Trombone Shorty Signs with Verve Forecast; New CD Backatown Out April 20

New Orleans 'Supafunkrock' Phenom Trombone Shorty Bursts Onto National Scene With 'Backatown'(April 20/Verve Forecast)

Produced By Galactic's Ben Ellman, Featuring Guest Appearances By Lenny Kravitz, Allen Toussaint And Marc Broussard, Album Caps Deluge Of Honors, TV And Festival Appearances + More For Trombone Shorty

In 2010 alone, 24-year-old New Orleans singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist and all-around musical powerhouse Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has signed with Verve Forecast Records and performed on Good Morning America and ESPN's SportsCenter in the run-up to the Super Bowl. He has seen recordings he contributed to earn a Grammy® award (Buckwheat Zydeco's “Lay Your Burden Down”) and an Oscar® nomination (Dr. John's "Down In New Orleans" from the hit Disney film 'The Princess and the Frog'). He has taped two appearances - as himself - for the upcoming HBO series 'Treme' from ‘The Wire’ creator David Simon, and played with his band Orleans Avenue as honored guests on Saints owner Tom Benson's float in a victorious post-Super Bowl Mardi Gras parade.

He's just getting started.

On April 20, Verve Forecast will release Trombone Shorty's new album 'Backatown,' an explosive, homegrown combination of funk, rock, R&B and hip-hop he calls “Supafunkrock.”The album was produced by fellow New Orleanian Ben Ellman of Galactic and features fourteen songs, all but one of them written or co-written by Andrews. Guests on the album include Lenny Kravitz, Marc Broussard and Allen Toussaint, who contributes piano to a take on his own composition "On Your Way Down," the album's lone cover.

'Backatown' is a local term for an area of New Orleans that includes the historic Treme neighborhood - or 6th Ward - from which Trombone Shorty hails. Home to Congo Square, birthplace of Louis Armstrong, it has been called "the most musical neighborhood in America's most musical city."A virtuoso prodigy trombonist, brilliant trumpet player, and soulful, charismatic singer, Shorty has been performing with some members of Orleans Avenue - which includes Dwayne "Big D”Williams (percussion), Mike Ballard (bass), Joey Peebles (drums), Pete Murano (guitar) and Dan Oestreicher (baritone sax) - since childhood. The group taps into these roots to create a streetwise, gritty sound all its own on 'Backatown.'

Shorty, who possesses "the presence of a rock star" (NY Times) and has built his reputation on "blistering, bold, exuberant and cutting edge" (USA Today) live performances, is currently on tour with Orleans Avenue, and has already confirmed several major 2010 festival appearances, including one of the prestigious closing sets at Jazzfest, a triumphant return to Bonnaroo, a debut performance at the Hollywood Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Festival, and more.

Though 2010 promises to be Trombone Shorty’s breakout year, he’s no stranger to the spotlight. In 2005, at age 19, he toured the world as a member of Lenny Kravitz’s band (“Shorty’s a genius,” says Kravitz, “he plays his ass off and he’s a beautiful human being”). In 2006, he joined U2 and Green Day for a rousing performance to reopen the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina (“We were just mesmerized by him,” U2’s The Edge said after an earlier encounter with Andrews’ live show). And in 2008, he performed at the NBA All-Star Game with Harry Connick Jr., Kermit Ruffins and Branford Marsalis.

Ryan Montbleau Band to Support, Back Martin Sexton's 2010 US Tour

The Ryan Montbleau Band will be opening Martin Sexton's entire upcoming Sugarcoating tour, which will carry the band nationwide through July. In addition to opening the majority of dates on the tour, the six-piece band will also serve as Martin's backing band for the tour. Sexton's album of the same name will be available on April 6, 2010.

On announcing the news to his fans, Ryan said, "It's hard for me to put my excitement into words. I will say this: the dream come true this time is not even so much that he asked us to play (which is huge), but that we're ready to play. We've been working hard for years and we're going to be ready to be his band come April 15. These shows are going to be very special." Martin and the guys are in rehearsals now.

The tour is mostly routed, though a few more dates are on the way. The band will also be backing Martin at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Bonnaroo, and a four-night run opening for Dave Matthews Band.

Booker T. Wins GRAMMY for Potato Hole

Booker T. won a GRAMMY in 1997 for his work with Booker T. & The MGs, taking home honors for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. He was named a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient ten years later, also for his work with the MGs.

But on Sunday night at the 52d Annual GRAMMY Awards, Booker T. scored his first-ever GRAMMY as a solo artist, winning the Best Pop Instrumental Album trophy for his April 2009 release Potato Hole (Epitaph/ANTI-). Potato Hole, on which Booker is backed by the blistering Drive-By Truckers, was Booker T's first new album in nearly two decades, and the lead single "Warped Sister" had been nominated for Best Rock Instrumental (the legendary Jeff Beck took home that award.)

On the Friday just prior to the GRAMMY ceremony, Booker T. appeared at the MusicCares benefit event honoring his old friend Neil Young--who contributed guitar work to Potato Hole . As part of what Rolling Stone called "a true power trio" (along with Keith Urban and John Fogerty) Booker T. played keys on a rousing rendition of “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

Potato Hole and two tracks from the album, "Hey Ya" and "Space City," were all included in The Village Voice's annual Pazz and Jop poll, which tablulates the votes of over 697 music critics' in an attempt to distill the most important music of the prior year. Potato Hole was also recognized by No Depression in its Top Albums of 2009. Finally, yet another Potato Hole track, "Pound It Out," will be prominently featured in Ken Burn's forthcoming "Tenth Inning," an epilogue to the filmmaker's acclaimed nine-part "Baseball" documentary series.

Following the GRAMMY's, Booker T. left California for the Pacific Rim, where he has a whirlwind tour of Japan slated, prior to returning to the States to work on his as-yet-untitled follow-up to Potato Hole.