Music: Van Morrison Ready to "Roll With the Punches"

Van Morrison has announced that he will be releasing his 37th studio album, Roll With the Punches, on September 22. 

The album will include 15 tracks: a mixture of originals and hand-picked covers of rhythm and blues classics by the likes of Bo Diddley, Mose Allison, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Roll With the Punches was produced by Morrison and features a star-studded team of collaborators, including Chris Farlowe, Georgie Fame, Jeff Beck, Paul Jones, and Jason Rebello.

“From a very early age, I connected with the blues,” said Morrison through an official statement published on his website. “The thing about the blues is you don’t dissect it – you just do it. I’ve never over-analyzed what I do; I just do it. Music has to be about just doing it and that’s why the blues works – it’s an attitude. I was lucky to have met people who were the real thing – people like John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Witherspoon, Bo Diddley, Little Walter and Mose Allison. I got to hang out with them and absorb what they did. They were people with no ego whatsoever and they helped me learn a lot.”

For more information, go to http://www.vanmorrison.com/splash/