The first music from the forthcoming companion soundtrack to The Hunger Games has just been released, led by a surprise announcement tonight from Taylor Swift.  Taylor collaborated with The Civil Wars and T Bone to write and record “Safe And Sound,” which can be downloaded right now from the iTunes store.  The companion soundtrack to The Hunger Games will be available in advance of the film, which will be in theaters everywhere on March 23, 2012.

In October 2010, T Bone organized an impressive group of musicians, dubbed The Speaking Clock Revue, and joined with Participant Media for concerts benefiting arts education. The Speaking Clock Revue was recorded at the Beacon Theater in New York, and featured a house band made up of musicians from many T Bone-produced recordings.. The resulting album contains 11 previously unreleased performances by Elton John and Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Gregg Allman, Ralph Stanley, Jeff Bridges, Neko Case, Yim Yames, Punch Brothers, Karen Elson, and The Secret Sisters.

T Bone was inspired to do the fundraising concerts after attending an early screening of Participant’s documentary Waiting for Superman, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud), which focused on the troubled state of public education in the U.S., following a handful of promising students through a U.S. public school system and offering creative new approaches to education reform. Proceeds from the sale of the album benefit arts and music education in public schools.

It has been a decade since one of the most unlikely successes in music history was released.  O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of the 10 top-selling soundtracks of all time, the No. 1-selling soundtrack and the 17th biggest album of the 21st Century, with more than nine million albums sold.  Today, Universal Music celebrates this 10th Anniversary with an expanded two-CD set — O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Deluxe Edition — for which T Bone was personally involved in all aspects of this release.

This special album can be found at Amazon.com, at iTunes and at all physical music retailers.

The album that rocketed bluegrass, roots and Americana music from the 20th Century into the new millennium features a 14-track bonus disc, with all but one track recorded during original sessions for the film.  This release marks the first time these tracks have been made available in any format.

The original O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack from the 2000 film—written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney—shot to No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Country charts and became a bona fide music phenomenon, despite scant radio airplay.  Along with Album Of The Year honors, the album won GRAMMYs® for “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” performed by Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen and Pat Enright, and “O Death” by the legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley.

The complete track listing for O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Deluxe Edition is as follows:

Disc 1:
1.  “Po Lazarus” – James Carter and The Prisoners
2.  “Big Rock Candy Mountain“ – Harry McClintock
3.  “You Are My Sunshine” – Norman Blake
4.  “Down To The River To Pray” – Alison Krauss
5.  “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (Radio Station Version)” – The Soggy Bottom Boys
6.  “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” – Chris Thomas King
7.  “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” – Norman Blake
8.  “Keep On The Sunny Side ” – The Whites
9.  “I’ll Fly Away ” – Gillian Welch
10.  “Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby” – Emmylou Harris
11.  “In The Highways” – The Peasall Sisters
12.  “I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)” – The Cox Family
13.  “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” – John Hartford
14.  “O Death” – Ralph Stanley
15.  “In The Jailhouse Now” – The Soggy Bottom Boys
16.  “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” – The Soggy Bottom Boys
17.  “Indian War Whoop” – John Hartford
18.  “Lonesome Valley” – Fairfield Four
19.  “Angel Band” – The Stanley Brothers

Disc 2:
1.  “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” – Colin Linden
2.  “You Are My Sunshine” – Alan O’Bryant
3.  “Tishomingo Blues” – John Hartford
4.  “I’ll Fly Away” – Kossoy Sisters
5.  “Big Rock Candy Mountain” – Van Dyke Parks
6.  “Tom Devil” – Ed Lewis & The Prisoners
7.  “Keep On The Sunny Side” – The Cox Family
8.  “Angel Band” – Sarah Peasall
9.  “Big Rock Candy Mountain” – Norman Blake
10.  “Little Sadie” – Norman Blake
11.  “In The Highways” – The Cox Family
12.  “Hogfoot” – John Hartford
13.  “The Lord Will Make A Way” – Fairfield Four
14.  “In The Jailhouse Now” – Harley Allen

Jeff Bridges self-titled album, produced by T Bone, is in stores today and is already ranked #2 on Amazon’s Best Sellers In Music.  The album is the culmination of a 30-year friendship between Bridges and T Bone, which has seen the two work together on such highly popular films like The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart (the film that earned both Bridges and Burnett their first Academy Awards).  Jeff has been making multiple TV appearances in support of the album’s release, and you can check out his website for more details.

George Harrison was an inspiration to T Bone and countless musicians across the world.  In 1971, his friend Ravi Shankar asked him to help the children of Bangladesh.  George took action by hosting the  Concert for Bangladesh in support of UNICEF.  T Bone is proud to join the anniversary celebration and honor George’s legacy by supporting the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.   Please watch the video below and join T Bone in supporting this great cause:

Starbucks and Universal Music have released The Producer, a compilation of 15 of T Bone’s most notable productions, including tracks from Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Elton John & Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Jakob Dylan, Roy Orbison and many more.

As written on the album’s package, Starbucks cites T Bone as, “an in-demand producer for more than three decades [who] brings out the best from an array of artists by creating an environment where they feel free to be themselves.”

The album’s liner notes include in-depth track-by-track comments from T Bone.

The Producer is available now, exclusively at Starbucks.

Shout! Factory will release the album T Bone Burnett Presents: The Speaking Clock Revue on October 18, 2011. As with the show at New York’s Beacon Theatre which the album’s recording are from, proceeds from the record will go to The Participant Foundation.

1. Jimmie Standing In The Rain – Elvis Costello
2. Midnight Rider – Gregg Allman
3. Hold On, Hold On – Neko Case
4. Rye Whiskey – Punch Brothers
5. Wonderful (The Way I Feel) – Jim James
6. The Truth Is In The Dirt – Karen Elson
7. The One I Love Is Gone – The Secret Sisters
8. Troubled Land – John Mellencamp
9. Lift Him Up That’s All – Ralph Stanley
10. Fallin’ & Flyin’ – Jeff Bridges
11. Monkey Suit – Elton John & Leon Russell