Sxip Shirey's New Video/Single 'Woman of Constant Sorrow' Premieres on Billboard

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Shirey's forthcoming album, A Bottle of Whiskey and a Handful of Bees, is set for release January 13 on VIA Records. Recently, the video for his track "Palms," featuring vocals and performance from iconic clown persona Puddles Pity Party premiered with Elmore Magazine who called the video, "joyous" and proclaimed, "...the track explodes with violins and the swelling, singalong harmonies of a chorus, leaving the viewer impossibly charmed-and in stitches-by the off-beat aesthetic." Earlier, Shirey's track "Cinnamon Stick" featuring soul singer Xavier premiered at Glide, who described it as an "electro-pop anthem." Also streaming is Shirey's video for "Penny Red," which you can view/share HERE.

In celebration of the album's release, a show with special guests Rhiannon Giddens and Xavier (both of whom appear on several of the new album's tracks) as well as Dessa and Choral Chameleon will take place January 9, at 7PM at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York. Shirey says of the event, "I have a very diverse international musical life, from playing underground dance parties in NYC, to writing pieces for a choir with megaphones, to singing over a river in Norway, to touring the world as band leader in a contemporary circus. This release party is the first time I am crafting a show that brings all the elements of my musical and performance life together. I am very excited."

Composed and produced by Shirey with co-production and engineering by Don Godwin and mastering by Greg Calbi, much of A Bottle of Whiskey and a Handful of Bees was created over the course of the two years that Shirey spent touring the world as performer, composer and music director of LIMBO, an explosive circus arts show for which he composed the music, played the role of "head angel," music-directed and led the band for 425 performances. On breaks he returned to New York and worked with Godwin in the legendary BC Studio of Martin Bisi in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and it was there that the album ultimately took shape as the non-linear story of an artist living the life of an international artist-nomad-a member of a creative community of collaborators and colleagues who intersect, perform and create together all over the world. The music boxes and harmonicas with which Shirey regularly fills his pockets are joined on the LP by cooking implements, cocktail glasses, bells, whistles and whales, among many other sources of sound.

Of the album's title Shirey says, "Bees hold perceived value. They are like little coins. They work. They make honey. Hold them lightly or they will sting. When they do, take a slug of whiskey and keep going."

The album follows 2010's Sonic New York and 2006's Sombule. Shirey has also released three albums with Luminescent Orchestrii (Neptune's Daughter, Too Hot To Sleep and the self-titled Luminescent Orchestrii), of which he is a founding member, plus one EP on Nonesuch Records as a collaboration between Luminescent Orchestrii and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Known for his experimental use of found objects, computers and traditional, rare and modified instruments, Shirey has toured the world and shared stages with the likes of Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls, Jason Webley, Rhiannon Giddens, Reggie Watts, Evelyn Evelyn, French musician Féloche, the Boston Pops and the English National Opera, among many others. He has played the Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Brisbane Festival, London's South Bank Centre, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Celebrate Brooklyn!, the Big Ears Festival, FloydFest, Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, and in New York City has been a regular fixture at Joe's Pub, The Knitting Factory, CBGB and now National Sawdust, where he is also currently an artist curator. He was featured at TED in Monterey, California in 2008, which may be viewed here: https://www.ted.com/talks/sxip_shirey_at_the_breathing_place.

Composition highlights include Neil Gaiman's short film Statuesque, a mini-opera for English National Opera (What Dreams May Come), director Douglas Keeve's feature film Hotel Gramercy Park, playwright Lisa D'Amour's Marsupial Girl at The Minneapolis Children's Theater and five George Méliès silent films, including A Trip to the Moon, for The Museum of The Moving Image in Queens with presentation by writer Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret). Shirey's latest work, The Gauntlet, a "choir you walk through," in which audience members travel between two rows of singers, was world-premiered on The High Line in New York City and a new iteration, The Gauntlet-Fredrikstad, recently premiered in Norway as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations for the city of Fredrikstad.

A BOTTLE OF WHISKEY AND A HANDFUL OF BEES TRACK LIST