T Bone Burnett

Grammy and Oscar award winning producer, musician and songwriter T Bone Burnett is back to form with a folk album of 12 tracks featuring artists Lucius, Roseanne Cash and Weyes Blood. “With this record, I tried to treat myself as kindly as I would try to treat other people,” says Burnett, who likens his producing approach to that of a photographer. “I try to find the person's best angle and light them so they look the most like themselves or the best version of themselves. And this time, rather than staying in the romantic notion I previously had of myself—of a rebellious artist, a firebrand or whatever I thought I was trying to be—I just tried to be kind to myself.” Ultimately, in looking for “you,” T Bone Burnett found himself on The Other Side.

Grammy and Oscar award winning producer, musician and songwriter T Bone Burnett is back to form with a folk album of 12 tracks featuring artists Lucius, Roseanne Cash and Weyes Blood. “With this record, I tried to treat myself as kindly as I would try to treat other people,” says Burnett, who likens his producing approach to that of a photographer. “I try to find the person's best angle and light them so they look the most like themselves or the best version of themselves. And this time, rather than staying in the romantic notion I previously had of myself—of a rebellious artist, a firebrand or whatever I thought I was trying to be—I just tried to be kind to myself.” Ultimately, in looking for “you,” T Bone Burnett found himself on The Other Side.

T Bone Burnett has created a wildly influential career as both a producer and singer/songwriter, helping to establish the foundation for modern Roots and Americana music. So, it comes as bit of a surprise to hear his latest – a collaboration with Jay Bellerose and Keefus Ciancia – an eclectic, experimental record mixing dance, electronica, trance and tribal drumming that sound little like Burnett’s past catalogue. Bellerose is a percussionist who has worked with everyone from Elton John and Leon Russell to Allen Toussaint and Ray LaMontagne, while composer/producer/musician Ciancia has worked with Nikka Costa and Cassandra Wilson, among others.

The exact relationship between Henry (T-Bone Burnett) and Howard Coward (Elvis Costello) remains ambiguous. They often referred to themselves as “One and a Half Brothers,” which might hint at their height difference or imply they were not actually siblings but were involved in an elaborate ruse. Their musical partnership, known as The Coward Brothers, was initiated by Smiley “Doc” Snipson, who discovered Henry Coward in 1956 and signed him for a UK tour. The brothers' hit single, “My Baby Just Squeals (You Heel),” was followed by less successful records and a controversial Cold War-themed song. To preserve their fading fame, Snipson orchestrated their supposed death in a plane crash, but they were actually in hiding on a Caribbean island, secretly recording music and sending it back to Snipson.

Renowned as a record producer and soundtracks guru, T Bone Burnett has been prolific in just about every way, except when it comes to his own albums. But the drought in his own discography is about to end. On April 12, he’ll release his first album of new studio songs in 11 years, “The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space,” on the Verve Forecast label.

Acoustic Space is the first installment in The Invisible Light trilogy helmed by Grammy- and Oscar-winning producer T Bone Burnett in collaboration with Jay Bellerose and Keefus Ciancia. Burnett describes the trilogy "as an experimental song cycle" which consists of a single piece of poetry broken down into distinct songs.