Thursday, August 22, 2019

Sights and Sounds: Grace Potter, The Who, Billie Eilish, GRAMMY Museum

There is plenty of cool music news to share...


On October 25, 2019 Grace Potter will release Daylight, her second solo LP and first for Fantasy RecordsDaylight arrives after a turbulent, life-altering 4-year hiatus from music that had the acclaimed singer-songwriter contemplating whether she would ever record another album. Cathartic and emotionally raw, Daylight is the result of that arduous journey, the most emotionally revealing, musically daring work of her career.  Watch the clip for Daylight's passionate first single "Love Is Love" HERE and pre-order Daylight HERE.

"I've always aimed to write songs from a universal perspective; so that anyone who heard my music could relate, but that actually made it harder for me to take ownership of my own perspective. These songs were written so I could process - and be accountable for - my own life experience," Potter says. "I had just pulled the ripcord on my whole life. It was an incredibly jarring, private experience. When the dust settled a bit, the last thing I wanted to do was tell the whole world about it through song. It was a very gradual process of re-framing music and its purpose in my life. So, when I finally started writing songs again - it had to be for myself and myself alone."
 
Produced by her husband Eric ValentineDaylight took shape in the Topanga Canyon home they'd recently settled into. Unsigned and entirely free of any pressure to appease, Potter slowly carved out ideas and the two began laying down tracks. Moving to Valentine's Hollywood studio, Barefoot Recording, the songs came to life with the help of longtime Potter collaborators including guitarist Benny Yurco and drummer Matt Musty, friends Benmont Tench and Larry Goldings on keys and supreme vocalists, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the indie band Lucius.  

On the powerful album-opener and first single "Love Is Love," Potter fully surrenders as her voice shifts from fragile to soaring. It was the first track written for Daylight and she found the process so unsettling, it temporarily put her off from attempting any further self-examination in song. "'Love Is Love' is so confessional, it was terrifying. After we recorded the demo, I had no desire to keep on writing because the feelings were still too raw," she says. "I was scared to dig any deeper."

Throughout Daylight, Potter imbues her songs with equal parts aching vulnerability and unapologetic self-possession. In many ways, the stark piano balled "Release" is the album's centerpiece. Sorrowful but redemptive, its resolution lies in a lyric by co-writer Mike Busbee ("I hope that someday/The sun will shine again/And you'll release me too").

While much of the new album mirrors the emotional chaos of her recent past, Daylightalso channels a soulful wonder on songs like "Every Heartbeat," an acoustic-guitar-laced serenade for Valentine and their infant son, Sagan. And on "Desire," Daylight drifts into an impulsively playful mood, serving up a sweet celebration of unabashed lust.

Described by Spin as "one of the greatest living voices in rock today," Grace Potter has not only played every major music festival from Coachella and Lollapalooza to Bonnaroo and Rock in Rio, she's created her own thriving music festival, Burlington's Grand Point North. Additionally, she's shared a stage with artists such as The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, the Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, and The Roots to name just a few. Potter has also collaborated with the Flaming Lips for a Tim Burton film, written and produced music for film and TV and recorded two GRAMMY-nominated, multiplatinum singles with her friend Kenny Chesney.

Having endured a painful divorce and the breakup of her band- as well as far more joyful events like a new marriage and the birth of her first child, Grace Potter reached for Daylight and delivered a commanding statement of power and purpose.

Pre-Order Daylight HERE

Daylight - Track List:

Track Listing:

  1. Love Is Love
  2. On My Way
  3. Back To Me
  4. Every Heartbeat
  5. Release
  6. Shout It Out
  7. Repossession
  8. Desire
  9. Everyday Love
  10. Please
  11. Daylight
Grace Potter on Tour: 

August 22 - Syracuse, NY @ Great New York State Fair
August 31 - Nashville, TN @ Live On The Green
September 14 - Burlington, VT @ Grand Point North
September 15 - Burlington, VT @ Grand Point North
September 21 - Louisville, KY @ Bourbon and Beyond
November 15 - Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg University, The Forum Auditorium
Follow Grace Potter:
 





Check out a special video from The Who ahead of their upcoming fall leg of the Moving On! Tour. The groundbreaking rockers provide an exclusive look into what fans can expect and how they have successfully reinvented some their most beloved songs. The band recently wrapped up the first leg of the celebrated run with each performance supported by a 48-piece local symphony orchestra. 

The Who will kick off their highly anticipated second leg at Madison Square Garden on September 1, 2019 with Leslie Mendelson supporting.

VIDEO LINK HERE:


In the video, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend along with the tours’ conductor and members of the orchestra, discuss how the vision of these songs have been produced and performed for this unique tour.  They show clips from the rehearsals of what fans can expect on this fresh take of their classic Brit Rock songs. 
  
More info on the second leg of the Moving On! Tour below. Tickets are on sale now at LiveNation.com.

Legendary rock band The Who have announced they’ll be joined by very special guest Leslie Mendelson to kick off the fall leg of their much heralded 2019 North American MOVING ON! TOUR at Madison Square Garden on September 1. They recently wrapped up the first leg of the celebrated run with each performance supported by a 48-piece local symphony orchestra. Tickets for the Madison Square Garden show are on sale now at LiveNation.com

Mendelson is an acclaimed Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter touring with Jackson Browne this year. She recently released a string of singles including "The Hardest Part," as well as a duet with Browne, “A Human Touch” for the documentary film 5B. Mendelson’s forthcoming full-length studio album ‘If You Can’t Say Anything Nice’ is expected this fall. She previously opened for The Who’s sold out Madison Square Garden date in May. 

Produced by Live Nation, The Who’s fall North American trek of the MOVING ON! TOUR will deliver their indelible brand of powerhouse rock through 20 cities before an epic finale October 24th at the famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA.

The Who fans can also expect an exciting lineup of special guests opening up for the band on selected dates throughout the autumn leg of the trek, including Oasis front man Liam Gallagher, iconic Boston rocker Peter Wolf, and Canadian indie/blues band Reignwolf (see dates below.)  

The Madison Square Garden return will mark the second time this year The Who will bring their acclaimed juggernaut with a full orchestra to New York City. Their first Garden appearance on May 13 drew raves (“.. Daltrey’s vocals sliced through the arena... far enough to view the crowd pulsing from the floor seats all the way to the rafter, hailed Glide Magazine“The rockers seemed genuinely appreciative about what NYC fans have meant to the band throughout their career…”; “They hit Madison Square Garden for a truly spectacular show…” Brooklyn Vegan) and set the tone for a riveting and remarkable run, drawing high praise from critics and social media at every stop on the first half of the historic tour. 

By once again raising the bar on their own live legacy, The Who have re-set the standard when it comes to classic rock bands reinvigorating their repertoire with an authenticity and integrity that few live bands from any era can match.

Never ones for nostalgia, singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend’s pairing with acclaimed local symphony orchestras are rewarding Who fans with a once-in-a-lifetime live experience.  The founding members manage to achieve new sonic heights, with Forbes Magazine hailing Moving On! as a must-see show that “goes to great lengths to show fans the many gears The Who possess…” The band, which includes guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Zak Starkey, serves up THE WHO’s many classics with full and minimal symphony backing, as well as intimate acoustic numbers and a show stopping Pete/Roger duo performance. 

The Who will also be releasing their first album of new songs in thirteen years later this year.

Every pair of tickets purchased online includes a redeemable code for a CD copy of The Who’s forthcoming album upon its release.This offer is available to US and Canada customers only and not valid for tickets purchased via resale. In addition, $1 from each ticket sold for the MOVING ON! TOUR will benefit Teen Cancer America (www.teencanceramerica.org.)

ABOUT THE WHO

The Who are one of the top three greatest rock legacies in music history.  Their music provoked explosive change and spanned what many critics declare is rock’s most elastic creative spectrum, with Pete Townshend’s songwriting moving between raw, prosaic, conceptual, and expressively literate.  Their visionary sense of stagecraft headed by Roger Daltrey’s soaring vocal prowess is topped off by the band’s blistering rhythm section.  With both Roger and Pete delivering their own
memoirs in recent years (Pete’s Who I Am was released to much acclaim in 2012, and Roger’s autobiography, Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite; My Story, was embraced by critics in 2018) it’s
fitting that the two remaining WHO members have shared their incredible legacy in literary fashion, for few bands have had a more lasting impact on the rock era and the reverberating pop culture than The Who.  


2019 North American Fall Tour Dates

SPECIAL GUESTS

Liam Gallagher https://liamgallagher.com
MOON VS SUN (Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk) https://www.facebook.com/moonvssunofficial

Sept 1 /Madison Square Garden / New York City SPECIAL GUEST: Leslie Mendelson
Sept 3 / Scotiabank Arena / Toronto, ON SPECIAL GUEST: MOON VS SUN (Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk) 
Sept 6 / Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul, MN SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 8 / Alpine Valley Music Theatre / Alpine Valley, WI SPECIAL GUEST: Dead Horses
Sept 10 / Blossom Music Center / Cuyahoga Falls, OH SPECIAL GUEST: Peter Wolf
Sept 13 / Fenway Park / Boston, MA SPECIAL GUEST: Peter Wolf
Sept 15 / Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater / Wantagh, NY SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 18 / State Farm Arena / Atlanta, GA SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 20 / BB&T Center / Ft. Lauderdale, FL SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 22 / Amalie Arena / Tampa, FL SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 25 / Toyota Center / Houston, TX SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 27 / American Airlines Center / Dallas, TX SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Sept 29 / Pepsi Center / Denver, CO SPECIAL GUEST: Reignwolf
Oct 9 / Chase Center / San Francisco, CA SPECIAL GUEST: Liam Gallagher
Oct 11 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA SPECIAL GUEST TBA
Oct 13 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA SPECIAL GUEST TBA
Oct 16 / Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl San Diego State University / San Diego, CA SPECIAL GUEST: Liam Gallagher
Oct 19 / T-Mobile Park / Home of the Seattle Mariners / Seattle, WA SPECIAL GUEST: Liam Gallagher
Oct 21 / Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena / Vancouver, BC SPECIAL GUEST: Liam Gallagher
Oct 24 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA SPECIAL GUEST: Liam Gallagher



BILLIE EILISH TOPS BILLBOARD HOT 100 WITH ‘BAD GUY’

FIRST ARTIST BORN THIS MILLENNIUM TO REACH NUMBER 1
 

CONTINUES TO SHATTER THE CEILING WITH RECORD-BREAKING DEBUT ALBUM


17-year-old Billie Eilish has earned her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with her latest single ‘bad guy,’ taken from her multi-platinum global smash debut album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? [Darkroom/Interscope Records]. Following an unprecedented total of 9 weeks at No. 2, ‘bad guy’ has knocked Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ featuring Billy Ray-Cyrus off the top spot this week.
 
Billie Eilish is officially the first artist born this millennium to achieve both a No. 1 album and single, and is now the third female solo artist in the 31-year history with multiple songs topping the Billboard Alternative Songs airplay chart (alongside Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’Connor). "bad guy" also sits atop the Pop Songs airplay chart for a second week running after leading the Alternative Songs airplay, and is the first Alternative Songs No. 1 to top the Hot 100 since Lorde's "Royals."
 
Her album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? -- released on March 29 [Darkroom/Interscope Records] -- debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and has since returned to the top spot two additional times this year. 
 
Recently, Billie Eilish graced the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, and most recently V Magazine for their 20th Anniversary issue, and has amassed more that 15-billion combined global streams to date. Showing no signs of slowing down, the Los Angeles native is currently on her sold-out WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WORLD TOUR.

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? is out everywhere now
Apple Music | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Google Play | Pandora | YouTube
 
OFFICIAL WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD

“dont smile at me” EP

iTunes | Apple Music | Spotify | Google Play | Amazon | VEVO



Sheryl Crow / Photo credit: Richard Ehrlich

Herbie Hancock / Photo credit: Richard Ehrlich


GRAMMY MUSEUM® ANNOUNCES FACE THE MUSIC

NEW EXHIBIT FEATURES 41 LEGENDARY MUSICIANS PHOTOGRAPHED BY RICHARD EHRLICH
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (August 22, 2019) — Music and photography share a common nexus for experiencing feeling and are linked in contextualizing human emotion. During a five-year project led by photographer Richard Ehrlich, these two art forms came together in a unique and moving way and aimed to redefine the profound and transcendent influence music has on human emotion through facial expression. Ehrlich accomplished this by capturing close-up facial expressions of artists listening to their favorite songs as seen in his photography book Face The Music published by Steidl. To showcase these portraits, the GRAMMY Museum® proudly announces Face The Music, a new photography exhibit showcasing 41 legendary musicians including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Michael Bublé, Kenny Burrell, Sheryl Crow, Gustavo Dudamel, Quincy Jones, Iggy Pop, RZA, Esperanza Spalding, Ringo Starr, and many more. The exhibit will open to the public on Sept. 12 and will run through Jan. 6, 2020.

"It was an incredibly fulfilling once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, personally and professionally, to capture some of the world's most iconic musicians while they listened to their favorite songs," said Richard Ehrlich, photographer of Face The Music. "It is a dream come true to now showcase these photographs at the GRAMMY museum."

Face The Music will offer an inside look, through portraiture, at how artists feel emotionally while listening to music of their choice. Some of Ehrlich's favorite moments from this project include capturing Wayne Shorter exuding an aura of calm, grace and mystery; Herb Alpert listening to Pavarotti with eyes closed and lost in reverie; Herbie Hancock, Michael Bublé, Rosanne Cash, and LeAnn Rimes all shedding tears during their listening session; Lars Ulrich's exuberant and emotional facial expressions while listening to Rage Against The Machine; and Iggy Pop shouting during Link Wray's "Rumble." These moments and more are discussed in the exhibit along with the music each musician was listening to, paired with each photo on display.

"As an education institution, the GRAMMY Museum aims to bring a variety of artistic mediums to best experience and learn more about the universal power of music," said Michael Sticka, GRAMMY Museum President. "The portraits on display as part of our Face The Music exhibit visually capture the undeniable influence music has on human emotion."


For tickets, please go to www.grammymuseum.org.
 
ABOUT THE GRAMMY MUSEUM
Established in 2008, the GRAMMY Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating a greater understanding of the history and significance of music through exhibits, education, grants, preservation initiatives, and public programming. Paying tribute to our collective musical heritage, the Museum explores and celebrates all aspects of the art form—from the technology of the recording process to the legends who've made lasting marks on our cultural identity.

For more information, visit www.grammymuseum.org, “like” the GRAMMY Museum on Facebook, and follow @GRAMMYMuseum on Twitter and Instagram.

1 comment:

MartyToons said...

Excellent article on Grace Potter... a long time favorite of mine. I was wondering where she had been. Looking forward to listening to the new record. Songs written from this new type of perspective always are compelling to listen to.