Garth's New Music Coming in November

Posted by amyclark on 08/10/2008
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8/10/2007 Stephen L. Betts   Billboard.com has more details about the much-discussed upcoming Garth Brooks project, revealing that the recordings will likely be issued on his Pearl Records imprint. According to retail sources, Garth will issue a three-disc boxed set, The Ultimate Garth Brooks, that will hit streets either Nov. 6 or 13. The set will contain a 34-track, two-CD greatest hits retrospective with four new songs, and a DVD with videos, many of them recently filmed, for all tracks on the CDs. In addition, Garth Brooks is said to be re-releasing his catalog titles. Nashville-based Big Machine Records is involved with promoting the new tracks to radio; the first single is expected in September. One of the new cuts is reportedly a remake of Huey Lewis' 1982 hit "Workin' for a Livin'," on which Huey plays harmonica. Programmers from across the country, who have been given few details, have been invited to an Aug. 17-18 event in Nashville. Garth has also scheduled an Aug. 18 press conference there. In 2005, Garth Brooks split from Capitol Records and left with ownership of his catalog. Later that year, he issued a Limited Series boxed set exclusively through Wal-Mart, which contained three of his prior albums, a previously unreleased DVD and a disc of never-before-heard songs. In early 2006, Garth re-released his catalog exclusively at Wal-Mart and then, in time for Christmas 2006, he issued The Entertainer, a five-disc DVD package, solely at the giant merchant. The Billboard.com report also says that on the live-performance front, offers from promoters have apparently been on the table for Garth since his retirement in 2000. During his last tour, Garth shattered records with an outing centered around his 1998 Capitol release Sevens. The three-year extravaganza grossed more than $105 million (country's first $100 million run) and drew close to 5.5 million people. “Garth charged a relatively paltry $20 per ticket when he likely could have demanded three times that amount,” the article states. Since retiring, he has made sporadic live appearances, including a Hurricane Katrina benefit, a Grand Ole Opry appearance in 2005 and a more recent performance at a Live Earth concert in Washington, D.C. He previously said he would not embark on a full-blown tour until his youngest daughter graduates from high school in 2015.