Dawes’ highly anticipated new album, We’re All Gonna Die, will be released September 16 via their own HUB Records. This record follows the release of All Your Favorite Bands, which Rolling Stone declared “Their strongest record since their 2009 debut,” while NPR’s Fresh Air furthered, “Dawes has managed to make an album that grapples with sadness in a way that avoids downbeat ballads. Instead, this is the sound of a band stretching out, letting the melodies and Taylor Goldsmith’s vocals illustrate the range and depth of doubt and regret as eloquently as any breakup lyric could possibly describe.” We’re All Gonna Die can be pre-ordered here: http://bit.ly/2bld1Py.
The official music video for the album’s lead single, “When The Tequila Runs Out,” debuts today. Directed byKevin Hayes, the video was filmed with a slow motion camera capturing fun moments throughout a late night party as if it were slowly being recalled the next morning in a fuzzy hungover haze. Watch the video onFacebook and YouTube.
Additionally, Dawes partnered with Facebook and LiveX to live stream their show last night at Rough Trade NYC. Watch the performance here: http://bit.ly/2aZ4uRe. In support of the release, the band will perform two album release shows at Los Angeles’ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on September 16 and at New York’s McKittrick Hotel on September 19. More dates to be announced soon.
We’re All Gonna Die was recorded at EastWest Studios (Los Angeles, CA) with additional recording at The Boat (Silverlake, CA) and was produced by Grammy nominated producer Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes). The record features ten original tracks and includes backing vocals from Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes,Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe of Lucius, Mandy Moore and Will Oldham.
The band consists of Goldsmith, Wylie Gelber (bass), Griffin Goldsmith (drums, vocals, percussion) and Lee Pardini (keyboards, vocals). Dawes has toured extensively playing headline shows worldwide and major festival appearances including Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and Newport Folk Festival. Recently, they have toured with My Morning Jacket, Bob Dylan, Mumford and Sons, Conor Oberst, and Jackson Browne.
A brand-new track from the Pixies' upcoming album Head Carrier (September 30, Pixiesmusic/Play It Again Sam/[PIAS]) has just been released. "Talent," a raucous song that features a cameo appearance by legendary actor Jack Palance, can now be streamed here and is available as an instant-grat track when pre-ordering the new album on iTunes. The song can also be streamed as a stand-alone single on Spotify, Deezer and all other streaming platforms, and purchased on all other online stores.
Since 2007, the Backbeat Books FAQ series has dived deep into the stories of the most prominent names in music – from Michael Jackson and Johnny Cash to Black Sabbath and the Beach Boys. But there may not be an artist more perfectly suited to the FAQ format than Frank Zappa, whose influences encompassed classical music, doo-wop, and the blues, and whose impact can be heard in artists as diverse as Fee Waybill, George Clinton, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Composer, musician, charismatic bandleader, movie producer, singer, political activist, businessman, father, husband, occasional talk show guest. Each label manages to identify an aspect of Zappa’s remarkably varied life and career, but no one word—or even a long list of them—can adequately describe the man or his contributions to art.
In Frank Zappa FAQ (September 2016, Backbeat Books, $19.99), author John Corcelli covers the many facets of Zappa’s long, illustrious, and category-defying career. He examines his style shifts over the years, his prolific catalog from Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out!to Beat the Boots, his film and video productions, and the inner workings of his creative process, from recording to leading a band. The book also looks at the influence contemporary classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern had on Zappa’s music; Zappa’s lyrical themes; his guitar playing; the numerous acts that have toured with him; and his television appearances, beginning with a visit to The Steve Allen Show in 1963 in which he played a bicycle. Corcelli also includes a detailed chapter on the Frank Zappa alumni – the long list of talented musicians who shared the stage and studio with him over the years and have been shaped by his tutelage.
In addition, Frank Zappa FAQ features a detailed reading list of books about Zappa, a complete discography, and finally, a look at Zappa’s legacy, from his son Dweezil’s performances of his father’s music to the many cover bands that pay homage to the legend, including Project/Object and Banned from Utopia.
Frank Zappa FAQ is a roadmap to a career of an artist whose imagination and talent know no bounds. It is must-have for fans, new and old, looking to delve into some of the best music ever made by one of the most innovative artists the world has ever known.