Josh Tillman (a.k.a. Father John Misty) will play to a sold-out crowd at Music City's Mother Church the Ryman Auditorium next Tuesday, September 26, in support of his acclaimed new record Pure Comedy (Sub Pop), but fans without tickets need not despair. A free, lunch-hour b-show, featuring Tillman performing solo and acoustic, has been added to his Nashville schedule in our Blue Room.

We will open doors at noon for a 12:30pm short set, which will be recorded by Third Man engineers on the in-house 1955 Scully Lathe for future release. One lucky, randomly-chosen attendee will walk away that day with a 10" vinyl record, cut to disc on-the-spot during the performance.

Food trucks will be on site for those swinging by on their lunch break, and beer will also be available for purchase for those who don't care that they have to go back to work. Black and blue records will be ready for pre-order following the set for those in attendance.

Nashville's Lightning 100 will give away 25 pairs of guaranteed-entry tickets, and the remainder of the Blue Room's capacity will be filled on a first come, first served basis, as space permits, via the Third Man Records box office when doors open for the show.

Our trusty yellow record mobile is taking the midwest by storm this Fall with exclusive merchandise and limited records in tow. Mark your calendars if it's headed your way!

• "ROLLIN' STONE" B/W "WALKIN' BLUES,"
• "SHE'S ALL RIGHT" B/W "SAD, SAD DAY" &
• "MANNISH BOY" B/W "YOUNG FASHIONED WAYS"

—PURCHASE THE COMPLETE MUDDY WATERS BUNDLE—

Third Man Records is proud to introduce our partnership with Universal Music Group in an effort to highlight the depth and importance of the Chess Records catalog. In what is now our third ongoing, label-based series of 7" reissues, along with our Sun Records and Tamla Records series, today we release three singles that are the pinnacle of Muddy Waters' recorded output.

Muddy Waters is considered the premiere Chicago blues artist. His recordings influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, and countless others. Before his name was synonymous with the Chicago sound and Chess Records, Waters was an aspiring musician in the Mississippi delta whose confidence was bolstered by a visit and field recording by Alan Lomax.

"I really heard myself for the first time. I'd never heard my voice. I used to sing; used to sing just how I felt, 'cause that's the way we always sang in Mississippi," Waters told one journalist. "But when Mr. Lomax played me the record I thought, man, this boy can sing the blues."

The move from Mississippi to Chicago to become a professional musician resulted in two early Muddy Waters hits on the Chess brothers' Aristocrat Records, which shortly thereafter changed its name to Chess Records. Originally released on 78rpm records in 1950, 1953, and 1955 respectively, Waters signature first hit single on Chess, "Rollin Stone" b/w "Walkin' Blues," is paired with "She's All Right" b/w "Sad, Sad Day" and "Mannish Boy" b/w "Young Fashioned Ways."

With recordings this iconic, the Third Man Records pressings are not the first time these songs have been given new life, but we are the only label to reissue them as 7” singles, a label priority we are proud of.

Additional recordings in their partnership with Universal's Chess Records catalog will follow later this year, including a reissue of Muddy Waters' Electric Mud, and this first batch is available on black vinyl wherever fine, new records are sold and via thirdmanstore.com, as well as a limited edition on "Chess-nut" Brown vinyl at both Third Man Records storefronts and at Reckless Records in Chicago, while supplies last.

BUY THE BUNDLE HERE. 

Tennessee Tourism and Third Man Records are bringing you 333 ft. Underground for One-of-a-Kind Music Experience with Margo Price, Lillie Mae, Craig Brown Band, and Joshua Hedley at Tennessee’s Famous Cumberland Caverns!

We've teamed up with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development for a one-of-a-kind concert experience Friday, Sept. 29 as an extension of the state’s Snapchat Concert Series. The event will take place at Cumberland Caverns, a national natural landmark in McMinnville, Tennessee, longtime home of Bluegrass Underground and one of the longest caves in the world, located 333 feet underground. 

Margo Price, Lillie Mae, Craig Brown Band, and Joshua Hedley will perform, billed together for the first time with Jack White hosting. Tickets to the underground show will be free and available exclusively through Tennessee’s Snapchat. By following “Tennessee” on Snapchat, fans can also access exclusive content pieces with Third Man Records co-founder Ben Swank and each of the four performing artists.

“Between Nashville, Memphis and the Appalachian Mountains, there is so much musical history in the state of Tennessee. It's what drew me here. I'm proud to call Tennessee my home,” said Margo Price. "Both Lillie Mae and Joshua Hedley are long time friends and I've always admired their musicianship. This will be our first time all sharing a bill since we signed to Third Man Records. I can't wait to play with them!"

For more information, visit tnvacation.com and follow “Tennessee” on Snapchat.

'MAKE TROUBLE' AVAILABLE DIGITALLY TODAY, VINYL SINGLE TO FOLLOW

King of cult John Waters has long been an idol of the the creative hive of maladjusted artsy types here at Third Man Records. Today, we are pleased to announce today the audio album release of "Make Trouble," Waters' subversive commencement speech published earlier this year by Algonquin Books, and now read by Waters himself. Make Trouble, the record, is available in full digitally today, with a companion 7" single of the same name, featuring Waters' reading of his commencement speech at RISD in its entirety, coming October 6th via Third Man Pressing & Third Man Records and available for pre-order now. The recordings are produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Zomba Prison Project).

The speech begins with Waters explaining his qualifications to provide the graduating students the last word of their college education. "I should say right off that I am really qualified to be your commencement speaker. I was suspended from high school, then kicked out of college in the first marijuana scandal ever on the university campus. I've been arrested several times. I've been known to dress in ludicrous fashions. I've also built a career out of negative reviews. And I've been recently called the prince of puke by the press and another title I'm really proud of - the people's pervert."

Waters spoke with NPR's Linda Wertheimer this Spring about the book, the fact that it was written in Obama's America and released in Trump's America, saying, "I don't believe that we should never not talk to people we don't agree with politically. If you can make that person laugh, it's the first step to getting him to listen to change their mind."

Listen to or purchase "Make Trouble" now at your preferred digital retailer, and pre-order the vinyl 7" spoken word record now in advance of its official release next month.

ALL AMERICAN MADE OUT OCTOBER 20

2018 ‘NOWHERE FAST’ HEADLINE TOUR ANNOUNCED

Margo Price has announced the October 20 release of her new album All American Made! Delivering on the promise of her 2016 debut Midwest Farmer’s Daughter – an album that took her from country underdog to breakout star - Price raises the stakes considerably on ‘All American Made,’ offering twelve new, original songs that explore long nights and hard days, wild women and cocaine cowboys, politics and sexism, with plainspoken poetry and cutting insight.

Listen to first track with a slideshow from Margo's recording session at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis “A Little Pain” below:

“A Little Pain” will be included as an instant download for all digital album pre-orders, in addition to her recent single “Weakness”. Pre-order ‘All American Made’ on CD, LP or digitally today. 

Participating independent record stores will be the only retailers to carry a limited edition, sky blue vinyl version of All American Made with an LP jacket and insert, both screenprinted and assembled by hand, available on release date.

Sessions for ‘All American Made’ commenced shortly after the 2016 election with Price and her hard-touring band – Kevin Black (bass), Jamie Davis (electric guitar), Micah Hulscher (piano), Jeremy Ivey (acoustic guitar/bass/harmonica), Dillon Napier (drums), and Luke Schneider (pedal steel) – returning to Memphis to work at Sam Phillips Recording, just down the street from the original Sun Studios where she cut her debut. Once again, Grammy-winner Matt Ross-Spang and Alex Munoz helmed the sessions, co-producing with Price and Ivey. It proved an incredibly fruitful period, yielding over thirty new songs. From those, Price selected all the tracks that appear on ‘All American Made’ plus her recent surprise-release ‘Weakness’ EP, which earned praise from the New York Times, NPR and Pitchfork, who hailed the title track’s “fiery country-soul” and “gritty momentum.” Last week, Price released a hell-raising, fire-starting, liquor store-robbing video for “Weakness,” watch here.

Real-deal country music may be the most prominent touchstone on All American Made, with the genre’s éminence grise Willie Nelson dueting with Price on the heart-stopping “Learning to Lose,” but touches of classic soul and R&B inform many of the arrangements here, fusing two of Tennessee’s greatest musical exports. The funky “Do Right By Me” grooves with gospel legends The McCrary Sisters on backing vocals, and the driving “A Little Pain” features sweeping orchestration by Memphis legend Lester Snell (the man responsible for the string arrangements in “Shaft”).

Margo and her band are pleased to also announce the ‘Nowhere Fast’ headline tour for early 2018, in addition to fall festivals and shows with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, and Eric Church. All album pre-orders through Third Man Records before Sunday, September 10th at midnight CST will receive a code for access to an early exclusive Nowhere Fast tour ticket pre-sale on Tuesday, September 12 at 10am local time. Tickets will be available for general on sale on Friday, September 15 at 10am local time. See full dates below. 

Nowhere Fast Headline Tour:

(pre-order from thirdmanstore.com for early access to tickets!)

Sept 7 – Hopscotch Music Festival – Raleigh, NC
Sept 8 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ**
Sept 9 – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Jones Beach, NY**
Sept 10 – Hersheypark Stadium – Hershey, PA**
Sept 16 – Farm Aid 2017 – Burgettstown, PA
Sept 17 – CityFolk Festival – Ottawa, CA
Oct 1 – Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival – Columbia, MO
Oct 5 – iWireless Center – Moline, IL^
Oct 6 – Wells Fargo Arena – Des Moines, IA^
Oct 7 – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN^
Oct 26 – KeyBank Center – Buffalo, NY^^
Oct 27 – Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY^^
Jan 20 – Headliner’s Music Hall – Louisville, KY
Jan 21 – The Ready Room – St. Louis, MO
Jan 23 – Knucklehead’s – Kansas City, MO
Jan 24 – ACM@UCO – Oklahoma City, OK
Jan 26 – Kessler Theater – Dallas, TX
Jan 28 – Sam’s Burger Joint – San Antonio, TX
Jan 30 – Emo’s – Austin, TX
Feb 1 – Manship Theatre – Baton Rouge, LA
Feb 18 – The Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
Feb 20 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO
Feb 21 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
Feb 23 – The State Room – Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 24 – The Olympic – Boise, ID
Feb 25 – Neptune – Seattle, WA
Feb 26 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR
Feb 28 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
Mar 1 – The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Mar 2 – Pappy & Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA
Mar 3 – Belly Up – Solana Beach, CA

_{^ = w/ Chris Stapleton and Brent Cobb
** = Outlaw Music Festival Tour w/ Willie Nelson & Family
^^ = w/ Tim McGraw & Faith Hill Soul2Soul Tour}