Big Hassle Media NY
40 Exchange Pl, Ste. 1900
New York, NY 10005
P 212.619.1360
Big Hassle Media LA
3685 Motor Ave Suite 240.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
P 424.603.4655
Ken Weinstein
weinstein@bighassle.com
2126191360
Michael Eisele
michael@bighassle.com
646-963-2260 Ext 260
Musician, Performer, Songwriter, Arranger, Music Producer, Music Supervisor, TV Producer, Actor, Director, Broadway Producer, TV and Film Composer, and Live Event Producer, International DJ, Activist, Historian, Teacher, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and recognized internationally as one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Contemporary and Traditional Rock and Roll.
“He’s not the only one, nor the oldest, nor the richest. But Little Stevie Van Zandt might currently be the planet’s most charismatic, dedicated and visible crusader scrapping to preserve the dirty purity of Rock ‘n Roll.” – BruceSpringsteen.net
“I know it sounds a bit silly but I do believe Rock and Roll can change the world. It’s about bands, and that for me suggests brotherhood, family, friendship, and community” – Stevie Van Zandt
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL UNVEIL LANDMARK TOUR
TO BENEFIT THE ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER FOUNDATION’S TEACHROCK
DATES MARK FIRST-EVER ROCK TOUR DEVOTED TO BRINGING MUSIC CURRICULUM
“A keen student of rock and roll, this was Van Zandt offering up a master class of all the different aspects of the music he loves. Soul, funk, doo-wop – even reggae – all formed part of the set. If Phil Spector had broadened his horizons further, this would be the end product. It was a massive, multi-layered, sensory experience, which tugged at the heartstrings one moment and left you grinning from ear to ear at the next. If you could put it on prescription, the world would be a much happier place!”
–Lancashire Telegraph
(New York, NY) Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have unveiled plans for a landmark live tour benefitting TeachRock, the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s national initiative to bring music curriculum into middle and high schools across the country. The dates – which mark the first-ever rock tour specifically geared to address this crucial societal need – begin April 29 at New Brunswick, NJ’s historic State Theatre and then continues through all of May, breaking for Stevie’s induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on May 6, alongside Meryl Streep, Debbie Harry, The Four Seasons, among others. Additional dates will be revealed soon. Tickets for all announced dates will go on sale this Friday, March 2nd. All proceeds from the upcoming tour will go to TeachRock. For complete details and ticket availability, please visit littlesteven.com. “Music will forever be humanity’s most effective and consistent source of inspiration and motivation,” says Little Steven, “and, we have learned, music turns out to be our most solid common ground for establishing communication between teachers and students which is where education begins.”
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL: TEACHROCK TOUR 2018
APRIL
29 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre
MAY
1 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
2 – New York, NY – Playstation Theatre
4 – Albany, NY – The Palace
5 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center
ADDITIONAL DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation is a 501(c)(3) established by Steven Van Zandt. TeachRock is the Foundation’s national middle and high school curriculum initiative. Created to address the challenges of an environment in which schools face cuts to arts funding, TeachRock brings rich, multimedia educational materials to teachers and students everywhere at no cost. TeachRock’s groundbreaking lesson plan collections and resources help teachers engage students by connecting the history of popular music to classroom work across the disciplines. From social studies and language arts to geography, media studies, science, general music, and more, TeachRock offers engaging and meaningful arts integration material for every classroom. TeachRock is endorsed by the New Jersey School Boards Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association for Music Education and the National Council for Geographic Education, with partners including Scholastic Inc., HBO, PBS, Reelin’ in the Years, ABC News, Rock’s Backpages, New York University’s Steinhardt School, and the Grammy Museum. For lesson plans and additional information, please visit teachrock.org. Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul made their long-awaited live return at London’s BluesFest in 2016. Since then, the band has traversed the globe, with multiple dates in America, England, Scotland, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain, highlighted not only by Paul McCartney sitting in to perform “I Saw Her Standing There” in London, but also by a lunchtime show performance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. The Soulfire Tour marked the acclaimed release of Little Steven’s sensational new solo album, SOULFIRE, available now via Wicked Cool/Big Machine/UMe. The album is available as CD, digital download, and 180-gram black vinyl, the latter presented as a double LP housed in a gatefold sleeve with the music on Sides 1-3 and a unique etching of Little Steven on Side 4. SOULFIRE is Stevie Van Zandt’s first solo album in close to two decades and without question his purest and most uniquely personal artistic statement thus far. The album sees the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revisiting songs that span the length of his career as artist, performer, producer, arranger, and songwriter, focusing directly on the hugely influential “soul horns-meet-rock ‘n’ roll guitars” approach he first pioneered on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ classic first three albums. SOULFIRE quickly drew rapturous applause from fans and critics alike, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Rock’s ultimate sideman reclaims the Jersey Shore sound he helped invent.” “Cynicism, irony and cultivated hip detachment have taken their toll on rock ‘n’ roll,” raved USA Today. “With SOULFIRE, Van Zandt aims to blow all that out and lead listeners back to its more passionate essence.” “It’s hard to imagine a more joyous and revelatory contemporary blue-eyed soul recording,” enthused American Songwriter. “The appropriately titled SOULFIRE is a tough, tight and clearly inspired project as well as a most welcome return from the musical shadows for Steven Van Zandt.” SOULFIRE “hearkens back to Van Zandt’s classic first solo album of gritty, greasy, horn-accented ’60s-style rock and soul,” noted Billboard, while Paste proclaimed, “Rockier than Motown or the Sound of Philadelphia, this a joyous invitation to live and love.” Little Steven Van Zandt is of course known around the world for his utterly personal songwriting and an ambitious adventurousness that has fueled much of his creative output these past two decades. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, he has also expanded his artistic parameters to include landmark work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host, historian, and rock ‘n’ roll advocate on Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt has also expanding his musical boundaries to include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer and additional work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records from an array of international garage rockers.
For more, please visit:
facebook.com/LittleStevenVanZandt
# # #
Press contacts: Ken Weinstein weinstein@bighassle.com Michael Eisele mike@bighassle.com
|
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL HERALD LANDMARK LIVE TOUR WITH SURPRISE RELEASE OF SOULFIRE LIVE!
EPIC LIVE COLLECTION AVAILABLE TODAY AT ALL DIGITAL RETAILERS AND STREAMING SERVICES
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL SET TO PERFORM ON NBC’S MEGYN KELLY TODAY THIS MORNING AT 9AM ET
U.S. TOUR BENEFITTING THE ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER FOUNDATION’S TEACHROCK BEGINS THIS SUNDAY IN NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ
DATES MARK FIRST-EVER ROCK TOUR DEVOTED TO BRINGING MUSIC CURRICULUM TO MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS ACROSS AMERICA (New York, NY) Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul are heralding this Sunday’s start of a landmark live tour with today’s surprise release of SOULFIRE LIVE!, a 24-track collection recorded last year in North America and Europe during the legendary rock ‘n’ roller’s first tour in nearly two decades, SOULFIRE LIVE! is available now at all digital music retailers and streaming services; physical 3-CD, Blu-ray, and vinyl editions will arrive this summer. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will celebrate the release of SOULFIRE LIVE! with a high profile network TV performance on this morning’s edition of NBC’s Megyn Kelly TODAY at 9am ET. SOULFIRE LIVE! is an epic and electrifying journey through rock ‘n’ roll history led by one of its most passionate practitioners, showcasing Stevie Van Zandt’s limitless knowledge, talent, and sheer love for the genre in all its many shapes and guises. Among the album’s many highlights is the introduction made by the legendary Mike Stoller, who along with partner Jerry Leiber, are widely considered to be the first successful and the most enduring rock songwriters and producers of all time. Other highlights on the album are the original songs from throughout Little Steven’s illustrious career – including classics like “Standing In The Line Of Fire” and “I Don’t Want To Go Home” – alongside a number of favorite cover versions like The Electric Flag’s “Groovin’ Is Easy,” Etta James’ “Blues Is My Business,” and James Brown’s “Down And Out In New York City,” the latter two songs also featured on last year’s critically acclaimed SOULFIRE. In addition, SOULFIRE LIVE! includes Van Zandt’s inimitable introductions, detailing each song’s unique history and singular spot in his life and illustrious career. SOULFIRE LIVE! was produced and arranged by Stevie Van Zandt; the album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL SOULFIRE LIVE! TRACKLISTING Soulfire I’m Coming Back Blues Is My Business Love On The Wrong Side of Town Until The Good Is Gone Angel Eyes Some Things Just Don’t Change Saint Valentine’s Day Standing In The Line Of Fire I Saw The Light Salvation The City Weeps Tonight Down And Out In New York City Princess of Little Italy Solidarity Leonard Peltier I Am A Patriot Groovin’ Is Easy Ride The Night Away Bitter Fruit Forever Checkpoint Charlie I Don’t Want To Go Home Out Of The Darkness SOULFIRE LIVE! arrives just as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul prepare to embark on a major live tour benefitting TeachRock, the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s national initiative to bring music curriculum into middle and high schools across the country. At each stop of the tour, TeachRock will host workshops before the show to educate teachers on how to implement music education into their curriculum. For more information, please reach out to Christine@RockAndRollForever.org. “This tour is a celebration of the teaching profession,” says Van Zandt. “It’s a show of solidarity for the most underpaid, underappreciated working class in our country.” The dates – which mark the first-ever tour rock tour specifically geared to address to this crucial societal need – begin this Sunday, April 29 at New Brunswick, NJ’s historic State Theatre and then continue in May. Limited VIP packages – including merch bundles, meet-and-greets, and sound check entry – are also available. For complete details and ticket availability, please visit littlesteven.com. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will also spend much of the summer traversing Europe, including headline shows and eagerly awaited festival performances in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, and Norway. LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL: SOULFIRE TOUR 2018
APRIL 29 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre MAY 1 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse 2 – New York, NY – Playstation Theatre 4 – Albany, NY – The Palace 5 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center 8 – Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall 12 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater 13 – St. Louis, MO – River City Casino & Hotel 15 – Nashville, TN – CMA Theater 16 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage 18 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock 19 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre 21 – Mobile, AL – Soul Kitchen 23 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues 25 – Austin, TX – Paramount JUNE 28 – Dubin, IRE – Button Factory 30 – Liverpool, ENG – 02 Academy JULY 2 – Whitley Bay, ENG – Mouth of the Tyne Festival Playhouse 4 – Köln, GER – E-werk 6 – Amsterdam, NL – Amsterdamse Bos 11 – Madrid, SP – Noches del Botánico 14 – Limburg, BEL – Blues Peer 21 – Telemark, NOR – Wrightegaarden Langesund 23 – Hamburg, GER – Grosse Freiheit 36 25 – Karksruhe, GER – Zeltival 27 – London, ENG – Shepherds Bush Empire Little Steven Van Zandt is of course known around the world for his utterly personal songwriting and an ambitious adventurousness that has fueled much of his creative output these past four decades. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, he has also expanded his artistic parameters to include landmark work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host, historian, and rock ‘n’ roll advocate on Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt has also expanding his musical boundaries to include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer and additional work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records from an array of international garage rockers. For more, please visit: facebook.com/LittleStevenVanZandt # # # ABOUT THE ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER FOUNDATION & TEACHROCK: The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation is a 501(c)(3) established by Steven Van Zandt. TeachRock is the Foundation’s national middle and high school curriculum initiative. Created to address the challenges of an environment in which schools face cuts to arts funding, TeachRock brings rich, multimedia educational materials to teachers and students everywhere at no cost. TeachRock’s groundbreaking lesson plan collections and resources help teachers engage students by connecting the history of popular music to classroom work across the disciplines. From social studies and language arts to geography, media studies, science, general music, and more, TeachRock offers engaging and meaningful arts integration material for every classroom. TeachRock is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Council for Geographic Education, with partners including Scholastic Inc., PBS, Reelin’ in the Years, ABC News, Rock’s Backpages, New York University’s Steinhardt School, and the Grammy Museum. For lesson plans and additional information, please visit teachrock.org. # # # |
|
Press contacts: Ken Weinstein Michael Eisele Tim Plumley |
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
LIFT THE CURTAIN ON SOULFIRE LIVE!
EPIC LIVE COLLECTION AVAILABLE NOW ON 3CD WITH VINYL BOX SET
AND BLU-RAY VIDEO EDITIONS ON THE WAY
EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FEATURING GUEST APPEARANCES FROM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, RICHIE SAMBORA, PETER WOLF AND MOBY GRAPE’S JERRY MILLER
VINYL AND BLU-RAY EDITIONS TO FEATURE EXTRAORDINARY BEATLES CELEBRATION
RECORDED LAST NOVEMBER AT LIVERPOOL’S LEGENDARY CAVERN CLUB
FINAL LEG OF TEACHER APPRECIATION TOUR SET TO GET UNDERWAY IN OCTOBER – TEACHERS GET IN FREE!
(New York, NY) A spectacular new live collection recorded last year in North America and Europe during the legendary rock ‘n’ roller’s first world tour in nearly two decades, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul’s SOULFIRE LIVE! is available now via Little Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records and UMe. The 3CD collection includes 24-tracks released digitally in April alongside an exclusive third disc highlighted by superstar guest performances recorded throughout the trek, including Bruce Springsteen, Richie Sambora, Peter Wolf, and Jerry Miller (of Moby Grape). Pre-order SOULFIRE LIVE! now: https://UMe.lnk.to/SoulfireLive
Rolling Stone is premiering the live video of Little Steven’s performance of “Can I Get A Witness,” featuring Richie Sambora. Recorded last year at the famed Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, the video captures Little Steven and his 15-piece band, the Disciple of Soul’s, spirited and sweat-soaked shows which will be on full display on the Blu-Ray coming later this year.
WATCH “CAN I GET A WITNESS FT. RICHIE SAMBORA” HERE
Fans can now pre-order ahead of their release later this year, SOULFIRE LIVE! as a unique 7LP vinyl box set and on Blu-Ray video exclusively at Little Steven’s just-launched new webstore. The vinyl box set will incorporate an exclusive bonus LP capturing Little Steven’s extraordinary surprise set at Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club recorded November 2017 during his band’s sold out European tour. The intimate lunchtime gig saw Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul paying tribute to The Beatles with rocking renditions of “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Good Morning, Good Morning,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and “All You Need Is Love,” alongside iconic songs famously performed by the nascent Fab Four, including “Boys” (originally by The Shirelles), “Slow Down” (by Larry Williams) and “Soldier Of Love” (first recorded by Arthur Alexander).
“Playing in the same venue where The Beatles started their careers was a childhood dream of mine come true,” says Little Steven. “This was a band that set me on course for a life of music. For my rock ‘n’ roll religion, The Cavern is the first sacred site. It was an honor – no, make that an epiphany – to perform there.”
The SOULFIRE LIVE! Blu-ray video edition will include Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul’s complete Cavern Club concert alongside video performances of each song on the 3CD/vinyl set, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. In addition, the Blu-ray edition will feature a special documentary about the Cavern Club performance that sees Little Steven honored with a brick in the club’s hallowed Wall of Fame before leading his band through swift rehearsals of Beatles songs mere minutes ahead of their performance. The Blu-ray and vinyl box are available to pre-order now on Little Steven’s just-launched new web store: https://UMe.lnk.to/LittleStevenSoulFireLIVE
SOULFIRE LIVE! is an epic and electrifying journey through rock ‘n’ roll history led by one of its most passionate practitioners, showcasing Stevie Van Zandt’s limitless knowledge, talent, and sheer love for the genre in all its many shapes and guises. Among the album’s many highlights are original songs from throughout Little Steven’s illustrious career – including classics like “Standing In The Line Of Fire” and “I Don’t Want To Go Home” – alongside a number of favorite cover versions like The Electric Flag’s “Groovin’ Is Easy,” Etta James’ “Blues Is My Business,” and James Brown’s “Down And Out In New York City,” the latter two songs also featured on last year’s critically acclaimed SOULFIRE. In addition, SOULFIRE LIVE! includes Van Zandt’s inimitable introductions, detailing each song’s unique history and singular spot in his life and illustrious career.
The exclusive SOULFIRE LIVE! third disc showcases special guest appearances from some of Little Steven’s closest friends, collaborators, and favorite artists. Among the highlights are versions of Moby Grape’s “Can’t Be So Bad” performed with the legendary San Francisco band’s founding member, Jerry Miller; the Motown classic, “Can I Get A Witness,” performed with New Jersey’s own Richie Sambora; The J. Geils Band’s “Freeze Frame” with vocals from the one and only Peter Wolf; and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and Little Steven’s own “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” both joined by Bruce Springsteen.
As if that weren’t enough, Disc 3 also includes the Disciples of Soul’s electrifying takes on a number of Little Steven’s all-time favorite rock ‘n’ roll songs, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Even The Losers,” AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero,” The Allman Brothers Band’s “It’s Not My Cross To Bear,” The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” and The Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight).”
SOULFIRE LIVE! was produced and arranged by Stevie Van Zandt; the album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
SOULFIRE LIVE!
TRACKLISTING
* DISC 3 AUDIO EXCLUSIVE TO 3CD AND VINYL RELEASES
DISC 1
Mike Stoller Intro
Soulfire
I’m Coming Back
Blues Is My Business Intro
Blues Is My Business
Love On The Wrong Side Of Town
Until The Good Is Gone
Angel Eyes
Some Things Just Don’t Change
Saint Valentine’s Day Intro
Saint Valentine’s Day
Standing In The Line Of Fire Intro
Standing In The Line Of Fire
I Saw The Light
Salvation
The City Weeps Tonight Intro
The City Weeps Tonight
DISC 2
Down And Out In New York City
Princess Of Little Italy Intro
Princess Of Little Italy
Solidarity
Leonard Peltier
I Am A Patriot
Groovin’ Is Easy
Ride The Night Away Intro
Ride The Night Away
Bitter Fruit
Forever
Checkpoint Charlie Intro
Checkpoint Charlie
I Don’t Want To Go Home
Out Of The Darkness Intro
Out Of The Darkness
DISC 3
Even The Losers
Can’t Be So Bad (Feat. Jerry Miller)
You Shook Me All Night Long
Working Class Hero
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Can I Get A Witness (Feat. Richie Sambora)
It’s Not My Cross To Bear Intro
It’s Not My Cross To Bear
Freeze Frame (Feat. Peter Wolf)
The Time Of Your Life
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (Feat. Bruce Springsteen)
I Don’t Want To Go Home (Feat. Bruce Springsteen)
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)
Just back from a European tour, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul blew away audiences with their scorching concerts that included headline shows and stage-stealing festival performances across the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, and Norway. “There are some shows that reach up to another level altogether, and this was one of them. If you were at this gig, and didn’t come out punch-drunk with enjoyment, and your face tired from smiling, then what the hell do you want from life?,” exclaimed Blues Enthused about one of the much-talked about shows. “Playing a two and a half hour set of scintillating soul classics, deep cuts from his back catalogue and hot new songs from his most recent Soulfirealbum, he supplied maximum enjoyment to his dedicated fans,” raved London’s Express, adding, “If music is where everybody can find a common ground to share and enjoy their listening tastes, then tonight Little Steven produced a joyous connection to humanity with his Soulfire show.” Hot Press enthused, “With a full brass section, Youngblood’s Lowell ‘Banana’ Levinger on keys, Andy Burton doing his wizardly multi-instrumental thing and three of the funkiest soul sister singers to ever step outside of New York City, it really is a feast for the ears,” before declaring it “a shoo-in for Club Gig of the Year.”
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will rev up again this fall to celebrate SOULFIRE LIVE! with the final leg of their Teacher Appreciation Tour, set to get underway this October. The tour will once again benefit TeachRock, Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s national initiative to bring music curriculum into middle and high schools across the country. At each stop of the tour, teachers will get in free to the concert and TeachRock will host workshops before the show to educate teachers on how to implement music education into their classrooms. For complete details and ticket availability, please visit littlesteven.com. For more information about TeachRock and the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, please visit rockandrollforever.org
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL: SOULFIRE TOUR 2018
OCTOBER
18 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – Kirby Center
20 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Theater
23 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock
24 – Munhall, PA -Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
29 – Wabash, IN – Honeywell Center
31 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
NOVEMBER
2 – Burnsville, MN – Ames Center
5- Chicago, IL – Copernicus Center
7 – Tulsa, OK – Club Brady
9 – Detroit, MI @ Detroit Music Hall
10 – Peoria, IL – Monarch
12 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
14 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
16 – Cleveland, OH – Hard Rock
17 – Morgantown, WV – Metropolitan Theatre
SOULFIRE LIVE! follows last year’s acclaimed release of Little Steven’s sensational SOULFIRE, available now via Wicked Cool/Big Machine/UMe. The album is available as CD, digital download, and 180-gram black vinyl, the latter presented as a double LP housed in a gatefold sleeve with the music on Sides 1-3 and a unique etching of Little Steven on Side 4.
Stevie Van Zandt’s first solo album in close to two decades, SOULFIRE is without question his purest and most uniquely personal artistic statement thus far. The album sees the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revisiting songs that span the length of his career as artist, performer, producer, arranger, and songwriter, focusing directly on the hugely influential “soul horns-meet-rock ‘n’ roll guitars” approach he first pioneered on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ classic first three albums.
SOULFIRE quickly drew rapturous applause from fans and critics alike, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Rock’s ultimate sideman reclaims the Jersey Shore sound he helped invent.” “Cynicism, irony and cultivated hip detachment have taken their toll on rock ‘n’ roll,” raved USA Today. “With SOULFIRE, Van Zandt aims to blow all that out and lead listeners back to its more passionate essence.” “It’s hard to imagine a more joyous and revelatory contemporary blue-eyed soul recording,” enthused American Songwriter. “The appropriately titled SOULFIRE is a tough, tight and clearly inspired project as well as a most welcome return from the musical shadows for Steven Van Zandt. “SOULFIRE” hearkens back to Van Zandt’s classic first solo album of gritty, greasy, horn-accented ’60s-style rock and soul,” noted Billboard, while Paste proclaimed, “Rockier than Motown or the Sound of Philadelphia, this a joyous invitation to live and love.”
SOULFIRE was arranged and produced by Van Zandt at his own Renegade Studios in New York City, co-produced and recorded by GRAMMY® Award-winner Geoff Sanoff (Fountains of Wayne, Stephen Colbert) and co-produced and music directed by guitarist Marc Ribler. The album was mixed and mastered by Van Zandt’s career-long collaborators and friends Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Bryan Adams), and Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone).
Little Steven Van Zandt is of course known around the world for his utterly personal songwriting and an ambitious adventurousness that has fueled much of his creative output these past two decades. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, he has also expanded his artistic parameters to include landmark work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host, historian, and rock ‘n’ roll advocate on Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt has also expanding his musical boundaries to include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer and additional work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records from an array of international garage rockers.
For more, please visit:
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL OFFER SOLIDARITY TO TEACHERS AND THE #REDFORED MOVEMENT WITH “SOULFIRE TEACHER SOLIDARITY TOUR 2018”
PERFORMING IN EVERY STATE TEACHERS HAVE BEEN STRIKING OR ARE CONSIDERING GOING ON STRIKE
HOSTING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE TO INTRODUCE GROUNDBREAKING TEACHROCK MUSIC CURRICULUM
TICKETS TO NORTH AMERICAN TREK AVAILABLE FREE TO EDUCATORS OF ALL TYPES
DATES BEGIN OCTOBER 18 IN WILKES BARRE, PA; SHOWS ON SALE NOW
SOULFIRE LIVE! BOX SETS AVAILABLE NOW
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will show solidarity with and say thank you to hard-working teachers across North America with a landmark headline tour introducing TeachRock, the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s free, multimedia, K-12 interdisciplinary curriculum which meets prevailing standards in English Language Arts, Social Studies/History, the Fine and Performing Arts, and also includes STEAM and advisory material. The “Soulfire Teacher Solidarity Tour 2018” begins October 18 at The Kirby Center in Wilkes Barre, PA and then continues into December. All shows on sale now. For complete details and tickets, please visit www.littlesteven.com/on-tour.
The “Soulfire Teacher Solidarity Tour 2018” concerts are free for educators of all types (and a guest) – teachers are invited to sign up at teachrock.org/tour. Each show on the tour will also see Little Steven and his TeachRock staff hosting free professional development workshops designed to engage educators with techniques and content through which they can comfortably use music to inspire students, even if they’ve never touched an instrument. In many locations, the workshop will also count towards continuing education hours and license renewal.
The Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul Teacher Appreciation Tour Professional Development Experience will offer an introduction to the Teachrock.org curriculum, and include material suitable for K-12 teachers of all disciplines, interdisciplinary best practices, and group activities. In addition, the one-hour workshops will see a personal visit from Little Steven, with attendees also receiving a teacher-only edition “Teacher Appreciation Tour” t-shirt, a certificate of attendance, and tickets for the educator and a guest to that evening’s Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul concert.
“This is a little different than the professional development experience you may be used to,” says Little Steven. “This is a rock ‘n’ roll experience.”
Little Steven unveiled the “Soulfire Teacher Solidarity Tour 2018” earlier this week with a personal video announcement, streaming now at the official TeachRock YouTube channel HERE.
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL:
SOULFIRE TEACHER SOLIDARITY TOUR 2018
OCTOBER
18 – Wilkes Barre, PA – Kirby Center
20 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Center
23 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Hotel & casino
24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Homestead Music Hall
29 – Wabash, IN – Honeywell Center
31 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
NOVEMBER
2 – Burnsville, MN – Ames Center
3 – Green Bay, WI – Meyer Theatre
5 – Chicago, IL – Copernicus Center
7 – Tulsa, OK – Brady Theater
9 – Detroit, MI – Detroit Music Hall
10 – Peoria, IL – Monarch Theater
12 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
14 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
16 – Northfield, OH – Hard Rock Rocksino
17 – Morgantown, WV – Metropolitan Theatre
26 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
28 – Omaha, NE – Holland Performing Arts Center
30 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
DECEMBER
1 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
3 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
5 – Snoqualmie, WA – Snoqualmie Casino
7 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
8 – Stateline, NV – Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
11 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
12 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
14 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
16 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren
# # #
Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that integrates arts throughout K-12 classrooms via rich, standard-aligned lesson plans and hands-on teacher workshops, all delivered to educators and districts at no cost. TeachRock is a standards-aligned arts integration curriculum that uses the history and culture of popular music to engage students in all disciplines. From social studies and language arts to geography, STEAM, general music, and more: TeachRock has engaging and meaningful material for every K-12 classroom, and it’s all shared with teachers and students at no cost. TeachRock is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Council for Geographic Education, with partners including Scholastic Inc., PBS, Reelin’ in the Years, ABC News, Rock’s Backpages, New York University’s Steinhardt School, and the Grammy Museum. Forlesson plans and additional information, please visit teachrock.org.
“Music will forever be humanity’s most effective and consistent source of inspiration and motivation,” says Little Steven, “and, we have learned, music turns out to be our most solid common ground for establishing communication between teachers and students which is where education begins.”
The Soulfire TeachRock Tour 2018 follows the recent release of SOULFIRE LIVE!, a spectacular new live collection recorded last year in North America and Europe during Little Steven’s first world tour in nearly two decades. The 3CD and LP editions feature an exclusive third disc highlighted by superstar guest performances recorded throughout the trek, including Bruce Springsteen, Richie Sambora, Peter Wolf, and Jerry Miller (of Moby Grape). SOULFIRE LIVE! is available now via Wicked Cool/Big Machine/UMe. A unique 7LP vinyl box set and Blu-ray edition of SOULFIRE LIVE! is also on the way and is available to pre-order now.
DOWNLOAD/STREAM SOULFIRE LIVE!
PURCHASE SOULFIRE LIVE! BOX SETS
An epic and electrifying journey through rock ‘n’ roll history led by one of its most passionate practitioners, SOULFIRE LIVE! showcases Stevie Van Zandt’s limitless knowledge, talent, and sheer love for the genre in all its many shapes and guises. Among the album’s many highlights are original songs from throughout Little Steven’s illustrious career – including classics like “Standing In The Line Of Fire” and “I Don’t Want To Go Home” – alongside a number of favorite cover versions like The Electric Flag’s “Groovin’ Is Easy,” Etta James’ “Blues Is My Business,” and James Brown’s “Down And Out In New York City,” the latter two songs also featured on last year’s critically acclaimed SOULFIRE. In addition, SOULFIRE LIVE! includes Van Zandt’s inimitable introductions, detailing each song’s unique history and singular spot in his life and illustrious career.
Little Steven Van Zandt is of course known around the world for his utterly personal songwriting and an ambitious adventurousness that has fueled much of his creative output these past two decades. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, he has also expanded his artistic parameters to include landmark work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host, historian, and rock ‘n’ roll advocate on Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt has also expanding his musical boundaries to include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer and additional work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records from an array of international garage rockers.
For more, please visit:
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL REGISTER 10,000 TEACHERS FOR TEACHROCK MUSIC HISTORY CURRICULUM
TICKETS TO THE “TEACHER SOLIDARITY TOUR” STILL AVAILABLE
FREE TO EDUCATORS OF ALL TYPES
SOULFIRE LIVE! BOX SETS AVAILABLE NOW
The final leg of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul’s Teacher Solidarity Tour has reached the incredible goal of registering over 10,000 teachers to use the TeachRock Music History Curriculum. The tour, which began last week in association with the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation (RRFF), is still accepting registrations as it continues through December 16.
Stevie Van Zandt, who often refers to educators as the “front line in the war on ignorance,” launched the “Teacher Solidarity Tour” to demonstrate his support for teachers throughout the US in a time marked by wage cuts, crumbling school infrastructure, a lack of funding for resources, and widespread teacher strikes. More than just moral support, the tour presents a nightly workshop — a legitimate professional development session in which RRFF staff, and Van Zandt himself, present concepts and content that empower K-12 teachers of all disciplines to use music in their classrooms.
Throughout the tour, teachers and their guests get in free. Doors open early to teachers at 5:15 for snacks and networking, the workshops run from 6-7, and the concert follows. It’s an action-packed, hands-on professional development in a different environment, but is nonetheless a legitimate professional experience from which teachers come away with something to use tomorrow as well as with material to plan into future semesters. At many tour stops, the sessions even count toward educators’ continuing education licensing hours. As Van Zandt puts it, “This is a little different than the professional development experience you may be used to. This is a rock ‘n’ roll experience.”
There are more than 20 shows left on the tour, and tickets remain for educators at almost each stop. For more info, and to register, head to www.teachrock.org/tour.
Thus far “solidarity” has been an apt word for the tour, as the workshops have been a unifying force within school districts. Throughout the country, superintendents are signing on, making the workshops “official” professional development opportunities for their teachers, and even adding the events to school calendars. Educator feedback has also been wholly positive.
Teacher Edward J. wrote, “I want to recognize your devoted Rock & Roll Forever Foundation team who exceeded my expectations as an education professional. The entire experience was top shelf. Between the deep dive into the TeachRock content and the two and one half hour soul revue by your band, I have memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you for opening the music of our heart to this vital initiative. I love being a Teach Rock ‘Disciple of Soul.'”
Teacher Sonia H. wrote, “You gave a great PD last night at the historic Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead! Thanks to Steven for his decade-long effort to keep music alive in schools. It was wonderful to see teachers of all ages interacting with each other. As we engaged with the music we could see how easy it will be to get students involved with history, science, etc. and teach kids to discover more on their own. Motivation is key in this day and age.”
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL: SOULFIRE TEACHER APPRECIATION TOUR 2018
OCTOBER
31 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
NOVEMBER
2 – Burnsville, MN – Ames Center
3 – Green Bay, WI – Meyer Theatre
5 – Chicago, IL – Copernicus Center
7 – Tulsa, OK – Brady Theater
9 – Detroit, MI – Detroit Music Hall
10 – Peoria, IL – Monarch Theater
12 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
14 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
16 – Northfield, OH – Hard Rock Rocksino
17 – Morgantown, WV – Metropolitan Theatre
26 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
28 – Omaha, NE – Holland Performing Arts Center
30 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
DECEMBER
1 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
3 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
5 – Snoqualmie, WA – Snoqualmie Casino
7 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
8 – Stateline, NV – Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
11 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
12 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
14 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
16 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren
# # #
Stevie Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that integrates arts throughout K-12 classrooms via rich, standard-aligned lesson plans and hands-on teacher workshops, all delivered to educators and districts at no cost. TeachRock is a standards-aligned arts integration curriculum that uses the history and culture of popular music to engage students in all disciplines. From social studies and language arts to geography, STEAM, general music, and more: TeachRock has engaging and meaningful material for every K-12 classroom, and it’s all shared with teachers and students at no cost. TeachRock is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Council for Geographic Education, with partners including Scholastic Inc., PBS, Reelin’ in the Years, ABC News, Rock’s Backpages, New York University’s Steinhardt School, and the Grammy Museum. For lesson plans and additional information, please visit teachrock.org.
“Music will forever be humanity’s most effective and consistent source of inspiration and motivation,” says Van Zandt, “and, we have learned, music turns out to be our most solid common ground for establishing communication between teachers and students which is where education begins.”
The Soulfire TeachRock Tour 2018 follows the recent release of SOULFIRE LIVE!, a spectacular new live collection recorded last year in North America and Europe during Little Steven’s first world tour in nearly two decades. The 3CD and LP editions feature an exclusive third disc highlighted by superstar guest performances recorded throughout the trek, including Bruce Springsteen, Richie Sambora, Peter Wolf, and Jerry Miller (of Moby Grape). SOULFIRE LIVE! is available now via Wicked Cool/Big Machine/UMe. A unique 7LP vinyl box set and Blu-ray edition of SOULFIRE LIVE! is also on the way and is available to pre-order now.
DOWNLOAD/STREAM SOULFIRE LIVE!
FOR MEDIA USE ONLY
PURCHASE SOULFIRE LIVE! BOX SETS
# # #
MUSICIANS STEVIE VAN ZANDT AND JACKSON BROWNE CALL FOR MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT
URGE CHANGES IN HOTEL’S SINGLE-USE PLASTIC POLICY
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Stevie Van Zandt and Jackson Browne joined Plastic Pollution Coalition in calling for a boycott of all Marriott International-owned hotels in response to their policy of using plastic containers for room service.
Van Zandt and Browne are notable members of Plastic Pollution Coalition, a global alliance working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean, and the environment.
More than 8 million tons of plastic pollution enter the world’s oceans each year, harming animals and ecosystems. Toxic chemicals in plastic can leach from food containers and are linked to human health problems such as cancer, infertility, and obesity.
“The last thing we need right now is more plastic waste,” said Van Zandt. “There is no longer any excuse – if there ever was – for businesses to sacrifice environmental responsibility for profit. The two are no longer mutually exclusive – if they ever were – and any attempt to present the false choice of one over the other is a lie.”
Posts on Marriott Hotel’s social media channels show customers complaining about the plastic containers for room service since 2016. A Tweet from Van Zandt calling out Marriott on Sunday was liked 1.4K times.
“We each have it in our power to support businesses that take care not to further degrade our environment, and to bring that considerable consumer power to bear in the fight for a sustainable future,” said Jackson Browne. “I’m happy to answer Stevie Van Zandt’s call for this boycott. I spend much of my year in hotel rooms, and it is absolutely my choice not to stay where they serve food in plastic.”
Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition, said: “We stand with our notable Coalition members in calling for a boycott of Marriott Hotels until they change this wasteful practice of using plastic containers for room service. The time is now for Marriott to reduce their plastic footprint on the earth and think ‘reusable’ instead of ‘disposable.”
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL’S SOULFIRE LIVE! VINYL BOX SET AND BLU-RAY VIDEO RELEASED TODAY
EPIC COLLECTIONS CHRONICLE FIRST WORLD TOUR IN NEARLY TWO DECADES
FEATURES GUEST APPEARANCES FROM PAUL MCCARTNEY,
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, RICHIE SAMBORA, PETER WOLF AND MOBY GRAPE’S JERRY MILLER
INCLUDES EXTRAORDINARY BEATLES CELEBRATION RECORDED AT LIVERPOOL’S LEGENDARY CAVERN CLUB
WATCH LIVE PERFORMANCE OF LITTLE STEVEN AND PAUL MCCARTNEY PERFORM
“I SAW HER STANDING THERE”
 |
 |
(New York, NY) A rousing document of the legendary rock n’ roller’s first world tour in nearly two decades, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have released two new exciting collections today, allowing fans to relive the sensational live shows or to experience them for the first time. Titled SOULFIRE LIVE! after the vaunted 2017 tour of the same name, the live album is available as both a 7LP vinyl box set and as a two-disc Blu-ray video via Wicked Cool Records/UMe. Order SOULFIRE LIVE! now: https://UMe.lnk.to/SoulfireLive
Comprised of the best performances from the North American and European concerts, the collections feature Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt and his 15-strong band taking listeners through a musical history lesson as they blast through an arsenal of songs spanning rock, pop, soul, blues, funk, doo-wop, reggae and everything in between. Nearly every song from his 2016 album SOULFIRE is represented along with inspired covers and classic tracks from his early catalog. The sets each culminate with “Macca To Mecca!,” a 12-song tribute to The Beatles that kicks off with a riveting performance of “I Saw Her Standing There” recorded at The Roundhouse in London with a special appearance by Paul McCartney. It is followed by an extraordinary surprise set at Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club recorded November 2017 during the band’s sold out European tour. The intimate lunchtime gig is filled with rocking renditions of “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Good Morning, Good Morning,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and “All You Need Is Love,” alongside iconic songs famously performed by the nascent Fab Four, including “Boys” (originally by The Shirelles), “Slow Down” (by Larry Williams) and “Soldier Of Love” (first recorded by Arthur Alexander). Watch Van Zandt and McCartney perform “I Saw Her Standing There” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBTL4IwOTaU
“Our 2017 tour began in London with one of the most thrilling moments of my life,” says Van Zandt. “Sir Paul McCartney surprised us on stage for the encore of our show. We had performed together a couple times before with Bruce and the E Street Band but this time was particularly meaningful to me. It was an incredibly generous endorsement of my own work and just the encouragement my new artistic rebirth needed. Because of that wonderful gesture, I wanted to do something special once we got to Liverpool. We decided to do a mini-tribute to The Beatles and do a lunchtime set at the Cavern the way they used to. Playing in the same venue where The Beatles started their careers was a childhood dream of mine come true. This was a band that set me on course for a life of music. For my rock ‘n’ roll religion, The Cavern is the first sacred site. It was an honor – no, make that an epiphany – to perform there.”
The vinyl box set and Blu-ray editions of SOULFIRE LIVE! also includes all of the material from the 3CD version released last year. Among the many highlights aresignature songs from his illustrious solo career – including “Lying In A Bed Of Fire,” “Bitter Fruit” and “Out Of The Darkness,” as well as classics written for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, including “I Don’t Want To Go Home” and “Love On The Wrong Side Of Town” – alongside electrifying takes on a number of Little Steven’s all-time favorite rock ‘n’ roll songs, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Even The Losers,” AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero,” The Allman Brothers Band’s “It’s Not My Cross To Bear,” The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” and The Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight).” Also included are spirited renditions of The Electric Flag’s “Groovin’ Is Easy,” Etta James’ “Blues Is My Business,” and James Brown’s “Down And Out In New York City,” from his SOULFIRE album. Van Zandt’s inimitable introductions detail each song’s unique history and singular spot in his life and remarkable career.
SOULFIRE LIVE! showcases special guest appearances from some of Little Steven’s closest friends, collaborators, and favorite artists. Among the highlights are versions of Moby Grape’s “Can’t Be So Bad” performed with the legendary San Francisco band’s founding member, Jerry Miller; the Motown classic, “Can I Get A Witness,” performed with New Jersey’s own Richie Sambora; The J. Geils Band’s “Freeze Frame” with vocals from the one and only Peter Wolf; and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and Little Steven’s own “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” both joined by Bruce Springsteen.
The SOULFIRE LIVE! Blu-ray video edition includes Little Steven and the Disciples complete Cavern Club concert alongside video performances of each song on the 3CD/vinyl set, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. In addition, the Blu-ray features a special documentary about the Cavern Club performance that saw Little Steven honored with a brick in the club’s hallowed Wall of Fame before leading his band through swift rehearsals of Beatles songs mere minutes ahead of their performance.
Whichever version you pick up, SOULFIRE LIVE! is an epic and electrifying journey through rock ‘n’ roll history led by one of its most passionate practitioners, showcasing Steven Van Zandt’s limitless knowledge, talent, and sheer love for the genre in all its many shapes and guises.
Little Steven – SOULFIRE LIVE!
7LP Vinyl Box Set
LP1
Side A
1. Mike Stoller Intro
2. Soulfire
3. I’m Coming Back
4. Blues Is My Business Intro
5. Blues Is My Business
Side B
1. Love On The Wrong Side Of Town
2. Until The Good Is Gone
3. Angel Eyes
LP2
Side A
1. Some Things Just Don’t Change
2. Saint Valentine’s Day Intro
3. Saint Valentine’s Day
4. Standing In The Line Of Fire Intro
5. Standing In The Line Of Fire
Side B
1. I Saw The Light
2. Salvation
3. The City Weeps Tonight Intro
4. The City Weeps Tonight
LP3
Side A
1. Down And Out In New York City
2. Princess Of Little Italy Intro
3. Princess Of Little Italy
Side B
1. Solidarity
2. Leonard Peltier
3. I Am A Patriot
4. Groovin’ Is Easy
LP4
Side A
1. Ride The Night Away Intro
2. Ride The Night Away
3. Bitter Fruit
4. Forever
Side B
1. Checkpoint Charlie Intro
2. Checkpoint Charlie
3. I Don’t Want To Go Home
4. Out Of The Darkness Intro
5. Out Of The Darkness
LP5
Side A
1. Even The Losers
2. Can’t Be So Bad (featuring Jerry Miller)
3. You Shook Me All Night Long
4. Working Class Hero
Side B
1. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
2. Can I Get A Witness (featuring Richie Sambora)
3. It’s Not My Cross To Bear Intro
4. It’s Not My Cross To Bear
5. Freeze Frame (featuring Peter Wolf)
LP6
Side A
1. The Time Of Your Life
2. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (featuring Bruce Springsteen)
3. I Don’t Want To Go Home (featuring Bruce Springseen)
4. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)
Side B
(blank)
LP7
Macca to Mecca! (Live at Cavern Club in Liverpool)
Side A
1. I Saw Her Standing There Intro
2. I Saw Her Standing There (feat. Paul McCartney)
3. Cavern Club Intro
4. Magical Mystery Tour
5. Boys
6. Slow Down Intro (which was formerly named Liverpool Tribute)
7. Slow Down
8. Some Other Guy
Side B
1. Soldier of Love Intro
2. Soldier Of Love
3. Good Morning
4. Got To Get You Into My Life
5. All You Need Is Love
6. Birthday
Little Steven – SOULFIRE LIVE!
2Disc Blu-Ray
Disc 1
LIVE!
Disc 2
Bonus Tracks
Macca to Mecca!
Cavern Club Lunchtime Set
For more, please visit:
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
TO CELEBRATE SUMMER OF SORCERY
LEGENDARY ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER HERALDS FIRST ALBUM OF NEW MATERIAL
IN 20 YEARS WITH “SUPERFLY TERRAPLANE”
PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW
SUMMER OF SORCERY WORLD TOUR BEGINS MAY 16 IN LIVERPOOL, UK
RECORD RELEASE SHOWS CONFIRMED FOR LOS ANGELES AND ASBURY PARK;
FULL NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TO BE UNVEILED SOON
SUMMER OF SORCERY ARRIVES ON MAY 3 VIA WICKED COOL/UMe
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have announced the release of their eagerly awaited new album. SUMMER OF SORCERY, the legendary rock ‘n’ rollers first album of new material, arrives May 3 via Wicked Cool/UMe. SUMMER OF SORCERY is available for pre-order now. The album will be released on CD, digitally and on vinyl as double LP on 180-gram black vinyl. A limited edition version will be available as a double LP on 180-gram psychedelic swirl vinyl exclusively via uDiscover. All digital pre-orders will be joined by an instant grat download of the LP’s jet-fueled first track release, “Superfly Terraplane,” which premiered today via Rolling Stone.
LISTEN TO “SUPERFLY TERRAPLANE”
PRE-ORDER SUMMER OF SORCERY
“My first five albums in the ’80s were both very personal, and very political,” explains Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt. “I wanted the new material to be more fictionalized. The way records were when I grew up. Before it was an artform. The concept was capturing and communicating that first rush of summer. The electricity of that feeling of unlimited possibilities. Of falling in love with the world for the first time. Obviously, there are occasional personal references, and a bit of what’s going on socially scattered throughout, but I achieved what I set out to do. I created a collection of fictional movies scenes that feel like summer. I’m quite proud of it.”
SUMMER OF SORCERY – which arrives just two years after Little Steven’s acclaimed 2017’s solo return, SOULFIRE, and its 2018 live follow-up, SOULFIRE LIVE! – was written, arranged, and produced by Van Zandt at his own Renegade Studios in New York City; the album was co-produced and recorded by GRAMMY® Award-winner Geoff Sanoff and co-produced by Disciples of Soul musical director and guitarist Marc Ribler. SUMMER OF SORCERY was mixed and mastered respectively by Van Zandt’s career-long collaborators and friends Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Bryan Adams), and Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone). The album – which features an exclusive introduction written by Van Zandt – is adorned with Frank Frazetta-inspired cover art by Van Zandt’s longtime art director, Louis Arzonico.
Little Steven is joined on this thrilling musical journey with his all-star band the Disciples of Soul, a 14-strong ensemble made up of some of the best studio and live musicians in the business. Leading the charge alongside Van Zandt is musical director and guitarist Marc Ribler (Darlene Love, Roger McGuinn, Carole King) who conducts the band consisting of Lowell “Banana” Levinger of The Youngbloods on piano and Wurlitzer, bassist Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz, Boz Scaggs, Darryl Hall), drummer Rich Mercurio (Ben E King, Sara Bareilles, Idina Menzel), percussionist Anthony Almonte (King Creole and The Coconuts), Andy Burton on B3 organ, piano, synthesizers (Cyndi Lauper, John Mayer, Ian Hunter), the dynamite horn section of horn director Eddie Manion on baritone saxophone (Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny), Stan Harrison on tenor saxophone and flute (David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Duran Duran), Ron Tooley on trumpet (James Brown, John Lennon, Maceo Parker), Ravi Best on trumpet (Aretha Franklin, Stevie, Wonder, Kool and The Gang) and Clark Gayton on trombone (Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, Rhianna). The band is rounded out with the soulful, synchronized dancing backup singers Jessie Wagner (Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Chic ), Sara Devine (Alicia Keys, Mary J Blige) and Tania Jones (Disciples of Soul).
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will celebrate SUMMER OF SORCERY with special record release shows at The Saban in Los Angeles on May 4 and at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, N.J. on May 8th. A wide-ranging world tour will follow, beginning May 16 at Liverpool, UK’s 02 Academy and then making headline stops across the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. Exclusive VIP Meet & Greet Upgrade Packages are available for most dates. The “SUMMER OF SORCERY TOUR” will hit North America this summer – a full itinerary will be announced soon. In addition, Little Steven will lead the Disciples of Soul down under for the very final dates on his epic “SOULFIRE TOUR,” including a pair of hugely anticipated performances at the 30th anniversary Byron Bay Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Australia (April 18 and 20). For complete details, updates, and ticket availability, please visit www.littlesteven.com/on-tour.
SUMMER OF SORCERY is another landmark work in a four-decade career full of milestones, a spirited collection of songs which conjure up all the wonder and magic of the eponymous season – the beach and the boardwalk, the young love and unbridled lust, the innocence and experience that somehow starts it all.
“I always work thematically,” Van Zandt says. “I can’t just throw together a collection of songs; there has to be some kind of overriding idea that drives it. This time I wanted to capture the excitement of that first summer of consciousness. That one special summer where you first fall in love with life, that thrill of just being alive.”
Van Zandt’s first solo album as Little Steven in close to two decades, 2017’s SOULFIRE saw the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revisiting songs that spanned the length of his career as artist, performer, producer, arranger, and songwriter, focusing on the “soul horns-meet-rock ‘n’ roll guitars” sound he first pioneered on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ classic first three albums and later, his own first solo LP. The album saw Van Zandt uniting an all-new Disciples of Soul, complete with three backing vocalists and a full horn section featuring original Asbury Jukes/Miami Horns saxophonists Stan Harrison (tenor) and Eddie Manion (baritone). Little Steven and his 15-piece big band spent nearly two years traveling the world on the SOULFIRE Tour, not to mention last year’s “SOULFIRE TEACHER SOLIDARITY TOUR” supporting TeachRock, the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s national initiative to bring music curriculum into schools across the country. Still, the planetary success of the SOULFIRE project left Van Zandt to ponder: Where do I want to go now?
“Quite honestly, the SOULFIRE Tour was something special,” he says. “It was a definitive type of tour – I told my whole life story and most of the story of the history of rock ‘n’ roll simultaneously, it was a show 20, 30, 40 years in the making. So it was like, ok, now what? How do we beat that, or at least equal it? You set these standards and now you’ve got to reach them.”
Reach them he did – SUMMER OF SORCERY is Little Steven at his omnivorous, humanistic best, expertly crafted and deeply rooted in the many classic genres which taught and inspired the self-proclaimed “walking history lesson” from the jump. With their richly bombastic arrangements, floor-shaking groves, and high-powered performances from all involved, new songs like “Soul Power Twist and the album kick off “Communion” synthesize Van Zandt’s incalculable range of cultural and sonic inspirations into a one-of-a-kind brass-fueled brand of Technicolor rock ‘n’ soul unlike anyone else’s. The album features 10 original new songs alongside “Suddenly You,” an outtake from the “Lilyhammer” score, Netflix’s first original series, which starred Van Zandt who also composed all the music for trailblazing show, and a reimagining of “Education” which was first recorded for his 1989 album Revolution. “The education system needs to be fixed, needs to be improved,” he says. “Teachers need to be supported. There needs to be more support, more funding. That’s what I’m trying to get across with my TeachRock program and that’s all in this song.”
The record culminates with the epic title track, “Summer of Sorcery,” an eight-minute mission statement that conjures the euphoric rush of a summer romance and limitless possibility. “The whole theme of the album is summed up in that song, that wizardry, that magic mixture of falling in love in the summer,” says Van Zandt.
“I wanted to create a hybrid that would be uniquely me,” he says. “I wanted to hear Sly and the Family Stone, I wanted to hear Sam Cooke, I wanted to hear Tito Puente. I wanted to try and get the Beach Boys in there. James Brown, of course. I had certain touchstones of musical influence that I wanted to integrate into my thing.”
Recorded last year mid-SOULFIRE Tour and then mixed whilst on the road once again, SUMMER OF SORCERYrepresents a straightforward progression from its predecessor, the first time in Van Zandt’s long career that he’s maintained a band line-up and sonic approach from one solo work to the next.
“Instead of embarking on a whole new adventure, I decided, I’m going to evolve this thing,” Van Zandt says. “I’ve always wondered where my sound would evolve to if I ever did the same thing twice, if I ever evolved vertically rather than horizontally. All five of my solo albums before SOULFIRE are completely different genres. I never had a chance to evolve one particular thing to see where it went.”
Not to say Van Zandt didn’t push himself towards something new and novel – quite the opposite in fact. Where his prior solo canon was irrefutably linked by both his lifelong activism and deeply personal lyricism, this time Little Steven chose to eschew the overly political and explicitly autobiographical for a more overarching approach, one which allowed him a chance to apply his particular style of studied songcraft for his own album instead of another’s.
“With this record I really wanted to travel back to a time when life was exciting, when unlimited possibilities were there every day, says Van Zandt. “That was the feeling in the ’60s, the thrill of the unexpected coming at you. Our minds were blown every single day, one amazing thing after another, constantly lifting you up. So you kind of walked around six inches off the ground all the time, there was something that kept you buoyant in your spirit. I wanted to try and capture that first and foremost.”
If SOULFIRE stands as the last word at the end of one chapter of Van Zandt’s long career, SUMMER OF SORCERY marks the start of what comes next.
“Making this record was everything I’d hoped for,” Little Steven says. “What I’d hoped would happen was, you put the whole tour, all of those songs, into a funnel and out of that funnel comes a new album. And that’s exactly what happened.”
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
ON TOUR 2019
SOULFIRE TOUR – AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2019
APRIL
18 – Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest *
20 – Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest *
23 – Melbourne, Australia – Forum Melbourne
25 – Newtown, Australia – Enmore Theatre
27 – Auckland, New Zealand – Auckland Town Hal
SUMMER OF SORCERY TOUR
MAY
4 – Los Angeles, CA – The Saban
8 – Asbury Park, NJ – Paramount Theatre
16 – Liverpool, UK – O2 Academy
18 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
20 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
22 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
24 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
26 – Derbyshire, UK – Bearded Theory Festival *
28 – Berlin, Germany – Huxley’s
30 – Jelling, Denmark – Jelling Muiskfestival *
JUNE
1 – Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus
3 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
5 – Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik
7 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique (AB)
9 – Emmen, The Netherlands – Hello Festival *
11 – Zurich, Switzerland – Kaufleuten
13 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
15 – Bilbao, Spain – Music Legends Festival *
17 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo
20 – Kragujevac, Serbia – Arsenal Festival *
23 – Paris, France – La Cigale
* FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
# # #
ABOUT STEVEN VAN ZANDT:
Musician, band leader, producer, actor, arranger, activist, and so much more, Little Steven Van Zandt is known and beloved around the world for his utterly distinctive songwriting, artistic ambition, and unyielding belief in the power and glory of classic rock ‘n’ soul. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, the past two decades have seen the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer expand his personal parameters to include legendary work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host-creator of Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt’s myriad creative efforts in recent years include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer along with landmark work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records including Darlene Love’s acclaimed 2015 release, INTRODUCING DARLENE LOVE.
Van Zandt’s first solo album in close to two decades, SOULFIRE drew rapturous applause from fans and critics alike upon its 2017 release, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Rock’s ultimate sideman reclaims the Jersey Shore sound he helped invent.” “Cynicism, irony and cultivated hip detachment have taken their toll on rock ‘n’ roll,” raved USA Today. “With SOULFIRE, Van Zandt aims to blow all that out and lead listeners back to its more passionate essence.” “It’s hard to imagine a more joyous and revelatory contemporary blue-eyed soul recording,” enthused American Songwriter. “The appropriately titled SOULFIRE is a tough, tight and clearly inspired project as well as a most welcome return from the musical shadows for Steven Van Zandt.” SOULFIRE “hearkens back to Van Zandt’s classic first solo album of gritty, greasy, horn-accented ’60s-style rock and soul,” noted Billboard, while Paste proclaimed, “Rockier than Motown or the Sound of Philadelphia, this a joyous invitation to live and love.
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
SUMMER OF SORCERY
(Wicked Cool/UMe)
Release Date: May 3, 2019
Tracklisting:
Communion
Party Mambo!
Love Again
Vortex
A World Of Our Own
Gravity
Soul Power Twist
Superfly Terraplane
Education
Suddenly You
I Visit The Blues
For more, please visit:
# # #
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL SHARE
“A WORLD OF OUR OWN” FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM
SUMMER OF SORCERY; ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
LEGENDARY ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER’S FIRST ALBUM OF NEW MATERIAL IN 20 YEARS ARRIVES ON MAY 3 VIA WICKED COOL/UMe
SUMMER OF SORCERY WORLD TOUR BEGINS MAY 16 IN LIVERPOOL, UK
RECORD RELEASE SHOWS CONFIRMED FOR
LOS ANGELES AND ASBURY PARK
New York – April 12, 2019 – Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have released a new song, “A World Of Our Own,” from their forthcoming album Summer Of Sorcery due May 3 on Wicked Cool/UMe. The soulful, euphoric track, which premiered via Billboard yesterday who described it as having “a shimmering Phil Spector quality,” conjures up visions of young love, summer nights and a simpler era when Girl Groups dominated the airwaves. “Growing up, The Shirelles, The Chiffons, The Ronettes, The Crystals and The Shangri-Las were really important to me,” says Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt. “This song is my take on the type of song I might have written for a Girl Group like one of those fantastic acts back in the day.”
Summer Of Sorcery will be released on CD, digitally and on vinyl as double LP on 180-gram black vinyl. A limited edition version will be available as a double LP on 180-gram psychedelic swirl vinyl exclusively via uDiscover. All digital pre-orders will receive instant grat downloads of “A World Of Our Own” and the record’s jet-fueled first track release, “Superfly Terraplane.”
LISTEN TO “A WORLD OF OUR OWN”
PRE-ORDER SUMMER OF SORCERY
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have just touched down in Australia for a run of shows that will kick off this Saturday, April 13 in Perth. The 15-piece band will perform a pair of hugely anticipated performances at the 30th anniversary Byron Bay Bluesfest in Byron Bay (April 18 and 20). They will wrap the tour in Auckland, New Zealand on April 27. The band will then head home to the U.S. to celebrate Summer Of Sorcery with special record release shows at The Saban in Los Angeles on May 4 and at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, N.J. on May 8. A wide-ranging world tour will follow, beginning May 16 at Liverpool, UK’s 02 Academy and then making headline stops across the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.
The first leg of the North American tour will begin July 2 at the London Music Hall in Ontario, Canada and take Van Zandt and band all across Canada and the Eastern U.S., culminating at Outlaw Jam in Annapolis, Md. Each show on the American tour will benefit Van Zandt’s TeachRock education initiative and offer an introduction to the Teachrock.org curriculum. Before the show, the TeachRock staff will host free professional development workshops designed to engage educators with techniques and content through which they can comfortably use music to inspire students, even if they’ve never touched an instrument. The free, multimedia K-12 interdisciplinary curriculum meets prevailing standards in English Language Arts, Social Studies/History, the Fine and Performing Arts, and also includes STEAM and advisory material suitable for K-12 teachers of all disciplines, interdisciplinary best practices, and group activities.
Each ticket purchased online for any of the Little Steven and The Disciples Of Soul U.S. tour dates will include a CD of Summer Of Sorcery. Exclusive VIP Meet & Greet Upgrade Packages are also available for most dates. For complete details, updates and ticket availability, please visit www.littlesteven.com/on-tour.
Summer Of Sorcery – which arrives just two years after Little Steven’s acclaimed 2017’s solo return, Soulfire, and its 2018 live follow-up, Soulfire Live! – was written, arranged, and produced by Van Zandt at his own Renegade Studios in New York City; the album was co-produced and recorded by GRAMMY® Award-winner Geoff Sanoff and co-produced by Disciples of Soul musical director and guitarist Marc Ribler. Summer Of Sorcery was mixed and mastered respectively by Van Zandt’s career-long collaborators and friends Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Bryan Adams), and Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone). The album – which features an exclusive introduction written by Van Zandt – is adorned with Frank Frazetta-inspired cover art by Van Zandt’s longtime art director, Louis Arzonico.
“My first five albums in the ’80s were both very personal, and very political,” explains Van Zandt. “I wanted the new material to be more fictionalized. The way records were when I grew up. Before it was an artform. The concept was capturing and communicating that first rush of summer. The electricity of that feeling of unlimited possibilities. Of falling in love with the world for the first time. Obviously, there are occasional personal references, and a bit of what’s going on socially scattered throughout, but I achieved what I set out to do. I created a collection of fictional movies scenes that feel like summer. I’m quite proud of it.”
Little Steven is joined on this thrilling musical journey with his all-star band the Disciples of Soul, a 14-strong ensemble made up of some of the best studio and live musicians in the business. Leading the charge alongside Van Zandt is musical director and guitarist Marc Ribler (Darlene Love, Roger McGuinn, Carole King) who conducts the band consisting of Lowell “Banana” Levinger of The Youngbloods on piano and Wurlitzer, bassist Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz, Boz Scaggs, Darryl Hall), drummer Rich Mercurio (Ben E King, Sara Bareilles, Idina Menzel), percussionist Anthony Almonte (King Creole and The Coconuts), Andy Burton on B3 organ, piano, synthesizers (Cyndi Lauper, John Mayer, Ian Hunter), the dynamite horn section of horn director Eddie Manion on baritone saxophone (Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny), Stan Harrison on tenor saxophone and flute (David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Duran Duran), Ron Tooley on trumpet (James Brown, John Lennon, Maceo Parker), Ravi Best on trumpet (Aretha Franklin, Stevie, Wonder, Kool and The Gang) and Clark Gayton on trombone (Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, Rhianna). The band is rounded out with the soulful, synchronized dancing backup singers Jessie Wagner (Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Chic), Sara Devine (Alicia Keys, Mary J Blige) and Tania Jones (Disciples of Soul).
Summer Of Sorcery is another landmark work in a four-decade career full of milestones, a spirited collection of songs which conjure up all the wonder and magic of the eponymous season – the beach and the boardwalk, the young love and unbridled lust, the innocence and experience that somehow starts it all.
“I always work thematically,” Van Zandt says. “I can’t just throw together a collection of songs; there has to be some kind of overriding idea that drives it. This time I wanted to capture the excitement of that first summer of consciousness. That one special summer where you first fall in love with life, that thrill of just being alive.”
Van Zandt’s first solo album as Little Steven in close to two decades, 2017’s Soulfire saw the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revisiting songs that spanned the length of his career as artist, performer, producer, arranger, and songwriter, focusing on the “soul horns-meet-rock ‘n’ roll guitars” sound he first pioneered on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ classic first three albums and later, his own first solo LP. The album saw Van Zandt uniting an all-new Disciples of Soul, complete with three backing vocalists and a full horn section featuring original Asbury Jukes/Miami Horns saxophonists Stan Harrison (tenor) and Eddie Manion (baritone). Little Steven and his 14-piece big band spent nearly two years traveling the world on the Soulfire Tour, not to mention last year’s “Soulfire Teacher Solidarity Tour” supporting TeachRock, the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation’s national initiative to bring music curriculum into schools across the country. Still, the planetary success of the SOULFIRE project left Van Zandt to ponder: Where do I want to go now?
“Quite honestly, the Soulfire Tour was something special,” he says. “It was a definitive type of tour – I told my whole life story and most of the story of the history of rock ‘n’ roll simultaneously, it was a show 20, 30, 40 years in the making. So it was like, ok, now what? How do we beat that, or at least equal it? You set these standards and now you’ve got to reach them.”
Reach them he did – Summer Of Sorcery is Little Steven at his omnivorous, humanistic best, expertly crafted and deeply rooted in the many classic genres which taught and inspired the self-proclaimed “walking history lesson” from the jump. With their richly bombastic arrangements, floor-shaking groves, and high-powered performances from all involved, new songs like “Soul Power Twist” and the album kick off “Communion” synthesize Van Zandt’s incalculable range of cultural and sonic inspirations into a one-of-a-kind brass-fueled brand of Technicolor rock ‘n’ soul unlike anyone else’s. The album features 10 original new songs alongside “Suddenly You,” an outtake from the “Lilyhammer” score, Netflix’s first original series, which starred Van Zandt who also composed all the music for trailblazing show, and a reimagining of “Education” which was first recorded for his 1989 album Revolution. “The education system needs to be fixed, needs to be improved,” he says. “Teachers need to be supported. There needs to be more support, more funding. That’s what I’m trying to get across with my TeachRock program and that’s all in this song.”
The record culminates with the epic title track, “Summer of Sorcery,” an eight-minute mission statement that conjures the euphoric rush of a summer romance and limitless possibility. “The whole theme of the album is summed up in that song, that wizardry, that magic mixture of falling in love in the summer,” says Van Zandt.
“I wanted to create a hybrid that would be uniquely me,” he says. “I wanted to hear Sly and the Family Stone, I wanted to hear Sam Cooke, I wanted to hear Tito Puente. I wanted to try and get the Beach Boys in there. James Brown, of course. I had certain touchstones of musical influence that I wanted to integrate into my thing.”
Recorded last year mid-Soulfire Tour and then mixed whilst on the road once again, Summer Of Sorcery represents a straightforward progression from its predecessor, the first time in Van Zandt’s long career that he’s maintained a band line-up and sonic approach from one solo work to the next.
“Instead of embarking on a whole new adventure, I decided, I’m going to evolve this thing,” Van Zandt says. “I’ve always wondered where my sound would evolve to if I ever did the same thing twice, if I ever evolved vertically rather than horizontally. All five of my solo albums before Soulfire are completely different genres. I never had a chance to evolve one particular thing to see where it went.”
Not to say Van Zandt didn’t push himself towards something new and novel – quite the opposite in fact. Where his prior solo canon was irrefutably linked by both his lifelong activism and deeply personal lyricism, this time Little Steven chose to eschew the overly political and explicitly autobiographical for a more overarching approach, one which allowed him a chance to apply his particular style of studied songcraft for his own album instead of another’s.
“With this record I really wanted to travel back to a time when life was exciting, when unlimited possibilities were there every day, says Van Zandt. “That was the feeling in the ’60s, the thrill of the unexpected coming at you. Our minds were blown every single day, one amazing thing after another, constantly lifting you up. So you kind of walked around six inches off the ground all the time, there was something that kept you buoyant in your spirit. I wanted to try and capture that first and foremost.”
If Soulfire stands as the last word at the end of one chapter of Van Zandt’s long career, Summer Of Sorcery marks the start of what comes next.
“Making this record was everything I’d hoped for,” Little Steven says. “What I’d hoped would happen was, you put the whole tour, all of those songs, into a funnel and out of that funnel comes a new album. And that’s exactly what happened.”
SUMMER OF SORCERY TRACK LISTING
LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL
ON TOUR 2019
APRIL
13 – Perth, Australia – Metro City
16 – Adelaide, Australia – Thebarton Theatre
18 – Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest *
20 – Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest *
23 – Melbourne, Australia – Forum Melbourne
25 – Newtown, Australia – Enmore Theatre
27 – Auckland, New Zealand – Auckland Town Hall
SUMMER OF SORCERY TOUR
MAY
4 – Los Angeles, CA – The Saban
8 – Asbury Park, NJ – Paramount Theatre
16 – Liverpool, UK – O2 Academy
18 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
20 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
22 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
24 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
26 – Derbyshire, UK – Bearded Theory Festival *
28 – Berlin, Germany – Huxley’s
30 – Jelling, Denmark – Jelling Muiskfestival *
JUNE
1 – Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus
3 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
5 – Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik
7 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique (AB)
9 – Emmen, The Netherlands – Hello Festival *
11 – Zurich, Switzerland – Kaufleuten
13 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
15 – Bilbao, Spain – Music Legends Festival *
17 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo
20 – Kragujevac, Serbia – Arsenal Festival *
23 – Paris, France – La Cigale
JULY
2 – Ontario, Canada – London Music Hall
4 – Ottawa, Canada – Bluesfest
6 – Quebec City, Canada – FEQ
10 – Toronto, Canada – Phoenix Theatre
12 – Buffalo, New York – Town Ballroom
14 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
16 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall
18 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
20 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
24 – Richmond, VA – The National
26 – Easton, PA – State Theatre Center For The Arts
28 – Annapolis, MD – Outlaw Jam*
SEPTEMBER
22 – Louisville, KY – Bourbon & Beyond*
* FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
credit: Björn Olsson
ABOUT STEVEN VAN ZANDT
Musician, band leader, producer, actor, arranger, activist, and so much more, Little Steven Van Zandt is known and beloved around the world for his utterly distinctive songwriting, artistic ambition, and unyielding belief in the power and glory of classic rock ‘n’ soul. In addition to his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of The E Street Band, the past two decades have seen the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer expand his personal parameters to include legendary work as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer as well as host-creator of Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt’s myriad creative efforts in recent years include composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer along with landmark work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records including Darlene Love’s acclaimed 2015 release, INTRODUCING DARLENE LOVE.
Van Zandt’s first solo album in close to two decades, SOULFIRE drew rapturous applause from fans and critics alike upon its 2017 release, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Rock’s ultimate sideman reclaims the Jersey Shore sound he helped invent.” “Cynicism, irony and cultivated hip detachment have taken their toll on rock ‘n’ roll,” raved USA Today. “With SOULFIRE, Van Zandt aims to blow all that out and lead listeners back to its more passionate essence.” “It’s hard to imagine a more joyous and revelatory contemporary blue-eyed soul recording,” enthused American Songwriter. “The appropriately titled SOULFIRE is a tough, tight and clearly inspired project as well as a most welcome return from the musical shadows for Steven Van Zandt.” SOULFIRE “hearkens back to Van Zandt’s classic first solo album of gritty, greasy, horn-accented ’60s-style rock and soul,” noted Billboard, while Paste proclaimed, “Rockier than Motown or the Sound of Philadelphia, this a joyous invitation to live and love.”
For more, please visit:
# # #
542x813
Heidi Gutman
653x770
Courtesy of Big Hassle Media
1088x464
Bill Carbone
617x813
Jo Lopez
800x1029
TEACHER SOLIDARITY TOUR
500x500
Stevie Van Zandt and Jackson Browne joined Plastic Pollution Coalition for Mariott Int. Boycott
800x804
800x647
