Brian Wilson and Capitol/EMI Partner With Gannett for First of Its Kind Album Premiere Promotion for Wilson’s That Lucky Old Sun

Wilson's New Album Exclusively Available for Pre-Release Audio Streaming at

    More Than 50 Gannett Newspaper and TV Sites, Including USATODAY.com



    HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 19 /EMWNews/ -- Music legend Brian Wilson

and Capitol Records / EMI are partnering with Gannett for an exclusive

premiere of Wilson's new album, That Lucky Old Sun. From August 22 to

September 1, more than 50 Gannett newspaper and TV station websites,

including USATODAY.com, will exclusively offer full streaming audio of

Wilson's new album before its September 2 release. The innovative promotion

is the first of its kind for Gannett, which has never before partnered with

an artist to offer an album premiere across its media Websites.



    



    Visitors to select Gannett sites, including USATODAY.com, 32 local

Gannett newspaper websites and 19 local Gannett TV websites, will be able

to listen to the full 38-minute album in sequence or skip ahead or back to

individual tracks. The album will not be available for download from

Gannett's sites, but the streaming audio player will link directly to

Amazon.com to pre-order the CD, limited edition CD/DVD and digital album.



    While it is fairly common practice for artists to offer promotional

pre-release web streaming of new music, it is a unique arrangement to

stream an album on newspaper and TV websites. For Gannett, this is an

opportunity to deliver new music from a respected artist familiar to its

core news audience. Top Gannett markets were chosen for the web streams,

some because of the size of the market, others because of a large Brian

Wilson fan base.



    "Streaming a full album is a first for Gannett, so we are thrilled to

be working with Capitol Records and a musician of Brian Wilson's stature to

deliver music in a new way to our online audiences. This positions us well

to expand our digital platforms while demonstrating the power of Gannett to

deliver quality content across a network of websites," said Jim Lenahan,

strategic development manager for Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing

division.



    Brian Wilson is one of popular music's most deeply revered figures, a

legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most

cherished music in rock history. For the release of his new studio album,

That Lucky Old Sun, Wilson has returned to Capitol Records / EMI, his

original label home. The new album will be released on CD, limited edition

CD/DVD, and digitally on September 2 (September 1 internationally). On

August 19, the album is released as a limited edition 180-gram vinyl LP.



    "This music is really special to me and I hope that everyone will enjoy

it!," says Brian Wilson.



    A musical love letter from Southern California, That Lucky Old Sun

shimmers with sun-dappled choruses and arrangements that swell and swirl as

if carried by the Pacific tides. Rolling Stone magazine has deemed it

"Brian's strongest new work in years," and one of the album's songs,

"Midnight's Another Day," has been described by MOJO magazine as

"glorious." The album is narrated in transitional interludes spoken by

Wilson as 'That Lucky Old Sun,' the storyteller. The narratives, cameos on

life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles, propel the album's musical story.



    Wilson describes That Lucky Old Sun as an "interwoven series of

'rounds' with interspersed spoken word," and as an autobiographical

travelogue of sorts. The new studio album is produced by Wilson and was

created with his acclaimed band at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where he

first recorded in 1962.



    The new release is the dawning of a new California morning for Brian

Wilson, continuing the awe-inspiring concept album journey that he first

began four decades ago. Wilson's songwriting, arranging and producing

talents came together in harmonious glory for The Beach Boys' 1966 classic,

Pet Sounds, and have continued to evolve during his solo career,

highlighted by his 2004 critically acclaimed Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE.

Lyrically and in Wilson's incomparably lush, evocative arrangements, That

Lucky Old Sun adds a new chapter to Wilson's conceptual presentations,

reaching ever higher with his vibrant and moving autobiographical

storytelling and intricate harmonies.



    Following numerous nominations, Wilson won a well-deserved Grammy Award

for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (2004) for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" and

he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Last December, he

was feted as a leading cultural icon by The Kennedy Center Honors alongside

Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese, Steve Martin and Leon Fleisher.



    Brian Wilson will tour with his band this fall, performing songs from

That Lucky Old Sun and his classic hits. For more information, please visit

http://www.brianwilson.com.



    Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information

company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY,

the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly

900 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper

magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second

largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes 17 daily paid-for

titles, approximately 300 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade

publications, and a network of award-winning Web sites. Gannett also

operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet

leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including

USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.



    EMI Music is the recorded music division of EMI Group Limited, one of

the world's leading music companies. EMI Music represents artists spanning

all musical tastes and genres. Its record labels include Angel,

Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG,

EMI Records, EMI Televisa Music, Manhattan, Mute, Parlophone and Virgin.

Artists on EMI labels include Lily Allen, The Beatles, Coldplay, Corinne

Bailey Rae, Gorillaz, Hot Chip, Norah Jones, The Kooks, Korn, Kylie

Minogue, Pink Floyd, Joss Stone, 30 Seconds To Mars, KT Tunstall, Keith

Urban, Robbie Williams, and Brian Wilson. More information is available at

http://www.emigroup.com.



    That Lucky Old Sun will be exclusively available for streaming between

August 22 and September 1 on these Gannett websites:










    Property                            Website

    USA TODAY                           USATODAY.com



    Gannett Local Newspaper Websites:

    Property                            Website

    Arizona Republic (Phoenix)          azcentral.com

    Detroit Free Press                  Freep.com

    Indianapolis Star                   Indystar.com

    Nashville Tennessean                Tennessean.com

    Cincinnati Enquirer                 Cincinnati.com

    Honolulu Advertiser                 Honoluluadvertiser.com

    Rochester Democrat & Chronicle      Democratandchronicle.com

    Des Moines Register                 Desmoinesregister.com

    Louisville Courier-Journal          Courier-journal.com

    Fort Myers News-Press               News-press.com

    Asbury Park Press                   App.com

    The Desert Sun (Palm Springs CA)    Mydesert.com

    Reno Gazette Journal                Rgj.com

    Wilmington (Del.) News Journal      Delawareonline.com

    Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier-Post     Courierpostonline.com

    Greenville (S.C.) News              Greenvilleonline.com

    Florida Today (Brevard County)      Floridatoday.com

    Green Bay Press Gazette             Greenbaypressgazette.com

    The Journal News (Westchester

     County NY)                         Lohud.com

    Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader       News-leader.com

    Jackson (Miss.) Clarion Ledger      Clarionledger.com

    Sioux Falls Argus Leader            Argusleader.com

    Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser    Theadvertiser.com

    Pensacola News Journal              Pnj.com

    Salem (Ore.) Statesman Journal      Statesmanjournal.com

    Appleton (Wis.) Post Crescent       Postcrescent.com

    Burlington (Vt.) Free Press         Burlingtonfreepress.com

    Shreveport Times                    Shreveporttimes.com

    St. Cloud (Minn.) Times             Sctimes.com

    Newark (Ohio) Advocate              Newarkadvocate.com

    Lancaster (Ohio) Eagle-Gazette      Lancastereaglegazette.com

    Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirer       Battlecreekenquirer.com





    Gannett Television Sites:

    Property                            Website

    WUSA (Washington DC)                Wusa9.com

    KARE (Minneapolis)                  Kare11.com

    WCSH (Portland ME)                  Wcsh6.com

    WLBZ (Bangor ME)                    Wlbz2.com

    KTVD, KUSA (Denver)                 My20denver.com; 9news.com

    WGRZ (Buffalo)                      Wgrz.com

    WZZM (Grand Rapids MI)              Wzzm13.com

    WKYC (Cleveland)                    Wkyc.com

    KXTV (Sacramento CA)                News10.net

    WATL, WXIA (Atlanta)                Myatltv.com; 11alive.com

    WLTX (Columbia SC)                  Wltx.com

    WFMY (Greensboro NC)                Digtriad.com

    WTLV, WJXX (Jacksonville FL)        Firstcoastnews.com

    WBIR (Knoxville TN)                 Wbir.com

    KTHV (Little Rock)                  Todaysthv.com

    WMAZ (Macon GA)                     13wmaz.com

    KPNX (Phoenix)                      Azcentral.com

    KSDK (St. Louis)                    Ksdk.com

    WTSP (Tampa-St. Pete)               Tampabays10.com