Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

James Morrison has been nominated for Best British Male at the 2012 BRIT awards, an accolade he has been nominated for twice before, and won in 2007. James said: “I’m really happy to be nominated for The Brits again this year, it’s going to be a great night. It’s always good to get that level of recognition for your work, and there are some great artists in there too. ‘The Awakening’ is such an intensely personal album to me, I’m just pleased people are sharing that and enjoying it so much, and the fans are giving me such incredible feedback and support.” His new single ‘Slave To The Music’ is released on February 20. The up tempo track is the third to be taken from his platinum selling album ‘The Awakening’. The song originally came to James in a dream, where he envisaged Michael Jackson singing the main hook. The Awakening was number one for two weeks when it was released last year. It also contains the singles ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ and the stunning duet with Jessie J ‘Up’ – which ha

January 16th 2012 see’s the eagerly awaited release of Tribes debut album ‘Baby’ on Island Records, with the single ‘ We Were Children ’ on the 9th .Taped over six intense weeks in Liverpool with producer Mike Crossey, these songs have been honed to perfection during an odyssey of couch surfing and tearing the arse out of sweaty, shoebox-sized venues. Like with so many great debut albums, ‘Baby’ is the culmination of the band’s own lives up to this point. NME Awards Tour Dates 2012: 08 Feb Glasgow O2 Academy 09 Feb Newcastle O2 Academy 10 Feb Manchester Academy 14 Feb Nottingham Rock City 15 Feb Leeds O2 Academy 17 Feb Norwich UEA 18 Feb Birmingham O2 Academy 19 Feb Cardiff University 20 Feb Bristol O2 Academy 22 Feb Bournemouth O2 Academy 23 Feb Brighton Dome http://www.myspace.com/tribesband

Taio Cruz who has sold a staggering 17 million singles and albums worldwide, and has established himself as one of the world’s most sought after writer/producers as well as a genuine international superstar artist in his own right, releases his eagerly awaited new single “Troublemaker” on January 1st through Island Records. The future smash is taken from Taio’s brand new album “Ty. O” which the multi-talented Londoner has been working on since moving to Los Angeles at the beginning of the year. The star-studded album will also feature the massive international single “Hangover” which features Flo Rida. Taio’s world Takeover continues apace. Alongside the incredible 17 million single and album worldwide sales, Taio has racked up over 440 million YouTube views, 5 million Facebook likes, is a 3 time Billboard Music Award winner (2011), Brit Award nominee, Ascap Songwriter of The Year Award Winner (2011) and has written hits for, to name but a few, JLS, Cheryl Cole, Jennifer Lopez (