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Having received several prestigious honors under his belt during his accomplished music career of over twenty-five years, Elvis Costello is no doubt what we call a "living legend." With the Elvis Costello and The Attractions induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and having received an Oscar nomination in 2004, Elvis Costello continues to test his limits even in 2005. Because of long records of creativity and success, it's no wonder that Costello was awarded a Grammy for "I Still Have That Other Girl" from his 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach and why he received an Oscar nomination for "The Scarlet Tide" from the film Cold Mountain written with T Bone Burnett. The beautiful thing about Costello's music is that it continues to pioneer the industry while attracting a large audience and while capturing the admiration of musical performers in the industry.
Perhaps best known for performances with The Attractions, The Imposters and for recent concert performances with Steve Nieve, an acclaimed pianist, Costello has a long list of recordings that include This Year's Model, Imperial Bedroom, King of America, Blood & Chocolate and When I Was Cruel. Costello continues to add to the long list of accomplishments by releasing six songs in The Girl In The Other Room, a 2004 spring collaboration with his wife, Diana Krall, an accomplished jazz pianist and singer. 2004 also presented Costello the opportunity to tour from the heart of New York City to concert performances in The Hague to a short tour in Italy and Portugal with pianist Steve Nieve.
The Delivery Man is Costello's latest addition to his already diverse and talented collection. This album digs deep into a delivery man character, imported from a song that Costello wrote for Johnny Cash back in 1986. Costello intentionally adds mystery and quandary in this remarkable album by leaving things unanswered for his audience. Costello says, "I left out a lot of threads because like any good mystery story, people can puzzle it out for themselves."
Costello's songs continue to fuel the music industry today because they offer a broad range of musical styles that appeals to soul music, country, rock and roll and classical music audiences. It's no wonder that Costello is one of music's most admired and prolific artists even amongst his peers in the industry. His songs have been recorded over the years by a great number of modern artists including George Jones, Johnny Cash, Dusty Springfield, Charles Brown, No Doubt, Solomon Burke and Howard Tate (the list goes on and on). As Costello recently declared, "Whatever you want to call it, we were looking for that vanishing point in the road where country, rock and roll and soul music meet. I believe we may have finally found it."
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