Mumford and Sons Announce New Album, ‘Wilder Mind,’ Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons fans wait no more (get it?) the folk-rock british band that made tweed cool has details of their forthcoming third album, ‘Wilder Mind.’

‘Wilder Mind’ is produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, HAIM, Florence & The Machine) will be released in North America through Glassnote Records on May 4. It features twelve new tracks, written collaboratively by the band in London, Brooklyn, and Texas. A few of the new songs were written and demoed at Aaron Dessner’s (The National) garage studios in Brooklyn. The band also returned to Eastcote Studios in London, where they recorded ‘Sigh No More,’ for further writing and demo sessions. The album was recorded at AIR studios in London.

From the release:

This new album marks a significant departure for the young British band from their previous records, 2009’s Sigh No More, and 2012’s Babel. The early sessions in New York and London witnessed a change in the band’s approach not just to writing and recording, but to texture and dynamics, too. There is a minimalist yet panoramic feel to the new album, whose sound Marcus Mumford describes as “a development, not a departure.” It came about by both accident, and by conscious decision.

“Towards the end of the Babel tour, we’d always play new songs during soundchecks, and none of them featured the banjo, or a kick-drum,” says Marcus Mumford. “And demoing with Aaron meant that, when we took a break, we knew it wasn’t going to involve acoustic instruments. We didn’t say: ‘No acoustic instruments.’ But I think all of us had this desire to shake it up. The songwriting hasn’t changed drastically; it was led more by a desire to not do the same thing again. Plus, we fell back in love with drums! It’s as simple as that.”

“It felt completely natural, though,” says Ben Lovett, “like it did when we started out. It was very much a case of, if someone was playing an electric guitar, drums were going to complement that best; and, sonically, it then made sense to add a synth or an organ. We chose instruments that played well off each other, rather than consciously trying to overhaul it.”

The album will be available to pre-order through the band’s website, http://www.mumfordandsons.com/.

Mumford and Sons  'Wilder Mind,'

Wilder Mind Tracklisting:
1. Tompkins Square Park
2. Believe
3. The Wolf
4. Wilder Mind
5. Just Smoke
6. Monster
7. Snake Eyes
8. Broad-Shouldered Beasts
9. Cold Arms
10. Ditmas
11. Only Love
12. Hot Gates

EDIT – Hear Mumford and Sons’ new electrified style in “Believe” below.

In support of ‘Wilder Mind,’ Mumford & Sons will embark on series of Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers.

Theses tow day events are a traveling music festival with an “eclectic and energetic roster of artists curated by the band themselves.” Mumford & Sons will headline the Saturday shows. The events will have a local focus “involving local businesses, venues, and, most importantly, local people will happen in and around the town. ”

About this year’s upcoming Stopover tour, Mumford & Sons said: “The Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers are all about live music. We get to put them on in towns not normally frequented by touring bands in busses or splitter vans. We deliberately look for towns that have something unique, or some vibe of which they are proud, explore them and enjoy what they have to offer.”

Like 2012 and 2013, these outdoor events will take place in carefully selected and unique locations internationally, and will feature a host of acclaimed acts including Foo Fighters, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, The Flaming Lips, and many others, including more to be announced. This year’s host towns include Seaside Heights, NJ; Waverly, IA; Walla Walla, WA; and Salida, CO.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 am local time on March 6th from www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/tickets. Please visit the website for all ticket details.

Mumford & Sons recently announced headline performances at this year’s Bonnaroo, Squamish, Reading & Leeds Festivals, Open’er Festival, Bilbao BBK Live, and Nos Alive Festival.

Mumford & Sons Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers

Seaside Heights, New Jersey, USA
June 5th + 6th – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, Alabama Shakes, The Vaccines, The Maccabees, Dawes, The Very Best, Jenny Lewis, Little May, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBA

Waverly, Iowa, USA
June 19th + 20th – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, The Maccabees, The Very Best, Rubblebucket, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBA

Aviemore, Scotland, UK
July 31st + August 1st – Mumford & Sons, Primal Scream, Simian Mobile Disco, Ben Howard, Lianne La Havas, The Maccabees, Jack Garratt, Honeyblood + more TBA

Walla Walla, Washington, USA
August 14th + 15th – Mumford & Sons, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, The Vaccines, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, TuneYards, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBA

Salida, Colorado, USA
August 21st + 22nd – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, Dawes,
Jenny Lewis, The Vaccines, TuneYards, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBA

Grammy Award for Best Americana Album – Predictions

Live on CBS this Wednesday the Grammy organization will announce it’s nominees for all categories at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! concert from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The Music City event will be the first time the Grammys have hosted an official awards programs since the 1973 Awards was held there. Wednesday’s eclectic offering of Pop, rappers, rockers and country singers will reflect the Nashville Grammys that brought together Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, Curtis Mayfield at the former Tennessee Theatre on Church Street.

The event will also feature a tribute to the legendary Johnny Cash. So far The Band Perry and Dierks Bentley also have been confirmed to take part in the tribute, though I argue that the manner in which Cash was treated by Music City late in his career a more fitting tribute would be populated by those on the Americana side of the fence. Hank III and Shooter Jennings anyone?

Though not reflected in performers on the stage that day (boo!) the Grammys nominees for the Best Americana Album of the Year will be announced. Personally I have no inside knowledge of who’s names will be called, but am willing to use what I can from over all three years of the the category’s existence. There are two obvious patterns that emerge, the nominees are well-known veterans in the music industry and all have been nominated for or won Grammys in the past.

But then there’s the Linda Chorney wild card from last year that blows away the first two patterns. So what do I know?

Set those DVRs for Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Then tune back in on Feb. 10, 8 p.m. ET (CBS) for the 55th annual Grammy awards show.

Let’s address the obvious two choices first. Mumford and Sons are the indisputable kings of contemporary roots-based music. Sure they were beat out by Adele for the coveted Record Of The Year Grammy last year but their prime-time performance with roots cohorts The Avett Brothers and vet Bob Dylan significantly raised their awareness. This higher-profile status has resulted in impressive sales for their sophomore offering, Babel.

The Avett Brothers have enjoyed an expanded fan base for all the reasons detailed above, as well as benefiting from being around longer and having their latest, The Carpenter, being their second to be produced by Rick Rubin.

Gretchen Peters is no stranger to the Grammys. In 1995 Peters received both a Grammy nomination and a Country Music Association Song of the Year award, for Martina McBride’s version of her song “Independence Day.” Her latest “Hello Cruel World’ is arguably some of her best work and has a great chance of catching the Grammy voters attention.

Dwight Yoakam has said that he doesn’t just want to appeal only to the smaller audience from his superstar heyday, I’m certain these days Nashville has little room for his signature Bakersfield sound. though I’m sure he won’t balk at his current perch at #1 on the current Americana charts. Yoakam won the Grammy Award for “Best Male Country Vocal Performance” in 1993 for the song “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”.

Willie Nelson has been nominated in this category before, in 2011 for the T Bone Burnett produced Country Music. Hos latest, Heroes, is a wonderful if uneven body of work that could find no better home than here. Personally, this is my favorite dark horse.

ON EDIT:

After a day of reflection I’m compelled to add a couple of more contenders that had slipped past me while writing this post.

Marty Stuart’s collection of country memorabilia is legendary, but his songs are his greatest contribution to the legacy.Stuart snagged his 5th Grammy at last year’s 54th annual event for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his”Hummingbyrd,” a musical tribute to the Byrds’ guitarist Clarence White, Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives came out with the excellent release Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down.

Chris Thile was a national mandolin champion at 12, a Grammy winner at 16 and one of this year’s MacArthur “genius grant” recipients. He can really screw up the bell curve for other musicians. His newest venture, The Punch Brothers, which I consider like Mumford and Sons with more depth and better chops, were nominated at the 54th Grammys for Best Country Instrumental Performance on the tune “New Chance Blues,” a bonus track on their second record Antifogmatic. They were also nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the song “Pride” with Dierks Bentley and Del McCoury.

Mumford & Sons On ‘SNL’: ‘I Will Wait’ & ‘Below My Feet’ (VIDEO)

The mainstreaming of  Americana music moves into hyper-speed with the upcoming sophomore release of Mumford & Sons’ “Babel.”

There are few mainstream milestones then playing SNL. Beside showing up in some sketches to parody themselves as teh “Poor man’s Beatles,” including Lead singer Marcus Mumford complete with a mop-top wig and turtleneck. At the end of the sketch host Joseph Gordon-Levitt and cast members helped Mumford & Sons led the crowd and cast in a singalong of The Beatles’  “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.”

In addition to the comedy, Mumford & Sons also performed “I Will Wait” and “Below My Feet,” (below)  Babel is out on Sept. 24.

[iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1418225″ frameborder=”0″]

Listen Up! Mumford & Sons : ‘I Will Wait’

Fans of Mumford and Co. won’t find the newly released song, “I Will Wait,” a surprise since they’ve been performing it for some time on their “Gentlemen of the Road” tour. Now the song is officially debuted for the rest of us.

The most high-profile ambassadors of Americana (never mind the fact the quartet is actually British) follows closely the winning formula of thier 2009 debut. “I Will Wait” is reminiscent of Sigh No More‘s “Little Lion Man” and “The Cave” with pulsing momentum, here provided by dancing banjo, rambles us along quiet valleys moving up to big sound peaks.

Front-man Marcus Mumford’s folky self actualization in the face of doubt doesn’t seems to have been dampened by his marriage to Carey Mulligan in April. “So I’ll be bold/ As well as strong/ And use my head alongside my heart/ So take my flesh/ And fix my eyes/ That tethered mind free from the lies.” Words to gird the male loins in true Iron John fashion.

Give a listen to “I Will Wait” below and let me know what you think in the comments. Babel is out Sept. 24th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kS8RTRi7HA&feature=player_embedded

Americana Music Association Honors & Awards Nominees Announced

From the Gibson/Baldwin Showroom in New York City local resident and legendary Americana performer Rosanne Cash announced the 2011 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards nominees. The announcement was followed by performances by New/Emerging Artist of the Year nominee and  The Civil Wars and an all-star set by Levon Helm,  Jim Lauderdale and Rosanne Cash (who tweeted that she was brought to tears by the event) which included The Band’s The Weight.

As in years past the nominees are a well-known safe bets with few surprises and tends towards the NPR-side of the Americana fence. No need to look for Whitey Morgan or Rachel Brooke here.

The Nashville -based trade organization moved toward the mainstream with the nominations of Grey’s Anatomy favorites Mumford and Sons and the Civil Wars, the later also aided to stardom by being heralded by no less than Taylor Swift and Boy George. Good for them, despite the mainstream success, these bands are actually great and will find longevity in the Americana community. Both are each nominated for both New/Emerging Artist and Duo/Group of the Year.

The AMA displayed spunk in nominating the extraordinary Elizabeth Cook the Album of the Year field for her latest Welder, Song of the Year nomination for the flash-back country-funk El Camino and Artist of the Year against some limey bloke named Robert Plant.

Recent New/Emerging Artist of the Year honorees Justin Townes Earle and Hayes Carll are each up for Album of the Year for Harlem River Blues (along with Song of the Year for the album’s title track) and Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for Kmag Yoyo respectively.

The Civil Wars and Mumford and Sons each earned nominations in both the New/Emerging Artist and Duo/Group of the Year categories, while Buddy Miller also secured two nods: Artist and Instrumentalist of the Year.

Album of the Year category also includes Lucinda Williams’ Blessed, and the  Song of the Year category includes The Decemberists featuring Gillian Welch’s “Down by the Water. And Mumford and Sons GRAMMY-stage mates The Avett Brothers are up for Duo/Group of the Year—which the band won in 2010. Sarah Jarosz, Will Kimbrough, Gurf Morlix and Kenny Vaughan all  will compete for Instrumentalist of the Year.

The 10th Annual Americana Music Association Honors & Awards ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 13 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville as part of the 11th Annual Americana Festival and Conference October 12 through Saturday, October 15.

The complete list for Americana Music Association Honors and Nominees:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Band of Joy, Robert Plant
Welder, Elizabeth Cook
Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle
Blessed, Lucinda Williams

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Elizabeth Cook
Hayes Carll
Robert Plant

NEW/EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
The Civil Wars
Mumford And Sons
The Secret Sisters
Jessica Lea Mayfield

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
The Avett Brothers
The Civil Wars
Mumford And Sons
Robert Plant and the Band Of Joy

SONG OF THE YEAR
Decemberists with Gillian Welch- “Down By The Water”
Elizabeth Cook – “El Camino”
Hayes Carll – “Kmag Yoyo”
Justin Townes Earle – “Harlem River Blues”

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Gurf Morlix
Kenny Vaughan
Sarah Jarosz
Will Kimbrough