Love", taken from her current album Give Me All You Got, is featured on Google Play's Antenna playlist for April. The playlist is a monthly offering of free tracks from new and up-and-coming artists. Carrie, one of just twelve artists chosen for this month's list, is described by Google Play as "a Texas fiddler with a mean pop streak." The full track, "I Cry For Love", is also available as a free download on Google Play while Carrie's album is available for purchase via their online shop. See here for more information and to download "I Cry For Love" for free.
In related news, The Stone Foxes' song "Everybody Knows" was selected as Google Play's Free Song Of The Day on April 2. The song, taken from their latest CD Small Fires, is still available as a free download at TheStoneFoxes.com.
Carrie and The Stone Foxes are each currently on the road in support of their respective new albums. To catch them live, see Tour Dates >>
Trombone Shorty Featured On KING's (Joe King of The Fray) New Single/Video And On Upcoming Releases By Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk And Robert Randolph - Plus New Raphael Saadiq-produced Album Out This Summer
Trombone Shorty is featured on KING's (Joe King of The Fray) new single, "Need A Woman By Friday". The track was released in March and the official video (also featuring Shorty) is now available. The video, which premiered exclusively on VH1.com, features KING, Shorty, and other musicians and revelers second-lining down the streets of New Orleans. KING stated to VH1 about their collaboration, "you usually don't hear a trombone on pop records because its sound can sometimes dominate a track...But in working with ...Troy... the instrument added a unique and distinguishable element to the song."
In the coming months watch for Shorty on releases from Robert Randolph & The Family Band as well as Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk. Randolph's upcoming release (also featuring Carlos Santana) is noted as being a return to the joyful, high energy music that has become his trademark. A lifelong friend of Ivan Neville's, Shorty collaborated on Dumpstaphunk's upcoming album, Dirty Word. The album also features Flea and Ani DiFranco in addition to Shorty, and is set for release in June 2013.
This summer look out for Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue's new album produced by Grammy-winning Raphael Saadiq. Recorded in both Los Angeles and New Orleans, the album will be Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue's third album released via Verve/Universal. The band will embark on an international tour in support of the new album this year.
The Rolling Stones Announce "50 And Counting" North American Tour Dates
Charlie Watts (who The Rosebud Agency represents for his Jazz projects) and the rest of The Rolling Stones have announced the tour dates for their "50 And Counting" North American Tour. The tour, beginning May 5, will move west to east across North America, leading up to their anticipated June 29 Glastonbury Festival and July 6 Hyde Park plays in the U.K. More dates will likely be revealed in the coming weeks as currently only nine of the confirmed eighteen dates promoted by AEG Live have been announced.
The Stones have also released two videos announcing the tour. One of the videos features interviews with each of The Stones about getting back on the road and depicts Keith Richards saying "it's very easy to restart," Ronnie Wood saying "all the magic comes back when we do get together" and Watts adding that it "feel's like yesterday [that they were on the road]." The other video features The Stones in a group Skype chat gearing up for the tour.
There are no current touring plans for Charlie Watts' Jazz Projects.
Mavis Staples And Charlie Musselwhite To Perform At White House All-Star Celebration Of Memphis Soul
Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite will perform at The White House for the special music event, "In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul". This performance will celebrate "the timeless classics of Memphis Soul," honoring the "memorable soul sounds from the mid- to late-1960s that came from Memphis, Tennessee and legendary labels like Stax-Volt Records." The all-star event will include performances by Alabama Shakes, William Bell, Steve Cropper, Al Green, Ben Harper, Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, Joshua Ledet, Sam Moore and Justin Timberlake, with Booker T. Jones as music director and band leader. The event will be taped on April 9 for a sixty-minute PBS special to be broadcast nationwide starting on Tuesday, April 16 at 8pm EST (check local listings). The event will also be available to stream live on whitehouse.gov/live starting at 6:55 PM ET on Tuesday, April 9. This will be the tenth "In Performance at the White House" that The President and First Lady have hosted to date.
Mavis and Charlie have also been invited, along with a few of the other performers, to participate in the First Lady's student workshop earlier in the day on April 9. The First Lady will host this interactive workshop for middle and high school students from across the country. At this workshop, Mavis and Charlie will have the opportunity to share their experiences in music as well as answer questions from the students. The workshop, "Soulsville, USA: The History of Memphis Soul", begins at 11:00am and will also be streamed live on whitehouse.gov/live.
Mavis Staples will release her new record in June. The new CD sees Mavis working once again with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, following up their previous collaboration on her GRAMMY winning album, You Are Not Alone. Stay tuned for more information about the new CD.
Working with Stax Records today, Charlie Musselwhite recently collaborated on the critically and commercially acclaimed Get Up! with Ben Harper via the legendary label. No Depression declared the CD as, "the first great album of 2013." The pair have just returned from playing shows in Australia and will continue to perform together on select dates in the US and Europe throughout the summer.
Catch Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite perform live, see Tour Dates >>
Tommy Castro's Blues Cruise Cabin Raffle For The Blues Hall Of Fame
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers are raffling off two tickets to the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise #22 for donations made to The Blues Foundation's Capital Campaign from March 27 until the October 18-25, 2013 cruise (where the winner will be announced). The winner will receive two tickets to the January 19-26, 2014 cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a total value of $4250.00. The raffle is limited to only 500 tickets, and entrants must purchase at least one $25.00 ticket (with a discount at five tickets for $100.00). Tickets can be purchased at Tommy Castro & The Painkillers' live performances, and online at The Blues Foundation's Capital Campaign. Ticket buyers must enter "Tommy Castro Blues Cruise Raffle" in the "Referred By" box on the donation form to be entered in the drawing.
In addition to Tommy Castro, some of the great acts performing on the cruise include Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Otis Clay, Curtis Salgado, Tab Benoit, Eric Bibb and Rosebud artist John Hammond.
Ann Savoy Documentary Short, The Hidden World of Ann Savoy, Now Available Online
The Hidden World of Ann Savoy, a documentary short about the life and work of Ann Savoy, is currently available to watch on Kitchen Sisters. The documentary features Ann narrating her life story from her introduction to Cajun culture and music (by way of Cléoma Falcon and Arhoolie Records) to her now prominent position in the preservation and revival of traditional Cajun music. The short also features images and the music from Ann's collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, her band The Magnolia Sisters, her family's group, Savoy Family Band, as well as featuring rarely seen illustrations created by Ann.
Ann performs as one-third of Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band which The Rosebud Agency proudly represents for booking. The other two-thirds of the band is Ann's husband and accordionist, Marc Savoy, and BeauSoleil's fiddle player Michael Doucet. For future live performance announcements from Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, see Tour Dates >>
David Lindley In Rolling Stone Magazine Feature
David Lindley was one of the key musicians featured in Rolling Stone Magazine's "The Knights of Soft Rock" (April 11, 2013 Issue), an article covering the rise of singer songwriters during the 1970s and the role that their backing musicians played. The extensive piece shows a solo photo of Lindley, another of him with Jackson Browne and again in a group shot. The magazine proclaims Lindley as a "stringed-instrument wizard" and discusses his, and his frequent collaborators' roles in defining the sound of many 70s hits including Carole King's "It's Too Late" and "Sweet Seasons"; Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London"; Linda Ronstadt's "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"; Joni Mitchell's "Carey"; and entire albums by James Taylor and Jackson Browne. Those frequent collaborators were Waddy Wachtel, as well as Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar and Craig Doerge who were collectively known as "The Section." Lindley, who toured and recorded extensively with Jackson Browne, shared a 2011 Grammy nomination for their most recent collaboration, Love Is Strange - En Vivo Con Tino. Lindley tours continuously throughout the US and internationally.
JJ Cale's Five Disc Box Set, Classic Album Selection, Out April 2, 2013
JJ Cale's five disc box set, Classic Album Selection, will be released April 2, 2013 via Mercury Records (the collection was released overseas in late March). The box set includes five of Cale's classic albums: Naturally (1972), Troubadour (1976), Shades (1981), Grasshopper (1982) and #8 (1983). Among the many renowned tracks from the collection are "After Midnight", "Cocaine" (both recorded and regularly performed by Eric Clapton), "I Got the Same Old Blues" (covered by Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Bobby Bland, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the late Captain Beefheart, a Rosebud artist until his retirement) and "Call Me the Breeze" (recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd). This box set of well-known Cale tunes follows the release of his previously unreleased track, "Angel", on Eric Clapton's latest release, Old Sock.
Allen Toussaint's 75th Birthday Tribute Concert & Benefit Features All-Star Line-Up
The Trombone Shorty Foundation
James Cotton Living Blues Magazine Cover Story
Carrie Rodriguez Featured On Google Play's April Antenna Playlist, Plus The Stone Foxes On Google Play's Free Song Of The Day
Tommy Castro's Blues Cruise Cabin Raffle For The Blues Hall Of Fame
David Lindley In Rolling Stone Magazine Feature