A moment's distraction, a car door slams - happens to us all. And Stewart would be the first to admit to a certain degree of preoccupation. In the last year, he's released his own album, The Blackbird Diaries; overseen projects for Stevie Nicks, Orianthi and Joss Stone; launched a signature guitar with Duesenberg, the Dave Stewart Blackbird; taken part in the all-star band Super Heavy; co-wrote the score for Ghost The Musical; and during a spare moment, he sold a TV pilot to ABC (Malibu Country, currently filming with Reba McEntire and Lily Tomlin).
The flurry of activity continues unabated in 2012, which will see the September release of Stewart's new album, The Ringmaster General. His second set of songs written and recorded in a year's time at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, The Ringmaster General sees Stewart duetting with Alison Krauss (the plaintive, sumptuous Drowning In The Blues), Diane Birch (the hip-swiveling country rocker Just Another Fall) and Jessie Baylin (God Only Knows You Now, an aching ballad).
Friends and comrades Joss Stone and Orianthi also turn in feisty guest spots on vocals and guitar, respectively, but front and center on The Ringmaster General is Stewart, whose rich tenor veers from heart-on-his-sleeve sincerity to bemused irony.
Complementing the new album, Stewart is readying a feature-length documentary (which chronicles the making of The Blackbird Diaries, as well) and is about to launch his own wine called - what else? - The Ringmaster General. While fighting sheets of rain, Stewart talked with us all about it all.
1. I Got Love
2. Just Another Fall
3. A Different Man Now
4. Drowning In The Blues
5. Girl In A Catsuit
6. Slow Motion Addict No. 2
7. You Took My Love
8. God Only Knows You Now
9. The Ringmaster General
10. Story Of Success
11. A New Song For Nashville
Dave Stewart – The Ringmaster General (2012)
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