Colin Meloy, lead singer/songwriter for The Decemberists, will embark on a solo tour of the United States on April 7th. Singer-songwriter Laura Gibson will be the supporting act.
The tour coincides with the release of his debut solo album, Colin Meloy Sings Live! – due out April 8th on Kill Rock Stars. Available in both CD and double-gatefold LP configurations, Colin Meloy Sings Live! is a 14-song collection documenting his 2006 solo acoustic tour. The career-spanning set opens with “Devil’s Elbow,” a song that harkens back to Meloy’s first band, Tarkio, and closes with the rarity “Bandit Queen,” from The Decemberists’ 2006 EP, Picaresqueties. Along the way, Meloy performs material from The Decemberists’ three full-length Kill Rock Stars albums, debuts two new compositions (“Dracula’s Daughter” and “Wonder”) and entertains the audience with banter, at one point even coaxing them into a campfire singalong. Meloy weaves bits of songs by The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and REM into the proceedings and performs the traditional folk song “Barbara Allen” in a style reminiscent of Shirley Collins, the venerable British folk singer he paid homage to with the 2006 EP Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins. That EP – like its predecessor, 2005’s Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey – was sold only at his solo shows and has since become a collector’s item. And in that tradition, a new covers EP will be available on the upcoming tour: Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke, a collection of five Cooke songs, intimately arranged and performed by Colin, with Laura Gibson singing harmonies throughout.
COLIN MELOY – SPRING 2008 SOLO TOUR
4/7 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
4/8 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
4/10 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
4/11 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
4/12 Charlottesville, VA The Satellite Ballroom
4/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
4/15 Somerville, MA Somerville Theatre
4/16 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
4/17 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
4/21 Chicago, IL Park West
4/22 Milwaukee, WI The Pabst Theater
4/23 Madison, WI Barrymore Theater
4/25 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
4/26 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
4/28 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
4/29 Santa Cruz, CA The Rio Theatre
4/30 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
5/2 Seattle, WA Showbox
5/3 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
