T-Bone Burnett has signed on with Capitol Music Group (CMG) for his new label, Electromagnetic Recordings.
Burnett already has a list of projects in development for the label, including a multi-artist Dylan tribute, new records from veterans Jerry Lee Lewis, Gregg Allman and Cowboy Jack Clement, and newcomers Mini Mansions and Striking Matches.
CMG Chairman and CEO Steven Barnett said “T Bone is quite simply one of our culture’s most important creative figures. He is an influential curator and tastemaker, and his projects are consistently of stellar quality and integrity. He is held in the highest esteem within the artistic community, and the list of artists wanting to work with him is endless. I am thrilled that T Bone and Electromagnetic Recordings are making their home with us, and incredibly excited at the unlimited potential of our association.”
Burnett said “I am very much aligned with Steve’s vision for a 21st Century entertainment company, and excited by the strong team he has carefully and thoughtfully assembled. Steve is mindful of his role as caretaker of Capitol’s deep legacy, and also embraces his responsibility to invest in new talent and help them develop into the artists of the future. He does it with intelligence, respect for artists and a genuine passion for music; all of which gives me confidence that Electromagnetic Recordings will flourish within the Capitol family.”
Barnett will also serve as a producer and A&R resource for the CMG labels, and as a liaison for the company to the music, film and television communities.
The initial projects:
The Basement Tapes…Continued: Bob Dylan’s music publishing company recently discovered lyrics Dylan wrote in 1967 for informal sessions with members of The Band that later became known as The Basement Tapes. Dylan has entrusted Burnett with these lyrics, and early next year – nearly 47 years since the legendary original sessions – Burnett will assemble a select group of contemporary recording artists in the famed Capitol Studios to complete the songs and record them as a band. Fans will experience this historic creative collaboration through an album release, as well as a documentary film and book of photography by award-winning filmmaker and photographer Sam Jones (The Wilco documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, and his interview show, Off Camera with Sam Jones). Burnett’s association with Bob Dylan began in 1975 when he became a guitarist on Dylan’s famed Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
Gregg Allman – Burnett will return to the studio with Allman in December to record the follow-up to Low Country Blues, the 2011 Burnett-produced album which debuted in the top ten of Billboard’s Top 200 chart and became one of Allman’s best-selling and most critically acclaimed releases.
Mini Mansions – Signed to Electromagnetic Recordings and Capitol Records by Burnett and Capitol President Dan McCarroll, this Los Angeles based trio will complete its debut album this year with Burnett serving as Executive Producer, as well as hands-on producer on several tracks.
Jerry Lee Lewis – Burnett is working with “The Killer,” on an album that will be released next summer in conjunction with the HarperCollins publication of Lewis’s memoir (as told to Pulitzer-Prize winning author Rick Bragg).
Striking Matches – Newly signed to CMG’s Nashville imprint, I.R.S. Nashville, the duo known as Striking Matches first appeared on Burnett’s radar when he utilized several of their songs in the first season of the Nashville television series (Burnett was that show’s Executive Music Producer). Burnett will Executive Produce the duo’s debut album, which they’ll soon begin recording.
Cowboy Jack Clement – Legendary musician, songwriter and producer, Cowboy Jack Clement, recorded a final album of his songs in Nashville with producer Dave Ferguson in the final months of his life. Clement is joined on the album by a veritable who’s-who of the Nashville artist community, including Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and John Prine. Mixing and completion of the album is being overseen by Ferguson and Burnett, who will serve as its Executive Producer. The album will also be the first release on CMG’s Nashville imprint, I.R.S. Nashville.
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