Inbox Update: Grace Potter, Squeeze, Ian Tyson

With Coachella set to arrive three weeks from now, there is of course news related to major acts set to play in Indio over the course of the two weekends-long music and arts festival. I've also re-posted an update on a legendary Canadian singer-songwriter.

Photo credit: Williams+Hirakawa


GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM, THE LION THE BEAST THE BEAT, TO BE RELEASED ON JUNE 12

PRODUCED BY JIM SCOTT AND GRACE POTTER AND FEATURING THREE COLLABORATIONS WITH DAN AUERBACH

GPN TO PERFORM FIRST SINGLE, “NEVER GO BACK,” ON THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO APRIL 5

GET AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST LISTEN AT WWW.ROLLINGSTONE.COM

GPN TO MAKE FIRST APPEARANCE AT COACHELLA IN APRIL; SUMMER STADIUM TOUR WITH KENNY CHESNEY AND TIM McGRAW

The Lion The Beast The Beat, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’ fourth studio album for Hollywood Records, will be released June 12. The musically powerful and conceptually dazzling work was produced by Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Wilco, the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s 2012 Grammy winner Revelator) and Potter at Scott’s studio PLYRZ in Santa Clarita, CA, with the exception of “Loneliest Soul,” which was produced by Dan Auerbach and engineered by Collin Dupuis at Easy Eye Sounds in Nashville, TN. David Campbell (Beck, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne) arranged and conducted the strings on the album. The album was mixed by fellow Vermonter and Grammy award winner Rich Costey (Foo Fighters, TV on the Radio, Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball) and mastered by Grammy award winner Bob Ludwig (David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Foo Fighters).

The first single from The Lion The Beast The Beat is “Never Go Back,” written by Dan Auerbach and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. The track goes to radio on March 23 for an April 9 impact date. GPN’s debut performance of “Never Go Back” is set for April 5 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. A companion video for the track will be shot in Los Angeles in April. Go to www.rollingstone.com for an exclusive first listen of “Never Go Back.”

On April 14 and 21, GPN will make their first-ever appearance at Coachella, which expands to two weekends this year. On June 2, the band will embark on the “Brothers of the Sun” Tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. GPN’s inclusion on the tour was a result of Grace’s duet with Chesney on their Grammy® and CMA Award-winning single and video “You and Tequila,” which was certified platinum for sales of over one million downloads.

Information: www.gracepotter.com



SQUEEZE IS BACK -

LIVE AT THE FILLMORE


Limited edition vinyl release out April 14 through Anchor and Hope Music


Squeeze to make their Coachella debut with shows April 14 and 21

Catch them live on The Ellen Degeneres Show on April 17

UK pop legends Squeeze have announced that they'll be returning to the States in April for select dates, including their debut performances at Coachella and an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show on April 17. Kicking off in San Diego on April 10, the tour brings them to Coachella on April 14 and 21, along with shows in select US markets (scroll down for complete tour dates). Squeeze will be releasing a limited-edition white vinyl package, Live at the Fillmore, on April 14 through Anchor and Hope Music that will be available only at the band's US tour dates and through their website, SqueezeOfficial.com.

Recorded at the historic Fillmore Theatre in San Francisco in August 2010 and mixed by the legendary Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Rolling Stones), Live at the Fillmore, 20 hits and fan favorites, will also include a download card for all 20 tracks and a bonus download card for Squeeze's 2010 release Spot the Difference/Greatest Hits, as well as a "Spot The Difference" tour poster and Squeeze sticker. Live at the Fillmore will also be available digitally through iTunes, Amazon and eMusic on April 17. Listen to a track, "Mumbo Jumbo," here.

As teenagers on the South London Scene in the 1970s, friends Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook formed Squeeze and became one of the New Wave's few US success stories, with "Tempted" becoming a massive hit in the States. The duo, often referred to as the "New Lennon and McCartney," went on to have a string of US/UK hits, with "Hourglass" also charting in the US. Squeeze's 2010 Anchor and Hope Music release, Spot the Difference, studio recordings of their hits done so faithfully that the band dared you to "spot the difference," brought the band back into the spotlight with performances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Live at the Artist's Den and Live! With Regis and Kelly.


Championed early on by the Velvet Underground's John Cale, who produced their debut EP, Packet Of Three, Squeeze established their position as one of Britain's most beloved bands with 1979's Cool For Cats, setting off a career that would spawn decades and produce hits in the UK and abroad. Albums like Argybargy and the Elvis Costello-produced East Side Story led to a spate of UK hit singles which made their way to discerning US music fans: "Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)," "If I Didn't Love You," "Black Coffee In Bed," "Up The Junction," "Goodbye Girl" and others.

As befits one of the UK's most enduring acts, their witty, kitchen-sink lyricism and clever takes on modern relationships continue to influence current artists, such as Mark Ronson, Kasabian and Lily Allen, with recent covers of their songs including James Mercer's (The Shins) version of "Goodbye Girl" and Belle and Sebastian's take on "Cool for Cats." Squeeze's impressive catalog, with its evergreen, universal appeal, sounds as vibrant as ever, with new fans and old flocking to the band's live shows.

Chris Difford's lyrics and Glenn Tilbrook's music have survived everything over the years, from the ever-changing musical landscape to their own internal reshuffles and acrimonious breakups - but Squeeze is here to stay, still going strong and still loving every moment. Now the subject of a major BBC documentary in the works, Difford and Tilbrook are also working on the first new Squeeze material in over 15 years; stay tuned for updates.

Track listing

01-Take Me I'm Yours

02-Annie Get Your Gun

03-Black Coffee in Bed

04-When The Hangover Strikes

05-LovingYouTonight

06-If It's Love

07-It's So Dirty

08-Goodbye Girl

09-Hope Fell Down

10-If I Didn't Love You

11-Cool For Cats

12-Is That Love

13-Someone Else's Heart

14-Mumbo Jumbo

15-Up The Junction

16-Hourglass

17-Slap And Tickle

18-Tempted

19-Another Nail in My Heart

20-Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)


Squeeze US Tour 2012

TU 4/10 SAN DIEGO, CA HOUSE OF BLUES

WE 4/11 SAN JUAN, CA COACH HOUSE

FR 4/13 LAS VEGAS, NV HOUSE OF BLUES

SA 4/14 INDIO, CA COACHELLA FESTIVAL

SU 4/15 PHOENIX, AZ CRESCENT BALLROOM

TU 4/17 LOS ANGELES, CA LIVE on ELLEN DEGENERES

WE 4/18 NAPA, CA UPTOWN THEATRE

TH 4/19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA THE FILLMORE

SA 4/21 INDIO, CA COACHELLA FESTIVAL

MO 4/23 ENGLEWOOD, NJ BERGEN PAC

WE 4/25 RED BANK, NJ COUNT BASIE THEATRE

TH 4/26 MUNHALL, PA CARNEGIE LIBRARY

FR 4/26 BALTIMORE, MD RAMS HEAD

SA 4/28 NEW YORK CITY, NY ROSELAND



IAN TYSON RELEASES NEW SONGS ON A SPARKLING NEW STONY PLAIN ALBUM

14th album for the Edmonton-based international roots music label comes as All The Good ‘Uns, his 16-year-old “best-of” compilation, finally goes Gold

Canada’s legendary songwriter, Ian Tyson, may be 78, but he’s not slowing down.

He still runs his working ranch in the foothills of the Rockies south of Calgary, he still performs some 40 shows each year, and how he’s released a new album of sparkling new songs.

Raven Singer, his first album in four years, will be released internationally on May 29; it’s his 14th for Stony Plain, the Edmonton-based international roots music label.

The new album comes on the heels of the announcement that his 1996 “best-of” compilation, All the Good ’Uns, finally earned a gold record, indicating sales of more than 50,000 copies.

Tyson, always remembered for classic songs such as “Four Strong Winds,” “Navajo Rug,” “Someday Soon” and “Summer Wages,” made the record over a three-year period, as he wrote the new songs.

Tyson’s songs always have the ring of truth, and his travels have provided the background for two of the 10 remarkable songs — “Under African Skies” and “Back to Baja.” The first is partly travelogue and partly a story of “running from the memories” of a broken relationship. The latter has a distinctly southern Californian feel and is a song that Jimmy Buffett would feel at home singing.

Other songs that maintain his reputation as one of Canada’s most distinctive writers include “Blueberry Susan,” which offers a tribute to the first guitarist he ever heard, and some of the players — Red Shea, Monte Dunn and David Rea —whom he worked with and who passed away since Tyson’s last album. “Charles Goodnight’s Grave” and “Saddle Bronc Girl” are warmly-observed songs of the real West, not the romanticized version shared by weekend cowboys and Nashville “new country” singers. One of the most moving songs on the CD is a new version of “The Circle is Through” which he originally recorded almost 20 years ago with Nashville singer Suzy Bogguss.

Tyson himself says the record is a collection of songs built around the road back from the much-publicized loss of his voice in 2006. “I think I’ve learned how to make my ‘new voice’ work,” he says, and the new record seems to bear out his assertion. Tyson’s voice is less “grainy” that it was on his last album, Yellowhead to Yellowstone, but it carries an emotional punch that suits the new songs he has written.

The album’s Dali-esque cover is by Calgary teacher Paul Rasporich; it depicts a raven’s skull. The title of the CD followed a sweat lodge ceremony at the Nakoda First Nation, near Banff Alberta, when Tyson’s name — Ka-ree-a-hiatha (Raven that Sings) — was chosen.


NOTE: Ian Tyson will join singer and songwriter Corb Lund on stage for five shows — July 9, 10, 11, 14 & 15 —at Calgary’s Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. The concerts will celebrate 100 Years of Calgary Cowboys, and part of the annual Calgary Stampede celebrations. The two artists are close friends who have performed on each others’ albums.

Information: www.iantyson.com