Music News & Notes

New Ian Tyson Music

Canada's Ian Tyson is working on a new album, his 14th for Stony Plains records, titled "Yellowhead to Yellowstone." The singer/songwriter (Four Strong Winds, Someday Soon) wrote eight of the albums ten cuts, reflecting his life as an Alberta rancher and on growing older (he is now 75). It also shows off a distinct change to his voice.

“A couple of years ago,” says Tyson, “I played a big outdoor show in Ontario. I fought the sound system — and I lost. I knew I’d hurt my voice, and it was recovering slowly when I was hit with a bad virus, which seemed to last forever. My old voice isn’t coming back, the doctors told me, so I’ve had to get used to this new one. Audiences seem to pay more attention, now, to the lyrics and the stories in the songs. And while I’ve lost some of the bottom end of my voice, the top range, oddly enough, is still there.”

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Swinging Hips for Lofgren

Nils Lofgren is celebrating more than a half-time performance with the E-Street Band at the Super Bowl. He's also performing for the first time with his new hips which he received back in October.

"I'm coming along. I've lost the cane. I've lost the limp. I'm doing rehab. I'm just trying to be a good rehab patient. I've never had to be this cautious, 24-7 with my body, so it's a new adventure for me, But I've been assured that if I do the rehab right, in 10 to 12 months my body'll grow in, around and through these (hips) like roots and vines and lock 'em in as good as they're gonna get."

He's also assembling the new album Tough Stuff: The Best of the All-Madden Team Band which will be comprised of music he composed over the last ten years for the All-Madden Team announcement broadcasts.

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Taj Mahal, Healey Win Awards

Taj Mahal was named International Artist of the Year at Canada's Maple Music awards while guitarist Amos Garrett received the lifetime Blues with a Feeling Award. The big winner of the night, though, was the late Jeff Healey who received seven awards.

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Donovan's Dream Come True

Donovan spoke to reporters at the MIDEM International Music Conference in Cannes, France on Monday, telling them that the Internet is what he and his contemporaries dreamed about in the 60's.

"The dream of the '60s, of me and John Lennon and the others, was how do we speak to everybody on the planet at the same time? The first answer was via satellite, but that didn't connect to everyone. Then John would say, 'How about telepathy?'

"Then we forgot about it until now we realize that the Internet fulfills that dream of communicating with everyone. I'm not afraid of the Internet because it's that the dream we had. The Internet is the new '60s as far as I'm concerned."

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Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton Guest On New Yusef LP

Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens, will follow up 2006's "An Other Cup," his first secular album in 28 years, with a set that recalls his straightforward troubadour days.

The as-yet-untitled set is due in late spring from Universal.

"This one was really a result of me writing a lot of songs and being kind of inspired again," Yusuf -- who adopted the Muslim name Yusuf Islam in 1978 and now prefers the shorter version -- told Billboard. "After I recorded ('Cup') people just wanted to hear me do a lot of simple stuff, just with the guitar."

The single "Boots & Sand" features Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton -- with a video shot by Jesse Dylan, son of Bob -- while Michelle Branch and Gunnar Nelson assist on the track "To Be What You Must."

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All Aboard- Flight 666

The first full-length documentary on Iron Maiden will debut in theaters throughout the world on April 21. Iron Maiden: Flight 666 documents the group's Somewhere Back in Time tour through Asia, Australia and the Americas.

The film is being made by the Canadian firm Banger Productions, who also made the film Metal, A Headbangers Journey. The crew was given full access to the band throughout the February and March 2008 leg of the tour which saw Maiden play 23 shows in 45 days. Footage not only includes live performances but also behind the scene stories, including the groups custom Boeing 757 which was piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson.