Jason Mraz will release Life Is Good, a live digital EP available October 5, which he recorded earlier this month on Mraz's current North American tour.
The digital EP will feature live versions of four new songs, as well as a live version of "Coyotes" from Mraz's last studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Mraz and his band recorded the EP on the first three dates of his current tour--in Bangor, Maine; Utica, NY; and at the Life Is Good Festival in Canton, MA. Mraz's tour, which is still winding its way across the continent, wraps up in Santa Barbara, CA on October 8.
Life Is Good will be available at all online retailers beginning October 5. Mraz will premiere the songs on his website,
, starting with "Freedom Song" today. More songs will be posted over the next week, along with candid videos shot by tour videographer Jeff Coffman on the road that capture Mraz explaining the origins and meanings of the new songs.
Mraz first heard "Freedom Song," after songwriter Luc Reynaud donated the song to a compilation album benefiting the homeless in his hometown of Seattle. Mraz, who was touched by the lyrics to the song, shared the song with a group of freed child slaves in Ghana this summer when he visited the country with the organization Free The Slaves. This tour marks the first time Mraz has performed "Freedom Song" with his band. Additionally, the collection's other new songs, "San Disco Reggaefornia," "Up" and "What Mama Say," all results of Mraz's recent songwriting sessions, also made their live debut on this run of dates.
After he wraps these tour dates, the easy, breezy Mraz will head back to the studio to work on his next album, due out in 2011.