Dave Stewart announces new album, Ebony McQueen out in May
NASHVILLE, TN (April 20, 2022) — Bay Street Records has announced Ebony McQueen, the groundbreaking new music, film, and stage musical project from Dave Stewart. The award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, producer, innovator, and Eurythmics co-founder will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this June and is a current Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee for the Eurythmics. With the 26-track Ebony McQueen, Stewart showcases his ever-present creative ambitions with no signs of slowing down.
Set for release on Friday, May 20 as a deluxe multi-format box set, Ebony McQueen features the complete triple album on 3x vinyl LP alongside two additional vinyl EPs, two cassettes, and an expansive photo book that includes typed lyrics as well as Stewart’s original film “scriptment.” Clips of further tracks can be found on his Instagram.
“Ebony McQueen,” the title track and lead single from the project, will be released across all DSPs on Friday, May 1. Pre-save/pre-order Ebony McQueen here.
“‘Ebony McQueen’ is the name of a fictional voodoo blues queen, a living embodiment of the blues music that inspired my entire career,” says Stewart. “She is basically my entry point into music and the title track is the entry point to this story. Ultimately, it's a story about destiny. There’s a point in your life when something's put before you and you can either choose this path or that path. If you’re open to it, the right path chooses you. And the whole story is about how that awakening happens.”
A teenage boy in the northern city of Sunderland, England is visited by a living, breathing voodoo blues queen, setting into motion an extraordinary journey. Ebony McQueen is among the most ambitious and autobiographical works of Dave Stewart’s remarkable life and landmark career, an exhilarating, original musical fable about music and young manhood, finding hard-earned wisdom and true love with the girl next door. Written and produced by Stewart, Ebony McQueen was recorded at studios including Nashville’s legendary Blackbird Studio and his own Bay Street Recording Studio in the Caribbean, with contributions from an array of top vocalists, session players, and the 60-piece Budapest Scoring Orchestra.
The joyful, rousing score brings together Stewart’s seminal early inspirations – his father’s Rogers & Hammerstein records, Robert Johnson’s blues, and the mind-blowing sounds of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones – all filtered through his own inimitable creative lens of richly orchestrated pop, rock ‘n roll, psychedelia, musical theatre, even the distinctive rake-and-scrape sound of his beloved colorful Junkanoo carnival. Deeply personal yet wholly universal, Ebony McQueen is more than Dave Stewart’s own story – it’s for everyone whose lives have been steered by the redemptive magic of music and the mysterious power of love.
ABOUT BAY STREET RECORDS:
Founded in 2020, Bay Street Records sees Dave Stewart bringing together his legendary passion for discovery and artist development with a multi-disciplinary new brand and full-service production house. Bay Street Records – which takes its name from its location on Stewart’s Caribbean island home – will see Stewart bringing his unmatched production and songwriting approach to collaborations with extraordinary artists and rising new stars. Its latest release is the critically acclaimed 8th studio album “Never Forget My Love” from GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress Joss Stone, and forthcoming projects from UK soul legend Beverley Knight, alongside releases from thrilling new voices like London/Copenhagen-based singer/rapper Iris Gold and Welsh singer-songwriter Otto. For more information, please visit baystreetrecords.com.
ABOUT DAVE STEWART:
With a career spanning four decades and over 100M album sales worldwide, award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, producer and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart is among the most respected and accomplished talents in popular music history. Stewart co-wrote and produced each Eurythmics album in his world-famous duo with Annie Lennox. He has also produced albums and co-written songs with Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Gwen Stefani, Damian Marley, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Ferry, A.R. Rahman, Katy Perry, Sinead O’Connor, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and Joss Stone, and many others. He is currently working with Stone on the recently announced musical of ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’, due to premiere later this year. His wide-ranging work has earned Stewart a long list of prestigious honors, including over fifty ASCAP and BMI Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards for “Best Songwriter,” four BRIT Awards for “Best Producer” (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), a Golden Globe Award, and a GRAMMY® Award. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by Eurythmics was recently inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame®, in recognition of its qualitative and historical significance, and Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox were among the 2020 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a ceremony taking place in June 2022. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced Eurythmics as nominees for 2022 induction for their profound impact on music.
Beyond his creative work as a musician, Stewart is a renowned film and TV producer (including NBC’s hit songwriting competition series, Songland), author, photographer, public speaker, and entrepreneur. In 2010, Stewart established Dave Stewart Entertainment (DSE), a “media company for the new world” (The Los Angeles Times), linking creative ideas to a host of projects in music, film, television, books, theatre, and new media. As the creator of content for DSE, Stewart has married his passion for music, film, and television by creating a number of high-profile projects.