Mystery Street Records Set to Release Nine Lives, A Musical Adaptation

Mystery Street Records is proud to present "Nine Lives, A Musical Adaptation (Volume 1)" by Colman deKay and Paul Sanchez, a two CD collection of 24 original songs, set for release March 1, 2011. Over one hundred musicians (mostly from New Orleans) perform on the album, including Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, John Boutte, Lillian Boutte, Wendell Pierce (from HBO's Treme), Broadway star and Tony Award winning actor/singer Michael Cerveris, Kevin Griffin, Michelle Shocked, Harry Shearer, Shamarr Allen, The Dixie Cups and Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The Nine Lives album is a musical adaptation of the New York Times bestselling book "Nine Lives" by Dan Baum (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009). The non-fiction book is a remarkable oral history of New Orleans in the forty years (1965-2005) between the twin catastrophes known as Betsy and Katrina as seen through the eyes of nine of its citizens. The album includes the first 24 songs imagined for a theatrical production and is anticipated to become a Broadway musical.

The Nine Lives CD was made possible in part by a $50,000 grant awarded to the Threadhead Records Foundation as part of the Pepsi Do Good for the Gulf program last September.

Comments co-writer Colman deKay: "Baum's book is so vivid and so visual--and its epic sweep so comically, tragically human--that it yelled out to the two of us to be adapted to another medium." Comments co-writer and producer Paul Sanchez: "The Nine Lives album captures the uniqueness, diversity and rich storylines that everybody can share and enjoy. The music we wrote and produced encompasses traditional New Orleans jazz, rock, funk, chamber music, Mardi Gras Indian chants, 70s soul, hip-hop, brass band music, and rap and blues. The music rises off the pages of the book and this will be unprecedented to the Broadway stage."

"We appreciate the work that Threadhead Records is doing to help New Orleans musicians and artists and are excited about the Nine Lives Project," said New Orleans' Mayor Landrieu. " The book captures the spirit of our communities and will make a wonderful musical. I'm excited that Pepsi's generous support will result in an album, and I look forward to celebrating the opening night on Broadway."

About Mystery Street Records: Fresh off an incredibly successful last few years with the fan-funded and volunteer-run Threadhead Records label and its sister Foundation, its founders created the new affiliate Mystery Street Records label in part for the purpose of releasing themed albums from the Threadhead Records family of artists, which focuses on Louisiana's rich musical heritage. Mystery Street Records, which is expected to quickly emerge as a premier label for Louisiana music, just secured national distribution with IODA/Red and has also announced a sponsorship with Zatarain's, a producer of New Orleans-style food products. Future themed CD releases will focus on the various unique streets and landmarks in the Crescent City, encapsulating the "Sounds of New Orleans," including the February first release of "Sounds of New Orleans: Frenchmen Street."

About Threadhead Records: Formed in 2007, Threadhead Records was created as a way to help New Orleans musicians expose their talents to as many listeners as possible. In less than four years the label has released 25 records, raised more than $300,000 for New Orleans musicians, and was just named Best Record Label of the Year by Offbeat magazine. Not your typical record label, musicians' projects are funded by loans or grants.

For more information please visit http://mysterystreetrecords.com/ and http://www.threadheadrecords.com/.

 

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