The Bird and The Bee take on Van Halen for new album

The Bird an

photo: Grandstand PR

d The Bee celebrate another legendary act with the release of Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen, a collection of covers by David Lee Roth-era Van Halen. The indie-pop duo of vocalist Inara George and multi-instrumentalist, Grammy winning producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin also just released a rework of "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love," from Van Halen's 1987 self-titled debut.

This is the second track available off the album, having recently released "Panama." The album is out Aug. 2 on No Expectations/Release Me Records.

The duo will embark on a North American tour kicking off in Los Angeles. This special one-off performance will feature Dave Grohl on drums and Justin Meldel-Johnsen on bass. Full  tour dates below.

The fifth full-length follows 2015's Recreational Love and 2010's Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates. 

Back in 2009, the release Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future included an original song called "Diamond Dave" which revolves around David Lee Roth, and a re-recorded piano/vocal version appears on the forthcoming album. The record also includes a super meta moment of a band covering a band's cover by including "You Really Got Me," The Kinks song recorded by Van Halen.

"When I want to listen to hard-rock music there's still nothing that hits me like they do," Kurstin notes. "Every time I hear them it takes me back to when I first found them on the radio, and it felt so dangerous to me-like they were from a whole other world. It would be so great if people who would never usually listen to Van Halen heard this record, and then ended falling in love with them too." "I remember being 10-years-old and seeing their videos and feeling both excited and totally terrified-I responded to them in this very visceral way," adds George.

Following the Aug. 2 Los Angeles performance, the tour continues sans Greg, with stops in Chicago, Brooklyn, Atlanta and more before culminating in a performance on Aug. 30 at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. Supporting Inara for these dates, and playing in her band, will be Alex Lilly and Samantha Sidley. Barbara Gruska and Vikram Devasthali will be playing in each act, the former on drums and the latter playing guitar and trombone, while Inara will be taking on singing duties in the opening acts, as well.

Track listing: 

1. Runnin' With The Devil
2. Panama
3. Hot For Teacher
4. Eruption
5. Jump
6. Ain't Talking 'Bout Love
7. Jamie's Cryin'
8. Unchained
9. You Really Got Me
10. Diamond Dave

Tour Dates:

08/02/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theater # - TICKETS
08/11/19 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club * - TICKETS
08/12/19 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village * - TICKETS
08/14/19 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre * - TICKETS
08/15/19 - Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre * - TICKETS
08/16/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live * - TICKETS
08/17/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere * -TICKETS
08/20/19 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle * - TICKETS
08/21/19 - Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 * - TICKETS
08/22/19 - Birmingham, AL @ The Saturn * - TICKETS
08/24/19 - Dallas, TX @ Trees * - TICKETS
08/25/19 - Austin, TX @ Parish * - TICKETS
08/28/19 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom * - TICKETS
08/29/19 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah * - TICKETS
08/30/19 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * ^ - TICKETS
# = featuring Dave Grohl on drums and Justin Meldel-Johnsen on bass
* = support from Samantha Sidley and Alex Lilly
^ = additional support from DJ Aaron Exelson