I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs Faraway Downs, James Bay, The Black Crowes, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Chelsea Cutler, Noah Kahan, and Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas.
- Baz Luhrmann’s 6-chapter reimagining of his 2008 film Australia, Faraway Downs is an epic adventure that will inspire audiences. Faraway Downs will screen on Hulu in the United States, Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ in all other territories on November 26. The story centers on an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) who travels halfway across the world to confront her wayward husband and sell an unusual asset: a million-acre cattle ranch in the Australian Outback called ‘Faraway Downs’. Following the death of her husband, a ruthless Australian cattle baron, King Carney (Bryan Brown), plots to take her land and she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to protect her ranch. The sweeping adventure romance is explored through the eyes of young Nullah (Brandon Walters), a bi-racial Indigenous Australian child caught up in the government's draconian racial policy now referred to as the “Stolen Generations.” Together the trio experiences four life-altering years, a love affair between Lady Ashley and the Drover, and the unavoidable impact of World War II on Northern Australia.
- Three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Bay shares a new single entitled “All My Broken Pieces” out now via Mercury/Republic Records. Listen to “All My Broken Pieces”—HERE. The track has a special place in James’ heart as he wrote the song with Jamie Hartman and Boots Ottestad ten years ago while he was writing his GRAMMY® Award-nominated album Chaos And The Calm (which featured the now infamous singles “Let It Go” & “Hold Back The River”). Recently when diving back into some old sessions he found the original demo and decided it was finally time to re-record the track, enlisting Gabe Simon to produce it.
- Today, world-renowned rock band The Black Crowes dropped a new mix of an unreleased recording of the Memphis soul classic song "99 Pounds," originally recorded by Ann Peebles and written by Don Bryant. The track is just one of the 14 never-before-released recordings off the forthcoming box set of their chart-topping sophomore album, The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion, set for release on December 15 via American Recordings/UMe. Stream/listen to “99 Pounds” HERE. Originally from the catalogue of Memphis soul singer-songwriter Ann Peebles “99 Pounds” was originally released on Peebles' 1972 album Straight From the Heart. The Black Crowes’ cover of the admired track is a classic Rock & Roll take on a Southern Soul ballad. Listen to Chris Robinson talk about the recording of the song HERE. Pre-Order Catch A Fire’s 50th Anniversary Editions Here
- Catch A Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers and was the first to be released by Island Records UK. The album originally had a limited release and was credited to The Wailers. Housed in a memorable sleeve in the shape of a Zippo lighter designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner, Catch A Fire’s future versions would feature the classic portrait of Marley smoking a “spliff,” taken by Esther Anderson. From then on, the artist credit was Bob Marley and The Wailers. After touring and recording in the UK with Johnny Nash, Nash’s departure to the United States left the Wailers without enough money to return home. They approached Island founder and producer Chris Blackwell, who advanced them the money for an album and paid their fares back to Jamaica, where they recorded Catch a Fire. The album features nine songs, two of which were written by Peter Tosh and the rest by Bob Marley. After Marley’s return to London to present the tapes to Blackwell, the producer reworked the tracks with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on two overdubbed tracks. Marking the beginning of the anniversary celebrations will be the unearthing of the “Slave Driver” performance from the Edmonton show in 1973, available on his YouTube page. Fans can enjoy an ensemble of videos over the next few months to mark the release of the 50th-anniversary editions in November.
- To celebrate the release of her new album Stellaria out now, Platinum-Certified singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer Chelsea Cutler reveals her 2024 headline tour titled “The Beauty Is Everywhere Tour.” Kicking off in Atlanta on February 16th, the tour makes stops at iconic venues across North America throughout the spring, including New York’s Radio City Music Hall on February 23rd, Los Angeles’ The Hollywood Palladium on March 22nd, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on March 30th, and more. See the full list of tour dates below and at www.chelseacutlertour.com/. Fans can sign-up for early access to tickets at www.chelseacutlertour.com/. The artist presale tickets along with VIP package sales begin on October 24th at 10am local time, and the local presale begins on October 26th at 10am local time. The general on-sale starts on October 27th at 10am local time.
- On the one-year anniversary of Stick Season’s original release, Noah Kahan’s critically acclaimed breakout album climbed back up to the Top 10 on Billboard’s 200 Chart, landing at #9 this week. Not to mention, this week, the beloved title track jumped to the Top 15 on Spotify’s US Top 200 Chart and #74 on the Billboard Hot 100, just in time for “stick season” to begin, and fan favorite “She Calls Me Back” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at #76. This week, he dropped a live performance of “Dial Drunk” from his sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheater earlier this summer—watch HERE
- Just in time for the holidays, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment brings home an all-new holiday miracle with Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas, a 2023 Emmy Award® Nominee for Outstanding TV Movie. Experience the magic and music with the highly anticipated holiday special featuring a powerhouse cast starring global icon Dolly Parton alongside Tom Everett Scott, Angel Parker, Mary Lane Haskell, and Ana Gasteyer. The special will also boast a lineup of talented guest stars such as Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen, Zach Williams, and Miley Cyrus. With a cast like this, Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas will get everyone in the holiday spirit in no time and is available to purchase Digitally now and on DVD on October 31, 2023. A modern-day movie musical about the making of a network TV special, Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas is the frenetic backstage story and delightful on-camera results of Dolly's desire to uplift an exhausted world's spirits by sharing the unique "mountain magic" she has always found in and around Dollywood at Christmas. Throughout the movie's production numbers and rehearsal chaos, Dolly finds herself taking a private journey into her past, guided by the mysterious appearances of her personal Three Wise Men. When it's time for her big special to air live, a renewed and inspired Dolly goes rogue and shows the world that the real magic of Christmas lies in the hearts of the children we all once were, the realization that Christmas is about the people we share it with, and how her faith remains the common thread between Christmases past, present, and future..
