Grammy- and Oscar-winner T Bone Burnett is embarking on his first US concert tour since 2006 this month with the third show of the tour taking place at the Aladdin Theater Wednesday, September 11. The concert will feature songs from Burnett’s critically acclaimed new album, The Other Side, as well as selections spanning the artist’s illustrious, 50+ year career. Burnett will be joined by bandmates and longtime associates Dennis Crouch (bass), Colin Liden (co-producer of The Other Side with Michael Piersante, guitars) and David Mansfield (fiddle and mandolin).
On the new album, Burnett delves deeply into the myriad genres of American Music, returning to his roots as a singer and songwriter. It is a deeply personal work, featuring some of the richest vocals and most direct songs of the artist’s long career.
The love story at the center of the 12-song collection follows the journey of a couple that may no longer be of this plane. The album features longtime friends Rosanne Cash and early bandmate Steven Soles, newer artists Lucius and Weyes Blood, and trusted musical companions including Dennis Crouch, Stuart Duncan, Jay Bellerose and Rory Hoffman.
When Burnett was making his new record, he was thinking a lot about “you.” “I was reading a news story that some shocking percentage of number one hit songs had the word ‘you’ in the title,” he says, and started contemplating who all those “yous” are and what it means when an artist puts them in a song. Burnett goes on to say, “I realized when a songwriter uses the word ‘you,’ he is, of course, in the world of conscience, but he’s also in the world of people’s dreams. And when you enter into people’s dreams, you have to be very careful with them.”
Tickets ($60) for the 8 pm show available at tboneburnett.com/events. Doors open at 7 pm at the Aladdin, 3017 SE Milwaukie.