Robbie Williams used to shovel drugs up his nose, pop pills and sink lager like a man possessed.
But Class As have been replaced by cuddles from his stunning missus – and his life has changed.

On a punishing round of radio interviews yesterday Rob confessed that “a new Robbie had emerged” who no longer had any “pent-up sexual energy”.

The singer has been having serious sofa sessions with actress Ayda, who has given him the embarrassing nickname “Tickles Anunu”.

And Rob said: “I’ve spent most of the last few years cuddling up on the sofa.”

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The music of Sara Tavares is full of ‘sunshine soul’ and “Xinti” (“Feel It”), her new album, is suffused with it. Brimming with Cape Verdean guitar licks, Angolese rhythms and warm Portuguese vocals, Sara never sounded more intense. This is a startling collection, packed with surprises that display how progressively richer and more expansive Sara Tavares’s vocal repertoire has become since her previous album “Balancê”. Her songs are lyrical, sensual and more textured. They are intimate but also wrapped in irresistibly funky rhythms drawn from the Cape Verdean / African diaspora. Themes of love – spiritual and human – embrace philosophical reflections that describe, says Tavares, “the soul taking flight.”
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NEW YORK, NY –– January 21 2009 – The 6412 Ltd is proud to present Lachi in concert on Saturday January 24th at 9pm to release the anticipated “Ugly Beautiful” EP album. The release will be held at Gavin Degraw’s National Underground on 159 E Houston St, NY NY.

Sultry, smooth, intelligent and bold, singer/songwriter and pianist Lachi commands cleverly crafted, insightful yet quirky lyrics in her new EP “Ugly Beautiful” best categorized as piano-driven, jazz-influenced alternative rock. Partly inspired by the trials and tribulations she faces as a legally blind Nigerian-American female from her shy childhood to her world-traveling adulthood, her lyrics steer away from mediocrity and carry with them a message of natural beauty and internal conflict. She holds a deep connection with her music, which can be felt and shared by everyone who watches her on stage. One fan said, “Lachi’s music and her whole being is quite touching to me. her songs are honest from the heart and her voice is a classic.” Another voiced that Lachi “is so passionate when she sings. You really can feel her pain, her joy, or her struggle.”

The “Ugly Beautiful” EP will be physically distributed regionally through Borders Books and Music. The album will also be digitally distributed world-wide through leading distributor Music Just Music™, making it available on digital avenues such as Itunes, MSNmusic, SONYconnect, MTV/Urge, Nokia, Starbucks/Hearmusic and countless others. With an increasing influx of FM and internet radio play requests, along with a green light in licensing through Pump Audio Licensing, Lachi is proving to be one of New York City’s great new emerging artists. “We Can Fly,” a featured track which speaks of the ability to overcome struggles against odds, has already reviewed positively, described as “hit worthy” by Pam Southwell of RPW Records. The track has already been placed on the Violet Femme’s compilation album nationally distributed by RPW Records, and the Girl Power compilation album nationally distributed by Acoustic Fuel.

The CD Release will take place at Gavin Degraw’s new venue The National Underground on 159 E Houston between Allen and Eldridge in New York (near First Avenue). Though young, the venue is acclaimed for its great selection of musical artists. The National Federation for the Blind has embraced Lachi with open arms ever since she joined the organization, and they have agreed to sponsor the event with an official presence at the show. Celebrated artists Emiko and Allison Cipris will also be performing that night, presenting a wonderful evening of women in music.

Lachi is available for phone interview and possible live interview in the Mid-Atlantic region. Please contact Emiko at The6412 LTD at the6412@the6412ltd.com for further arrangements.

Please visit Lachi’s website at www.ulachi.com for more information, including mp3’s and contact information. 
Be sure to visit her online press kit at www.sonicbids.com/lachi for a full bio, and downloadable photos.

They say the best artists write about what they know. Perhaps that is why Triple Ave’s new album ‘True Working Class Heroes’ sounds so damn good. Because, what Triple Ave does not know about life, music and everything else in between is not really worth knowing. The three components that make up the group now known as Triple Ave come from as far-flung places as Boston, California and St Louis. And their backgrounds are even more diverse, encompassing Puerto Rico, Mexico, Creole and Cape Verde, West-Africa.

Maybe this mix is why the sound that Hyp, Gypsy Luv and Louie Da Saint make when they bring their heritages together is so fresh, so unique and so exciting. It is progressive hip-hop in that it still has the tightest, dopest beats you could hope for, but its content is significantly higher on the intelligence scale than your average MTV Bass bumper. This is unashamedly music by and for grown-ups. And may Triple Ave be praised for that!

The album was named not only for the group’s ancestral struggles against the powers that be, but also because the journey of the band and the construction of the album was in many ways “working class” too.

The record was made in an entirely self-sufficient way: programmed, produced, written and engineered by the members of the band, with zero compromise on quality or vision. And not many bands can say that.

Triple Ave blend elements of jazz, soul, world music via live instrumentation with turntablism and create the sort of head-nodding, intelligent and literal music that the hip-hop world has been crying out for far too long.

More than that, Triple Ave wants their music to be a vehicle for positive progress. Maybe it’s being descended from leaders of people such as the Cape Verdean revolutionary martyr Amilcar Cabral and the founder of Florida A&M University Nathan B Young but they see their art as a unifying force for people to who want to work out issues, exchange ideas and bring about change.

Triple Ave has so many influences, musically and culturally, that it is hard to contain them on one record. Being rooted in their urban upbringing and travelling throughout places in Europe, India, the Philippines and Mexico, only add to the groups diverse worldview. ‘True Working Class Heroes’ looks like it is going to be just the beginning for this band.

And if you don’t believe us, then they already have enough accolades from their peers to convince the harshest sceptic. No lesser light than A-Plus of the Hierogylyphics heard this album and immediately exclaimed: “This shit is hhhhhhhhella tight,” and who are we to disagree.

They have already picked up the prestigious “Best Band in the Bay Area” in the 2007 regional finals of the International Emergenza Battle of the Bands and now they are taking their unique talents on the road.

The mini tour takes in gigs on both coasts and you would be well advised to get yourself down and witness the world’s newest hip-hop heroes.

Triple Ave Mini Tour 2009
Jan 23, 2009 Friday 10:00 PM The Cellar – Long Beach, CA
Jan 31, 2009 Saturday 8:00 PM O.S. Art House @ The Rockit Room-San Francisco, CA
Feb 6, 2009 Friday 8:00 AM East Bay Liberation Radio 104.1 FM-West Oakland, CA
Feb 14, 2009 Saturday 6:00 PM Saturday Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists-Berkeley, CA
Feb 28, 2009 Saturday 8:00 PM O.S. Art House @ Blaggards-New York, NY – There will also be a video shoot for the song True Working Class Heroes at this performance.
Mar 7, 2009 Saturday 9:00 PM Christoff’s The Mix-Seattle, WA
Mar 8, 2009 Sunday 9:00 PM Mississippi Music Room Portland OR

Donna Ulisse releases “Walk This Mountain Down” a new collection of self-penned tunes and follow-up to her 2007 release “When I Look Back” which was enthusiastically received by bluegrass radio and fans. “Walk This Mountain Down” finds Ulisse once again singing songs she has written or co-written about real people in real life situations and relationships and teaming up again with guitar virtuoso Keith Sewell on production with a stellar cast of musicians; Rob Ickes on dobro, Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle, Byron House on upright bass, Scott Vestal on banjo and naturally, Sewell on acoustic guitar. She brought in friends Claire Lynch, Jerry Salley, Curtis Wright, Wendy Buckner Sewell and Keith Sewell as well as husband and co-writer Rick Stanley (cousin of Dr. Ralph Stanley) to help out on harmonies.

Ulisse’s second acoustic release can truly be termed “bluegrass without borders” as it ranges from traditional on some of the tunes (especially the gospel ones) to contemporary bluegrass with tinges of folk and country on other tunes, offering something for everyone who is a lover of high quality acoustic music.

Ulisse has had a busy life in Nashville as a respected vocalist behind the scenes with her first session as a background singer on a Jerry Reed album. It was a wonderfully unnerving experience for the young Ulisse who had never done backgrounds before. When renowned country songwriter and producer Glenn Sutton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, it was Ulisse who was called upon to sing some of his hits recorded by Tammy Wynette and Lynn Anderson for the “who’s who” of the music industry and she brought the house down. Fans still remember her as an artist on Atlantic Records where she was signed and released the album “Trouble at the Door” in 1991. The album had three singles and two videos. During this time she appeared on the network TV show “Hot Country Nights”, “Hee Haw”, “Nashville Now” and “Crook and Chase.”

“Walk This Mountain Down” has entered the Americana Music chart after one week at radio and goes on sale at online stores on January 20, 2009.

For more information on Donna Ulisse go to:
www.donnaulisse.com
www.myspace.com/donnastanleyulisse