Dolly Parton – Skin Back Alley

Dolly brings mud, fire and Richie Sambora to Glastonbury

01/07/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Photo: Jonathan Short/Invision/AP

All eyes may have been on Metallica’s set at Glastonbury last weekend, but in the end it was Dolly Parton’s appearance the following day that seemed to generate all the headlines.

Whilst the California thrash kings’ show went off in style and largely without a bad word, Parton’s set seems to have unexpectedly attracted conflict and controversy.

In a pre-show press conference, Dolly was quoted as saying: “This is a very exciting day for me and we’ve got all kinds of things going on.”

“I don’t have a bit of mud on me!” she continued. “When I was coming in this morning I was looking at all the mud and thinking, this is not that different from where I grew up in the mud. My daddy was a farmer in East Tennessee and I grew up on a farm — mud is mud wherever you go.”

When Dolly took to the stage, her set included a cover of Alicia Keys’ hit single “Girl On Fire”, and a guest appearance by sometime Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, who duetted with Parton on the New Jersey stadium rockers’ song “Lay Yours Hands On Me.” A studio version of the song features on Parton’s new album, Blue Smoke.

Nevertheless, whilst all seemed to be going well on stage, accusations started flying across the web that Parton was in fact lip-synching her set, rather than performing live. The first suggestion seemed to be made by Sky News’ Kay Burley via Twitter, labeling the country megastar’s show “disappointing.”

Actor Stephen Fry was among those coming to Parton’s defense, saying it was an “HD live processor issue” which made her appear to be miming such legendary hits as “Islands in the Stream” and “Jolene.”

In a statement, a Parton representative has strenuously denied the miming claim, saying, “Some people don’t know an amazing singer when they hear one.”

Watch Dolly Parton and Richie Sambora’s duet below and decide for yourself!

Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A “under threat”

27/06/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A is under threat according to current tenant, Ben Folds.

In an open letter to the city of Nashville, published in The Tennessean, Folds says that the building is to be sold to the Brentwood development company. Folds took over the lease of the building 12 years ago, and says that he does not know what the plans are for the building.

The letter reads: “Last week, on the day that would have been Chet Atkins’ 90th birthday (June 20, 1924), my office received news that the historic RCA Building on Music Row is set to be sold. This building, with the historic Studio A as its centerpiece, was Atkins’ and Owen Bradley’s vision and baby, and had become home to the largest classic recording space in Nashville. Word is that the prospective buyer is a Brentwood TN-based commercial development company called Bravo Development, owned and operated by Tim Reynolds. We don’t know what this will mean to the future of the building.”

Folds continues: “Most of us know about Studio B. Studio A was its grander younger sibling, erected by Atkins when he became an RCA executive. The result was an orchestral room built to record strings for Elvis Presley and to entice international stars to record in one of these four Putnam-designed RCA spaces in the world. The other three RCA studios of the same dimensions – built in LA, Chicago and New York – have long since been shut down. I can’t tell you how many engineers, producers and musicians have walked into this space to share their stories of the great classic recorded music made here that put Nashville on the map. I’ve heard tales of audio engineers who would roller skate around the room waiting for Elvis to show up at some point in the weeks he booked, stories about how Eddy Arnold recording one of the first sessions in the room and one of the songs was ‘Make The World Go Away’, Dolly Parton (Jolene) and The Monkees recorded here, and so on.”

Read more from Folds in The Tennessean here, where Folds has made clear that he’s not opposed to progress, but is concerned that Nashville may be running roughshod over buildings of historic significance to the city and the music industry.

New music releases, 9th June 2014

09/06/201408/06/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Here are the new and notable music releases for this week, the 9th June 2014:

War Eternal, Arch Enemy

Blood For Blood, HellYeah
Lazaretto, Jack White
48:13, Kasabian
Whispers, Passenger
Re-Introduction Etudes, Chilly Gonzales
Blue Smoke, Dolly Parton
Stay Gold, First Aid Kit
Great Western Valkyrie, Rival Sons
Distant Satellites, Anathema
Stockholm, Chrissie Hynde
Quadrophenia: Live In London, The Who
The Blues Came Callin’, Walter Trout
Beauty & Ruin, Bob Mould
Outsider, Uriah Heep
Simplicity, Tesla
Favorite Waitress, The Felice Brothers
Imprint, Denise Pearson
Hollywood Bowl 1972, Allman Brothers Band
Trouble & Love, Mary Gaulthier
The Thin Line, Heather Peace
Out Among The Stars: Special Edition, Johnny Cash
Touch & Flee, Neil Cowley Trio
Zaba, Glass Animals
Let The Ocean Take Me, The Amity Affliction
Earth Rocker (Box Set), Clutch
Disgusting, Beartooth
Esoteric Warfare, Mayhem
Gigantoid, Fu Manchu
Saturday Night Special, Great White
Hail The Apocalypse, Avatar
Upside Down Mountain, Conor Oberst
Blissfucker, Trap Them

All of the above and many more are available via the Skin Back Alley Music Store!

Robert Plant, Pixies and Jack White for Glastonbury 2014

07/04/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Robert Plant, Pixies, Jack White, Wilko Johnson and The Black Keys are amongst a list of 87 artists who have been confirmed for this year’s Glastonbury festival.

The event takes place between 27th and 29th June, with Arcade Fire confirmed as Friday night headliners, and Kasabian newly announced as Sunday night headliners.

Glastonbury 2014 is officially sold out, but a resale of tickets that have been cancelled or refunded will take place at the end of April. Ticket and coach packages will be up for grabs on 24th April from 7pm, and general admission tickets go on sale on 27th April at 9am. General admission tickets will cost £210 plus a £5 booking fee. In order to buy a resale ticket, prospective festival-goers must have registered with a photo at the Glastonbury See Tickets website by 5pm on 21st April.

The full list of artists that have been confirmed so far is:

Arcade Fire, Special Guests, Kasabian, Dolly Parton, Jack White, Elbow, The Black Keys, Robert Plant, Lily Allen, Lana Del Rey, Skrillex, Pixies, Massive Attack, Disclosure, Paolo Nutini, Manic Street Preachers, MIA, Rudimental, Bryan Ferry, Richie Hawtin, Ed Sheeran, De La Soul, Goldfrapp, London Grammar, MGMT, Jake Bugg, Jurassic 5, Dexys, Above & Beyond, The 1975, Bonobo, Kelis, Blondie, Warpaint, The Wailers, Wilko Johnson, James Blake, Gorgon City, Metronomy, Tinariwen, Chvrches, Little Dragon, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Kodaline, Interpol, Foster the People, Mogwai, Royal Blood, John Grant, Annie Mac, Lil Louis, Daptone Super Soul Revue, John Newman, Chromeo, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Midlake, Angel Haze, Four Tet, ESG, The Sun Ra Arkestra, François Kevorkian, Parquet Courts, Sam Smith, Crystal Fighters, Nitin Sawhney, DJ Pierre, Toumani & Sidiki Diabate, Chance the Rapper, MNEK, Temples, Phosphorescent, Connan Mockasin, Public Service Broadcasting, Courtney Barnett, Gorgon City, Wolf Alice, Radiophonic Workshop, Suzanne Vega, Tune-Yards, Eats Everything, Jamie xx, Ms Dynamite, Breach, Chlöe Howl, Jagwar Ma and Danny Brown.

Dolly Parton and Blondie for Glastonbury

03/03/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Music legends Dolly Parton and Blondie have both confirmed that they are to play at this year’s Glastonbury festival.

Festival organiser Emily Eavis revealed that Dolly Parton had been confirmed, whilst Blondie revealed their appearance during the NME Awards that took place last week.

Speaking to Metro on the red carpet, Debbie Harry said: “We just heard today – we’re going to be doing Glastonbury.” They join headliners Arcade Fire, Lily Allen, Warpaint and Staton Warriors on the list of artists due to perform at this year’s festival, which takes place between June 25-29.

Tweeting about her upcoming appearance at Glastonbury, Parton said she will perform on June 29, the Sunday of the festival. Meanwhile, Emily Eavis said that she “couldn’t be happier” with the booking.

Tickets for this year’s festival went on sale last October and sold out in record time. It took just 1 hour and 27 minutes for all 120,000 tickets to be snapped up. Over 1 million people have already registered for tickets for the 2015 event.