New autobiography by Canadian producer performer arrives November 9, 2010

Canadian Daniel Lanois is publishing his memoirs this fall. Despite the June motorcycle accident that almost killed him, Lanois continues to produce material for public consumption.

Lanois is best known for producing U2 since The Joshua Tree and two award winning albums for Bob Dylan, Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind

Along with producing other musicians, Lanois has had a long career of personal performance and a loyal, if somewhat smaller than U2, fan base. His CDs have a mystical quality that fans cherish. His performances are simply awesome as he displays great control over the music and layering of his sound.

Lanois top CDs are Shine which presents a mellow, gentle side and the earlier Acadie with its exploration of his French Canadian roots. Acadie contains the popular Jolie Louise and Under A Stormy Sky.

For the past year, Lanois has been working with and producing his new blues group called Black Dub with lead singer Tracey Whitley. Their debut album is expected this fall along with the album Lanois produced for Neil Young.

Daniel Lanois, Shine

There are no early reviews of Soul Mining. In the past Lanois has been unusually candid in talking about his life and recording techniques. His DVD Here Is What Is provides an insider’s view of his recording studio and techniques.

Here is the publishers blurb.

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, U2, Peter Gabriel, and the Neville Brothers all have one thing in common: some of their best albums were produced by Daniel Lanois. A French speaking kid from Canada, Lanois was driven by his innate curiosity and intense love of music to transcend his small-town origins and become one of the world’s most prolific and successful record producers, as well as a musician in his own right.

Lanois takes us through his early years, from his single mother raising four kids on a hairdresser’s salary, to his discovery by the artist Brian Eno, to his work on albums such as U2’s Joshua Tree and Dylan’s Time Out of Mind. He delves into the ongoing evolution of technology, the birth of the microchip and the death of discrete circuitry, and the arrival of the download era.

Part technological treatise, part philosophical manifesto on the nature of artistic excellence and the overwhelming need for music, Soul Mining brings the reader viscerally inside the recording studio, where the surrounding forces have always been just as important as the work itself. Beyond skill, beyond record budgets, beyond image and ego, says Lanois, music is love and truth.

Available on pre-order from Amazon.ca Soul Mining: A Musical Life (Hardcover) $16.99 and Amazon.com Soul Mining (Hardcover) $17.66 or Soul Mining (Kindle) $14.29.

The book may published slightly earlier in Canada. Amazon.ca says October release.