Edited By Jonathan Cohen.
Billboard Bits: Beyoncé, Little Steven, Tangle Eye
Beyoncé Knowles has been tapped to sing the National Anthem prior to Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. She joins a roster of previous Anthem singers that includes Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond and the Dixie Chicks, who performed last year.
As previously reported, Janet Jackson will perform as part of the MTV-produced halftime show. Additional artists have yet to be announced.
E Street Band guitarist “Little Steven” Van Zandt has signed on as a creative advisor for Sirius Satellite Radio. He will create a programming stream similar to his weekly syndicated radio show, “Little Steven’s Underground Garage,” which will launch later this year.
“Steven will contribute a lifetime’s worth of sage music experience to the Sirius programmers,” Sirius president/CEO Joseph P. Clayton says in a statement. “And, as an accomplished musician, radio programmer and DJ he’ll create an appealing 24/7 rock format that isn’t available anywhere else.”
“Underground Garage” is heard on more than 130 stations in the U.S. and Canada, and internationally on Voice of America. Information, affiliate lists and archived shows can be found on the show’s Web site.
Van Zandt recently wrapped a world tour with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and will be seen in his role as Silvio Dante when the fifth season of the drama “The Sopranos” premieres March 7 on HBO. Meanwhile, Van Zandt’s former castmember Vincent Pastore has also joined the radio ranks, debuting a talk show today (Jan. 6) on WVOX-AM New Rochelle, N.Y.
— Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.
New Orleans-based production duo Tangle Eye are readying an album based on voices captured by noted musicologist Alan Lomax in his “Southern Journey” field recordings. Due Feb. 24 from Zoe/Rounder, “Voices From the Past, Grooves for the Future” includes the vintage vocals of prisoners, fishermen, soldiers and others, put to newly composed beats and music.
Tangle Eye’s Scott Billington and Steve Reynolds tapped a host of notable artists to provide music for the project. Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, Meters bassist George Porter Jr., Galactic guitarist Jeff Raines, blues guitarist Corey Harris and pianist Henry Butler are among those who contributed.
— Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.