Kathleen Brennan: Last News

Tom Waits has made a rare public comment by paying his own tribute to the life and work of Shane MacGowan. On November 30, it was announced that MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family and friends.

Tom Waits has announced a reissue of five albums that were released by Island Records between the ’80s and ’90s.The reissues, which were personally overseen by Waits himself along with his wife Kathleen Brennan, consist of 1983’s ‘Swordfishtrombones’, 1985’s ‘Rain Dogs’, 1987’s ‘Franks Wild Years’, 1992’s ‘Bone Machine’ and 1993’s ‘The Black Rider’.According to a press release, all the albums were mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits’ longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler. ‘Swordfishtrombones’ was sourced from the original EQ’ed ½” production master tapes while ‘Rain Dogs’, ‘Franks Wild Years’, ‘Bone Machine’ and ‘The Black Rider’ were sourced from the original ½” flat master tapes.Tom Waits' entire metaphoric & groundbreaking mid-period Island Records studio catalog newly remastered from original tapes and prepped for release on vinyl, CD and digital for the first time.

A Lanarkshire organisation which offers online teaching mirroring the Scottish P1 to S5 curriculum has triumphed at a top national awards ceremony.

Measures to reduce the workload of Falkirk GPs by bringing other health professionals "who really know their stuff" into surgeries are beginning to pay off - but more work and more cash are still needed, a report has found.

Tom Waits has today (August 9) announced that his twin 2002 albums, ‘Alice’ and ‘Blood Money’, will be reissued on vinyl.The albums – which this year celebrate their 20-year-anniversary – will be pressed on translucent blue and red vinyl respectively, with the reissues expected to hit record stores and Waits’ merch website on October 7. Both reissues are currently available for pre-order via Waits’ webstore here.Coinciding with the announcement, Waits has also shared a pair of live recordings set to feature on each of the upcoming reissues: ‘All the World Is Green’ from ‘Blood Money’ and ‘Fish and Bird’ from ‘Alice’.Check out the live recordings below.Waits’ live version of ‘All the World is Green’ adds a flamenco flair to the original, and was recorded during the singer-songwriter’s Milan show as part of his 2008 Glitter and Doom concert tour.

The Wire was almost made using a different opening theme song, according to the show’s creator David Simon.Each of the five seasons of the acclaimed HBO crime drama opened with a different version of Tom Waits‘ 1987 track ‘Way Down In The Hole’, taken from his 10th studio album, ‘Franks Wild Years’.The five versions were sung by The Blind Boys Of Alabama (season one), Tom Waits (season two), The Neville Brothers (season three), DoMaJe (season four), and Steve Earle (season five).However, the show’s creator has now revealed that the opening theme could have been very different had it not been for some serious last minute chasing and help from Waits’ wife Kathleen Brennan.Simon, a longtime fan of Waits, first used music by the US singer-songwriter in a fifth season episode of Homicide: Life On The Street titled ‘Bad Medicine’. When it came time to make The Wire, he dipped back into Waits discography to find something suitable for his new show.“The first [song] I found was ‘Get Behind The Mule,'” Simon told Entertainment Weekly. “And it didn’t quite work, lyrically.

Tom Waits has remembered the late and legendary Saturday Night Live music producer Hal Willner with a touching essay.

Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan have written a tribute to Waits’ late friend Hal Willner, posted to his website earlier today (April 15). According to Waits, they met when Willner approached him at a show in 1974, from which they built a lifelong friendship around music. Read Waits’ post in full below.

By Variety Staff