News: Beth Hart Details New Album ‘Better Than Home’
3 min read
Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, Beth Hart is to release her captivating new album ‘Better Than Home’ on Provogue/Mascot Label Group on the 10th April in Australia and 13th April in the UK. Her incredible voice has already moved guitar legends Jeff Beck, Slash, Joe Bonamassa and Buddy Guy to perform with her on records and live; making her, in the words of Classic Rock Magazine “guitarists go-to girl and the UK have firmly taken Beth to their hearts after recent stirring headline performances at the Royal Albert Hall, The Roundhouse and Hampton Court Palace.
Some artists choose to sing the blues and some artists find that they have to live them as well; the latter couldn’t be more fitting for Beth Hart. A prodigious talent in her childhood she’s been through more than most; ongoing legal problems, her sister died of complications from AIDS, expelled from school, she ran away from home to Brooklyn aged 15 to fulfil her dream of performing live. Scouts picked her up and she won $100k on Star Search beating a young Beyonce to claim the prize.
Her break-through single ‘LA Song (Out of this Town)’ later became a hit reaching #6 in the US. Pressure and a “dark period” hit; drink, drugs and an eating disorder followed – but performances on the Jay Leno and David Letterman shows grew her public profile. She spent the following years either on tour or in and out of rehab. In 2000 she confessed to being “nuts and struggling” and was diagnosed as Bipolar; doctors told her “you can’t handle this life in the music industry”, she was to prove otherwise.
[youtube id=”Y_pxX4vxUnI” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Now on her 7th solo record, album collaborations with Joe Bonamassa, ‘Seesaw’ and ‘Don’t Explain’, made it to the top #1 and #3 of the Billboard Blues Albums Chart whilst ‘Live in Amsterdam’ entered the UK album chart at #18. Her greatest validation as one of the defining voices of our time came when her tribute (alongside Jeff Beck) to Buddy Guy on The Kennedy Center Honors Special received one of the only 2 standing ovations of the evening, led by President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. She has also worked with Guns ‘n Roses guitar maestro Slash on ‘Mother Maria’ from his album ‘Slash’.
The producer of The Kennedy Center Honors, Michael Stevens, and the musical director, Rob Mathes, saw what people have been seeing for nearly 20 years: a woman who wears her soul on her sleeve and has the pipes to back it up. Michael and Rob decided to produce her new album, ‘Better Than Home’. What makes ‘Better Than Home’ her most intimate work ever, is that it goes to the depth of her soul, revealing terrible pain in her past, family issues and personal demons as well as her coming to grips with them and using that knowledge to find the real beauty in her life.
UK Tour Dates:
Thurs 30 April – Cheltenham Jazz Festival | TICKETS
Fri 1 May – Colston Hall, BRISTOL | TICKETS
Sun 3 May – Philharmonic Hall, LIVERPOOL | TICKETS
Weds 6 May – O2 ABC, GLSAGOW | TICKETS
Fri 8 May – Barbican, LONDON | TICKETS
Sat 9 May – O2 Academy, LEEDS | TICKETS
Mon 11 May – Corn Exchange, CAMBRIDGE | TICKETS
Weds 13 May – Rock City, NOTTINGHAM | TICKETS
AUS Tour Dates:
March 27 – The Powerstation, Auckland
March 29 – The West Coast Blues Roots Festival, Perth
March 31 – The Metro Theatre, Sydney
April 2 – The Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne
Byron Bay for BluesFest 2015
