Beloved singer/songwriter Billy Bragg has announced the March 19 release of his tenth album Tooth & Nail, his first since 2008’s acclaimed Mr. Love & Justice. The album was produced by songwriter/producer Joe Henry and will be released via Cooking Vinyl.
Inspired by a fan’s tweet referring to Bragg as "The Sherpa of Heartbreak," the album’s twelve original tracks were written with an eye towards the personal rather than the political. "Most people, when they hear my name, think of polemical anthems born in struggle," says Bragg. "I often find myself having to remind people that I am also the Sherpa of Heartbreak, writing songs about the struggle to maintain our relationships with those we love the most." He adds, "It is fitting that Tooth & Nail should be my next release after the re-issue of the Billy Bragg & Wilco collaboration as, stylistically, it is the follow-up to Mermaid Avenue that I never made. "
The album was recorded live, with no overdubs, in five days—an approach not used by Bragg since his 1983 debut Life’s a Riot With Spy Vs. Spy—at Joe Henry’s basement studio in Pasadena in early 2012. It features Bragg on vocals and acoustic guitar along with a band of crack musicians assembled by Henry for the recording: Greg Leisz (Bon Iver) on pedal steel guitar, Patrick Warren (Lana del Rey) on keyboards, Jay Bellerose (Regina Spektor) on drums and David Piltch (Ramblin’ Jack Elliot) on upright bass.
Bragg’s seven-week North American tour kicks off at SXSW in March and will take him throughout the U.S. and Canada with stops at the El Rey in Los Angeles and at Town Hall in New York, along with a two night stand at Chicago’s City Winery and more. See below for a full list of tour dates.
Track listing for Tooth & Nail:
1. January Song
2. No One Knows Nothing Anymore
3. Handyman Blues
4. I Ain’t Got No Home
5. Swallow My Pride
6. Do Unto Others
7. Over You
8. Goodbye, Goodbye
9. There Will Be A Reckoning
10. Chasing Rainbows
11. Your Name On My Tongue
12. Tomorrow’s Going To Be A Better Day
Billy Bragg North American Tour:
3/14 – 3/16 – SXSW – Austin, TX
3/23 – Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO
3/24 – KiMo Theatre – Albuquerque, NM
3/26 – The Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
3/28 – El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
3/29 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
3/30 – Petaluma, CA – McNear’s Mystic Theatre
4/02 – Aladdin Theatre – Portland, OR
4/03 – Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA
4/04 – Alix Goolden Hall – Victoria, BC
4/05 – Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, BC
4/06 – Live at the Royal – Nelson, BC
4/08 – MacEwan Hall – Calgary, AB
4/09 – Orr Centre – Regina SK
4/10 – Garrick Centre – Winnipeg, MB
4/12 , 13 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
4/15 – The Englert Theatre – Iowa City, IA
4/17 – The Belcourt Theatre – Nashville, TN
4/19 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
4/20 – Keswick Theatre – Glensdale, PA
4/21 – Mountain Stage – Morgantown, WV
4/22 – Rams Head Theatre – Annapolis, MD
4/26 – State Theater – Ithaca, NY
4/27 – Town Hall – New York, NY
4/28 – Berklee Performance Center – Boston, MA
4/30 – The Southgate House Revival – Cincinnati, OH
5/01 – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
