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RODNEY CROWELL TO RELEASE THE CHICAGO SESSIONS PRODUCED BY JEFF TWEEDY MAY 5 VIA NEW WEST RECORDS “LOVING YOU IS THE ONLY WAY TO FLY” VIDEO RELEASED TODAY THE CHICAGO SESSIONS TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED Rodney Crowell will release The Chicago Sessions on May 5, 2023, via New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by Jeff Tweedy and recorded by Tom Schick at Wilco’s Loft in Chicago. The masterful, cross-generational collaboration follows Crowell’s acclaimed 2021 album Triage. Hailed by Rolling Stone as a “country music trailblazer” and by The New York Times as an artist whose songwriting “gets better and sharper with age,” Crowell delivers an incisive, engaging collection that balances careful craftsmanship with joyful liberation at every turn. Sounding both fresh and familiar, it’s among Crowell’s very best work. As Jeff Tweedy puts it, “The way that Rodney writes is deeply connected to a classic era of country songwriters that I’ve always loved. In my estimation, it’s as close as I can get to working with Townes Van Zandt or Felice and Boudleaux Bryant — people who crafted songs with a very specific sensibility. And I like being near that.” Today, Crowell released the video for the album highlight “Loving You Is the Only Way to Fly.” Of the song, Crowell says, “‘Loving You Is the Only Way to Fly’ is something I wrote a while back with Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes, both of whom appear on the record. Jedd and I were sitting around with guitars in our hands when he started playing the basic chord pattern. I’m pretty sure the title sprang from something Ben Vaughn said to me back when we were writing ‘When Losers Rule The World,’ but I haven’t had the nerve to ask. Ben, if you read this, I wish you could’ve been there. If you feel left out, you can have my portion of the proceeds and I’ll take credit for putting Jeff Tweedy in charge of overseeing a pretty dang decent recording of the song. Much love, Rodney.” SHARE THE “LOVING YOU IS THE ONLY WAY TO FLY” VIDEO DIRECTED BY JOSHUA BRITT & NEILSON HUBBARD Crowell previously released the video for the album’s first single, “Everything at Once,” which features footage recorded at The Loft during recording. A co-write with Tweedy, the song walks a tightrope between hope and despair as it playfully wrestles with overstimulation in an overcrowded world. Perhaps no track better encapsulates the spirit of the record. Crowell explains, “It occurred to me that Jeff and I are both songwriters, and we ought to write something together for this album. We could have harmonized on it and gone down an Everly Brothers route, but ultimately we decided to just sing in unison and throw it out there like an all-skate. I love that we didn’t get too precious about it.” See the “Everything at Once” video HERE. While looking at the cover of The Chicago Sessions, listeners might recognize a familiar callback to Crowell’s 1978 debut, Ain’t Living Long Like This. “In a lot of ways, this album feels like that very first record to me,” Crowell reflects. “When my daughter suggested we lay the artwork out similarly, the connection made perfect sense. There’s something very simple, very innocent about it. It’s just me and the band in a room together, loose and live and having fun.” The Chicago Sessions is indeed a throwback to the legendary Crowell’s early days of making records, but it’s no nostalgia trip. The songs are vital and timely, touching on everything from love and mortality to race and religion, and the performances are nothing short of intoxicating, fueled by raw guitars, honky-tonk piano, and tight, punchy drums. Tweedy wields a light touch as a producer, his influence subtle yet unmistakable. Engineer Tom Schick’s mixes are dynamic and lively, alternately lush and spacious in all the right places, with a spotlight fixed firmly on Crowell’s warm, weathered vocals throughout. While most of The Chicago Sessions consists of newly written material, Crowell revisits two tracks from the 1970s. The first, the aching “You’re Supposed to Be Feeling Good,” is a Crowell original first recorded by Emmylou Harris on her 1977 Luxury Liner record. While he had long intended to record it himself, the stars didn’t align until a new arrangement fell into place with Tweedy on guitar. The second, Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place to Fall,” had always held a special place in Crowell’s heart. “The first time I heard that song, Townes was sitting across the table from me at Guy and Susanna Clark’s house,” Crowell recalls. “He said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a new song for you,’ and it’s been imprinted on my psyche ever since. I wanted to record it as an homage to somebody that I learned a lot about songwriting from.” Crowell brought three players with him to The Loft — guitarist Jedd Hughes, pianist Catherine Marx, and bassist Zachariah Hickman — while enlisting Windy City natives John Perrine and Spencer Tweedy (Jeff’s son) to split drumming duties. Jeff Tweedy appears on vocals, guitars, and banjo throughout. Crowell has also announced his initial tour dates in support of The Chicago Sessions. Launching May 2 in New York City at Sony Hall, the initial run of dates feature stops at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and the legendary Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, TX. Crowell has also announced the dates for his annual songwriting camp “It Starts With A Song 2023” August 21-24 in Nashville as well as being a part of the Cayamo Cruise lineup of artists next March 1-8, 2024. See tour dates, with more to be added, below. For Rodney Crowell, it’s always been about the songs. Born and raised in Houston, he moved to Nashville in the early 1970s, coming to prominence first as a writer before establishing himself as a critically acclaimed solo artist in his own right. With 15 #1 songs on the country music charts throughout his career, along with two GRAMMY Awards, he has written hits for such country legends as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and George Strait, as well as for current chart toppers like Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. He’s been covered by r&b icons (Etta James) and rock legends (Van Morrison, Bob Seger). Throughout the last 20 years, he has been celebrated by the music industry. In 2003, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting from the Americana Music Association. In 2017 he was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award, and in 2019 he was presented with the Poet’s Award by the Academy of Country Music. In addition to his prolific output as a singer, songwriter, and producer, he also found time to become a celebrated author, publishing his memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, and a lyrical retrospective, Word for Word, both to widespread praise. It would be difficult to overstate Crowell’s impact on country and roots music over the past 50 years. He may be a seasoned veteran, but the transcendent The Chicago Sessions feels like the first time all over again. The Chicago Sessions will be available across digital platforms and on compact disc and standard black vinyl. An extremely limited pressing of 100 copies on Royal Blue vinyl will be available only in Chicago record stores, while 1,000 copies will be pressed on Denim Blue vinyl and sold at independent retailers worldwide. A limited-to-300 Green vinyl edition autographed by Crowell is available exclusively for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS. The Chicago Sessions Track Listing: 1. Lucky 2. Somebody Loves You 3. Loving You Is the Only Way to Fly 4. You’re Supposed to Be Feeling Good 5. No Place to Fall 6. Oh Miss Claudia 7. Everything at Once (feat. Jeff Tweedy) 8. Ever the Dark 9. Making Lovers Out of Friends 10. Ready to Move On Rodney Crowell On Tour With Special Guests Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley May 2, 2023 - New York, NY - Sony Hall May 7, 2023 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music May 9, 2023 - Denver, CO - Soiled Dove Underground May 11, 2023 - Mount Vernon, WA - Lincoln Theatre May 12, 2023 - Portland, OR - Alberta Rose Theatre May 14, 2023 - Grass Valley, CA - The Center For the Arts May 15, 2023 - Petaluma, CA - Mystic Theatre May 16, 2023 - Santa Barbara, CA - Lobero Theatre June 17, 2023 - New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall July 13, 2023 - Bristol, TN - Paramount Bristol August 21-24, 2023 - Nashville, TN - Rodney Crowell: It Starts With A Song 2023 March 1-8, 2024 - Miami, FL - Cayamo Cruise RodneyCrowell.com NewWestRecords.com For More Information, Please Contact: Brady Brock | New West Records | bradybrock@newwestrecords.com

Adeem the Artist was interviewed on NPR's World Cafe where they discussed the message behind their new album, White Trash Revelry.

Dammit, it’s been a rough few days… we lost another one… Yes, I know… the media will be all over Gary Rossington… who can be heard all over “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” (So now the only original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd is the original guitar tech…) But many of us will be remembering the legacy of one of the greatest bass players of all time, but one who flew largely under the radar. He was a first-call session player in studios, a rare “triple-scale” guy who was worth every penny he commanded, and then some. And he was recruited by an all-star list of artists from different genres… a testament to the depth and the breadth of his talents. From country to rock to jazz, Michael Rhodes made complicated seem simple… until others tried to do it. He had those “monkey fingers” that could glide up and down the neck of the bass guitar like a primate climbing a rope, and when playing live, could command the attention of the “instrumentalist nerds” in the crowd to the point of distracting us from the lead singer. Yet he then blended into the background to put the focus back on the artist that he was complimenting. Obituaries will list an unbelievable list of all the artists that he played with, and that will only be the tip of the iceberg. When I first moved to Nashville in 1984, I went to work for Buddy Lee Attractions, an independently owned booking agency that had a great legacy, and a pretty darn good run from the mid ’80’s until about 2001. (RIP Buddy Lee.) In the late ’80’s and early ’90’s, the agency signed a lot of artists that would soon become staples on country radio… Ricky Van Shelton, Mark Chesnutt, Steve Wariner, Rodney Crowell, Lorrie Morgan, Ronnie Milsap, Neal McCoy, Clay Walker, Terri Clark, Marty Stuart, The Dixie Chicks… and little did I realize then that a common denominator was the studio bass player, Michael Rhodes. But he was also busy playing on the albums of legends such as Tammy Wynette, The Highwaymen, Connie Smith, Alabama, George Strait, and Kenny Chesney, to name a few. But how I first knew Michael was from the side projects that he loved so much, and played live with in the clubs around Nashville. I had become friends with Elvis Presley’s musical director, Joe Guercio, who was “one cool daddy-o…” yeah, he was from that era… and he would stop by the office from time to time and hang out with Buddy and the gang. I remember him raving about “the best band in Nashville” one day, and it was The Vinyl Kings, a group of triple-scale session cats (formerly “The Del Beatles” until they got a cease and desist letter in the mail one day.) They were a seven-piece group that formed with a love of Sixties Music. The rules were simple… every one got to pick 3 or 4 of their favorite songs from the sixties, and the others had to learn them, no questions asked. And they arguably were the best live renditions of those songs you ever heard, even surpassing the originals… (Cinnamon Girl for example… take THAT, Neil Young!) But their “thing” was that every other song they played was a Beatles song, and b’golly, done as well as the Beatles. Six of the seven members were vocalists, so they could cover “live” what often was only accomplished in the studio. The members were Larry Byron (Steppenwolf,) Larry Lee (Ozark Mountain Daredevils,) Josh Leo (Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefers,) Jim Photoglo (Dan Fogelberg, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) Vince Melamed (Eagles, Fogelberg, Buffet,) Handsome Harry Stinson (Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives,) and… Michael Rhodes. They would only play a few dates a year, in Nashville, and those were usually as a fundraiser for various local causes. I signed them for live representation, but only booked one date on them… for what was supposedly a fundraiser for John Kerry on Martha’s Vineyard (but was probably just a party for the beach elite…) due to the fact the band was always so busy with their own individual musical commitments. The first Vinyl Kings album for me, is one of my most enjoyable listens since “Abbey Road.” And I don’t use fabulous superlatives loosely. Michael was often the “go-to-guy” on bass for Rodney Crowell, who I booked for three different phases of his career… at Buddy Lee during his country radio stint on Columbia Records, then briefly during my stint as the head of The Agency Group’s Nashville office, and currently (and hopefully until death do us part) in his “Americana Music” phase at New Frontier Touring. But Rodney had side projects too, of which two were “The Notorious Cherry Bombs,” and “The Cicadas.” Yeah… none other than Michael Rhodes on bass. Go on line and check out the Cherry Bombs’ classic “It’s Hard To Kiss the Lips At Night…” video, where the band is featured in the barber shop scenes, and where Michael, whose “look” was a cleanly shaved head, is shown enjoying a good buff. Be sure to listen to both projects when time permits, and let yourself fall into the pocket that Michael created. You’ll be glad that you did. Around 2012, another all-star band emerged on the Nashville scene… The World Famous Headliners… comprised of another “Who’s Who” of artists, songwriters, session and live players, featuring Big Al Anderson (NRBQ,) Shawn Camp (his own career plus others,) Pat McLaughlin (his own career plus John Prime,) Greg Morrow (show off… OK… Bob Seger) and of course Michael Rhodes. I had to sign them. I booked them to play a “prestigious” showcase for the Americana Music Association, and invited talent buyers from around the country to come and check out the band at the now-defunct Rutledge in Nashville. It was a brilliant set, and the next morning, upon opening my email, I had an offer for the band to play a festival on Vancouver Island. It read something to the effect of “I have never been so compelled to send an offer as I am now, at 2am from my hotel room…” I was excited to present the offer to the band, but as I recall, the conversation went something like “Well, Rhodes will be in Montserrat at AIR Studios with Dave Stewart, and can’t make it.” I only booked one road gig for them, at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, but they were proudly on the roster for awhile. Their two albums are “desert island worthy” and in regular rotation in my car. We all have moments in life that are indelibly printed on our hard drive, and one for me was in 1988, when I was running an errand in my Toyota pickup, driving west on White Bridge Road, when a song came on the radio (probably Lightning 100) and I had a “Holy Shit Moment” and pulled off the road into the Target parking lot, to listen to “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood. As it turns out, Steve is credited with playing bass on the recording, but he can’t play keyboards and bass live in concert. So who did he recruit to play bass on the “Roll With It Tour?” Duh… To the internet again, and check out Winwood’s “Roll With It” concert from Royal Albert Hall in 1988, and “Roll With It” starts at about the 32:25 mark, with nice shots of Michael at 33:45, 34:03, 35:05, 35:28 and 35:55. Hell, watch the whole show when you have an hour to kill. But hopefully a smile will come to your face when you spot Michael, and sense the joy that he felt when playing live. It is interesting how people drift in and our of our lives, some peripherally, like Michael was to me. And here I am, writing about my appreciation of his talents, yet I never took the time to take a minute and share my feelings with him. Shame on me, and perhaps a lesson to be learned… to take the time to tell someone how you feel about them while they are still alive, and not when it is too late. Michael passed away on March 4th, which is the only date on the calendar that is also an imperative sentence. May he march forth into that great studio on the other side. But actually, I hope he dethrones whoever is playing in the house band up there, and that one day I get to see and hear him again. Paul Lohr, 3/6/23

The "Sing Us Home" music festival will take place May 5-6th, 2023 in Manayunk, Philadelphia. See the full lineup below. Dave Hause joined CBS Philadelphia to talk about the festival's origins. "We really just want to make our own thing in the city we grew up in," Hause said. "There's so many festivals, so many of them get things right, so many of them, we sort of walk away from planning them and wish it were a little different."

The Band of Heathens performed their new single "Don't Let the Darkness" from their upcoming album Simple Things on CBS Saturday Morning. The band's new album will be released on March 17th, 2023.

With the new year comes new changes. As of January 1st, 2023, Michael Kelley, executive vice president and partner based in the Austin office of Atomic Music Group has moved to New Frontier Touring in Nashville. As Vice President of Performing Arts for New Frontier, Michael will be focused heavily on building out a strong PAC and theatre division for the company while continuing to work his non-PAC clients at theatres, casinos, festivals, fairs and ballrooms. Prior to Atomic Music Group, Michael ran his own agency for many years working with artists ranging in diversity from punk acts Green Day & NOFX in the early nineties to classic acts such as Leon Russell and others. He also spent several years at Bruce Solar’s Absolute Artists working as a territorial agent with artists that included Cake, Fastball, Rickie Lee Jones, George Clinton and more, before that company was absorbed by The Agency Group, now UTA. “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at New Frontier,” says Kelley. “It’s definitely an honor to be working alongside the likes of veterans like Paul Lohr and Trip Brown as well as the amazing team of younger agents they have in place. For myself and my clients, I could not think of a more complimentary home than New Frontier Touring.” New Frontier Touring owner/agent Paul Lohr remarked “Michael and his years of experience not only makes our team stronger, but the addition of his artists makes our roster more diverse and even more attractive, not just to performing arts centers, but venues and events as well.” Michael brings with him his full roster of about 25 artists including, among others, John Berry, The Ventures, Gregorian, Louis Prima Jr., Stephane Wrembel, 3 Redneck Tenors, Django New Orleans, Mike McClure, and comedians Zach Rushing, Dustin Sims and The Buck Wild Comedy Tour.