Americana Music Artist Tokyo Rosenthal Releases New Album "This Minstrel Life"

Chapel Hill, NC - Rock & Sock Records announced today that they will be releasing "This Minstrel Life" from their recording artist, Tokyo Rosenthal. This will be Rosenthal's seventh album on the Rock & Sock Records label.

The CD contains six original studio recordings and four live recordings from various locations with an assortment of accompanists. This follows the theme of the new record which is about the lives of touring musicians, today and yesterday. The new recordings include the politically driven single, "Now I Believe There's A Devil" and an updated version of the previously released, "The Immigrant", now entitled "The Immigrant Revisited". In light of the present climate regarding immigration, Tokyo wanted to revisit this subject.

The new studio cuts touch on a variety of subjects including a family tragedy, a life gone wrong (co-written with Moira Saucer), politics, immigration policy, the music business, and ultra marathon running. Yes, ULTRA MARATHON RUNNING!!

"Toke" is joined once again by a stellar crew of musicians including the dB's Chris Stamey, Allyn Love,  Chatham County Line's John Teer, Charlie Chamberlain, and Juanito Laguna. Backing Tokyo on the live tracks are The Sap Boilers, Manguss, Charlie Chamberlain, Logan Matheny, and Kieran O'Malley. The live recordings took place in Pittsboro, North Carolina on The Tokyo Rosenthal Program, Knoxville, Tennessee on WDVX's Blue Plate Special, SXSW in Austin, Texas, and Keighley, UK.

"This is a very different album for me and I'm excited by this project", said Rosenthal. "I like being able to present what I sound like on tour with a group of different touring partners from over the years. As always, the studio experience was great and enhanced by the magnificent musicians who joined me in Chris Stamey's facility. Navigating the music business these days is very difficult and I feel we've come full circle from the original days of traveling minstrels. I see myself, and my colleagues, mirroring the way things were back in the 1800's. In other words, we go from gig to gig, often getting room and board, selling our wares, and of course performing our original tunes. Today we travel by car, back then by horse. I believe the new songs are complimented by the live tracks as they expand on the 'Minstrel' theme."

Rosenthal intends to begin touring in the fall in and around his Chapel Hill home area and the Southeast US. Then early next year he will begin visiting the Midwest, the Northeast, The UK, Ireland, and other locales.

The video of Toke's single, "Now I Believe There's A Devil", spells out the lyrics from this dramatic indictment of the present administration. The video can be viewed on You Tube at:

Purchase download: www.cdbaby.com/cd/tokyorosenthal12 ;

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Americana Music Artist Tokyo Rosenthal Releases New Album "This Minstrel Life"

Chapel Hill, NC - Rock & Sock Records announced today that they will be releasing "This Minstrel Life" from their recording artist, Tokyo Rosenthal. This will be Rosenthal's seventh album on the Rock & Sock Records label.

The CD contains six original studio recordings and four live recordings from various locations with an assortment of accompanists. This follows the theme of the new record which is about the lives of touring musicians, today and yesterday. The new recordings include the politically driven single, "Now I Believe There's A Devil" and an updated version of the previously released, "The Immigrant", now entitled "The Immigrant Revisited". In light of the present climate regarding immigration, Tokyo wanted to revisit this subject.

The new studio cuts touch on a variety of subjects including a family tragedy, a life gone wrong (co-written with Moira Saucer), politics, immigration policy, the music business, and ultra marathon running. Yes, ULTRA MARATHON RUNNING!!

"Toke" is joined once again by a stellar crew of musicians including the dB's Chris Stamey, Allyn Love,  Chatham County Line's John Teer, Charlie Chamberlain, and Juanito Laguna. Backing Tokyo on the live tracks are The Sap Boilers, Manguss, Charlie Chamberlain, Logan Matheny, and Kieran O'Malley. The live recordings took place in Pittsboro, North Carolina on The Tokyo Rosenthal Program, Knoxville, Tennessee on WDVX's Blue Plate Special, SXSW in Austin, Texas, and Keighley, UK.

"This is a very different album for me and I'm excited by this project", said Rosenthal. "I like being able to present what I sound like on tour with a group of different touring partners from over the years. As always, the studio experience was great and enhanced by the magnificent musicians who joined me in Chris Stamey's facility. Navigating the music business these days is very difficult and I feel we've come full circle from the original days of traveling minstrels. I see myself, and my colleagues, mirroring the way things were back in the 1800's. In other words, we go from gig to gig, often getting room and board, selling our wares, and of course performing our original tunes. Today we travel by car, back then by horse. I believe the new songs are complimented by the live tracks as they expand on the 'Minstrel' theme."

Rosenthal intends to begin touring in the fall in and around his Chapel Hill home area and the Southeast US. Then early next year he will begin visiting the Midwest, the Northeast, The UK, Ireland, and other locales.

The video of Toke's single, "Now I Believe There's A Devil", spells out the lyrics from this dramatic indictment of the present administration. The video can be viewed on You Tube at:

Purchase download: www.cdbaby.com/cd/tokyorosenthal12 ;

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Superstar Drummer & Songwriter CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA to Release New Summer Single "FUN, PARTY, SPLASH" Feat. CARLOS SANTANA & Produced by NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN

Marin County, CA – The past few months have been a blur for CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA, who is currently touring and performing with her husband Carlos Santana, is featured as a vocalist, drummer, and songwriter on “Power of Peace,” the new Santana/Isley Brothers collaboration, and has been busy touring with her own band and recording tracks in the studio with the legendary producer NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN. Together through Walden's Tarpan Records label they will release the new single “FUN, PARTY, SPLASH” featuring Carlos Santana on all digital platforms on August 25, 2017.

CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA is a virtuoso drummer whose artistry spans the realms of jazz and rock. As a bandleader and as a musician, Cindy is a sound innovator with a passion for pushing creative boundaries and exploring movement and change. She is as known for the nuances and colors she brings to her beats and fills as she is for the sheer power of her soulful playing. “Some drummers act, some react. Some keep time, others create it. CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA is among the few who can,” writes Mike Zwerin of the International Herald Tribune.
 
Among a handful of the most innovative, original and influential artists of our time, NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN'S stature as an authentic musical renaissance man is a matter of record. Producing hits for Artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin (including the platinum “Freeway of Love”), Steve Winwood, Ray Charles, Sting, Elton John, Whitney Houston, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Barbara Streisand, Lionel Ritchie, Lisa Fischer, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, Gladys Knight, and The Temptations, the EMMY and multi-GRAMMY winner (Producer, Album and Song of The Year) has been at the helm of hit music that spans decades.

CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA has been creating magnificent musical time and space since the beginning of her career as a busking street performer in New York City in the '80s through the present day, touring the globe and making albums at the top of her game—including the critically acclaimed Another Lifetime (2010). In addition to collaborating onstage and in-studio with her own group—also known as Another Lifetime—she has toured and recorded with artists including Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell, Joss Stone, Joe Henderson, Al B. Sure, Buckethead, Don Pullen, Hugh Masakela, Buster Williams, and Angela Bofill. Cindy was part of the Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute Band called Spectrum Road with Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, and John Medeski. From 1992 to 2007 and again in 2014 & 2015 she was the drummer in Lenny Kravitz's band, performing through multiple world tours and hit albums. In 2010, she was part of the all-star line-up performing “Bitches Brew,” a tribute to Miles Davis' seminal album staged at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and NYC Winter JazzFest.

More recently, Cindy has become the regular touring drummer for Santana. Having met several years earlier at a festival in Europe while she was touring with Kravitz, Cindy first played with Santana in spring 2010, when drummer Dennis Chambers had a previous commitment. “They have a great band vibe. It's nice to play with people who have grown together, built a sound together, and stayed together,” she says. “When that happens, you can create so many different levels of communication. That's what they've done, and I love reacting with it and being a part of it.”

Electricity onstage generated chemistry offstage—Carlos proposed to Cindy during a July 2010 concert, and they married in December. Looking ahead, they will collaborate artistically as well, on projects that will no doubt reflect their shared passion for improvisation, and belief in the transcendent nature of music. Cindy was an integral part of the new Santana/Isley Brothers release Power of Peace, featuring the song “I Remember,” which she wrote and sings. “To me,” she says, “music is completely spiritual, it's the way you connect with your higher self, with the universe. It's also a way to share light with millions of people. They don’t need to speak your language, have your beliefs, or be in the same place you are. The music speaks, it channels good energy, and makes a difference in people's lives. Carlos and I are both conscious of doing that.”

NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN started his storied career as a drummer with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Narada's music flows freely from pop, rock and soul, to the rarified realms of jazz, fusion, and world music. With Jeff Beck, Narada wrote and played drums on the seminal album Wired that earned them both their first Gold Album. Walden was an integral part of introducing Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to millions of fans worldwide, producing and writing their breakthrough hits. Billboard Magazine honored him as one of the Top Ten Producers of all time.

In 2016, Cindy connected with her fellow drummer and world-class producer NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN, and together the two have been working on new material ever since. CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA continues to build a body of work and artistic legacy that make her one of the finest drummers and recording artists of this or any generation.

To pre-order the “FUN, PARTY, SPLASH” single on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fun-party-splash-single/id1269743526?app=itunes or http://smarturl.it/funpartysplash

For more information about Cindy Blackman Santana, please visit her social media pages or Website: http://www.cindyblackmansantana.com/

For Interview Requests please contact Michael Jensen & Erin Cook / Jensen Communications: MJ@jensencom.com Erin@jensencom.com Phone 626-585-9575

For Press and Interview inquiries, please contact Billy James at Glass Onyon PR:
(828) 350-8158 or glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Digital Marketing, please contact Jerome Forney at Independent Distribution Collective: jerome@independentdistro.com

Featured Track: Amilia K Spicer - Lightning

Amilia K Spicer's music hits you like a hurricane and strikes you like a bolt of  "Lightning." 

Her strong and sensuous vocal style draws you in and latches on. She dangles the carrot of temptation with strong words and images in her video and stream for the new single. 

If you like to sail away with the music Amilia has the power to get you there.

The combination of folk, roots rock and Americana is a vital combination and her voice will win you over in seconds!

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck




More About Amilia:

http://amiliakspicer.com

It may be her haunting, husky voice that first grabs a listener, the way it glides over melodies like smoke, but it’s the songwriting that Spicer really wants you to hear.  It fuses together the different places she calls home:

Raised in rural Pennyslvania, currently residing in California, spending half the year in Austin, the topography covers languid farm landscapes, red dirt Americana, and an occasional turn down a dark alley with flickering neon...READ MORE...

Classic Rock Legends Wishbone Ash Get "Tough & Tender" on North American Fall Tour!

Acoustic versions of beloved classics featured alongside hard-hitting numbers

Wishbone Ash, one of the most influential guitar bands in the history of rock, will offer their North American fans a dynamic concert experience on the 2017 “Tough & Tender” Tour. In addition to the high-powered, all-out rockers the band is known for delivering, the guys will turn down the volume (but not the intensity) and treat audiences to acoustic versions of some of their classic hits.

“A great song is a great song, however it's delivered,” says bandleader Andy Powell (guitar, lead vocals). “Playing acoustically allows people to hear the 'bones' of a song and how it might have been conceived in the first place.”

Formed in 1969, Wishbone Ash finds itself in rare company these days. Not many bands are still going strong after nearly 50 years. It takes a serious lifetime of commitment to the craft of making music; but, more importantly, real skill is required to navigate the shifting seas of the music industry, and few know that better than Powell.

“We laid down strong musical roots in the '70s, and these roots continue to prove productive,” he says. “Also, we nurtured our fan base as much as possible through fan club conventions, newsletters and the like; but this was all given a great boost once the digital age came into being, with websites and social media.”

Through the years the band has delved into various musical genres, from folk, blues and jazz to pedal-to-the-metal rock and electronica. Whatever the style, Wishbone Ash’s hallmark is the distinctive twin-melodic lead guitar interplay that has influenced such bands as Thin Lizzy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Iron Maiden and, more recently, Opeth.

True road warriors, each year the band logs around 30,000 miles, roughly equivalent to circumnavigating the earth. “The hours, days and weeks we spend touring and recording results in a close-knit group, for sure,” says Powell. “It allows us to bring a level of intensity to the table that people seem to pick up on and appreciate.”

The fruitful results of near-constant touring are evident on the latest DVD release, “Live in Paris,” recorded in May 2015 during a three-day residency at Le Triton Theatre in Les Lilas, Paris. Powell says, “We recorded three nights of material, including current versions of some classic songs, plus some deep tracks that people won't necessarily expect.”

The band recently released a four-disc “Road Works” box set, a compilation of four separate shows recorded in Germany and the UK. In October 2015, Powell completed his autobiography, “Eyes Wide Open: True Tales of a Wishbone Ash Warrior,” co-written with Irish music journalist Colin Harper. The book, published by Jawbone Press, has met with public and critical acclaim.

“Our concept was to root my musical story and that of the band's to the times in which I came of age,” says Powell. “That is to say, relating it to those times, decade by decade, so that the reader could get a picture of how I was impacted by the social and musical trends and how I weathered those changes. We also wanted to keep it breezy and poke a little fun at this music game at the same time.”

In addition to the “Tough & Tender” Tour, Fall 2017 will also see the release of a 32-CD deluxe box set, “Wishbone Ash – The Vintage Years,” on Snapper Music.


From left: Joe Crabtree, Mark Abrahams, Andy Powell, Bob Skeat. Photo by Stefan Johansson

Wishbone Ash US Tour Dates:
Sept. 12 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Sept. 13 Minneapolis, MN Famous Dave's
Sept. 14 Davenport, IA River Music Experience
Sept. 15 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theatre
Sept. 16 Edwardsville, IL Wildey Theatre
Sept. 17 Edwardsville IL Wildey Theatre
Sept. 19 Auburn Hills, MI Callahan's Music Hall
Sept. 22 Sherwood Park, AB Canada Festival Place
Sept. 25 Annapolis, MD Rams Head on Stage
Sept. 26 Richmond, VA Tin Pan
Sept. 27 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater
Sept. 28 Norfolk, CT Infinity Music Hall
Sept. 29 Derry, NH Tupelo Music Hall
Sept. 30 Bay Shore, NY Boulton Center
Oct. 1 Pawling, NY Daryl's House Club
Oct. 2 New York, NY BB King Blues Club & Grill
Oct. 5 Buffalo, NY Sportsmen's Tavern
Oct. 6 Akron, OH Tangier
Oct. 7 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater
Oct. 8 Jim Thorpe, PA Mauch Chunk Opera House

There is no other rock band in history that has done more with the twin guitar concept than The Ash. Be sure to catch them on tour this September. Tour dates and more information can be found at www.wishboneash.com. Follow the band on Facebook @wishbone.ash.official, Twitter @wishboneash_com and Instagram.

To download electronic press kit: www.wishboneash.com/epk

Press inquiries: 
Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com and
Kate Goldsmith - kate_goldsmith@wishboneash.com

North American Booking: Steve Ozark, Ozark Talent (785) 760-3143, OzarkTalent@gmail.com