Imelda May's "Life Love Flesh Blood" out April 7 on Verve, produced by T Bone Burnett, Single "Black Tears" premieres on Billboard

IMELDA MAY’S LIFE, LOVE, FLESH, BLOOD
OUT APRIL 7 VIA VERVE RECORDS

“BLACK TEARS” PREMIERES AT BILLBOARD

MAY’S FIRST NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM IN THREE YEARS
PRODUCED BY T BONE BURNETT

Artwork photo credit: Max Dodson

“I’ve never met anyone quite like Imelda May. She is full of life…
I [am] inspired by her honesty and her generosity, and I continue to
be intrigued.”—T Bone Burnett

“I love the girl she used to be but I think I love even more the woman
she’s become. Still mischievous and playful, still a siren, but there’s an ache
in her voice now that has me with a glass at my ear to the wall of her world
where trouble has entered the room. There’s an erotic power here that’s not
just feminine power. She makes truth telling an invitation to intimacy.”—Bono

Life, Love, Flesh, Blood, the fifth full-length record from critically acclaimed Irish singer Imelda May and her first new music in three years, is due April 7 via Verve Records. The record is receiving early rave reviews in the U.K., with the Evening Standard noting that May “has poured her heart and soul into her new album.” Billboard is premiering the track “Black Tears” in celebration of the forthcoming release; listen/share the track [HERE] and HERE.

Additionally, W Magazine recently premiered the video for the album’s first single, “Call Me,” hailing the track as a “sweet, spare lament,” while the Daily Mail called it “stylish and extremely moving.” Watch/share the video HERE. May also recently performed the album track “Black Tears” on “Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny” on New Year’s Eve, which can be viewed/shared HERE. May’s performance was the most-watched segment of the evening with 250,000 YouTube views to date, plus it is the second most viewed video on the BBC Music YouTube Channel since October.

Produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, the album marks a new direction for May who, in the time since her 2014 release Tribal, ended her marriage of eighteen years. Life, Love, Flesh, Blood is May’s most autobiographical record to date; Burnett says of May, “When I first happened onto her music, she was a punky Irish Rockabilly singer with a great band. I was intrigued by her deep feeling for and understanding of that American art form, much of which, of course, had originated in Ireland. When I ran across her several years later, she had gone through a change of lives and was writing about it with a wild intensity and singing about it in the most open hearted way.” Adds May, “It’s therapy, like keeping a diary that a lot of people read. Some of my favorite songs don’t say much, but they reveal everything.”

May’s new musical direction accompanies an overarching stylistic change for the established singer. “I always loved the ’50s rockabilly style but there was a point where I felt I was almost dressing up as Imelda May,” she notes. “It was as if I was getting into character for a gig. And I didn’t want to do that anymore. This is me.”

Life, Love, Flesh, Blood features contributions from guitar hero Jeff Beck and piano maestro Jools Holland, as well as an accomplished group of backing musicians including the core trio of guitarist Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), drummer Jay Bellerose (Elton John & Leon Russell, Ray Lamontagne) and bassist Zach Dawes (The Last Shadow Puppets, Mini Mansions), the same band that recorded Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand. Recorded over seven days in Los Angeles, the album was written over the course of May’s tumultuous past year and includes writing contributions from Angelo Petragalia (Kings of Leon) and Paul Moak (The Blind Boys of Alabama, Martha Wainwright). May states that she began writing songs for the album with “no preconceived notions of where it was going to go. My plan was to have no plan because it was freedom. It was liberating.”

May’s previous records have seen success both in the U.S. as well as in Europe. Tribal debuted at #1 in Ireland and #3 in the UK. The Guardian gave the album four stars, saying “This album is no time capsule; it’s fresh and embracing…” while The Times praised May’s “raw, impassioned vocals.” Her previous release, 2010’s Mayhem, also received critical acclaim with The Los Angeles Times commenting, “Ireland-born Imelda May’s career is fostered by paying homage to legends like Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash and, more importantly, furthering rockabilly’s cross-pollination into New Orleans jazz, delta blues and amp-splitting punk aggression.” Mayhem went Platinum in Ireland and Gold in the U.K., while May has seen performances on “Later…With Jools Holland,” “Conan,” “and an impressive four performances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” to name a few.

Andy T-Nick Nixon CD debuts on Billboard chart!

ANDY T-NICK NIXON BAND RELEASE DEBUTS ON BILLBOARD CHART! Numbers Man, the latest studio album from the Andy T-Nick Nixon Band, debuted this week at #9 on the Billboard blues sales chart. Andy and Nick have become one of the most acclaimed duos in the blues.  Andy T’s jazz-tinged guitar style is influenced by T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Magic Sam, and Albert Collins among others, yet it remains his own. The velvet-voiced Nixon, part of Nashville’s thriving blues and R&B scene in the 60’s and 70’s, sings in a style that recalls Jimmy Witherspoon and Billy Eckstine. Even though he’s now in his 70’s, Nixon’s voice still has all the power and energy of a man half his age and it’s crystal clear that this man was born to sing the blues. As Blues Underground Network said, “Simply put, Andy T and James ‘Nick’ Nixon have quickly risen to the top of many people's lists of Great Collaborations.” The previous two releases by the Andy T-Nick Nixon Band, produced by noted Texas guitarist Anson Funderburgh,  were critically acclaimed, with both garnering coveted Blues Music Award nominations Elmore magazine said of Numbers Man, "Anson Funderburgh again produces and this time adds the Texas Horns as well as Kim Wilson on one track. Andy T plays a clean guitar, mostly in the style of T-Bone Walker while 74-year-old Nixon is as good a blues singer as any. This band just gets better with each recording." Said Andy, "We are thrilled to debut on the Billboard Blues Chart with such an amazing group of artists. Many thanks to Blind Pig Records for their support."

Jazz Great Cheryl Barnes Sky Rockets on Billboard

Jazz Great Cheryl Barnes Charts Billboard CD Meteoric rise to number 5 starting the week of May 16th Earlier this month Ms. Barnes received two prestigious awards from the Black Women in Jazz & The Arts Association and now she adds this meteoric rise on the charts.  Cheryl received the coveted Best Black Female Video of the Year award along with the Best Black Female Record of the Year Award prior to the CD sky rocketing number 5 spot on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album chart.

JW-Jones CD hits Billboard chart!

JW-JONES RELEASE MAKES BILLBOARD CHART! Belmont Boulevard debuts at #9 on sales chart   Belmont Boulevard, the new Blind Pig release from Canadian guitarist and songwriter JW-Jones, debuted at #9 on the Billboard blues sales chart this week. JW & Jamie & Laura's Excellent Adventure... JW and his band, Jamie Holmes on drums and Laura Greenberg on bass, are currently touring the U.S. in support of the album.   So far it's been an eventful tour: In Sacramento, California, local favorite Little Charlie Baty came down to the Torch Club and sat in with JW's band. Said Charlie, "Catch them if you can - they are an impressive band of young Canadian blues performers."   In Southern California, labelmate Jimmy Vivino, bandleader of The Basic Cable Band on the Conan TV show, jammed with JW's band at the Maui Sugar Mill in Tarzana. To watch video, click HERE. The next day, JW and his bandmates attended a taping of the Conan show in Burbank, where they got to meet Conan O'Brien and rub shoulders backstage with Miley Cyrus.   And to top it all off, the band ran into Paris Hilton on the street and posed together for a photo.   Only in Beverly Hills!   Here are the remaining dates on JW's U.S. tour: Nov. 4 Austin, TX Continental Club Nov. 7 Houston, TX Shakespeare Club Nov. 8 Houston, TX Big Easy Nov. 9 Dallas, TX RBC Nov. 12 Lincoln, NE Zoo Bar Nov. 13 Omaha, NE 21st Saloon Nov. 14 St. Louis, MO BB's Jazz Blues & Soups Nov. 15 St. Louis, MO Blues City Deli Nov. 24-30 Key West, FL Hog's Breath Saloon

Boom Boom - The Animals

The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon, as exemplified by their number one signature song "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm and blues-oriented album material. They were known in the U.S. as part of the British Invasion.

The Animals underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-1960s and suffered from poor business management. Under the name Eric Burdon and the Animals, they moved to California and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic rock band, before disbanding at the end of the decade. Altogether, the group had ten Top Twenty hits in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

The original lineup had a brief comeback in 1977 and 1983. There have been several partial regroupings of the original era members since then under various names. The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
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Boogie Woogie Dance - Skunk River Medicine Show (Tampa Red)

Tampa Red (January 8, 1904 – March 19, 1981), born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an American Chicago blues musician.

Tampa Red is best known as an accomplished and influential blues guitarist who had a unique single-string slide style. His songwriting and his silky, polished "bottleneck" technique influenced other leading Chicago blues guitarists, such as Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Nighthawk, as well as Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Mose Allison and many others. In a career spanning over 30 years he also recorded pop, R&B and hokum records. His best known recordings include the "classic compositions 'Anna Lou Blues', 'Black Angel Blues', 'Crying Won't Help You', 'It Hurts Me Too', and 'Love Her with a Feeling'"
He was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia, United States. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, who played guitar, and he was especially inspired by an old street musician called Piccolo Pete, who first taught him to play blues licks on a guitar.

In the 1920s, having already perfected his slide technique, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and began his career as a musician, adopting the name 'Tampa Red' from his childhood home and light colored skin. His big break was being hired to accompany Ma Rainey and he began recording in 1928 with "It's Tight Like That", in a bawdy and humorous style that became known as "hokum". Early recordings were mostly collaborations with Thomas A. Dorsey, known at the time as Georgia Tom. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom recorded almost 90 sides, sometimes as "The Hokum Boys" or, with Frankie Jaxon, as "Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band".

In 1928, Tampa Red became the first black musician to play a National steel-bodied resonator guitar, the loudest and showiest guitar available before amplification, acquiring one in the first year they were available. This allowed him to develop his trademark bottleneck style, playing single string runs, not block chords, which was a precursor to later blues and rock guitar soloing. The National guitar he used was a gold-plated tricone, which was found in Illinois in the 1990s by music-shop owner and guitarist Randy Clemens and later sold to the "Experience Music Project" in Seattle. Tampa Red was known as "The Man With The Gold Guitar", and, into the 1930s, he was billed as "The Guitar Wizard".

His partnership with Dorsey ended in 1932, but he remained much in demand as a session musician, working with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Big Maceo, and many others. In 1934 he signed for Victor Records, remaining on their artist roster until 1953. He formed the Chicago Five, a group of session musicians who created what became known as the Bluebird sound, a precursor of the small group style of later jump blues and rock and roll bands.[4] He was a close friend and associate of Big Bill Broonzy and Big Maceo Merriweather. He enjoyed commercial success and reasonable prosperity, and his home became a centre for the blues community, informally providing rehearsal space, bookings, and lodgings for the flow of musicians who arrived in Chicago from the Mississippi Delta as the commercial potential of blues music grew and agricultural employment in the south diminished.

By the 1940s he was playing electric guitar. In 1942 "Let Me Play With Your Poodle" was a # 4 hit on Billboard's new "Harlem Hit Parade", forerunner of the R&B chart, and his 1949 recording "When Things Go Wrong with You (It Hurts Me Too)", another R&B hit, was covered by Elmore James. He was 'rediscovered' in the late 1950s, like many other surviving early recorded blues artists such as Son House and Skip James, as part of the blues revival. His final recordings were in 1960.

He became an alcoholic after his wife's death in 1953. He died destitute in Chicago, aged 77.

Skunk River Medicine Show plays vintage acoustic blues in the styles of some of the great pioneers of pre-World War II country blues and ragtime. This earthy music was born in the Deep South when the War Between the States was still a fresh memory and electricity and paved roads were a novelty. Country blues overflowed out of the plantations, prison farms, levee camps, barrelhouses, camp-town revivals and juke joints, like so much pent-up hot lava erupting from under the ground through a thousand volcanoes. Thanks to the roving talent scouts and early recording companies that captured the primal music in shellac and vinyl, new generations continue to discover for the first time the powerful blues of Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Tommy Johnson, Blind Blake, Henry “Ragtime Texas” Thomas, Reverend Gary Davis and others. These pioneers poured into music their hopes, joys, loves, losses, passions, frustrations—and their tales of ramblin’ ways and broken hearts, worn-out lovers, and kind-hearted, double-crossing women.
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Help Me - Junior Wells

Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998), born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist. Wells, who was best known for his performances and recordings with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy, also performed with Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison
Junior Wells was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and raised in West Memphis, Arkansas, though other sources report that his birth was in West Memphis. Initially taught by his cousin, Junior Parker, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, Wells learned how to play the harmonica by the age of seven with surprising skill. He moved to Chicago in 1948 with his mother after her divorce and began sitting in with local musicians at house parties and taverns. Wild and rebellious but needing an outlet for his talents, he began performing with The Aces (guitarist brothers Dave and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below) and developed a more modern amplified harmonica style influenced by Little Walter. In 1952, he made his first recordings, when he replaced Little Walter in Muddy Waters' band and appeared on one of Waters' sessions for Chess Records in 1952. His first recordings as a band leader were made in the following year for States Records. In the later 1950s and early 1960s he also recorded singles for Chief Records and its Profile Records subsidiary, including "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", and "It Hurts Me Too", which would remain in his repertoire throughout his career. His 1960 Profile single "Little by Little" (written by Chief owner and producer Mel London) reached #23 in the Billboard R&B chart, making it the first of two Wells' singles to enter the chart.

Junior Wells worked with guitarist Buddy Guy in the 1960s, and featured Guy on guitar when he recorded his first album, Hoodoo Man Blues for Delmark Records. Wells and Guy supported the Rolling Stones on numerous occasions in the 1970s. Although his albums South Side Blues Jam (1971) and On Tap (1975) proved he had not lost his aptitude for Chicago blues, his 1980s and 1990s discs were inconsistent. However, 1996's Come On in This House was an intriguing set of classic blues songs with a rotating cast of slide guitarists, among them Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks. Wells made an appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000, the sequel to The Blues Brothers, which was released in 1998.

Wells continued performing until he was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 1997. That fall, he suffered a heart attack while undergoing treatment, sending him into a coma. Wells died in Chicago, after succumbing to lymphoma on January 15, 1998, and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago.
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Chickenfoot invade the UK in January 2012

Following the release of their long awaited second album ‘III’, the hottest rock & roll band in the world, Chickenfoot, have announced a 5-date UK and European tour for January 2012; their first European concerts since July 2009.
Tickets for the January 2012 European concerts will go on sale from Friday October 14th 2011, further info detailed below, and at www.chickenfoot.us.
Featuring guitar hero Joe Satriani and Van Halen duo, bassist Michael Anthony & frontman Sammy Hagar, Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith has temporarily handed his sticks over to the legendary drummer/musician Kenny Aronoff, who will join the band for these concerts. Says Joe Satriani, "Kenny brings that same combination of super chops and wild energy to the band that we're used to; and, offstage, he's just as crazy as Chad.”
Chickenfoot will perform songs from their gold-selling, eponymous debut album, alongside tracks from the critically acclaimed ‘III’, for the very first time outside of the United States. The European tour kicks off at the Manchester Academy on Thursday January 12th 2012, followed by London’s O₂ Academy Brixton (Sat January 14th), Paris Olympia (Monday January 16th), Tilburg 013 (Tuesday January 17th) and Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Hall (Thursday January 19th).

Manchester Academy
Thursday 12th January 2012
Ticket Prices: £29.50 (subject to booking fee)
Book Online: www.livenation.co.uk

London O₂ Academy Brixton
Saturday 14th January 2012
Ticket Prices: £32.50 (subject to booking fee)
Book Online: www.livenation.co.uk

Paris Olympia
Monday 16th January 2012
Ticket Prices: Euro 69.70, 58.70
Book Online: www.gdp.fr/fr/node/584

Tilburg 013
Tuesday 17th January 2012
Ticket Prices: Euro 47.50
Book Online: www.ticketmaster.nl

Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Hall
Thursday 19th January 2012
Ticket Prices: Euro 40.00
Ticket Hotline: +49 (0)1805-570 000   
Book Online: www.eventim.de

"'III' is a work of art from start to finish ... the rock album of 2011"
- Fireworks Magazine (UK)

Produced by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica), Chickenfoot III was co-released worldwide on Tuesday September 27th in exclusive and never-before-seen 3D packaging to critical acclaim. The album is released in the UK and Europe by Edel’s international rock and pop label, earMUSIC (www.ear-music.net).
“I am very proud of the new album,” says lead singer Sammy Hagar. “We called it Chickenfoot III because it's so good, and the songs are so tight, that it's like we jumped right past having to make a second record.”  He adds, “We’ve established a real trust, Joe and I, we are truly bring out the best in one another, and that spreads to the whole band.”

"Chest beating, man-sized heavy rock... One bad-ass supergroup."
- Mojo Magazine

Chickenfoot’s 2009 eponymous debut album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album reached #3 on Billboard’s Top Selling Independent albums of 2009, and #88 in the overall Top-selling 200 Albums of 2009. 
Upon release, “Chickenfoot” charted inside the top 20 in Japan and almost every country in Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux). The album charted inside the top 40 in virtually every other country in the world and has been certified Gold by Impala for sales generated in Europe. Chickenfoot were named “Best New Band” at the Classic Rock Magazine awards ceremony in London, 2009.
As “Chickenfoot” did in 2009, “III” has gone straight into the top-10 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, and is currently inside the top-20 right across Europe after a few days on the market.

"Chickenfoot III is likely to be the best Rock album of the year."
- Rocks Magazine (Germany)

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Chickenfoot – Official Website
earMUSIC – Official Website

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Music Matters Update

Now Booking for 2012 Tommy Talton, Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions ...and other great artists  Music Matters Entertainment LLC Music Matters Entertainment LLC is pleased to present Tommy Talton, The Tommy Talton Band or Tommy Talon with Cowboy.  Also available is Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions and many other artists in various genres for festivals, venues, resorts, cruises and other events in the United States and abroad for 2012. Tommy Talton  Tommy Talton is one of the best songwriters and guitarists of our time. Talton has taken the southern music scene by storm in recent years with a new band, a new determination, and exceptional new music. Talton's music showcases not only his classic slide and guitar work, but his distinctive vocals, and passionate songwriting.  The Tommy Talton Band live performances appeal to all ages, as evidenced by the wide age range of audiences at its live performances. Expect to hear music from many genres from blues, southern rock and country rock to Americana, R&B and soul. Talton's critically acclaimed studio CD, TOMMY TALON IN EUROPE and his highly anticipated live CD, LIVE NOTES FROM ATHENS were  both released on Hittin’ the Note Records.  While in Macon, GA through most of the 70s, Talton was a studio musician recording with artists such as Bonnie Bramlett, Martin Mull, Corky Lang (West, Bruce and Lang, Mountain), Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Clarence Carter, country legend Kitty Wells, Alex and Livingston Taylor, Arthur Conley of Sweet Soul Music fame, and more. He toured extensively throughout the U.S. with Cowboy and with the Gregg Allman tour, from Carnegie Hall (as special guests) to Fillmore West in San Francisco and most cities in between. Talton was also the guitarist on Gregg Allman's LAID BACK album. Talton performed as a special guest with The Allman Brothers Band numerous times in 2009, 2010 and 2011 from Macon, GA to New York City.  "… Almost thirty-four years after  THE GREG ALLMAN TOUR  release, Talton has rolled tape on another epic live recording, LIVE NOTES FROM ATHENS will delight new music fans hungry for an extraordinary, original artist whose sound is dynamite burning with a short fuse." - Hittin’ the Note Magazine Talton is available for solo bookings, as well as with The Tommy Talton Band and Cowboy. ...Whether performing solo, with his band or with COWBOY, Talton touches souls like no other musician. Tommy Talton with Cowboy Tommy Talton was a founding member of Capricorn Records group COWBOY. Cowboy/Boyer & Talton reunited in 2010 and released their first CD since 1979, a live CD recorded in Macon, GA and released on Hittin’ the Note Records in 2011.  Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions Davin McCoy, the youngest artist in our stable, has the innate ability to make an old man feel young and a young man feel wiser. Davin must be heard and seen to truly appreciate and understand his incredible songwriting and performing talents. “Sometimes I feel completely disingenuous, the one place I have never felt that way is in music.” – Davin McCoy. As an 8 year old, Davin McCoy would whistle “Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay” in his sleep. The well of creative passion was beginning to seep. Born in Albany, Georgia and raised in separate households, Davin’s inherit gift and calling for music would finally manifest at age 12, when he found the guitar. Shortly thereafter, Davin began writing his own songs—musical emotion and expression akin to Cat Stevens, Van Morrison and of course, Otis Redding. After a short stint at the University of Hawaii, Davin succumbed to his calling and began his life-long dedication to writing and performing; to observing and inspiring. At 21, Davin teamed up with Clay Cook (John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, Zack Brown, Marshall Tucker Band) to record his first full length musical effort 40 DAYS FROM FRIDAY. Unyielding to fear and eager for experience, Davin quickly shipped off to London where he would take up a publishing deal and continue to write and perform. Davin’s music would take him over oceans and across continents, from London to L.A., and to Florida via New York. Davin returned to Georgia where he recorded SO GOOD, SO CRUEL,  his most recent and most inspired work, produced by Davis Cause (Sea Level, The Allman Brothers Band) with guest performances by Randall Bramblett (Sea Level, Cowboy, Widespread Panic) and Chuck Leavell (The Allman Brothers Band, Rolling Stones, Sea Level) and the Widespread Panic horn section. Together with Casey Crogan on the drums, Davin and company made magic in the studio.    “McCoy is well on his way to national recognition” – Billboard Magazine “Davin is wonderfully talented. He’s got a gift.” – Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie) Davin McCoy is available for solo performances, we well as with his original trio and his current six piece band, The Coming Attractions