Howard Jones album, tour news

photo: Simon Fowler

More interesting new wave artist-related news today comes in the form of fresh music and tour dates for Howard Jones, who I had the pleasure of chatting with last year.

Read the interviews here:

https://newwavegeo.blogspot.com/2018/02/howard-jones-interview.html

https://newwavegeo.blogspot.com/2018/02/bonus-q-with-howard-jones.html

Howard Jones is set to release his first all-new studio album in nearly a decade, Transform, due out May 10. Of the inspiration for the new album, Jones says, “If we want to change the world for the benefit of everyone, first we have to start with ourselves.”

The album is self-produced and features three collaborations with electronica artist BT, including title track “Transform."

In 2015, Jones put out Engage, an entirely fan-funded multi-media project incorporating specially-commissioned visuals with music and an interactive live show. Engage was inspired by electronica, contemporary classical and pop and fused the audio mélange with other visual and literary arts such as ballet, modern dance and philosophy. Engage was performed live in London, Los Angeles and New York and is available as a DVD/CD package.

This spring, Jones will return to the United States for select shows with his Acoustic Trio. These shows are an intimate stripped-down trip through his 30-year music career and feature Jones on electric piano, Robin Boult (Roger Daltrey, Dave Stewart) on acoustic guitar and Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo) on Chapman Stick. Jones will also tour this summer in North America on a headlining trek in support of Transform. Details to be announced.

Track listing:

1. The One To Love You*

2. Take Us Higher
3. Beating Mr Neg
4. Transform*
5. Hero In Your Eyes
6. Tin Man
7. At The Speed Of Love*
8. Eagle Will Fly Again (previously released on the “Eddie The Eagle” movie soundtrack)
9. Mother
10. Stay With Me

*featuring BT

Acoustic Trio tour dates:

MARCH

21 Salt Lake City, UT Eccles Theatre
22 Beaver Creek, CO Vliar Center For The Arts
23 Parker, CO Parker Place Center
24 Fort Collins, CO Lincoln Center
26 Oakland, CA Yoshi’s
27 Oakland, CA Yoshi’s
29 Honolulu, HI Blue Note
30 Honululu, HI Blue Note

Deluxe reissue on the way for Van Morrison's 'The Healing Game'

Legacy Recordings/Sony Music Entertainment/Exile Productions will release Van Morrison's The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition) on March 22.

The latest volume in Legacy's Van Morrison catalog reissue project, The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition) is a three disc collection chronicling the sessions, collaborations and live performances surrounding Van's 1997 album. It will be available in 3CD, plus digital formats in addition to a 1LP vinyl edition of the (long out-of-print) original album (minus the bonus tracks) and may be pre-ordered now at: https://vanmo.lnk.to/HealingGame

Disc 1 - "The Original Album Plus..." features the 10 recordings that form the core of The Healing Game in addition to five bonus tracks, previously issued on singles or compilations, assembled together here for the first time: "Look What the Good People Done," "At the End of the Day," "The Healing Game," "Full Force Gale '96" and "St. Dominic's Preview."

Disc 2 - "Sessions & Collaborations" includes formative early versions of "The Healing Game" and "Fire in the Belly" and a variety of previously unreleased recordings including a jazz version of "The Healing Game," the full length version of "Sometimes We Cry," a cover of "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and several previously unissued collaborations with Carl Perkins ("Boppin' the Blues," "Matchbox," "My Angel," and "All By Myself"). John Lee Hooker is on two tracks -- "Don't Look Back" and "The Healing Game" -- from Hooker's 1997 album Don't Look Back. Produced by Van Morrison and released the same day (March 4, 1997) as The Healing Game, Don't Look Back won Best Traditional Blues Album Grammy in 1998 while the title track won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Disc 2 of The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition) closes with Van collaborating with Lonnie Donegan on an interpretation of Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues."

Disc 3 - "Live at Montreux - 17 July 1997" finds Van in a live set featuring songs from The Healing Game alongside hits and personal favorites from his catalog; covers of Ray Charles ("Fool For You"), Anthony Newley ("Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me") and Sly Stone ("Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin))" and more. A much-sought-after concert performance, Van Morrison's Live at Montreux recording is officially available for the first time here.

Track listing:

Disc 1 – (The Original Album…Plus)

1. Rough God Goes Riding

2. Fire in the Belly
3. This Weight
4. Waiting Game
5. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
6. Burning Ground
7. It Once Was My Life
8. Sometimes We Cry
9. If You Love Me
10. The Healing Game

Bonus tracks
11. Look What the Good People Done
12. At the End of the Day
13. The Healing Game (single version)
14. Full Force Gale '96 (single version)
15. St. Dominic's Preview

Disc 2 - Sessions & Collaborations
1. The Healing Game (alternate version) (previously unissued)
2. Fire in the Belly (alternate version) (previously unissued)
3. Didn't He Ramble (previously unissued)
4. The Healing Game (jazz version) (previously unissued)
5. Sometimes We Cry (full length version) (previously unissued)
6. Mule Skinner Blues
7. A Kiss to Build a Dream On (previously unissued)
8. Don't Look Back - John Lee Hooker
9. The Healing Game - John Lee Hooker
10. Boppin' the Blues - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (previously unissued)
11. Matchbox - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (previously unissued)
12. Sittin' on Top of the World - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (arranged by Van Morrison)
13. My Angel - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (previously unissued)
14. All By Myself - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (previously unissued)
15. Mule Skinner Blues - Lonnie Donegan & Van Morrison

Disc 3 - Live at Montreux 17 July 1997 (all tracks previously unreleased)
1. Rough God Goes Riding
2. Foreign Window
3. Tore Down A La Rimbaud
4. Vanlose Stairway/Trans-Euro Train
5. Fool For You
6. Sometimes We Cry
7. It Once Was My Life
8. I'm Not Feeling It Anymore
9. This Weight
10. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
11. Fire in the Belly
12. Tupelo Honey/Why Must I Always Explain
13. The Healing Game
14. See Me Through/Soldier of Fortune/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)/Burning Ground

Like Totally Festival 2019 includes PiL, Kim Wilde, Romantics, Martin Fry & ABC, DJ Richard Blade, more

I had the pleasure of reviewing this event for the first time last year. Read it here:

https://newwavegeo.blogspot.com/2018/05/like-totally-80s-festival-2018-review.html

The 2019 edition looks to be just as good. Read on for more info...

Sellout Events presents the fourth annual "Like Totally Festival," the only 1980s-themed music festival in Southern California. It will take place at Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach, California on Saturday, May 11, from 11am to 9pm.

The first announcement of performing talent is John Lydon's Public Image Ltd. (PiL), Kim Wilde, with hits like "Kids In America" and "You Keep Me Hanging On," Martin Fry & ABC, best known for their hits "The Look of Love," and "Be Near Me," B-Movie ("Nowhere Girl"), Animotion ("Obsession"), The Romantics ("What I Like About You"), Greg Kihn ("The Breakup Song," "Jeopardy"), and OC Eighties cover band The Reflexx doing an all-star jam with Richard Page of Mr. Mister ("Broken Wings," "Kyrie") and Nick Richards of Boys Don't Cry ("I Wanna Be A Cowboy").

Festival attendees are encouraged to wear big hair, their best spandex and '80s-themed attire to enter a best dressed costume contest, held during the festival.

The event is hosted by notable alumni deejays from KROQ Richard Blade (currently on Sirius XM's 1st Wave), Jed the Fish, Freddie Snakeskin and Huntington Beach's Rockin' Fig and Jimmy Alvarez.     

A second and final lineup announcement will follow in mid-February. Tickets range from $65 - GA to $150 - VIP. For more information on the fest, or VIP Cabana group packages, visit LikeTotallyFestival.com/tickets

Out now: 'Flicker feat. the RTÉ Concert Orchestra' album by Niall Horan

Capitol Music Group has just released Niall Horan’s Flicker featuring The RTÉ Concert Orchestra. The live album is available for download / streaming HERE.

In April 2018, Horan and his band took a brief break from their world tour to travel to Dublin to record tracks from his No. 1 solo debut album, Flicker, with Ireland’s revered 45-piece RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Highlights from the recording session were captured in a television special, which was broadcast on RTÉ One last year.

Niall Horan said, “Flicker was an album I made that came from the heart and my heart is very much in Ireland. Recording tracks from that album with a 45-piece orchestra was a dream come true and to be able to do it at home with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, one of the best in Europe, if not the world, was really special.”

The album features live versions of eight songs from Flicker, including the Platinum single “This Town” and the Gold-certified “Too Much To Ask.” It also includes a live recording of a previously unreleased song, “So Long.” See below for track listing.

“When recording Flicker, I could never get the production right on ‘So Long,’” explains Horan. “I played it in tour rehearsals one day and the band joined in with me. We ended up making a new version, which sounds amazing live and has been part of our tour set list. I love that we can finally release a version of it now.”

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra performed under conductor Gavin Murphy, who also arranged the orchestral scoring, and was led by Bróna Cahill.

Horan has sold over 70 million records as part of One Direction and has toured the globe numerous times. Flicker (Capitol Records) entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and topped the iTunes Top Albums chart in 61 countries.

It has since sold more than 2.5 million album equivalent units worldwide and been streamed over 2.6 billion times. Horan’s debut single, “This Town,” has sold more than 6 million track equivalent units globally with the follow up, “Slow Hands,” selling over 8.5 million.

Track Listing:

1. The Tide (Live)
2. This Town (Live)
3. Too Much To Ask (Live)
4. Paper Houses (Live)
5. You And Me (Live)
6. Seeing Blind (Live)
7. Fire Away (Live)
8. So Long (Live)
9. Flicker (Live)

Out now: 'Seasons' album by American Authors

Brooklyn-based multi-platinum group American Authors, whose "Best Day Of My Life" had  over 1.7 billion combined global audio streams over their run of their last two albums, have released third studio album, Seasons via Island Records.

Seasons was recorded with veteran producers Cason Cooley (Ingrid Michaelson) and Trent Dabbs (Kacey Musgraves, TV’s Nashville) in a mountainside studio 20 minutes outside Nashville. Surrounded by woods and overlooking nature, the album takes its title from experiencing all four seasons of Tennessee weather during the recording sojourn, from winter snow to summer sun. Simultaneously, American Authors embraced formative ’90s influences, from alternative stalwarts like Weezer and Nirvana.

“When we started writing our 3rd album, we wanted to make sure and block out all of the noise and pressures of the outside world. But the louder it got, we realized that it was impossible,” says drummer, Matt Sanchez, of Seasons. “So Instead we embraced it, turned it upside down on itself, and made it into the anti-fuel that helped us create our most passionate body of work yet. Seasons reflects our struggles with mental health and mortality, and somehow finds hope in all of it.”

The first single off the album, “Deep Water” was released in May 2018 and garnered nearly 19 million streams, was featured in TV shows such as FOXs 911 and ABCs The Good Doctor and charted at Alternative radio earlier this year.

Late last year, “Say Amen” featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Billy Raffoul, arrived. The video has over 9 million views and hit #3 on YouTube’s trending video chart. “I Wanna Go Out” also makes the album and was featured in both a T-Mobile campaign and the Lego Ninjago movie promos.

ABOUT AMERICAN AUTHORS:

American Authors – Zac Barnett (vocals), James Adam Shelley (guitar/banjo), Dave Rublin (bass), and Matt Sanchez (drums) – hail from the four corners of the U.S. but came together at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2006. They soon left Berklee, moved into a small apart­ment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and started a band, releasing a series of indie EPs over the course of five years. After support from SiriusXM Alt Nation radio with their debut #1 single “Believer” and attracting (what became) over 8 million YouTube views for the viral “Believer” video they created with their cell phones, they were signed to Island Records in 2012.

With the success of “Best Day Of My Life,” their debut LP Oh, What A Life went Top 5 on the Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts, Top 15 on the Billboard 200, and was RIAA certified gold. “Best Day Of My Life” was a 4x-platinum career-defining track that went on to reach #1 on Hot AC and Top 5 at Pop while receiving film, television, video game, and sports syncs. Their second album, 2016’s What We Live For included “What We Live For,” “Grow,” and the sync friendly hit “Go Big or Go Home."

Track listing:

Stay Around
Say Amen feat. Billy Raffoul
Calm Me Down
I Wanna Go Out
Neighborhood feat. Bear Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE
Can’t Stop Me Now
Deep Water
Bring It On Home
Before I Go
Real Place

New Florence + the Machine tour dates

Following a North American tour last year, Florence + the Machine return this spring for another run of dates. Christine & the Queens, Blood Orange, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Perfume Genius will join as special guests on select dates of the tour. See below for complete details.

Citi is the official presale credit card for the tour. Cardmembers will have access to purchase presale tickets beginning Tuesday, February 5 at 10a.m. local time until Thursday, February 7 at 10:00p.m. local time through Citi’s Private Pass program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, February 8 at 11 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Visit florenceandthemachine.net for more information.

The band recently shared “Moderation” and “Haunted House,” the first new music since their acclaimed 2018 album High as Hope. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize. 

Tour dates:

May 10 Mayer, AZ FORM Arcosanti
May 12 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl§
May 13 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl§
May 15 Concord, CA Concord Pavilion*
May 17 Las Vegas, NV T-Mobile Arena*
May 20 Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
May 23 Chicago, IL Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island†
May 24 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre†
May 26 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage†
May 28 Montreal, QC Centre Bell†
May 30 Boston, MA Xfinity Center†
June 1 New York, NY Governors Ball Music Festival
June 3 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion†
June 5 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek‡
June 6 Atlanta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre‡
June 8 Orlando, FL Amway Arena‡
June 9 Miami, FL AmericanAirlines Arena‡

*with Christine & the Queens

†with Blood Orange
‡with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
§with Perfume Genius

Doheny Blues Festival in SoCal unveils 2019 lineup w/Ben Harper, Lindsey Buckingham, Robert Cray, Jonny Lang

I've really enjoyed covering this event the past few years and hope to do so again this spring. See my OC Register preview from 2018 here: 

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/09/doheny-blues-festival-aims-to-keep-the-same-vibe-in-its-new-home/

The lineup for the 22nd Annual Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, Calif., includes music icons, blues legends, and artists making their Doheny debut. Buy discounted weekend passes before single-day tickets go on sale. Prices are currently: $140 GA, $275 VIP, $475 Gold. The festival includes three stages of rock, soul and blues music and is held at Sea Terrace Park. Read more about each act below.

BEN HARPER AND THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS

Harper's 2018 release with Charlie Musselwhite was honored with a GRAMMY nod, and now the global star returns to Doheny Blues with his soulful, funky ensemble The Innocent Criminals

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

Widely considered one of the greatest guitarists, songwriters and musical expressionists of our time, Buckingham is a a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 3-time GRAMMY winner, and best known as the producer, guitarist, vocalist and chief songwriter for Fleetwood Mac and as a celebrated solo artist

TAJ MAHAL QUARTET

A legend who has singlehandedly reshaped the definition of blues music, with his infusion of instruments and exotic sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific

JONNY LANG

At the age of 38, Jonny has been recording chart-topping albums and touring the world for over two decades, led by his gritty vocals and searing guitar work

THE ROBERT CRAY BAND

A true superstar of the music world, Cray has been bridging the lines between blues, soul and R&B for the past four decades, with 5 GRAMMY wins and 21 acclaimed albums

THE MARCUS KING BAND

Marcus may be young at 22 years old, but his eloquent songs, expressive guitar playing, and ecstatically soulful singing mark this gifted, thoughtful young prodigy as a force to be reckoned with

VINTAGE TROUBLE

Live-wired, straight-shootin', dirty-mouthed pelvis-pushin' juke music

ALLMAN BETTS BAND

Led by Devon Allman and Duane Betts, with new addition Berry Oakley Jr., the new ABB configuration will release a album this spring and tour in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of their parents' legendary band, The Allman Brothers

JOHN MAYALL BAND with Carolyn Wonderland

At 85, the Godfather of British Blues shows no signs of slowing down, with a new record coming, a European tour scheduled and his first female lead guitarist Carolyn Wonderland

NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS

Luther & Cody Dickinson continue to blend hill country blues, fatback funk & soul

THE PALADINS

Considered the preeminent Rockabilly/Blues band in America, the boys return to Doheny Blues led by Dave Gonzales (guitar) and Thomas Yearsley (bass)

ROY GAINES' TRIBUTE TO T-BONE WALKER

The 84-year old guitarist brings his 9-piece band to pay tribute to his mentor

NICK MOSS BAND featuring DENNIS GRUENLING

Their new release The High Cost of Low Living is a joyous sonic blast of pure blues power, led by the 30-year guitar veteran of the Chicago blues scene

REVEREND PEYTON'S BIG DAMN BAND

One of the foremost country blues finger-style pickers, Rev. Peyton and his Big Damn Band hit you like a freight train with their self-titled wildman blues sound

SUE FOLEY

The Canadian-born guitarist, now an Austin legend, released a celebrated CD The Ice Queen in 2018 with friends Jimmie Vaughan, Billy F Gibbons and Charlie Sexton

SOUTHERN AVENUE

Soulful, funky, rock n' roll stew built on a solid foundation of the blues

B.B. & THE BLUES SHACKS from Germany

It's the 30th Anniversary for one of Europe's top jump blues bands

BRANDON "TAZ" NIEDERAUER - Artist At Large

The 15-year old returns to Doheny Blues as a guest to several bands

LINDSAY BEAVER

Blues-rocking, soul-singing drummer, songwriter and bandleader from Austin

THE DELGADO BROTHERS • THE FOURTY FOURS and Friends

GA-20 • TOM BALL & KENNY SULTAN • JOHNNY & JAALENE

www.dohenybluesfestival.com