Posts Tagged ‘Songbook’

Chris Cornell announces the opening dates for his June 2012 European Tour. 

Rock icon Chris Cornell has announced his first headline UK tour dates in over three years.  UK audiences will be the first in Europe to get the chance to see Chris perform unplugged, up close and personal.  

This much-anticipated ‘Songbook‘ tour highlights works from Chris Cornell’s entire catalogue, including songs written for Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog and has already attracted universally positive reviews around the world.  As Jim Farber of The New York Daily News observed, “sometimes you don’t recognize the full power of a voice until you strip everything away from it.“ 

Chris Cornell has the ability to connect with listeners like few others of our time. Within this alternative setting, Cornell can easily interact with the audience and share insights about his music.  Familiar songs emerge in a new context, showing that great songwriting translates to any idiom. Ranked as “one of the best voices in music history”, Cornell has successfully maintained his own unique identity over more than two decades as a
multi-Grammy award winning musician, Golden Globe nominee and universally acclaimed singer, songwriter and lyricist. 

Here are just a few things people have had to say about ‘Songbook‘ in 2011: 

“A master class in the fine art of solo performance” – Boston Globe

“His talents as a storyteller and poet come through as loud and clear….music has few individuals left who can grab an acoustic guitar alone and
make a sold out crowd laugh, cry, feel, and dream.” – Artist Direct

“The intensity of his voice enveloped the room… a night of rare beauty.” – The Australian

“A perfectly guided tour of the nuanced poetry of songwriting led by a cordial host who gripped the focus of his audience.” – Pop Matters

 Chris Cornell’s headline UK tour comes to the following venues this June; further dates for mainland Europe will be announced shortly.

 SAT 16 JUNE    MANCHESTER LOWRY                             0843 208 6000

MON 18 JUNE   LONDON PALLADIUM                               020 7403 3331

TUE 19 JUNE    BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL             0121 780 3333

WED 20 JUNE   NEWCASTLE CITY HALL                                     0191 277 8030

 TICKETS ON SALE 10.00AM FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY.

Buy online at gigsandtours.com <http://gigsandtours.com/>  |24 HR CC Hotline: 0844 811 0051

Currently on his acoustic ‘Songbook‘ tour of the States, Chris Cornell will be releasing an album of live Songbook tour performances on November 21st (UME).  The album features songs written by Cornell as well as a few covers and you can see the fulll track listing below.  In addition to being one of the most acclaimed voices in rock, Chris Cornell stands in a class of his own as a songwriter whose works have reached limitless audiences, the world over.  Familiar songs emerge in a new context, showing that great songwriting translates to any idiom.

Songbook Full Track Listing:

1. As Hope and Promise Fade

2. Scar On The Sky

3. Call Me A Dog

4. Ground Zero

5. Can’t Change Me

6. I Am The Highway

7. Thank You (Led Zeppelin)

8. Cleaning My Gun

9. Wide Awake

10. Fell On Black Days

11. All Night Thing

12. Doesn’t Remind Me

13. Like A Stone

14. Black Hole Sun

15. Imagine (John Lennon)

16. The Keeper  

Recently, Cornell wrote and performed ‘The Keeper’, the poignant original song for Relativity’s feature film Machine Gun Preacher (directed by Marc Forster) which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this month.  The film stars Gerard Butler and is based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who finds faith leading him on a path to help the children of East Africa. 

The song is available via iTunes and a portion of the proceeds will go to Childers’s charity, Angels of East Africa.  Cornell has performed the song on The Late Show with David Letterman, PBS’s Tavis Smiley and Jimmy Kimmel Live!

You can watch the video in full below.

Chris Cornell has been heralded as one of the pioneers of the grunge era for writing a string of hits for Soundgarden, including the Grammy award-winning ‘Black Hole Sun’ and ‘Spoonman‘.  In 1991, Chris formed Temple of the Dog, writing the classic song ‘Hunger Strike’ featuring a duet with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.  In 2000, Cornell joined former Rage Against The Machine members (Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk) in Audioslave and wrote a series of the band’s hits including ‘Like A Stone’, ‘Be Yourself’ and ‘Doesn’t Remind Me’.  Cornell’s career as a songwriter for film has included such songs as ‘Can’t Change Me’ and ‘Mission’, from the soundtrack to Mission Impossible II as well as hit theme song ‘You Know My Name’ for James Bond thriller Casino Royale, one of the most successful installments of the spy franchise to date.  His songs have been recorded by diverse artists from Johnny Cash to Alice Cooper.