Five-Disc Box Set ‘Antone’s: 50 Years Of The Blues’ Out Today Via New West Records

BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES DRAW OVER 16,500 FANS TO AUSTIN’S ZILKER PARK FOR ‘BLUES ON THE GREEN’   Photo credit: Camryn Hutchens (@behindcamm)

Antone’s, the legendary music venue hailed as “pointing the way toward the future of the blues” (Rolling Stone), celebrates its 50th year with a new five-disc, 41-track box set Antone’s: 50 Years of the Blues - out today via New West Records. The collection pays tribute to “one of the most storied music venues in Austin” (Associated Press)with newly recorded material, long-lost label cuts, rare live performances, an updated photographic and written history of the club and more. 

Within the set includes The Last Real Texas Blues Album, an 18-track double LP featuring newly-recorded material from artists integral to Antone's history (Jimmie Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Charlie Sexton, Ruthie Foster, Doyle Bramhall II, Bobby Rush, Derek O’Brien, C.J. Chenier, John Primer, Big Bill Morganfield) as well as its next generation leaders (Kam Franklin, Eve Monsees, McKinley James). The double album is also available as a standalone release. Tell Me One More Time, is a collection of long-lost cuts from Antone's Records, the club's in-house label and perhaps the leading promoter of female-fronted blues (Lou Ann Barton, Angela Strehli, Lavelle White, Sue Foley, Barbara Lynn) in record business history, with commentary from Clifford Antone. We Went Live in ’75, features rare live recordings from throughout the club’s history, ranging from Buddy Guy and Otis Rush to a 20-year-old unsigned Gary Clark Jr. (listen to the latter via Rolling Stone). Also included is a Los Lobos 45 honoring Clifford, a meticulously updated hardcover edition of Picture the Blues from Susan Antone, with rare and unseen photographs, and a new definitive Antone’s history written by revered Texas music historian Joe Nick Patoski. 

Listen to “Going Down” by Bobby Rush & Jimmie Vaughn, the opening track on The Last Real Texas Blues Album, here: http://newwst.com/goingdown

Listen to Antone’s: 50 Years of the Blues here: https://bio.to/JMzHEJ

Order here: http://newwst.com/antones50

Next month, Antone’s will bring their trailblazing spirit across the country for special performances in Nashville and Los Angeles. The legendary Austin venue will have a significant presence at AmericanaFest this year, where a cast of Antone’s 50th Allstars will take over Nashville’s The ‘58 at Eastside Bowl on September 10 - including performances from Muddy Waters’ bandleader/guitarist John Primer, Blues Hall of Fame inductee Lurrie Bell, Kam Franklin of The Suffers, Rodd Bland (son of Bobby “Blue”) and longtime Antone’s staples like Derek O'Brien, Mike Buck and Joe Sublett. The next day, Antone’s will collaborate with Third Man Records (September 11) on a “50 Years Of The Blues” Brunch - with performances, unseen footage from throughout the club’s history and a panel discussion moderated by Living Blues Magazine’s Scott Barretta - featuring Primer, Sublett, Bland and Antone’s Record Shop co-owner Eve Monsees.

More information about Antone’s 50th anniversary shows in Nashville and Los Angeles here: https://antonesnightclub.com/

At home in Austin, a crowd of 16,500 gathered earlier this month in Zilker Park for ‘Blues On The Green’ - which featured electrifying performances from pioneering Antone’s regulars like Ruthie Foster and Sue Foley; honoring the milestone anniversary. The club was also recently the subject of an extensive front page profile in the Austin American Statesman, who declared Antone’s as “Austin’s most iconic music venue.”For more information visit: https://antonesnightclub.com/