Bonnie Raitt
Nine-time Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt will release a new studio album, Souls Alike, on
"This record was a matter of stretching and not repeating myself," says Bonnie Raitt. "Some of the songs are clearly terrain that people have come to know and appreciate from me, but the rest are about finding some new direction and something new to say."
Of the new crop of songwriters highlighted on Souls Alike, she says "I'm as enthusiastic about these guys as I was when I first heard people like Jackson Browne and John Prine in my early days."
It's been three years since Raitt's last new release, 2002's Silver Lining. A lengthy world tour followed the album's release, along with numerous guest recordings (including "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" on Ray Charles' final album Genius Loves Company, which won last year's Grammy award for Album of the Year). Most recently, she participated in the historic "Vote for Change" tour leading up to the 2004 Presidential election.
All the while, Raitt was also dealing with a series of family crises. Her older brother contracted brain cancer, now in remission, while both of her parents passed away less than a year apart. "It's been a heavy time," she notes. Not coincidentally, the opening track and first single from Souls Alike is "I Will Not Be Broken," an anthem of strength and survival with an R&B feel.
"You gotta do stuff that stretches you," says Bonnie Raitt. "I would hang up my spurs if I didn't have something new to play."
Raitt was married to actor Michael O'Keefe from 1991 to 2000.
