Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are already well known as one of the most exciting acts in the nation for both their explosive live shows and their prolific output of gritty studio recordings. Their breakout release, 100 Days, 100 Nights, sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. On Jones’ birthday this year, the band will release I Learned the Hard Way, their fourth full-length on Brooklyn’s independent Daptone Records. The record marks a bold step forward for a band who almost singlehandedly stewarded today’s return of soul music to its more traditional sound.

I Learned the Hard Way was produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, the record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

Since the release of 100 Days, 100 Nights, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have appeared at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Festival, WOMAD (New Zealand), Lollapalooza, Chicago Blues Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival (Holland), Essence Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Roskilde Music Festival (Denmark), Playboy Jazz Festival, Sydney Festival, Eurokeennes Festival (France), Central Park Summerstage and more.

Television appearances since 2007 include The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Austin City Limits – PBS, The Tavis Smiley Show– PBS, Later with Jools Holland – BBC, MTV, CNN, numerous NPR shows including Fresh Air with Terry Gross, World Café, Day to Day, Fair Game and more.

Reviews and Features appeared in Esquire, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, MOJO, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, The Huffington Post, Variety, HipHopSite.Com, BrooklynVegan, Spin, Pitchfork, Mother Jones, VIBE, Village Voice, Washington Post, The New York Times and more

Sharon Jones has collaborated on stage, in the studio & on film with David Byrne, Rufus Wainwright, Denzel Washington (The Great Debaters), Lou Reed, Booker T. & the MGs, Michael Bublé, Phish

The Dap-Kings have recorded for Al Green, NAS, Amy Winehouse, Wale, Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather, Robbie Williams, Bebel Gilberto

“I Learned The Hard Way” Track Listing:

1. The Game Gets Old
2. I Learned The Hard Way
3. Better Things
4. Give It Back
5. Money
6. The Reason
7. Window Shopping
8. She Ain’t A Child No More
9. I’ll Still Be True
10. Without A Heart
11. If You Call
12. Mama Don’t Like My Man