SONGS OF DAVID BYRNE AND BRIAN ENO TOUR
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As previously reported, David Byrne and Brian Eno have paired up for their first record together as co-writers since the highly influential and critically acclaimed 1981 release My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Due out August 18, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is the culmination of a year's worth of writing, recording, and travel between New York and London. The album will be self-released and made available as a stream and digital download for purchase exclusively through everythingthathappens.com.
Beginning today, August 4, everythingthathappens.com will offer listeners a free download to preview the album. On August 18 the entire record will be made available for sale and streaming. Other formats will follow, including enhanced CD with download and deluxe package CD with download featuring artwork by Stefan Sagmeister. You can download a sneak peak of the song “Strange Overtones" through everythingthathappens.com right now.
Everything That Happens... was conceptualized during a visit to Brian Eno's studio after the two reconnected upon Nonesuch Records' re-release of Bush of Ghosts. Byrne explains, “I recall Brian mentioning that he had a lot of largely instrumental tracks he'd accumulated, and since, in his words, he 'hates writing words,' I suggested I have a go at writing some words, and tunes over a few of them, and we see what happens." Thus the two began exchanging vocal and instrumental tracks, and the transatlantic collaboration began.
Everything That Happens... is less a collage than the duo's previous effort of some 27 years ago and more a collection of songs. Whereas Bush of Ghosts incorporated the contributions of 11 additional musicians along with a variety of “found" voices--ranging from radio talk-show hosts to Lebanese mountain singers--this latest recording almost exclusively features Byrne's lyrics and voice alongside Eno's various electronic tracks. “When we started this work, we started to think we were making something like electronic gospel: a music where singing was the central event, but whose sonic landscapes were not the type normally associated with that way of singing," says Eno. “This thought tapped into my long love affair with gospel music, which, curiously, was inadvertently initiated by David and Talking Heads."
With a Byrne tour, David Byrne, Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno scheduled in support of the release of Everything That Happens from the fall of '08 through early '09 in the U.S., Australasia in early '09, and Europe in March 09, the focus will be on these new songs as well as Byrne's previous collaborations with Eno including some Talking Heads albums (many of which were produced by Eno). “The live shows will maybe try to draw a line linking this new material with what we did 30 years ago," explains Byrne, “a little bit anyway."
DAVID BYRNE ON TOUR: Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno U.S. TOUR DATES
09.16 2008 Bethlehem, PA Zoellner Arts Center - Baker Hall
09.17 2008 Baltimore, MD Lyric
09.18 2008 Newport News, VA Ferguson Center for the Arts
09.20 2008 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amphitheater
09.21 2008 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
09.22 2008 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
09.23 2008 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre
09.25 2008 Austin, TX Paramount
09.26 2008 Austin, TX Austin City Limits (Zilker Park)
09.28 2008 Albuquerque, NM Kiva Auditorium
09.30 2008 Phoenix, AZ Orpheum
10.02 2008 San Diego, CA Humphreys
10.03 2008 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
10.04 2008 Santa Barbara, CA Arlington Theater
10.06 2008 San Francisco, CA Davies Symphony Hall
10.08 2008 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center For the Arts
10.09 2008 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery
10.11 2008 Park City, UT Eccles Center for the Performing Arts
10.12 2008 Denver, CO Buell Theater
10.14 2008 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre
10.15 2008 Milwaukee, WI Pabst
10.17 2008 Omaha, NE Kiewit Concert Hall
10.18 2008 St. Louis, MO Fox Theatre
10.19 2008 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theatre (Reserved)
10.21 2008 Lousiville, KY Louisville Palace Theater
10.23 2008 Cleveland, OH Allen Theatre
10.24 2008 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan Theatre
10.25 2008 Indianapolis, IN Clowes Memorial Hall
10.26 2008 Chicago, IL Chicago Opera House
10.29 2008 Toronto, ONT Massey Hall
10.30 2008 Montreal, QUE Metropolis
10.31 2008 Boston, MA Wang Center
11.01 2008 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata
11.03 2008 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre
11.05 2008 Albany, NY Empire State Plaza
11.07 2008 Pittsburgh, PA Carnegie Music Hall
11.08 2008 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre
In other David Byrne news, he's written music for the second season of the HBO series Big Love, plus other recent compositions. Release date: 19 August 2008. More information and track previews here, including DB's “How and Why" essay.
