FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2012
ALABAMA SHAKES ANNOUNCE SUMMER HEADLINE TOUR
Pre-Sale Is Underway; Tickets Go On Sale To General Public This Friday
Boys & Girls, The Band’s Debut Album, Enters Top 10 On The Billboard 200
And Debuts At No. 3 On U.K. Album Chart
Alabama Shakes will extend their U.S. tour with a headline run that kicks off July 29 at the Paper Mill in Syracuse, NY and includes a show at Los Angeles’ Music Box on August 14. A ticket pre-sale for the newly added dates is currently underway at:
http://alabamashakes.com
Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, April 27. The band heads out with Jack White on May 15 for a series of sold-out dates. Alabama Shakes will play a free show in New York City’s Central Park on June 24 as part of the 2012 SummerStage concert series and perform at the Hangout, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands music festivals. See below for itinerary.
Available a week early on the iTunes Store, Alabama Shakes’ debut album, Boys & Girls (ATO Records), bowed in the Top 20 on The Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Independent Label chart. Last week, following its wide release, the album jumped to No. 8 on The Billboard 200. Released in Europe by Rough Trade, Boys & Girls debuted at No. 3 on the U.K. album chart.
“Compared to computer-tuned radio pop, or even the big-time pop-soul of a genuine singer like Adele, the Alabama Shakes sound raw-boned and proudly unprocessed,” said The New York Times’ Jon Pareles in a Sunday “Arts & Leisure” cover story. Entertainment Weekly put Boys & Girls on its ”Must List,” the Los Angeles Times said it’s “as combustible as it is nuanced — and destined to be one of the albums of the summer” and Rolling Stone noted: “a White Stripes-ian sense of what-the-fuck discovery imbues a debut where even subtle things like ‘Heartbreaker’ swing like wrecking balls.”
“If [lead singer] Brittany Howard ever bugs you to be her baby (as she does repeatedly on Be Mine), you will give in,” said USA Today while the New York Daily News awarded Boys & Girls four stars, observing: “Howard sings a musical phrase like a track and field star throws a shot put. She’ll lean far back in a note, pausing to amass lung power and heft. Then, in a burst, she’ll hurl the phrase to the sky, hitting her target with the aim of an Olympian.” “Shakes numbers such as ‘Hold On’ and ‘You Ain’t Alone’ might be younger than Siri, but they have the consoling authority of standards,” said The Washington Post.
You can check out the band performing “Hold On,” the album’s first single, on “Late Show with David Letterman” at http://theaudioperv.com/2012/04/13/alabama-shakes-hold-on-412-letterman/.
Alabama Shakes – comprising vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, drummer Steve Johnson, and bassist Zac Cockrell – are based in Athens, AL and began playing together when they were in high school. Ben Tanner assists on keyboards. Boys & Girls – produced and mixed by the band – was recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN.
Upcoming tour dates are as follows:
5/15 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium with Jack White SOLD OUT
5/16 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium with Jack White SOLD OUT
5/18 Gulf Shores, AL Hangout Music Fest SOLD OUT
5/19 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel with Jack White SOLD OUT
5/21 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom with Jack White SOLD OUT
5/22 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom with Jack White SOLD OUT
5/24 Detroit, MI Scottish Rite Theater with Jack White SOLD OUT
@ Masonic Temple
5/25-27 Gorge, WA Sasquatch Music Festival
6/7-10 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
6/22 Richmond, VA Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island
6/24 New York, NY Central Park–SummerStage w/Diamond Rugs, Robert Ellis FREE SHOW
7/28 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival
7/29 Syracuse, NY Paper Mill
7/31 Indianapolis, IN Vogue with Dry the River
8/2 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue with Dry the River
8/3-5 Chicago, IL Grant Park – Lollapalooza
8/10-12 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Park – Outside Lands
8/14 Los Angeles, CA Music Box with Michael Kiwanuka
8/16 San Diego, CA House of Blues
Additional dates to be announced.
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For more information on ALABAMA SHAKES, contact:
Ambrosia Healy
The Fun Star
310.273.8978
Erin Cooney
The Fun Star
310.273.8978
or visit:
http://www.alabamashakes.com
http://www.facebook.com/theAlabamaShakes
http://www.twitter.com/Alabama_Shakes
Press materials can be downloaded at:
http://thefunstar.com/