LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Janiva Magness’
new album, Love Wins Again, out on April 8, 2016 on Fathead Records/Blue Élan
Records, is yet another evolutionary
step for the soulful, elegant, award-winning singer-songwriter.
Its 11 core songs and two bonus tracks are built on a sonically
sophisticated architecture that’s in full service of Magness’
remarkably flexible and generous voice — which can flow smoothly
as champagne or churn up gravel on command. Love Wins Again shatters genre barriers by
enshrining elements of Americana, soul, rock, pop, country and
blues. The album’s title is a mantra that resonates throughout:
the concept of love as a physical, psychic and spiritual force
that has the strength to conquer negativity, sadness and personal
demons.
“Love is a bigger power
than hate and darkness,” Magness explains. “It’s easy to forget
that when we’re struggling or when the world often seems
frightening and out of control. But love can transcend barriers
between people and cultures, and bring us closer in ways we might
not have imagined. Love can also be frightening. It requires
opening yourself up and taking risks, but in the end, love will
always win.”
Love Wins Again
marks Magness’ fifth collaboration with four-time Grammy
nominated producer Dave Darling,
whose credits include Glen Campbell,
Brian Setzer, Mötley
Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, John Waite and Stray
Cats, and
whose instincts compel Magness to tap her deepest creative powers
and lead her songs to unpredictable places. He has become her key
songwriting foil and is the primary architect of the album’s
gorgeous textural sound, which blends acoustic and electric
instruments, flourishes of Latin percussion, horns and an
enlightened approach to the studio to create perfect settings for
her vocal prowess. More than just expert range and craft,
Magness’ voice rings with sincerity. With songs like “Love Wins
Again,” “Doorway” and “Say You Will,” Magness has proven that she
is an accomplished storyteller and diviner or the heart, whose
songs reveal life’s potent truths.
“Love Wins Again” begins
the album with a zesty, groove-propelled message that’s part
manifesto and part testimonial. Magness’ joyful melody soars
above the song’s bed of percolating percussion and ringing
R&B guitar. Love won again in multiple ways in Magness’ own
life last year, through the completion of her memoir, launching a
musical based on her life story and again when she married
English bluesman and singer-songwriter T.J.
Norton.
Even when Magness is
sending a warning flare in her state-of-the-world address “Your
House Is Burnin’ Down,” she does it with grace. The tune’s “get
up” call to action, sung with a handful of gravel in her voice,
and its punching horns and high-energy beat invoke the urgency
and drama of early James Brown.
Following up her last
album is no easy task. Original,
from 2014, marked her debut as a songwriter and raised the
creative bar for her collaborations with Darling. It entered the Billboard
blues chart — where her releases routinely appear — at number
five and topped the blues radio charts. Original
also scored her seventh Blues
Music Award, for
Contemporary Blues Female Artist.
In addition, the album received a Best Song nomination for “Let
Me Breathe,” co-written with Darling. The same honor was
bestowed upon the songwriting team in 2013 for “I Won’t
Cry.” Altogether, Magness has been nominated for 25 Blues
Music Awards and
follows the legendary Koko
Taylor as the
second woman to win the highly coveted B.B.
King Entertainer of the Year
award.
Original
also revived her own label,
Fathead Records, after
a six-year stint with the internationally respected blues imprint
Alligator Records. “It was really time to get out on my own again
and take full control of my music,” Magness says. That change
also reflected her rising status in the Americana music scene —
where Original climbed
into the Top 20 on the radio chart — alongside such similarly
tough, soulful and literate artists as Mavis
Staples, Sharon Jones, and Bettye
LaVette.
Love Wins Again
is being released via Blue
Élan Records, an
artist-friendly label headed by Kirk Pasich, who shares Magness’
interest in working on behalf of at-risk youth. Magness is an
alumnus of the foster care system and is a spokesperson for Casey
Family Programs National Foster Care Month
as well as an Ambassador for both the Foster
Care Alumni of America and the
Child Welfare League of America.
Magness explores her own
turbulent youth, her rise to stardom and more in her
just-finished, as-yet-untitled memoir — a book that took three
years to write that has already inspired an in-the-works musical.
Her various trials — losing both parents to suicide as a young
girl, traversing through 12 foster homes and giving up a child
for adoption at age 17 — left Magness in the deepest despair. But
ultimately, inspired by the encouragement of her final foster
mother and a galvanizing performance by the legendary bluesman Otis
Rush, she
found stability and salvation in music.
Today Janiva
Magness is one
of the most beloved figures in the Americana, blues and roots
music world. She’s reached a larger and more diverse audience
with each succeeding album and developed a reputation as a live
entertainer that’s made her a staple of the international
festival circuit.
Janiva Magness Tour Dates March-May 2016
Sun., March
13 BETHLEHEM,
PA Blast Furnace Blues Fest
Tue., March
15 CLEVELAND,
OH Beachland Ballroom
Wed., March
16 DAYTON,
OH Jimmy’s Ladder
Thur.,
March 17 CHICAGO,
IL City Winery
Fri., March
18 INDIANAPOLIS,
IN The Jazz Kitchen
Sat., March
19 RIVERSIDE,
IA Riverside Casino & Resort
Thurs.,
Sat.-Mon., March 24-28 BYRON BAY, Australia Byron
Bay Bluesfest
Fri., April
15 SUTTER CREEK,
CA SUTTER CREEK THEATRE
Sat., April
16 SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Biscuits & Blues
Tue.-Wed.,
April 19-20 SEATTLE,
WA Jazz Alley
Fri., Sat.
April 22-23 PORT WASHINGTON, WA Upstage
Wed., April 27 SELLERSVILLE, PA
Sellersville Theater
Thur., April 28 SHIRLEY,
MA Bull Run
Fri., April 29 FALL RIVER,
MA Narrow Center for Performing Arts
Sat., April 30 MANHATTAN, NY
The Cutting Room
Sun., May 1 WARRENDALE, PA
Jergel’s
Tue., May 3 WASHINGTON,
DC The Hamilton
Sat., May 7 - MEMPHIS, TN -
Rum Boogie
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