Concord Music Group Acquires Celebrated American Roots Label Rounder Records

Acquisition Firmly Establishes the Combined Entity as the World’s Preeminent Independent Music Company

Los Angeles, CA – April 14th, 2010 – The Concord Music Group today announced the acquisition of storied Massachusetts-based independent music label Rounder Records.  Rounder, celebrating its 40^th year as the world’s leading American roots music label, is a major force in a broad range of musical genres including bluegrass, Americana, singer-songwriter, Cajun & Zydeco and children’s music. Rounder possesses an extraordinary recorded catalog  and current artist roster including bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss, singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, actor/musician Steve Martin, jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux, the iconic Robert Plant, notable children’s artist/activist Raffi and country legend Willie Nelson, to name just a few.  The acquisition of Rounder and its essential collection of over 3,000 masters combined with Concord Music Group’s rich catalog of more than 10,000 master recordings strengthens Concord’s status as one of the world’s most significant independent record companies, with a leadership position in multiple genres.

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Willie Nelson Signs with Rounder Records

Rounder Records is pleased to announce the signing of American legend, songwriter, actor, and social activist, Willie Nelson.  Nelson is the creative genius behind many chart toppers including “Crazy,” “Hello Walls,” “Red Headed Stranger,” and “Stardust.”  His career has spanned six decades and more than 200 albums.  He is the President and one of the founding members of Farm Aid, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.

Produced by T Bone Burnett, Country Music features old-time banjo master Riley Baugus, double bassist Dennis Crouch, and T Bone himself, all musicians featured on Raising Sand, the 2009 Grammy® award-winning Album of the Year by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.  Nelson tours over 200 days a year and will continue to tour throughout 2010.  He will be performing some songs from Country Music while on tour (full itinerary to be announced).

Country Music Track Listing:

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Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert Album

On March 2nd, Rounder Records will release Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert, an album of the concert that celebrated the label’s 40 years in the music industry.  Recorded in October 2009 at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the concert will also be presented as a PBS television special that will begin airing on the network in March, 2010 and released on DVD May 4th.

The event is a superb exhibition of Rounder’s diverse roster, and features Grammy® winning Rounder artists Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bela Fleck, and Irma Thomas along with musical host Minnie Driver, and special guests Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas and Jazz/R&B pianist, Henry Butler. The CD will include performances by these artists as well as select performances from Steve Martin’s show at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s 2008 CMT “Crossroads” special, and from Madeleine Peyroux’s 2009 concert in Los Angeles.

The event was filmed in high definition by High Five Entertainment, and a portion of the ticket proceeds were donated to NARAS’ Grammy® in the Schools Programs to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture. The Grammy® Foundation influences the lives of young people by opening the windows of opportunity that music can provide for their futures.

CD Track Listing:

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Madeleine Peyroux to Release First DVD “Somethin’ Grand” on November 24

photo by James Minchin

“Bare Bones is Peyroux’s most revealing, personal statement to date”– Associated Press

“Madeleine Peyroux’s sound is seductive and entrancing…her 11 originals sparkle on her fourth album, Bare Bones.” – The Washington Post

Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is pleased to announce the release of Madeleine Peyroux’s first DVD Somethin’ Grand on November 24. The DVD running time is 142 minutes, and it includes a full-length concert, 5 bonus acoustic performances and an hour long documentary on Peyroux’s life and career.

The live concert portion was filmed in January, 2009 in an intimate LA club setting, and features 17 of her greatest hits. It captures the distinctive jazz chanteuse and her amazing band performing a mixture of her uniquely-styled covers alongside the very personal songs she has written for her most recent, critically acclaimed album, Bare Bones (Rounder).

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Rounder Adds Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas & Henry Butler to Its 40th Anniversary Celebration Line-up

Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is pleased to announce that Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas along with Jazz/R&B pianist, Henry Butler will join Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Minnie Driver (host and performer), Mary Chapin Carpenter, Béla Fleck and Irma Thomas for its 40^th Anniversary celebration on October 12 at The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN.

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Madeleine Peyroux Performs on CBS Early Show Saturday Edition on August 1

U.S. SUMMER TOUR CONTINUES

photo by James Minchin

Burlington, MA – Madeleine Peyroux continues to tour the U.S. this summer (see dates below) and in addition to her successful headlining tour, Peyroux will appear on the CBS Early Show Saturday’s “Second Cup Café” on August 1 to perform songs off her latest, critically acclaimed album Bare Bones (Rounder).

Bare Bones debuted to rave reviews in People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard and the New York Times. “Her subtle explorations of love’s trials and tribulations grow more enjoyable with repeated listening. There’s a certain cozy comfort in the wry way she opens up and shares her emotions” raved Steve Jones in USA Today while Thomas Kintner of the Hartford Courant wrote that Peyroux “puts her stamp on all-new material, and weaves an alluring tapestry of sonic elegance, vocal character and lyrical bite.”

Madeleine Peyroux U.S. Tour Dates:
August 5 – Santa Rosa, CA – Wells Fargo Center
August 6 – Saratoga, CA – Montalvo Arts Center
August 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theater – With Lyle Lovett
August 9 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara County Bowl – With Lyle Lovett
August 14 – Lyons, CO – Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
August 16 – Park City, UT – St. Regis Big Stars series at Deer Valley Resort
September 4 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Jazz Festival

Submitted by Rounder Records

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Alison Krauss and Union Station to Perform at White House

Alison Krauss and Union Station to Perform at White House As Part of Music Series Celebrating Country Music

Burlington, MA – On Tuesday, July 21 Rounder recording artist, Alison Krauss and Union Station will participate in the ongoing White House music series celebrating the arts and demonstrating the importance of arts education. This event will feature Country Music artists Alison Krauss and Union Station and Brad Paisley. Krauss and Paisley will participate in an educational workshop from 2-3 PM where 120 middle and high school students from across the country will come to learn about the craft of songwriting and the genres of country music including bluegrass, honky tonk and rockabilly.

Forty students from the W.O. Smith/Nashville Community School of Music in Nashville will be able to attend the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington, D.C., concert and educational workshop at the White House, thanks to the Country Music Association underwriting all their travel costs with funds from CMA Music Festival and “Keep the Music Playing,” which supports music education. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan will make opening remarks at this workshop. The afternoon session will be moderated by Jay Orr of the Country Music Hall of Fame and will also feature a song performed by the student and professional songwriters who collaborated through the Hall of Fame’s Words and Music Program.

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Son Volt Returns With “American Central Dust” July 7

photo by J.Wagner & S.Waugh

Son Volt returns with American Central Dust, out July 7 on Rounder Records, a plaintive 12-song collection that recalls the melodic succinctness of the band’s debut album Trace. After the musical experimentation of 2007′s The Search, American Central Dust, the band’s first album on Rounder, refines the band’s robust sound. Fiddle, pedal steel, lap steel and sparkling piano add an atmospheric nuance to Son Volt’s Americana inspired rock, surrounding band leader Jay Farrar’s stream of consciousness lyrical imagery.

Album highlights include: the rootsy shuffle of album opener “Dynamite,” on which Farrar declares “this love is like celebrating the 4th of July with dynamite,” the tremolo soaked rocker “Down To The Wire,” the gorgeous, piano led “Cocaine And Ashes,” an empathetic tribute to Keith Richards, references a man who’s “the same as everyone, just kind of lucky,” and Sweetheart of the Rodeo-esque rocker “No Turning Back.”

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Nanci Griffith to release THE LOVING KIND June 9th

CD is seminal singer-songwriter’s 19^th album and first album of all-new material since 2005

Los Angeles, California – Nanci Griffith’s classic sound – folk/country melodies built around stories that aren’t afraid to tackle big subjects all delivered with the artist’s signature vocal style – returns in full bloom on THE LOVING KIND, her new album scheduled for release on June 9th from Rounder Records.  Featuring thirteen new songs, THE LOVING KIND is Nanci’s most politically outspoken release in years, and underscores her stature as one of the music world’s most esteemed singer-songwriters. The release of THE LOVING KIND will be accompanied by a U.S. tour.

With a recording and touring history that stretches back more than two decades, Griffith has established, what Madison Avenue would call, a “brand.” But her signature music is much more about art than commerce, which is why her fan base has remained incredibly loyal – fans include contemporaries such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Emmylou Harris, all of whom have either recorded her songs or insisted she record theirs.

With her last CD (the critically-acclaimed Ruby’s Torch), a torch song tribute, THE LOVING KIND is her first studio album of original and contemporary cover material since 2005’s Hearts in Mind. The title track, emblematic of the album’s story songs, refers to Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 landmark civil rights case that once and for all ended the ban on interracial marriages in the U.S. Richard and Mildred Loving were a married white man and black woman who were forced to leave their native state of Virginia under threat of arrest because of the state’s Jim Crow law prohibiting marriages between different races.

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Robert Plant & Alison Krauss To Perform On Grammy Awards Telecast February 8th

Courtesy of CMT/Photo Credit: Rick Diamond

Raising Sand Nominated For Five Awards Including Album of the Year and Record Of The Year

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have been confirmed as performers at the 51st Annual Grammy® Awards ceremony and telecast in Los Angeles on February 8th, 2009, with a band including acclaimed performer and ‘Raising Sand’ producer T Bone Burnett, and a stellar cast of musicians from the ‘Raising Sand’ album and tour.

The event will mark both the first trip to the awards and first performance
for Robert Plant, who says: “I’m looking forward to being in Los Angeles, but musically — and spiritually — I expect we’ll be somewhere halfway between the Mississippi Delta and the Clinch Mountains.”

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