Today, ATO Records released Boys & Girls 10 Year Anniversary Deluxe Edition, a two-disc collection of Alabama Shakes’ internationally acclaimed debut album. Repackaged in a foil-board gatefold jacket with new, unreleased photos and a bonus radio session, Boys & Girls 10 Year Anniversary Deluxe Edition is available HERE. See below for track listing.

“I can’t believe it has been 10 years since the release of Boys & Girls,” says singer/guitarist Brittany Howard. “At the time, we were just excited to be putting out music and playing shows. We had pretty much recorded the album in between our day jobs and had zero expectations. What followed completely blew our minds. This was such a magical period in all of our lives.”

In addition to the album’s original 11 songs, the deluxe edition offers 11 tracks from the band’s explosive live performance on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” Recorded in January 2012 during Alabama Shakes’ first trip to Los Angeles, the set included a performance of “Always Alright” – a non-album track that appeared on the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated film Silver Linings Playbook and received a GRAMMY^® nomination.

Hailed as one of the best albums of 2012 by Rolling Stone and numerous other publications, Boys & Girls entered Billboard’s Independent Albums chart at No. 1. It went on to attain Platinum certification and earn the band multiple GRAMMY nominations. Lead single “Hold On” was voted the #1 Best Song of 2012 by Rolling Stone. 

Alabama Shakes – comprising Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson – recorded Boys & Girls at Bomb Shelter in Nashville. Soon after its release, the bandmates found themselves thrust into the global spotlight, achieving such milestones as performing at the White House and on “Saturday Night Live” along with winning widespread critical praise. Pitchfork lauded “Howard’s gale-force delivery, an instrument that could have blown Otis Redding back.” The New York Times’ Jon Pareles said, “Alabama Shakes sound raw-boned and proudly unprocessed.” NME hailed the band as “a genuine, word-of-mouth, go-see-them-then-tell-10-friends-how-amazing-they-are thing.” The Guardian observed, “their music, a deep earthy pit of blues and soul and swamp, is the sort of stuff that honeys the soul and puts fire in the loins.”

As the album’s legacy continues to grow – NPR included “Hold On” in the top five of its list of “The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+” in 2018 – Boys & Girls remains a major cultural touchstone whose songs of survival, longing and irrepressible hope never lose their transcendent power.

Track Listing – Boys & Girls 10 Year Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Disc 1: 

Hold On
I Found You
Hang Loose
Rise To The Sun
You Ain’t Alone
Goin’ To The Party
Heartbreaker
Boys & Girls
Be Mine
I Ain’t The Same
On Your Way

Disc 2:

Hang Loose (Live At KCRW)
I Found You (Live At KCRW)
Be Mine (Live At KCRW)
I Ain’t The Same (Live At KCRW)
Mama (Live At KCRW)
Goin’ To The Party (Live At KCRW)
Hold On (Live At KCRW)
Boys & Girls (Live At KCRW)
Always Alright (Live At KCRW)
Rise To The Sun (Live At KCRW)
Heavy Chevy (Live At KCRW)

GRAMMY® Award-winning guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela have shared “Stage 1: Aware of Being Aware,” the final installment in a new cycle of nine deeply metaphysical mini videos streaming now at YouTube. Directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker/broadcaster Olallo Rubio, a complete compilation of all nine Stages clips premieres today at the duo’s official YouTube channel.

WATCH “STAGES”

WATCH “STAGE 1: AWARE OF BEING AWARE”

WATCH “STAGE 2: AWARE OF THE ILLUSION OF IDENTITY”

WATCH “STAGE 3: AWARE OF THE ILLUSION OF KNOWING”

WATCH “STAGE 4: AWARE OF KNOWING”

WATCH “STAGE 5: AWARE OF TIME AND SPACE”

WATCH “STAGE 6: AWARE OF THE MIND”

WATCH “STAGE 7: AWARE OF THE WORLD”

WATCH “STAGE 8: AWARE OF THE BODY”

WATCH “STAGE 9: AWARENESS”

“’The Stages’ represent the idea of our ever-lasting presence as awareness,” say Rodrigo y Gabriela, “as the only reality there is prior to the existence of our physical body, and any other object that forms what we know as our personalities; meaning, our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, memories, etc. 

“We are not preaching or suggesting the way we seemingly experiment with life is the only way to liberate ourselves from unnecessary suffering, we just want to share our own experience based on the origins of “Advaita Vedanta,” or most commonly known these days as non-duality. This recognition of our true nature is where the path of no resistance meets the limitless, endless love and happiness we have always been. 

“This nine-minute visual, brilliantly directed by Olallo Rubio, is the introduction for our new album, which will expand on the non-dual concept and the recognition of the ‘I’ prior to everything else. On the untouchable screen on which the movie of our apparent finite reality happens, who do you think we truly are? The screen or the movie?” 

“As part of the creative feedback to shoot the collection, Rodrigo and Gabriela shared with me their thoughts around the spiritual concept of non-dualism,” says Olallo Rubio. “They gave me a lot of information related to the subject – essays, videos, etc. – and mentioned the four elements – Air, Water, Fire, Earth – as well as several abstract concepts. They also suggested it should be something timeless and not as focused on their guitar playing.

“I gave a lot of thought on how we could translate such complex philosophical and spiritual ideas to dynamic images which could match the quality and intensity of the music. I suggested we represent the interconnectedness, the non-existent difference between subject and object and the ‘illusion of the self,’ by introducing Rod and Gab as nameless, faceless characters who become one with the World/Universe through music. Considering the narrative cinematic perspective, we went from the internal and external toxic chaos of modern life to consciousness expansion and beyond. It became an audio-visual-musical interpretation of  the journey to reach full awareness.”

Each of the nine pieces excerpted on the “Stages” mini videos heralds a groundbreaking new full-length work from Rodrigo y Gabriela, with more music and robust international touring scheduled for 2023. Upcoming dates include a very special April 24, 2023, performance at London, UK’s Roundhouse as part of its In the Round Festival, the renowned annual festival that sees an eclectic mix of artists presenting intimate gigs in a fully seated, circular stage setting. For updates and ticket information, please visit www.rodgab.com/tour-dates.

This past summer saw Rodrigo y Gabriela follow last year’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated version of Metallica’s “The Struggle Within” with a two-track single featuring their ambitious cover version of the Radiohead classic, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” alongside an exquisite new rendition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Symphony No. 25 In G Minor, K. 183, First Movement,” available now via ATO Records at all DSPs and streaming services. Recorded by Rodrigo y Gabriela in their studio in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico, both tracks are joined by official visualizers streaming now at YouTube.

Today, with the release of new single “Guinnevere,” The Heavy Heavy continue a prolific ascent that has seen the Brighton, UK band make their late-night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, break the Top 5 at AAA radio, and wrap their first-ever, thirty-date headline US tour, all in the past month alone. On this sublime rendition of the Crosby, Stills & Nash classic, bandleaders Will Turner and Georgie Fuller reimagine “Guinnevere” through a mystical blend of hauntingly beautiful harmonies: soft then suddenly soaring, woven into a cosmic, whirling arrangement of dark and lush guitars. The band previously earned the support of both David Crosby and Stephen Stills on an impromptu, a cappella performance they shared of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Find The Cost of Freedom” this summer, and through “Guinnevere” they go a step further in celebrating some of the musical heroes who have inspired their time-warping, mind-bending strain of sun-soaked rock n roll. 

Listen to “Guinnevere,” out now on ATO Records: 

https://atorecords-ffm.com/guinnevere 

“‘Guinnevere’ is our favourite David Crosby song,” says The Heavy Heavy. “It’s both haunting and beautiful. It has really interesting harmonies and the droning guitar is an atmosphere in and of itself. The song is totally unique, and we wanted to put our spin on it and get into that world.”

In addition to a recent cover of Father John Misty’s “Real Love Baby,” The Heavy Heavy’s take on “Guinnevere” arrives on the heels of their debut Life and Life Only EP. Since its release in June, the band has also ripped through performances for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and CBS Saturday Morning, shared stages with St. Paul & The Broken Bones, appeared in the trailer for Netflix’s next season of Outer Banks, and cemented their status as “one of the brightest new UK acts” (FLOOD). Perpetually inspired by the pursuit of making music that provides a rarefied pleasure, Turner and Fuller write songs “with that lick of madness that makes early Fleetwood Mac and peak Stones so thrilling” (The Guardian), a quality put on full display in standouts like Top 5 radio hit “Miles and Miles.” 

After introducing sold-out audiences to their enthralling, unfettered energy this fall, The Heavy Heavy will return to the US in the spring of 2023. With brand new music in tow, the five-piece live band will headline dozens of dates, including NYC’s Brooklyn Made, LA’s Lodge Room, Chicago’s Lincoln Hall and Nashville’s Basement East, plus a stop at Innings Fest and much more. Find the full list of upcoming dates below, plus tickets on-sale now at theheavyheavy.com/tour.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter-pianist Neal Francis has shared his new EP, Sentimental Garbage, available now via ATO Records at all DSPs and streaming services.

Sentimental Garbage – which follows last year’s breakthrough sophomore LP, In Plain Sight – collects a number of standout tracks recorded during the original album sessions at The Parsonage, Francis’s DIY studio at St. Peter’s Church in Chicago, IL. Highlights include the previously unheard “In Plain Sight,” available today for streaming and download.