Amy Irving and The Goolis Orchestra @ Arlyn Studios
Always Will Be, Amy Irving’s stunningly inventive new album, is out now! After singing on the reimagined version of “I’m Waiting Forever” on her first record, Born In A Trunk, a song Willie Nelson had written for Irving after meeting her on the set of 1980’s Honeysuckle Rose, the country icon was inspired. Nelson reached out to his longtime friend with a proposition: Why not record another album, one entirely of his own work? “I knew she’d probably do a lot of my songs and I knew they’d be good. You know, I’m just an old hustler,” Nelson said with a laugh.
Irving agreed to the offer, collaborating again with bandleader Goolis (Jules David Bartkowski) to record 10 electrifying, genre-defying—from punk rock to samba to French pop and beyond— tracks with lively collaborations from guests Louis Cato, Steve Earle, Amy Helm, Willie Nelson, Lizzie No, and Chris Pierce.
Kam Franklin is a singer-songwriter, music producer, activist, writer, orator, model, visual artist, and actress from Houston, TX. She is best known for her work with the gulf coast soul band, The Suffers, but Kam began performing gospel music at the age of five. A three-time recipient of the Houston Press Music Award for Best Female Vocalist, Kam has performed on five continents and has performed with The Suffers backed by The Houston Symphony in addition to being featured solo. Kam is also known for her unique collaborations, some of which include: her 2018 collaboration with Grammy Award winning Tejano legends, La Mafia, filling in for H.R. (of Bad Brains) during the 2016 Afropunk Festival Superjam alongside members of Bad Brains, Fishbone, and Living Colour, performing in the 2016 March For Science band alongside Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Questlove, Judith Hill, and Fred Wesley (longtime James Brown and Parliament collaborator), and repeated appearances at Newport Folk Festival where she has participated in numerous tributes and collaborations, most notably with Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, Lucius, and Deer Tick. In 2022, she released the Bayou City Comeback Chorus EP, a social justice album funded with a grant by The Houston Arts Alliance that features the voices and musicianship of over 20 artists from around the Houston area.
