GRATEFUL DEAD PARTNERS WITH Z2 COMICS TO RELEASE GRATEFUL DEAD ORIGINS IN 2020

Artist Noah Van Sciver Illustrates An Original History On Grateful Dead Created By Writer Chris Miskiewicz

With the recent success of partnerships with BabyMetal, Andy Black and Skillet, Z2 Comics continues to solidify their place as the premier creator of music-affiliated graphic novels.

The company has entered in to their largest partnership to date creating a graphic novel for the iconic Grateful Dead. Grateful Dead Origins takes an in depth and personal look at the formation of one of the most important American rock bands of all time, exploring the early days of Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Pigpen, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.

The story of the band's transformation from a bar band performing as the Warlocks to becoming the creators of their own sound and forefathers for the jamband culture is depicted in the original story written by Chris Miskiewicz and illustrated by Noah Van Sciver. The graphic novel will be scheduled for release in early 2020.

Grateful Dead Origins will be available in a standard edition and a limited run collectors deluxe edition. The standard edition will come in a softcover version that will feature an exclusive download of Grateful Dead music from their early years to serve as a companion to the graphic novel.

The limited run collector's deluxe edition will come in a hardcover, oversized, individually-numbered coffee table edition featuring prints and autographed by the comic creators. It will also come with a selection of unreleased Grateful Dead music from the era on vinyl. The deluxe edition will be available for pre-order at www.z2comics.com/shop/grateful-dead . Pre-orders are now available for all configurations of Grateful Dead Origins.

"We've seen many archival releases that offer magnificent audio representations of the Grateful Dead's history, and several filmed interpretations of the Dead's story. To these, we're thrilled to add to the Dead's narrative canon this beautiful portrayal of the Dead's origin story in the form of this wonderful new comic," says Grateful Dead audiovisual archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux. "Chris and Noah have captured the Dead's sensibility in their words and images that bring to life on the page the earliest days of the Grateful Dead, from the band's founding in 1965 through to Woodstock. We couldn't be happier to be partnering with such talented artists who have delved so deeply into the Dead's history and origin."

"Jerry Garcia was an avid comic book enthusiast so it is incredibly fitting to have the Grateful Dead's origin story told in graphic novel form," says Mark Pinkus, President of Rhino Entertainment. "Z2's passion for the band's music and mythology make them the perfect partner to bring the story to life. This will undoubtedly be a 'must have' item for Grateful Dead and graphic novel fans alike."http://www.dead.net

Prince Album of Unreleased Demos, 'Originals,' Coming in June

The Prince Estate and Warner Bros. Records announced the upcoming release of an album of 14 previously unreleased Prince demos on Thursday (April 25), marking the latest posthumous release from the late rock icon's vast vault of career-spanning material. The album's focus is 14 songs Prince wrote for other artists, including Apollonia 6, The Time, The Bangles, Sheila E., Vanity 6, Kenny Rogers and Martika.

Originals -- whose tracks were selected by Troy Carter on behalf of the Estate and Jay-Z -- will begin streaming exclusively on TIDAL for two weeks beginning June 7, before Warner Bros. releases the collection on all download and streaming partners and CD on June 21. A 180s gram 2-LP and limited-edition deluxe 2CD-2LP format will follow on July 19.

The album is a testament to Prince's notoriously prolific musical output, chronicling the material he wrote and recorded for a number of protege bands and other artists. "In addition to releasing nine of his most commercially successful full-length albums, he also wrote and recorded endless reels of material for proteges The Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E., Apollonia 6, Jill Jones, the Family, and Mazarati," reads a release announcing the project.

"Occasionally, Prince’s original demo recordings would be used as master takes on their albums, with only minor alterations to the instrumentation and a replacement of the vocal tracks. Other times, artists would rely on his demos to guide them through their own recording process, with Prince’s initial take informing their final version of his song. The aggregate effect was a complete saturation and transformation of the pop music landscape, with Prince both leading and subverting mainstream culture."

A number of the songs on Originals were hits for the other acts, including Sheila E.'s No.1 1984 dance chart hit "The Glamorous Life," as well as The Bangles' “Manic Monday”and The Time's "Jungle Love." The album also features Prince's 1984 original recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U," which was released in 2018 as a standalone single. – Billboard / Gil Kaufman

Hollywood Vampires Prep 'Rise' Album, Featuring Tributes to David Bowie, Jim Carroll and Johnny Thunders

The Hollywood Vampires will awaken again on June 21 when the all-star band led by Alice Cooper, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Johnny Depp release their second album, Rise.

The 16-track effort from the group will contain mostly original material written by the band but there are three covers included, as tributes to rock stars we lost too soon, including a version of David Bowie's "Heroes" (performed by Depp), Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died" and Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" (sung by Perry). Other tracks on the album include "I Want My Now," "The Boogieman Surprise," "We Gotta Rise" and "Mr. Spider."

"Rise is not only a totally different animal than the first Vampires album, it is unique to anything I've ever been a part of," says Cooper in a statement. "I approached it very differently than I usually do when working on an album. Each of us; Joe, Johnny, Tommy, and myself have written songs on this album.

What is different though is that I didn't try to change any songs to be more 'Alice-like.' Because each of us has different influences, the sound of this album is very cool. I think that with this album, we are establishing what the Vampires' sound really is, whereas with the first album, we were more tipping our hats to our fallen rock 'n' roll brothers."

Perry adds that the album came from "pure creative energy" akin to the band's live performances. "The record showcases everyone doing what they do best without anyone looking over our shoulders," he says. "There was no pressure or deadlines, allowing us to write and record an album that is one of the freest and most honest sounding records I've been part of. I can't wait to perform some of these tunes live for our fans." - Billboard

Bruce Springsteen has announced his first new studio album in five years.

Bruce Springsteen’s first new studio album in five years takes his music to a new place, drawing inspiration in part from the Southern California pop records of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The album was recorded primarily at Springsteen’s home studio in New Jersey, with additional recording in California and New York.

Columbia Records will release Springsteen’s 19th studio album, ‘Western Stars’ on June 14. All songs written by Bruce Springsteen.

“This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements," says Springsteen. "It's a jewel box of a record."

The 13 tracks of ‘Western Stars’ encompass a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope.

Ron Aniello produced the album with Springsteen and plays bass, keyboard, and other instruments. Patti Scialfa provides vocals and contributes vocal arrangements on four tracks. The musical arrangements include strings, horns, pedal steel and contributions from more than 20 other players including Jon Brion (who plays celeste, Moog, and farfisa), as well as guest appearances by David Sancious, Charlie Giordano, and Soozie Tyrell. The album was mixed by Tom Elmhirst.

Bruce Springsteen’s recording career spans over 40 years, beginning with 1973's ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ’ (Columbia Records). He has garnered 20 Grammys, won an Oscar and a Tony, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received a Kennedy Center Honor, and was MusiCares’ 2013 Person of the Year. Springsteen’s memoir ‘Born to Run’ (Simon & Schuster) and its companion album ‘Chapter and Verse’ were released in September 2016, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2016. His historic 236-show run of ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ at Jujamcyn’s Walter Kerr Theatre from October 2017 to December 2018 also yielded an accompanying soundtrack album and Netflix special.