Sign up for our mailing list Real artists creating records on their own terms

News

Mavis Staples Releases New Album 'We Get By' Today
Friday, May 24th, 2019

Mavis Staples Releases New Album 'We Get By' Today

Although she turns 80 years old this July, the legendary vocalist Mavis Staples shows no sign of slowing down.

Today she is thrilled to release her 12th studio album, We Get By, which features songs written and produced by multi-Grammy award-winner Ben Harper; watch the album’s trailer HERE.

“When I first started reading the lyrics Ben wrote for me, I said to myself, ‘My God, he’s saying everything that needs to be said right now,’” Staples remembers. “But the songs were also true to my journey and the stories I’ve been singing all my life. There’s a spirituality and an honesty to Ben’s writing that took me back to church.”

Hailed by NPR as “one of America’s defining voices of freedom and peace,” Staples is the kind of once-in-a-generation artist whose impact on music and culture would be difficult to overstate. She’s both a Blues and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer; a civil rights icon; a GRAMMY Award-winner; a chart-topping soul/gospel/R&B pioneer; a National Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement recipient; and a Kennedy Center honoree. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., performed at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, and sang in Barack Obama’s White House. Listen to We Get By’s lead single “Change” HERE.

At a time when most artists begin to wind down, Staples ramped things up, releasing a trio of critically acclaimed albums in her 70’s with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy that prompted Pitchfork to rave that “her voice has only gained texture and power over the years” and People to proclaim that she “provides the comfort of a higher power.”

“I come from a family of Mavis fans,” explains Harper, “so her music has been woven into the fabric of my life from the very start. When I got the call for this gig, it felt like my entire career, everything I’d ever written, had been pre-production for this.”

Mavis recently held three immensely celebratory 80th birthday shows this month at New York City’s Apollo Theater, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and LA’s Theatre at the Ace Hotel. “Couples embraced and held hands as if caught up in the warmth and spirit of a singer who never failed to hug her many guest performers,” the Associated Press said of the Apollo show.

Called ‘Mavis & Friends: Celebrating 80 Years of Mavis Staples’, the trio of shows featured Mavis and new special guests each night including David Byrne, Wynonna, Jason Isbell, Marty Stuart, Phoebe Bridgers, Benjamin Booker and more. Presented by the Newport Folk Festival, proceeds from the Mavis & Friends shows went directly towards extending the Newport Folk Festival Foundation’s support of music education programs. This summer Mavis will continue to perform throughout the US and Europe including many headlining shows and festival sets at Glastonbury, Pitchfork and Outside Lands and more. All upcoming tour dates are listed below.

TOUR DATES
5/31 – Ogden, UT – Ogden Music Festival
6/9 – Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival 2019
6/23 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre
6/25 – Norrmalm, Sweden – Nalen
6/26 – 6/30 – Worthy Farm, UK – Glastonbury Festival 2019
6/27 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Theater Carré
6/28 – Antwerpen, Belgium – Open-Air Theatre
7/2 – Bath, UK – The Forum
7/4 – London, UK – Roundhouse
7/5 – Paris, France – La Cigale
7/6 – Lyon, France – Theatres Romaines De Fourviere
7/16 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks w/ Norah Jones
7/17 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
7/19 – Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
7/20 – Lincoln, NE - ZooFest
7/31 – Cape May, NJ – Cape May Convention Hall
8/1 – Vienna, VA – Filene Center at Wolf Trap w/ Lyle Lovett
8/3 – Lagrange, GA – Sweetland Amphitheatre at Boyd Park
8/10 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Festival
8/11 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
9/6 – Philadelphia, PA – Mann Center for the Performing Arts w/ Brandi Carlile
9/14 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden w/ Brandi Carlile
9/21 – North Adams, MA – FreshGrass Festival
9/22 – East Aurora, NY – Borderland Festival
10/5 – Florence, AL – Shoals Fest

Browse by Artist

2128All Artists 100Tom Waits 75Mavis Staples 59Neko Case 51Lost In The Trees 50Sean Rowe 48Dr. Dog 45The Milk Carton Kids
41Jolie Holland 40Bettye LaVette 37Man Man 36Son Little 35Tinariwen 33Tim Fite 33DeVotchKa 31Islands 31Grinderman 29Glen Hansard 28Saintseneca 27Wilco 27Delicate Steve 27Galactic 26Andy Shauf 25The Drums 24Xenia Rubinos 24Michael Franti and Spe... 22William Elliott Whitmo... 22Bob Mould 22Doe Paoro 21The Frames 21Nick Cave & The Bad Se... 20Joe Henry 20Christopher Paul Stell... 19Booker T. Jones 19Cass McCombs 19Sage Francis 19Yves Jarvis 18Gary V 18Calexico 18Deafheaven 17John K. Samson 17Yann Tiersen 16Danny Elfman 16Jason Lytle 16Ramblin Jack Elliott 16The Antlers 15Madi Diaz 14Jeremy Ivey 14Half Waif 14Daniel Lanois 13The Dream Syndicate 13Billy Bragg 12Lido Pimienta 12Leyla McCalla 12Girlpool 12Combo Chimbita 12Curtis Harding 12Peter Silberman 12Xavier Rudd 11Glitterer 11Purr 11Roky Erickson 11Lyrics Born 11Mose Allison 11Christian Lee Hutson 11Rain Machine 11Ryan Pollie 11Japandroids 11Jade Jackson 11The Weakerthans 10High Pulp 10Moor Mother 10The Melodic 10Darrin Bradbury 10Alfa Mist 10So Much Light 10The Swell Season 9Josiah Johnson 9Cameron Avery 9Hey, King! 9Wynonna 9Rafiq Bhatia 9N.A.S.A. 9Marianne Faithfull 9M. Ward 8Greg Graffin 8James Brandon Lewis 8Katy Kirby 8Slow Pulp 8Kate Davis 8The Coup 8Solillaquists of Sound 8Cadence Weapon 7Beth Orton 7Kelly Hogan 7Title Fight 7sunking 7Eddie Izzard 7Ben Harper 7Dead Man's Bones 7Alec Ounsworth 7Ben Harper and Charlie... 7Richard Reed Parry 7Elliott Smith 6Os Mutantes 6Waxahatchee 6Kate Bush 6Busdriver 6Foxwarren 6MJ Lenderman 6Broken Twin 6A Girl Called Eddy 6Deradoorian 6Bonny Doon 5One Day As A Lion 5Beat Connection 5Sam Akpro 5Art Moore 5Jasmyn 5Kristine Leschper 5Keaton Henson 5The Field 5Scott McMicken and THE... 5The Tallest Man On Ear... 5Ezra Furman 4Ersi Arvizu 4Jackson+Sellers 4Sparklehorse 4Marketa Irglova 4The Good Ones 4Pops Staples 3Marc Ribot 3Mavis Staples & Levon... 3Sierra Leones Refugee... 3Danny Cohen 3Plains 3Petra Haden 3Walter Wolfman Washing... 3Mothers 2Fleet Foxes 2The Beths 2Various Artists: RANGO 2Jeff Tweedy 2ANTI- Records 1The Locust 1Solomon Burke 1Merle Haggard 1Youth Group 1Blackalicious 1Taylor Vick 1Lightman Jarvis Ecstat... 1Simian Mobile Disco 1Porter Wagoner 1Rogue's Gallery 1Antibalas 1Various Artists: ROGUE... 1Kronos Quartet with Br... 1Joe Strummer And The M... 1Tricky 1case/lang/veirs
See Full List+