The Ghostlight Story
BETTY BUCKLEY’S NEW ALBUM GHOSTLIGHT RE-UNITES HER WITH PRODUCER T BONE BURNETT FOR A SEPTEMBER RELEASE
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Official Press Release
LOS ANGELES, CA—July 14, 2014—Betty Buckley’s new album Ghostlight re-unites her with longtime friend and producer T Bone Burnett on the September 16 release by Palmetto Records. When Buckley and Burnett were both 19 years old, living in Fort Worth, TX, they began making music together. Buckley, who has been called “The Voice of Broadway,” is one of theater’s most respected and legendary leading ladies. Burnett’s highly sought after involvement in music, film, TV and stage projects is marked by his uncanny ability to successfully combine his unique artistic sensibilities with massive commercial appeal. These two friends and talents created an atmosphere that takes us to another time and place.
“T Bone single-handedly changed the world of music and makes each project more perfect than the last,” says Buckley. “The gift of this project is beyond my ability to even express; it is my dream record.”
“All great art comes from the edge, not a place of comfort,” commented Burnett. “Our vision was for a ghostly haunting sound, which I called ‘crime jazz,’ giving the project a timeless feel.”
The title of the recording comes from the tradition in the theatre where, after the performance in the dark theatre, a lone light bulb is left on at night to keep the ghosts company. This light is called a ghost light. The recording of Ghostlight was made at the legendary Village Studios in Los Angeles.
Ghostlight will be available for sales as a commemorative limited art box which includes two separate vinyl records of the complete recording, a 24 page booklet of photos and notes, as well as CD copies of the Ghostlight recording and “Bootleg: Boardmixes from the Road,” the promo CD for Ghostlight. It will also be sold as a CD and booklet.
ABOUT BETTY BUCKLEYBetty Buckley is an actress/singer whose career spans theater, film, television and concert halls around the world. She most recently was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame for 2012.
Buckley won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats.” She received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical for her performance as Hesione in “Triumph of Love,” and an Olivier Award nomination for her critically acclaimed interpretation of Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” which she repeated to more rave reviews on Broadway. Her other Broadway credits include “1776,” “Pippin,” “Song and Dance,” “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and “Carrie.”
She co-starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” released in June 2008. Other films include her debut in Brian de Palma’s screen version of Stephen King’s “Carrie,” Bruce Beresford’s “Tender Mercies,” Roman Polanski’s “Frantic,” Woody Allen’s “Another Woman” and Lawrence Kasden’s “Wyatt Earp.”
On television, Buckley appeared in “The Pacific” for HBO and on the Kennedy Center Honors. She also starred for three seasons in the HBO series “Oz” and as Abby Bradford in the hit series “Eight Is Enough.”
Buckley has recorded 16 CD’s, among them “Bootleg: Boardmixes from the Road,” “Quintessence,” “Betty Buckley 1967” and the GRAMMY Nominated “Stars and the Moon, Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar.” Her newest CD, “Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway,” was released by Palmetto Records in August 2012. She received her second GRAMMY Nomination for the audio book “The Diaries of Adam and Eve.”
Most recently, Buckley received a Drama Desk Nomination for “Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play” for her performance this season in the World Premiere of Horton Foote's "The Old Friends" at the Signature Theatre in NYC.
ABOUT T BONE BURNETTT Bone Burnett's 40 years of experience in music and entertainment have earned him an unparalleled reputation as a first-rate innovative artist, songwriter, producer, performer, concert producer, record company owner and artists’ advocate. He is a champion for artistic freedom and independence, and a driving force in the elevation of our popular culture.
Burnett is a 13-time GRAMMY Award winner, earning his latest statue in 2013 in the category of “Best Song Written for Visual Media,” along with collaborators Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams and John Paul White. The foursome composed “Safe And Sound” for the blockbuster film, “The Hunger Games.” Burnett was awarded a GRAMMY in that same category in 2011 – having co-written The Weary Kind with Ryan Bingham for the Oscar-winning film, “Crazy Heart” – as well as in the category of “Best Compilation Soundtrack Album” for that same film.
Most recently, Burnett collaborated with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen on their music-packed film “Inside Llewyn Davis,” in which a young singer-songwriter navigates New York's Greenwich Village folk music scene during the early 1960s. He is also the Executive Music Producer and Composer for the HBO series “True Detective,” which stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. He was Executive Music Producer and Co-Composer for the first season of the highly-acclaimed ABC television series, “Nashville,” producing new recordings each week that featured the show’s stars and were incorporated into the series’ dramatic storytelling. That show spawned two best-selling soundtrack albums as well as millions of individual song downloads.
A note from Betty about Ghostlight
Henry “T Bone” Burnett and I have been friends since we were teenagers growing up in Fort Worth, Texas. T Bone had his own recording studio from age seventeen, and I was a girl singer about town.
I remember going to T-Bone’s studio one day, when we were both 19, and the first archival recording of my voice was made.
When the recording was released on vinyl and CD a few years ago as Betty Buckley 1967, we sent a copy to T Bone, who said he was very moved when he heard it, remembering what we had recorded all those years ago. And shortly after that, T Bone called saying, “Let’s do a new record.” I was thrilled.
We had remained friends for all these years, and from time to time we would hang out, and he would always say, “We gotta make another record.” But this time we decided to really make it happen.
So I flew to LA that summer and sat with T Bone in the living room of his home recording studio, and along with pianist Tom Canning, we listened to tracks of soundboard mixes of songs I had done in concert in but never recorded.
We narrowed down our selection of songs from fifty-five to twelve, and T Bone explained his vision to us. The dates were set for the recording sessions at The Village Recording Studios, and T Bone and his team contracted the amazing musicians on this record.
The great Bill Frisell was our lead guitarist, Matt Betton played drums and David Piltch was our bassist. I brought violinist Charlie Bisharat aboard, and we started recording.
There is an undeniable atmosphere to this recording. The music is not easily categorized. This music is haunting, timeless, and while the choice of songs is very eclectic in their origin, they coalesce to create an atmosphere that is both romantic and provocative, I think.
I love this record. It’s a dreamscape, and is true, I feel, to the essence of who I am as an artist, singer and storyteller. It is so precious to me, and I’ve been looking for the perfect moment to take it to its audience. And now, finally, it is time to share it with you.
