T Bone Burnett Brings Electromagnetic Recordings Label to Capitol
Producer-songwriter T Bone Burnett is hitching his newly formed record label, Electromagnetic Recordings, to Capitol Music Group.
Burnett will have multiple roles within the Capital brand, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In addition to signing his own artists to the label, he will work as a producer and A&R man for other Capital imprints and act as “a liaison for the company to the music, film and television communities.”
Q&A: T Bone Burnett on ‘Nashville,’ Elton John’s Comeback and Retiring as Producer
Burnett – who earned Grammy awards for his work on the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration Raising Sand – already has various projects in the works. The most notable is The Basement Tapes…Continued, which revives unrecorded Bob Dylan lyrics written in 1967; for that album, Burnett will bring together modern artists to record songs based on the material. Other upcoming ventures include a new album from Jerry Lee Lewis (set for tentative release next summer), an LP from Gregg Allman (who worked with Burnett on 2011’s Low Country Blues) and an album of songs by the late Cowboy Jack Clement (including appearances from Emmylou Harris, John Prine and Vince Gill).
In an official statement, Capitol CEO Steve Barnett spoke about the deal. “T Bone is quite simply one of our culture’s most important creative figures,” he said. “He’s an influential curator and tastemaker, and his projects are consistently of stellar quality and integrity. He is held in the highest esteem within the artistic community.”
“I am very much aligned with Steve’s vision for a 21st century entertainment company, and excited by the strong team he has carefully and thoughtfully assembled,” Burnett added. “Steve is mindful of his role as caretaker of Capitol’s deep legacy and also embraces his responsibility to invest in new talent and help them develop into the artists of the future. He does it with intelligence, respect for artists and a genuine passion for music, all of which gives me confidence that Electromagnetic Recordings will flourish within the Capitol family.”
Burnett has stayed very busy lately: in addition to serving as executive music producer on the first season of Nashville, he also paired with the Coen Brothers on their film Inside Llewyn Davis, which opens on Christmas, and produced Elton John‘s long-awaited comeback album The Diving Board, which was released in September.