Otis Redding News

Marcus King today announced his return to the UK / Ireland, embarking on a headline run of shows in February 2020. Tickets will go on sale on November 8th at 9am and can be purchased here.  

On the day that the UK was supposed to be leaving the European Union, BEANS ON TOAST, reveals a new single: 'England, I Love You'.

Craft Recordings is thrilled to announce the release of a vinyl box set celebrating one of music's greatest gospel and soul groups, The Staple Singers. Set for a December 6th release date, Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection presents all of the group's studio albums released on the iconic Memphis label, spanning 1968–1974, and features the Staples' biggest hits, including “I'll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself” and “If You're Ready (Come Go with Me).” The six studio albums were cut from the original analog masters by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. The final, seventh disc offers rarities, non-album singles and several live recordings from the legendary 1972 Wattstax music festival. The seven discs come in heavyweight 180-gram vinyl pressed at Memphis Record Pressing. Housed in a slipcase, the collection also includes a deluxe booklet with archival photos and new liner notes from American music specialist and curator Levon Williams (formerly of the Stax Museum and the National Museum of African American Music), and folklorist, ethnomusicologist and writer Dr. Langston Wilkins. The complete collection will also be released digitally, and the six studio albums will be available in hi-res 24-bit/192 kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz formats for the first time.

Scott Adsit, Henry Koperski, A Strange Loop, Sofia Viola & Dat Garcia and More! will take the stage this month nightly at Joe's Pub, 10/9-20. See the full lineup below!

THE BROTHERS SIZE is an artful exploration of the obligations put upon its characters. McCraney beautifully reflects on both the societal systems that oppress these three black men, while also deepening the exploration of the personal obligations they feel to one another-and the question of what it means to be part of a brotherhood, whether biological or chosen.

Craft Recordings is delighted to announce the debut vinyl release of Natalie Cole's bestselling, 1994 holiday album, Holly & Ivy. Set for an November 8th release date, Holly & Ivy has been remastered by George Horn and Anne-Marie Suenram at Fantasy Studiosand pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. A CD reissue will be released on the same day. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the acclaimed album—which was the first of several holiday outings in Cole's career.

Rubicon Theatre Company presents an updated limited-engagement encore run of last year's World Premiere of I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC directed by James O'Neil. This year's production features an all new cast starring Yvette Cason, Harley Jay, Beau Moore, Charlotte Morris and Scott Anthony. I Dig Rock and Roll Music begins previews on September 11, will have its press opening on Saturday September 14 at 7 p.m., and performances will continue September 15 through September 29 at Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.

Due to scheduling issues, Lillias White will no longer be able to perform in I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC for this limited run at the Rubicon Theatre; and Yvette Cason (Broadway credits include Play On!, for which she also won an Ovation Award and Dreamgirls. Her regional credits include Blues in the Night at the Wallis and Shout Sister Shout at the Pasadena Playhouse), will now perform with the production through closing.

This fall, Craft Recordings will reissue five albums from the Stax vault on 180-gram vinyl. In stores November 1st, the titles include The Bar-Kays'Gotta Groove, Melting Pot from Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Delaney & Bonnie's Home, David Porter's Victim of the Joke?...An Opera, and Johnnie Taylor's Who's Making Love. All LPs have been cut from their original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl and manufactured at Memphis Record Pressing. These reissues are part of a yearlong celebration of Stax, and of the 50th anniversary of the legendary label's “Soul Explosion”—an era of rebuilding following its separation from Atlantic Records. During this period, the newly independent label not only signed fresh, emerging talent but also released an impressive collection of 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months.

'To have that kind of power, and that kind of control, and that kind of incredible musicality, it was what I wanted to be.' -- Billy Price, on James Brown

Multi-platinum entertainer and the fifth most-played female artist at country-radio in nearly the last two decades, Sara Evans, along with her daughter Olivia Barker (16) and son Avery Barker (19), released a live album today, Live From City Winery Nashville (Born To Fly Records). The 16-song collection, recorded live from the family band's sold-out concert at City Winery Nashville during their limited engagement City Winery and SiriusXM Y2Kountry present Sara Evans with The Barker Family Band – Bloodline Tour, showcases mesmerizing harmonies from Sara and Olivia on original songs and covers including Beyonce's “XO” and Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams.” California trio Fairground Saints also guest on the closing track, Evans' signature smash, “Born To Fly.”

Rubicon Theatre Company presents an updated encore run of last year's World Premiere of I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC with an all new cast September 11 through September 29 at Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.   

Musco Center for the Arts will offer blues fans a free outdoor concert on Saturday, October 12 featuring Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee Booker T, the New Orleans blues band The Iguanas, and 'Bombay Blues Man' Aki Kumar.

Following their limited engagement City Winery and SiriusXM Y2Kountry present Sara Evans with The Barker Family Band – Bloodline Tour, multi-platinum entertainer Sara Evans, along with her daughter Olivia Barker (16) and son Avery Barker (19), will release a live album, Live From City Winery Nashville, on August 30. The 16-song collection chronicles the family band live in concert and showcases mesmerizing harmonies from Sara and Olivia on original songs and covers including Beyonce's “XO' and Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams.” California trio Fairground Saints also guest on the closing track, Evans' signature smash, “Born To Fly.”  Pre-order/Pre-save now at smarturl.it/livefromcitywinery and instantly receive “A Little Bit Stronger” (8/16) and “Tennessee Whiskey” (8/23) ahead of the record's release.

Louisiana native and internationally charting soul singer Ollie Gabriel was introduced to the American people on the new NBC series a?oeSongland.'

As previously announced, MainStage Irving*Las Colinas has recently leased the former Texas Musicians Museum (222 E. Irving Blvd, Irving TX 75060), with the newly-titled MainStage 222 building set to officially open on October 3rd. But marking the inaugural performance in the new space with be the MainStage 222 Live Blues Revue, featuring DFW's most requested Blues bands on Saturday, September 7, 2019 from 6:00PM to 12:00AM. $10 general admission tickets are now available online at tickets.irvingartscenter.com/milc222. Tickets at the door will be $12 as available.

It's hard to imagine a more intimate or powerful production of Tarell Alvin McCraney's 'The Brothers Size' than the probing, searing version on stage at the Ancram Opera House. Director Martine Kei Green -Rogers totally realizes McCraney's multi-textured storytelling of prose, song and dance, putting three fabulous actors in your face (just about) off a thrust stage and into the audience in the compact, old grange hall in upstate Hudson Valley.

The fast-rising Danish singer-songwriter Soleima has been making waves since her latest single “STFU” dropped earlier this summer, and now she's following it up with an ode to heartbreak in her new single called “Cheers for the Tears” that's officially out today through Big Beat Records. The laid-back, feel-good song was produced by Big Beat's own Vasco, and co-written by Big Taste (Justin Bieber, Madison Beer, Broods, Dua Lipa), Jerker Hansson (Panic! At The Disco, Charli XCX), and Ivy Adara (Cheat Codes, Gryffin, Maggie Lindemann), making for a superstar collaboration all the way around. 

As alternative rock heroes Taking Back Sunday celebrate two decades together, Craft Recordings is pleased to announce a remastered vinyl reissue of the album that started it all—the band's genre-defining 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends. The LP will be available on October 4th as a wide release, while a special edition—pressed oniridescent color-morphing green vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies—will be for sale exclusively via the band's website and on tour (while supplies last). Tell All Your Friends propelled the Long Island, NY band's career, bringing them worldwide recognition and critical acclaim and going on to sell over one million copies worldwide. This reissue comes as part of a yearlong 20th anniversary campaign for Taking Back Sunday, which has included the retrospective collection, Twenty, exclusive content and an extensive worldwide tour.

Craft Recordings is proud to announce the release of Joan Baez's Live at Woodstock, available today (8/2) on all digital and streaming platforms. For the very first time, fans can hear the influential folk singer's entire set, as it was performed at the historic festival 50 years ago. Live at Woodstock features nearly an hour of music and interstitial stories, including “Sweet Sir Galahad,” “I Shall Be Released,” and a stunning a cappella rendition of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”