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Page Too Report for 04/07/2017


Alan Jackson Leads 2017 Country Music Hall Of Fame Inductees

Alan Jackson, Jerry Reed and songwriter Don Schlitz are all set to be inducted into The Country Music Hall of Fame during the Medallion Ceremony on October 22nd.

The class of 2017 was revealed during a press event lead by Vince Gill at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and Gill had this to say about Jackson at the event, "He straddled the lines between pop sensibilities and hardline affection for classic Country. Nobody has stuck up for Country Music more than this gentleman. Ever."

Jackson shared his own excitement about the honor "It's an honor. For me to say I'm honored sounds like the standard old response, but for a man who loves country music there is no higher honor. This is the mountain top!" Read more here.

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Band Robbed While Making A Video About Being Robbed

The Wild Reeds saw the storyline of the music video for their track "Only Songs" of being robbed come true while filming the clip. The song comes from the band's new album "The World We Built", which was released today (April 7th).

Singer and guitarist Mackenzie Howe explained how fiction became reality, "This song is sort of a diary entry about how trivial things in life are often disappointing, but how playing music with the band over the last few years has been our steadfast source of fun and joy.

"The story line of the video is that my Telecaster gets stolen out of my car, so the three of us girls find creative ways to make some cash to buy me a new guitar. The crazy part is day one of shooting, after we shot the roller skating/bike scene, my car did get broken into and I had many valuable things stolen."

The damaged car was included in the footage for the video, which can be seen here.

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Gorillaz Release 'Let Me Out' Featuring Mavis Staples and Pusha T

Fans are getting another small listen to the forthcoming Gorillaz album after the Damon Albarn band released an online stream of a new song called "Let Me Out".

The new song features guest vocals from Mavis Staples and Pusha T and is one of the tracks from the group's long awaited new album "Humanz", which is set to be released on April 28th.

Staples and Pusha are not the only big names who lent their talents to the new record, it will also feature contributions from Vince Staples De La Soul, Grace Jones and Jehnny Beth. Listen to the new song here.

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Feist Announces Tour and Streams New Song 'Century'

Indie pop star Feist has announced that she will be launching an intimate tour of North America and has also released a stream of a new song called "Century" which features Jarvis Cocker.

The song can be streamed here and is one of the tracks that will be included on her forthcoming album "Pleasure," which is set to hit stores on April 28th and is the follow up to her hit 2011 studio effort "Metals".

Feist will be celebrating the release with a series of live dates across North America this spring and summer, followed by European music festival appearances in August.

She will be kicking off the tour on April 27th in Toronto, ON at Trinity St. Paul and has announced shows in the U.S., Mexico and Canada that will run until July 9th with an appearance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. See the dates here.

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Matisyahu Streams New Song 'Step Out Into The Light'

Matisyahu has released a stream of his new track "Step Out Into The Light". The song is the first single from his forthcoming album "Undercurrent", which will be hitting stores on May 19th.

The new song was inspired by the difference between the Jewish philosophies of Emunah and Bitachon. Matisyahu explains, "Emunah is nothing more than an understanding that God runs the world and is part of the world in every way and in every dimension.

"Bitachon is a trust or reliance in God (or friends, family, etc.) for your own personal journey through this world. Someone can intellectually understand or emotionally have faith that the world is beyond the self, but still have no trust that world cares at all about his own personal life and journey. I.e. One can have emunah but no bitachon."

He also revealed the major difference with this new album and his past efforts, "This is the first album I've made that is produced by myself and the band with out any outside forces involved. It's my baby. No compromises, full artistic integrity." Stream the new single here.

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Kenny G and George Benson Teaming For Breezin' & Breathless Tour

George Benson and Kenny G have announced that they will be hitting the road together for a U.S. coheadlining trek that will be dubbed the Breezin' & Breathless Tour.

They have announce 13 dates that span from the opening show on May 13th at the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, OK to the final stop on October 21st where they will play the Treasure Island Casino in Welch, MN.

Kenny G had this to say, "To say I'm honored to share the stage with one of the greatest musicians in the world would be a huge understatement. George Benson has always been a jazz hero to me with a virtuosity that is second to none." Read more here.

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Reba To Sing National Anthem At City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game

Country music star Reba McEntire has been recruited to sing the Nation Anthem before the upcoming 27th Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game this spring.

The event will be taking place on June 10th at First Tennessee Park in downtown Nashville and will benefit the City of Hope research and cancer and diabetes treatment center.

An announcement of more artist will be coming soon for the annual charity event that usually features some of the biggest names in country music. Past participants included Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Shania Twain, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks and Vince Gill. Read more here.

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Nikka Costa Streams Cover Of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U'

Soul singer Nikka Costa is giving fans an early taste of her forthcoming album with the release of her unique rendition of the classic Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U".

The track is the first single from her album "Nikka & Strings, Underneath and In Between", which will be released later this year. She had this to say about the effort, "I'm really excited to have recorded the new album with a rhythm section and a string quartet! I have some songs I've always wanted to record with this line up and make into a very special album featuring this music I love.

I grew up surrounded by orchestras and its music that is close to my heart. The new album features some standards, some unexpected covers and some of my own new material written especially for this project! I'm so excited!" Stream the single here.

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Alan Menken To Receive 2017 Johnny Mercer Award

Award winning composer for film and stage, Alan Menken (Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid) will be this year's recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award during the Songwriters Hall of Fame's 48th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner.

The special event will be taking place on June 15th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City and the Johnny Mercer Award follows Menken's induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.

SHOF co-chairs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff had this to say about the honor, "Alan Menken is a prolific composer whose music has conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. His success in scoring animated musicals like Beauty And The Beast, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, filling them with unforgettable songs and then adapting them for the Broadway stage has delighted countless children and adults." Read more here.

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Matt Andersen Celebrates Busy Touring Season With New Single

Canadian music star Matt Andersen has released a live performance clip of his brand new single "Who Are You Listening To?," which is a track from his album "Honest Man."

The performance video can be streamed here and comes amid a busy year of tour which will see Anderson perform in Canada, Europe and the UK.

Following a couple of Canadian shows, Anderson will head across the Atlantic to kick off Euro trek will be launching on May 18th in Dublin and wrapping up in Stockholm on June 9th.

That will be followed by more concert and music festivals appearances across Canada through the end of September. See all of the upcoming dates here.

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Essence Launching Mini Tour In Support Of Black Wings Album

San Francisco singer-songwriter Essence has announced that she will be launching a special series of live dates across California in support of her latest studio album "Black Wings".

The trek will be kicking off in Santa Cruz at Bocci's Cellar on April 26th and includes shows at the Hotel Caf� in Los Angeles and LeStat's Coffee House in San Diego, before wrapping up in San Luis Obispo at the Linnaea's Caf� on the 29th.

She shared this background about her new album, "Black Wings is a story told out of sequence, each song is a snapshot of an event that led to the ultimate undoing of my 10-year marriage. The stories on this record emerge from a deadly silence, they dispel a facade of a happy family portrait, and they air the truth of what had been hidden for too long.

"The ritual of writing and recording served as a lifeline to my survival during a very dark life passage. Black Wings has been the key to my transcendence, punctuated by the unshakable synchronicity of art imitating life". See the dates here.

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Singled Out: Boondox's Free Soul and They Don't Understand

Georgia rap star Boondox recently released his new album "The Murder" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the songs "Free Soul" and "They Don't Understand" from the new effort. Here are the stories:

"Free Soul" I tend to spend a lot of time on thinking about the whole "meaning of life" thing, and the existence of a higher power. It's one of those personal struggles that I don't mention much in discussions, but is pretty prevalent in my lyrics if you pay close enough attention. Anyway, that's where the origins of this song originated from.

I was just sitting at home thinking about these subjects as I often do, and I started getting irritated by the whole thing. I was thinking to myself that "God" (if you choose to put a label on this higher being, or even choose to believe in one at all) surely puts a lot of pressure on humanity. We are such imperfect creatures, but we are expected to be so perfect. Then I started to think if this is the case at all, and are there really any expectations and whose expectations are they if so. Maybe it's all just programming and the environment I was raised in that makes me think this way. Billions of people I'm positive have had this conversation with themselves, no revelations here whatsoever. I'm also sure that many people will read this and wonder how have I not figured this out by now one way or the other. Like I said, it's a personal struggle. I wrote this song as a kind of therapy for that subject I guess. It hasn't worked yet, I'm as confused as ever.

"They Don't Understand": This song was inspired by the judgment that myself and I'm sure many people reading this often receive, for our choice to walk in the shadows per se. We may lean more towards the not so pleasant things in life. Be it the music we listen to, the movies we watch, or the subjects that interest us etc. We enjoy some blood, guts, and good old fashioned horror in our lives, and not just on occasion. We enjoy it so much and it's so prevalent that it scares certain individuals. We get labeled "weird", "freaks", and sometimes "crazy". Some people view us in a negative light because we focus more on the darkness than on the light. I wrote this song as a kind of anthem for all of us shadow dwellers.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

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