Trombone Shorty has released Lifted, his first album of original music in five years. Recorded at his own Buckjump Studio with producer Chris Seefried (Fitz and the Tantrums, Andra Day), Shorty and his bandmates crash through funk, soul and psychedelic rock with transcendent performances, set to bold songwriting that explores grit and determination in hard times. The album features special guests Gary Clark Jr and Lauren Daigle as well as the New Breed Brass Band and has been widely celebrated by American Songwriter, OffBeat, No Depression and Bluegrass Situation, who state simply: “It’s true, it just doesn’t get cooler than Trombone Shorty.”

Focus track “Lie To Me” is a brass-heavy strut that showcases Shorty’s renowned soloing abilities on the trombone. The song comes charging out of the gate with powerful rhythmic chanting before the band kicks into gear with triumphant horn blasts and a marching band snare. Lyrically, the tune is about the end of a toxic relationship, with Shorty pleading : “If you don’t want this lie to me, you don’t even gotta waste your energy.”

Trombone Shorty has already had a busy 2022, winning his first Grammy for his work as both songwriter and featured artist on childhood friend and Album of the Year winner’s Jon Batiste’s We Are. He also performed at the Grammy Salute to Paul Simon alongside Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews, Jonas Brothers and Little Big Town, and is hosting his Treme Threauxdown event for a sixth time on April 30 at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans. Special guests include Joan Jett, Gary Clark Jr, Tank and the Bangas, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, David Shaw, James Andrews and more.

Following his April 30 show, he will close the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 8 with the hallowed final set that for years was performed by The Neville Brothers and Professor Longhair before that. After Jazz Fest, Shorty will bring his once-in-a-lifetime Voodoo Threaxdown tour featuring Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, Cyril Neville the Uptown Ruler and The Soul Rebels across the US. The tour will also feature a tribute to the foundational work of funk pioneers The Meters led by founding bassist George Porter Jr. alongside Dumpstaphunk. The Voodoo Threauxdown tour is a lesson in New Orleans music history, and a vision of where that music is headed in the 21st century. The festival will kick off on June 10 and will move across the US, making stops at NYC’s Central Park Summerstage on June 13, Red Rocks Amphitheater on June 28, and The Hollywood Bowl on August 10.

Trombone Shorty (born Troy Andrews) is a native of New Orleans’ Tremé neighborhood and got his start earlier than most, performing at Jazz Fest with Bo Diddley at age four and leading his own brass band at six. Since 2010, he’s released four chart-topping studio albums; collaborated across genres with Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Foo Fighters, ZHU, Zac Brown, Normani, Ringo Star, and countless others; played Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, Newport Jazz, and nearly every other major festival; appeared on dozens of tv shows, and at the star-studded Sesame Street Gala, where he was honored with his own muppet. The New York Times has called him an “unstoppable force,” he recently made a cameo on The Simpsons, was profiled by Vanity Fair in 2021 and has been featured in campaigns for Crown Royal and Folgers.

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue

Performers