Posted on: May 29, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it, I did not want it to be any one baby.  I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world.  There’s a touch of this, a little smidgeon of that, a dash of something else … like when you’re cooking.” – Donna Summer

CRAYONS with all its songs co-written by Donna Summer, is an international banquet of musical delights and surprises. Singer/songwriter/pop culture icon Donna Summer has been working hard on CRAYONS, her bold and long-awaited new collection of songs, the artist’s first full-length studio album of newly-penned material since 1991’s “Mistaken Identity” and her first new release since “VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore!,” the CD (and DVD) companion to her top-rated VH1 television special which returned her to the Billboard Top 200 in 1999.

The arrival of a new Donna Summer album is a major musical event and CRAYONS is a worthy addition to one of the world’s most influential musical catalogs.  Five-time Grammy winner, Donna Summer, maintains an unbroken string of hits throughout the 70s and 80s, most of which she wrote.  Donna holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit #1 on the Billboard charts (3) and first female to have four #1 singles in a 12 month period; 3 as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbara Streisand.

Songs on CRAYONS run the musical gamut from “a really real pop pop song” like “The Science of Love,” to retro-modern “dance-oriented” tracks like “I’m A Fire,“ to the “socially conscious” “Bring Down The Reign” and the world-music-flavored “Driving Down Brazil.”

With the album’s centerpiece ballad, “Be Myself Again,” the artist creates the album’s most intimate and revelatory musical meditation.  “What I wanted to do,” she says, “is strip down a song.  I wanted it to be a cappella.  There’s always so much hoopla around the voice, I wanted to do a song where there’s no hoopla.  There’s just you and the audience listening to somebody who’s just singing to themselves, singing about the intimate parts of what it has taken to do what they do.  The thing to do is stay connected to the true self and that’s really difficult in show business.  That’s what the song is about.”

US Tour Dates


6/24             Nashville, TN                                     @ T-PAC
6/26             Marksville, LA                                    @ Paragon Casino & Resort-Mari Center
6/27            Lake Charles, LA                        @ L Auberge du Lac Casino – Event Center
6/28            Lake Charles, LA                        @ L Auberge du Lac Casino – Event Center
7/1            Atlanta, GA                                    @ Chastain Park Amphitheater
7/3            Newport News, VA                        @ Ferguson Center for the Arts
7/5            Vienna ,VA                                    @ The Filene Center
7/8            Gilford, NH                                    @ Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center
7/9            Uncasville, CT                                    @ Mohegan Sun Arena
7/11            Bethel, NY                                     @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
7/12            Boston, MA                                    @ Bank of America Pavilion
7/13            Ottawa, ON                                    @ Cisco Systems Bluesfest
7/16            Baltimore, MD                                    @ Pier 6 Pavilion
7/18            Holmdel, NJ                                    @ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/19            Wantagh, NY                                    @ Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
7/20            Salamanca, NY                                    @ Seneca Allegany Casino
7/22            RAMA, ON                                     @ Casino Rama — Entertainment Centre
7/23            RAMA, ON                                     @ Casino Rama — Entertainment Centre
7/25            Atlantic City, NJ                                    @ Caesars Atlantic City
7/26            Atlantic City, NJ                                    @ Caesars Atlantic City
7/27            Westhampton Beach, NY             @ Westhampton Beach Perf. Arts Ctr
8/6            Seattle, WA                                    @ Benaroya Hall
8/8            Richmond, BC                                     @ River Rock Casino Resort
8/9            Richmond, BC                                     @ River Rock Casino Resort
8/10            Spokane, WA                                    @ Northern Quest Casino
8/13            Saratoga, CA                                    @ The Mountain Winery
8/15            Reno, NV                                    @ Peppermill Reno Hotel Casino
8/16            Oakland, CA                                    @ Paramount Theatre of the Arts
8/17            Santa Rosa, CA                                    @ Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
8/20            Alpine, CA                                    @ Viejas – Concerts in the Park
8/22            Los Angeles, CA                        @ Hollywood Bowl
8/23            Los Angeles, CA                         @ Hollywood Bowl
8/27            Windsor Casino                                     @ Windsor Limited
8/28            Windsor Casino                                     @ Windsor Limited
8/30            Highland Park, IL                        @ Ravinia Pavilion
8/31            Prior Lake, MN                                    @ Mystic Lake Casino

Track Listing:
1.  STAMP YOUR FEET
2.  MR. MUSIC
3.  CRAYONS featuring Ziggy Marley
4.  THE QUEEN IS BACK
5.  FAME (THE GAME)
6.  SAND ON MY FEET
7.  DRIVIN’ DOWN BRAZIL
8.  I’M A FIRE
9.  SLIDE OVER BACKWARDS
10. SCIENCE OF LOVE
11. BE MYSELF AGAIN
12. BRING DOWN THE REIGN

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