Slipstream will feature Raitt’s bluesy singing and hot slide guitar coming April 2012

Bonnie Raitt Slipstream (photo Redwing Records)

After taking a 7 year break for personal reasons, Bonnie Raitt is roaring out of the gate with a new record, new record label and a national tour during 2012.

Raitt has had a long career in rock and blues with highlights like the award winning Nick of Time and rock classics like “Something to Talk About”, and the ballad “I Can’t Make You Love Me”.

On the new CD, Raitt covers two Bob Dylan songs Million Miles and Standing in the Doorway. 

The last tour Raitt did with blues man Taj Mahal in 2009. Critics and audiences raved like the Washington Post.

Of course, being in good company is one thing, being in good voice another. Raitt was in terrific voice, and she knew it. She belted out “Something to Talk About” and other up-tempo tunes in husky, lusty tones, and charged two signature ballads — “Angel From Montgomery” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me” — with as much as power as poignancy. Even so, her singing didn’t overshadow her expert (and extensive) bottleneck guitar work, with its customary bite and resonance.

Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal on Today Show 2009

Raitt is doing the modern thing by avoiding the big record labels and releasing the new album on her own Redwing Records. More power to her.

Slipstream  was co-produced by Bonnie Raitt and Joe Henry. Henry is a musician producer who has worked in rock, roots and jazz with artists like Aimee Mann, Solomon Burke, Ani DeFranco, and jazz legend Mose Allison.

“Hearing myself in this new setting, how deep and effortlessly it went down, really inspired me to start a new record,” says Raitt. “Working with Joe and his guys and then reuniting with mine really got my creative juices flowing again.”

After an emotional period that saw Raitt lose her parents, her brother, and her best friend, Raitt decided to step back. “I took a hiatus from touring and recording to get back in touch with the other part of my life.”

For those of us around long enough, Bonnie Raitt’s father was the great Broadway star John Raitt. John Raitt (1917-2005) was the original handsome, baritone lead for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s two classics of American theater – Oklahoma! and Carousel. Her father was still performing concerts in his 80s.

Of the title Slipstream, Raitt says “I’m so inspired and so proud to continue these traditions, whether it’s reggae or soul or blues. I’m in the slipstream of those who came before me, and I’m leaving one for those behind me.”

If you pre-order from her website, there will be a preview download next month on February 7th, 2012.

2012 Tour dates are yet to be announced.

‘Slipstream’ Track Listing:
1. Used To Rule The World (Randall Bramblett)
2. Right Down The Line (Gerry Rafferty)
3. Million Miles (Bob Dylan)
4. You Can’t Fail Me Now (Joseph Lee Henry/Loudon Wainwright III)
5. Down To You (George Marinelli/Bonnie Raitt/Randall Bramblett)
6. Take My Love With You (Gordon Kennedy/Wayne Kirkpatrick/Kelly Price)
7. Not Cause I Wanted To (Al Anderson/Bonnie Bishop)
8. Ain’t Gonna Let You Go (Al Anderson/Bonnie Bramlett)
9. Marriage Made in Hollywood (Paul Brady/Michael O’Keefe)
10. Split Decision (Al Anderson/Gary Nicholson)
11. Standing in the Doorway (Bob Dylan)
12. God Only Knows (Joseph Lee Henry)