Making Movies

Photo: Luis Cantillo

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Ruben Blades & Making Movies Team Up On "Delilah," Co-Written By Lou Reed

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The song is co-penned by Blades and GRAMMY-winning rock icon Lou Reed in an epic music collaboration brought together by the topic of immigration
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 3, 2019 - 11:38 am

Kansas City band Making Movies, whose Afro-Latin rock rhythms have invaded NPR's Tiny Desk and gotten the attention of Rolling Stone, have dropped the third single off their forthcoming album ameri'kana. Titled "Delilah," the track features co-writes from Latin GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter and musician Ruben Blades and the late GRAMMY-winning rock legend Lou Reed.

"Delilah"'s lyrics touch on the tragic realities of immigration when hope for starting a new life is met with the challenges immigration policies can bring. "I was beaten, finger printed, deported / for the love of Delilah," Blades sings. 

The song was written by Blades and Reed during a week of music making in the east coast in the late '80s. Blades' "Letters To The Vatican" was one of the songs that came out of the session, but "Delilah" was left unfinished. 

"Lou and I got together in 1986, or 1987, to write songs for my first album in English, Nothing But The Truth. We were together for a week I believe, in an isolated place he had in the New Jersey woods," Blades said in a statement to the Recording Academy. " We made a deal beforehand, that any idea or lyric or anything we came up with during that time would be shared 50/50. We began with this but did not [finish] it then. I did some time after and, as agreed, we share the credit."
 
Making Movies, adding their touch of percussion and guitars, is now helping bring the song to life. Frontman Enrique Chi said, "This story is as valid today as it was 30 years ago when they wrote the song." The song is also the latest collab between the musicians, both of whom have roots in Panama. 
 
"It is the most amazing gift to work with Rubén who is an unparalleled artistic force," Chi said. "He has mentored and inspired us––and has affirmed our belief that music is a powerful tool for illuminating stories that need to be told."
 
ameri'kana will be out May 24. 

Sleater-Kinney 

Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The New Yorker

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Sleater-Kinney Drop Album Release Date, Share New Song & More Tour Dates

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Their latest song from the St. Vincent-produced 'The Center Won't Hold' touches on the isolation that can come from a technology-driven culture
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jun 14, 2019 - 1:17 pm

Indie-rock band Sleater-Kinney have dropped a release date for their much-awaited 10th album, The Center Won't Hold. They've also released a new song: "The Future Is Here."

The Center Won't Hold is out Aug. 16, but fans can pre-order now. The band first confirmed the new album, which is being produced by GRAMMY winner St. Vincent, in January. The album is their first since 2015's No Cities To Love.

"'The Future Is Here' touches on the isolation that can come from a technology-driven culture. "I start my day on a tiny screen/ Try to connect the words, they're right in front of me/ I walk to work out on the city streets/ No one speaks to me, their stony faces beat," lead vocalist Corin Tucker sings. 

The trio also announced a European tour that will have stops in Germany, France as well as the U.K., and additional North American tour dates in Chicago, Oakland, Calif., Portland and Seattle. 

For more information on the album and tour dates, visit the band's website.

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Danny Trejo

Photo: Rachel Luna/Getty Images

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Danny Trejo Launches Label To Help Emerging Artists, Presents Chicano Soul Album

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The actor and restaurant owner has launched a label called Trejo's Music, which drops an album featuring rapper/singer Baby Bash, GRAMMY-nominated singer Frankie J and Chiquis Rivera (daughter of the late banda queen Jenny Rivera), on June 16
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jun 14, 2019 - 11:00 am

You may know him as "Machete" from the 2010 Robert Rodriguez co-directed movie with the same name, or for his venture into the food world with Trejo's Tacos and Trejo's Coffee & Donuts. Now, Danny Trejo will also be known for helping up-and-coming artists make it in the music world.

The actor and restaurant owner has launched a new label called Trejo's Music, which will release an album featuring rapper/singer Baby Bash, GRAMMY-nominated singer Frankie J and Chiquis Rivera (daughter of the late banda queen Jenny Rivera), titled Danny Trejo Presents Chicano Soul Shop Vol. 1. Trish Toledo and Tara New are among the rising artists on the album.

“I want to support new talents,” Trejo told Billboard. "In about three to four months we’re hoping to host an open audition for new talent."

The label is a partnership with Silent Giant Entertainment president and producer Edward "E-Dub" Rios as well as Baby Bash, who is CEO of entertainment company and label BashTown Music. 

Rios said creating opportunities for rising stars was important to them: "We want to continue the mission that we’ve been dedicated to for decades, that’s kicking down doors and creating opportunities for good people through music and culture," he said. 

The label's first album is a a mix of soul and Chicano music, an umbrella term which encompases chicano rap, brown-eyed soul, chicano rock and more. The album features Trejo anecdotes before each of the 12 tracks. Baby Bash told Billboard the album is "bringing some saucy musical class to the music scene! Chicano soul style!"

Danny Trejo Presents Chicano Soul Shop Vol. 1 drops June 16. For more information on the album and how to pre-order now, visit the album website. 

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Justin Moore

Photo: Cody Villalobos 

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Watch: Justin Moore Takes Vocals To The Next Level In "On The Rocks" Video

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“It could even be my best vocal on any song of my career, and it doesn’t really sound like anything we’ve ever recorded," the country singer told the Recording Academy 
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jun 13, 2019 - 9:40 am

Country music singer Justin Moore has released a video for "One The Rocks," the latest single off his forthcoming album, Late Nights And Longnecks, out July 26.

"On The Rocks" was written by Moore, Paul DiGiovanni, Chase McGill and Jeremy Stover. Moore says it's vocally one of his strongest songs yet.

“This is one of my favorite songs on the record, and it’s even one of my wife’s favorites…. though I don’t know what that says about my marriage,” he joked regarding his wife of 11 years, Kate. “It could even be my best vocal on any song of my career, and it doesn’t really sound like anything we’ve ever recorded.” 

Moore is set to visit the Los Angeles GRAMMY Museum on July 15. 

Watch the full video above. For more information on Late Nights And Longnecks, visit Moore's website. 

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Mick Jagger 

Photo: Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Mick Jagger Reveals New Rolling Stones Tour Details In First Interview Since Surgery

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"I'm feeling pretty good," the famed frontman told Toronto's Q107 radio station
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jun 11, 2019 - 4:58 pm

In his first interview since getting heart surgery, GRAMMY-winning Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has offered some new details about his health and his band's previously postponed tour.

"I'm feeling pretty good," he told Toronto's Q107 radio station. "Been rehearsing a lot lately in the last few weeks … This morning [I did] a bit of gym. Nothing crazy. Then I go into rehearsal with the rest of the band."

The tour, originally set to kick off in late April, was rescheduled due to Jagger's surgery after doctors advised him to get medical treatment. The vocalist had surgery to replace a valve in April. 

On the upcoming No Filter U.S. tour, the band reportedly plans to perform some material they haven't played live before, noting how fans don't like too much of the untraditional. "Most of the time people don’t want too much unusual. People like a little bit unusual. They don’t want 100 percent unusual,” he said.  

Jagger is also well aware of what fans like, alluding to including plenty of crowd favorites on the tour's setlist. "The favorite ones people like to hear are, you know, ‘Paint it Black, ‘Honky Tonk [Women]’ and ‘Satisfaction’ and things like that. We don’t always necessarily do all of them," he said. "We sometimes drop one or two, but there’s maybe 10 favorites. I don’t know how people would feel if you didn’t do any of them. I think people would say, ‘Oh, that’s a bit unfortunate, I came to hear this'"

Back in the fall, the news that the iconic British rock band was coming to the U.S. had the band every bit as exicited as their fans. "It's great to be playing back in America," Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in a tweet at the time. "Feels like we're coming home."

The 75-year-old frontman also commented on how the Stones' touring pattern has changed over the decades. "I don’t do it all the time, [like] 12 months a year," he said. "When you’re young, that’s what you do. [Today I] spend three or four months on the road in a year and that seems to be quite a good balance.”

The tour is now set to kick off in Chicago on June 21 and close out in Miami on Aug. 31. 

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