The B-52s and Devo team up for the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour including Hollywood Bowl

The B-52s and Devo, will unite for the 2025 “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour”: a co-headlining 11-date run serving as both bands’ continuing concert farewells. Lene Lovich will open the celebratory trek, which runs late September to early November. 

Tickets will be available starting with CITI and AMEX presales (details below) happening now. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale beginning Friday June 20 at 10 AM local time at LiveNation.com.

CITI PRESALE: Citi is the official card of the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour*. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Monday, June 16 at 12 PM local time until Thursday, June 19 at 10 PM local time through the Citi Entertainment Program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com. *LA date is not available within this presale.

AMEX PRESALE: American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets for the Los Angeles show before the general public beginning Monday, June 16 at 10 AM local time through Thursday, June 19 at 10 PM local time.

“In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again” said Fred Schneider “but we were careful to say to our fans that we would still perform in special situations that don’t require all of the awful tour travel. Our Vegas residency is going great, and when we were offered the chance to do a small run of shows with Devo, we all said this is an extraordinary opportunity we couldn't say no to.”

Added Kate Pierson, “When we first came from Athens to New York City to perform, punk was in full force…and New Wave was right on its tail! We loved all the New Wave groups, including Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Blondie and the Ramones. We also really dug the far-out weirdness of Devo, which seemed very in tuned to our sensibilities. We remember one of our first shows-- amazed that David Bowie, Brian Eno, Frank Zappa, Allen Ginsberg, Talking Heads and Blondie all came to see us! When we opened the Mudd Club, we partied with Devo and really hit it off on the dance floor. Later, Brian Eno went onto to produce Devo’s incredible first album…and now we will align again ! So put on your wig hats and Devo bonnets and get ready to party! This is going to be wild.”

Said Cindy Wilson, “When both of our bands performed at the recent SNL 50 concert at Radio City, we started talking and agreed we had to do these shows” says Cindy Wilson. “Believe or not, we’ve never done more than a festival or two together in all this time. This will be amazing and I can’t wait for The B-52s to share these stages with Devo!”

Said Mark Mothersbaugh, "The B-52s had one of the best sounds of any of the bands out there in the late 70’s early 80’s - Rock Lobster is one of my favorite songs - DEVO used to sing it to Booji Boy after DEVO shows. It was either fate or luck or the SNL anniversary that brought us all together to create this amazing chance to go out on tour. All I can say is Cosmic Devolution is REAL!"

Added Gerry Casale, "Devo and The B-52s on tour together! That it took almost 50 years to happen is rather mind-blowing. But better late than never. We each did something right in different ways that withstood the test of time. Now we're here to prove we can still "bring it" as they say!"

The B-52s— led by original co-founders Fred Schneider (vocals), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards), and Cindy Wilson (vocals)—kicked off their extended goodbye run back in 2022. Since that time, they have electrified select venues and large music festivals across the U.S. and even established a Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre, powered by their colorful, danceable iconic classics that have made a seismic impact on New Wave and music history. As they prepare for a 2025 farewell tour, a high-profile documentary and their first official book, The B-52s undoubtedly stand poised to inspire and influence future generations.

This curtain-call timing overlaps with Devo, who are also fronted by three of their original members: Mark Mothersbaugh (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Gerald Casale (vocals, bass, keyboards), and Bob Mothersbaugh (guitar, vocals). In 2023, the fellow New Wave icons (“Whip It,” “Uncontrollable Urge”) kicked off their own farewell tour, 50 Years of De-Evolution, paired with a compilation album of the same name. That jaunt has since been extended and continues through the summer and fall of 2025.

TOUR DATES:

9/24 - Toronto, ONT @ Budweiser Stage
9/25 - Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
10/2 - Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
10/4 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
10/5 - Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
10/16 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
10/24 - Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
10/25 - Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
11/1 - Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
11/2 - Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sponsored by Huntsman

Tour update: Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks has announced a new round of live performances. Ticket presales begin on Wednesday, June 18 at 10am local time. General on sale is Friday, June 20 at 10am local on livenation.com.

The singer, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee as a member of Fleetwood Mac and solo artist, released her first new music in nearly five years with the original song “The Lighthouse.” A women’s rights anthem, “The Lighthouse” received strong critical praise for its timely theme and was released alongside a powerful music video. 

Nicks did a live TV performance of “The Lighthouse” last October on NBC’s Saturday Night Live during their 50th anniversary season. Nicks began 2025 deeply affected by the damaging wildfires that swept through her Los Angeles neighborhood and gave a performance at the fundraising concert Fire Aid in February 2025. 

In a recent interview, Nicks said she is working on material for a new studio album. 

TOUR DATES:

August 8 – Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center^

August 12 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
August 15 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
August 19 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
August 23 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center
August 27 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena
August 30 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
September 3 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live^
September 7 – Detroit MI — Little Caesars Arena^
October 1 – Portland OR – MODA Center^
October 4 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center^
October 7 – Phoenix, AZ – PHX Arena
October 11 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
October 15 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
October 18 – Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall^
October 21 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center^
October 25 – Hartford, CT – PeoplesBank Arena^

 

^NEW SHOWS: Tickets on Sale Friday, June 20

Veteran Canadian alt-rock band Sloan return with new album in September

Since I interviewed the band for 2018 album 12, I'm really looking forward to this...

Juno Award-winning Toronto-based rock quartet Sloan return with their fourteenth studio album, Based on the Best Seller, set for September 26 release on Yep Roc Records. 

The group has unveiled, “Live Forever,” the album’s first single available on all streaming platforms. Written by Sloan’s Jay Ferguson, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland and Andrew Scott, and co-produced by the band along with Ryan Haslett, “Live Forever” blends existential humor with a dose of sharp pop commentary, exploring the unexpected downsides of immortality and the enduring pull of nostalgia.

“If given the chance to live forever, would we even want to? Careful what you wish for. Would you want to feel 80 for hundreds of years? I guess that’s the kind of hard-hitting question this song tackles. It also predicts that we will all have ‘90s nostalgia – once we’re 100 years old,” said Chris Murphy of Sloan.

“It's not a challenge to make a 14th album,” Sloan’s Jay Ferguson says, “But sometimes it's a challenge to think of a new overarching theme for a 14th album (and The Kinks’ 14th album was Soap Opera, essentially a TV play and complete story arc set to music, so clearly Ray Davies didn't have that problem). Our band has the capability to perform different styles within the rock/pop (or pop/rock) sphere, but it's often hard to harness the group to adhere to one particular style or theme. That's okay though. With four songwriters, we tend to make music that perhaps doesn't always naturally hang together under one (opened) umbrella but that's our style, and that style is continued on Based on the Best Seller. Nevertheless, whether it's Chris harmonizing on my songs, Patrick harmonizing on Chris' songs or Chris and our keyboardist Gregory vocally backing-up Andrew, I think those elements help tie together this (and previous) Sloan albums.”

The First Edition LP of Based on the Best Seller is pressed on clear gold color vinyl! Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide. Pre-orders will ship in September. Go to yeproc.com for details.

Now more than 30 years into their career, Sloan has grown from a promising Halifax band into a revered indie rock institution. Celebrated for their unwavering lineup and democratic approach, all four members contribute as singers, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists. 

This summer, they hit the road to tour across Canada, with performances in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, and more dates to be announced soon. 

Track listing:

Capitol Cooler
Dream Destroyer
Open Your Umbrellas
Baxter
Congratulations
Live Forever
So Far Down
Fortune Teller
No Damn Fears
Collect Yourself
Here We Go Again
I Already Know

Elton John news

Elton John - Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper will be released on July 25 via UMe. 

Initially released on a limited vinyl run for this year's Record Store Day, it now gets a wider release, available both digitally and on CD for the first time, alongside a vinyl repress. The CD and digital editions include a brand-new bonus track, "Goodbye," plus the original twelve-song tracklist, personally curated by Elton, and additional liner notes.

In May 1977, Elton John took the stage at London’s Rainbow Theatre with percussionist Ray Cooper for a six-show residency. These performances were the first of 233 Elton-and-Ray only shows that would follow and featured the live debut of “Roy Rogers”, “Cage The Songbird”, “Idol”, and “I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)”.

May 1977 was the first time in five years that a full month had passed without an Elton LP or single appearing on the UK charts. It had also been eight months since his last performance, after averaging one show every four days throughout the previous seven years. Ticket holders expecting to see a typical Elton concert were in for a big surprise. The first half of the set would be Elton alone at the piano, the second half would see him accompanied by Ray Cooper, the two performers working together telepathically, harking back to the earliest days of Elton’s rise to superstardom. The stripped-back performances have since been regarded as some of the finest of his career.

Speaking on the album, Elton John says: “I’m delighted that Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper will be available for my fans to enjoy. It’s an album I’m incredibly proud of, and listening back to it, I’m astounded by how great it sounds. The freedom I felt playing with just the two of us is something I will always remember.”

The release comes in the wake of Elton’s chart-topping album with Brandi Carlile, Who Believes In Angels? 

Track List:

The Greatest Discovery

Border Song
Cage The Songbird
Where To Now St. Peter?
Ticking
Better Off Dead w/Ray Cooper
Sweet Painted Lady
Tonight w/Ray Cooper
Idol w/Ray Cooper
I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) w/Ray Cooper
Roy Rogers
Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)
Goodbye*

*Bonus track available on digital and CD release only

Elvis Presley news

RCA Records/Legacy Recordings will release Sunset Boulevard on August 1 — a 5CD collection chronicling Elvis Presley’s recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s legendary Los Angeles studios.

Spanning 89 rarities - over half of which have never been released in the United States - Sunset Boulevard covers Elvis’ 1970s recording output. This includes rare alternate studio versions of “Separate Ways, “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” and “Burning Love.”

Listen to “Burning Love - Take 2,” here: https://Elvis.lnk.to/BurningLoveTake2

The collection’s first two discs (which will also be released on their own, as a special 2 LP ‘highlights’ set) feature new and never-heard mixes from four-time GRAMMY winner Matt Ross-Spang - stripping all overdubs and delivering fresh insights in the process. It opens with selections from Elvis’ time in RCA Studio C, including material Kris Kristofferson, Paul Williams, Billy Swan and Don McLean. 

Sunset Boulevard is available for pre-order today - coming out August 1 in 5-CD and digital formats, including archival photographs and new liner notes from music historian Colin Escott, plus an introduction by longtime friend Jerry Schilling. Also available August 1 will be a 2-LP ‘highlights’ edition, comprising the newly mixed studio recordings and outtakes - which will also be available in a Graceland Exclusive Color Variant. For more information visit: https://Elvis.lnk.to/SunsetBoulevard

The release of Sunset Boulevard will also be celebrated at Elvis Week 2025 in August in Memphis - a special edition of the annual festivities, in honor of what would have been Presley’s 90th birthday year. Sony Music will host a Sunset Boulevard listening event at Graceland’s Guest House Theater on Wednesday August 13 - featuring a Q&A with special guests and much more. For more information and to reserve tickets visit: ElvisWeek.com

Disc 1 – The Masters

1. Burning Love

2. Always On My Mind
3. Where Do I Go From Here
4. Separate Ways
5. For The Good Times
6. It’s A Matter Of Time
7. Fool
8. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
9. And I Love You So
10. Susan When She Tried
11. Woman Without Love
12. Shake A Hand
13. Pieces Of My Life
14. Fairytale
15. I Can Help
16. Bringin’ It Back
17. Green, Green Grass Of Home

Disc 2 – Outtakes Highlights

1. Separate Ways - Take 25
2. For The Good Times - Take 3
3. Where Do I Go From Here - Take 2
4. Burning Love - Take 2
5. Fool - Take 1
6. Always On My Mind - Take 2
7. It’s A Matter Of Time - Takes 1–3
8. It’s A Matter Of Time - Take 4
9. Fairytale - Take 2
10. Green, Green Grass Of Home - Takes 2 and 3
11. And I Love You So - Take 2
12. Susan When She Tried - Takes 1 and 2
13. T-R-O-U-B-L-E - Take 1
14. Tiger Man
15. Shake A Hand - Take 2
16. Bringin’ It Back - Takes 2 and 3
17. Pieces Of My Life - Takes 2 and 3

Disc 3 – July 24, 1970 rehearsal:

1. That’s All Right

2. I Got A Woman
3. I Got A Woman
4. The Wonder Of You
5. I've Lost You
6. The Next Step Is Love
7. Stranger In The Crowd
8. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
9. Something
10. Don't Cry Daddy
11. Don't Cry Daddy
12. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
13. Polk Salad Annie
14. Bridge Over Troubled Water
15. I Can't Stop Loving You
16. Just Pretend
17. Sweet Caroline
18. Love Me Tender
19. Words
20. Suspicious Minds
21. I Just Can't Help Believin’
22. I Just Can't Help Believin’

Disc 4 – July 24, 1970 rehearsal (continued):

1. Tomorrow Never Comes
2. Mary In The Morning
3. Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
4. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
5. Just Can't Help Believin’
6. Heart Of Rome
7. Heart Of Rome
8. Memories
9. Johnny B. Goode
10. Make The World Go Away
11. Stranger In My Own Home Town
12. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water

August 16, 1974 rehearsal

13. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
14. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
15. Promised Land
16. Promised Land
17. Down In The Alley
18. Down In The Alley

Disc 5 – August 16, 1974 rehearsal (continued):

1. It’s Midnight
2. It’s Midnight
3. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
4. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues
5. Softly As I Leave You
6. Softly As I Leave You

7. I’m Leavin’
8. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
9. Proud Mary
10. If You Talk In Your Sleep
11. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
12. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
13. The Twelfth Of Never
14. Faded Love

15. Just Pretend

For more format details, go to elvis.com. 

David Byrne album, tour news

Last week, Talking Heads revealed a new music video for its classic 1977 tune "Psycho Killer" starring Saoirse Ronan in advance of a deluxe reissue edition of the album More Songs About Buildings and Food.

Now comes word of singer/songwriter David Byrne's Who Is the Sky? - his first new album since 2018’s acclaimed and award-winning American Utopia. It will be released September 5 by Matador Records. 

The album was produced by Grammy-winner Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), while its 12 songs were arranged by the members of New York-based chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. Click here to pre-order the album, including a limited Cantaloupe Orange / Strawberry Pink split vinyl featuring a lenticular cover.

Musical friends old and new, including St. Vincent, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, The Smile drummer Tom Skinner and American Utopia percussionist Mauro Refosco, also make appearances on Who Is the Sky?, which is led by the single "Everybody Laughs.” Along with the song, Byrne has released its official video, directed by multimedia artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo.

“Someone I know said, ‘David, you use the word “everybody” a lot.’ I suppose I do that to give an anthropological view of life in New York as we know it,” says Byrne. “Everybody lives, dies, laughs, cries, sleeps and stares at the ceiling. Everybody’s wearing everybody else’s shoes, which not everybody does, but I have done. I tried to sing about these things that could be seen as negative in a way balanced by an uplifting feeling from the groove and the melody, especially at the end, when St. Vincent and I are doing a lot of hollering and singing together. Music can do that – hold opposites simultaneously. I realized that when singing with Robyn earlier this year. Her songs are often sad, but the music is joyous.”

“It took me a second to realize, oh yeah, these songs are personal, but with David’s unique perspective on life in general,” adds Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull). “Walking around New York listening to the demo of ‘Everybody Laughs’ was so joyous, because it made me feel like we’re all the same – we all laugh, cry and sing. The thing about David that resonates with a lot of people is that he’s in on the joke. He gets the absurdity of it all, and all of these personal observations are his perspective on it.”

Byrne will also return to the road with a brand new live show in support of Who Is the Sky?. The touring band will comprise 13 musicians, singers and dancers, including members of the American Utopia band, all of whom will be mobile throughout the set.

The North American tour begins in September, with Australia & New Zealand dates kicking off in January 2026 and European & United Kingdom dates starting the following month. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 13 and can be purchased HERE. Fans can sign up for the artist presale now through June 12 at 10 p.m. local HERE. The artist presale will begin Tuesday, June 10 at 10 a.m. ET through Thursday, June 12 at 10 p.m. local. See the full tour itinerary below.

In 2023, as his triumphant American Utopia era came to a close after morphing from an album and tour into an acclaimed Broadway show and then a Spike Lee-directed HBO film, Byrne began jotting down the occasional groove, chord or melody. It had been a minute.

During the tumultuous three prior years, “I did a LOT of cooking (Mexican and Indian mostly) and a LOT of drawing,” says Byrne, who also started compiling lyric ideas and phrases for possible songs. “I’ve found that when the time comes, it’s easier to start if there’s a little stockpile – and before too long there was. Very rudimentary songs began to emerge, with just me on acoustic guitar singing over a programmed loop or beat.”

And with the world, and the in-progress American Utopia Broadway run, on pause, he, like much of humanity, took the opportunity to ask, “Do I like what I'm doing? Why am I writing songs, or working this job, or whatever? Does any of it matter?"

Byrne’s attempts to answer those weighty questions can be found on Who Is The Sky?, which builds upon the optimistic themes laid out by American Utopia and its supporting tour, and more specifically spelled out by the Grammy-winning Broadway show and subsequent movie. 

Byrne was inspired to enlist Ghost Train Orchestra for the album after hearing their 2023 tribute album to the blind New York composer and street poet Moondog, and later that year jumped on stage with the group during a Brooklyn performance. Enticed by the 15-member Ghost Train’s varied instrumental lineup – which includes drums, percussion, guitar and bass along with strings, winds and brass – he thought to himself, “what if that’s what these new songs of mine sounded like?” Byrne asked if they’d want to serve as his band for the Who Is The Sky? sessions, and they quickly agreed.

“David sent me some demos and asked us to put together some orchestral ideas,” says Ghost Train Orchestra leader Brian Carpenter. “Curtis Hasselbring and I quickly wrote a couple rough draft arrangements of his songs for Ghost Train, including ‘My Apartment Is My Friend,’ which was the first song we rehearsed at our tiny rehearsal space in Chinatown. To hear him singing with us for the first time on that song was just incredible.”

Via an introduction at a party by a friend, Kid Harpoon came into the picture next. “Sometimes things do happen at parties,” Byrne notes. “I knew this could all get complicated and I also wanted to be sure the recordings sounded as good as possible. An outside set of ears can be super helpful. A few artists I knew had worked with Kid Harpoon, and I thought those records sounded really good.” Byrne sent Harpoon some demos, and after a discussion at the former’s Santa Monica hotel, he jumped aboard too.

There are “more story songs than usual” on Who Is the Sky?, according to Byrne. These “mini-narratives are based on personal experience.”

Added Byrne:

“I suspected that intimate orchestral arrangements would bring out the emotion I sense is there in these songs,” says Byrne. “It’s something that folks don't always hear in my work, but this time for sure I thought it was there. At the same time, I also see myself as someone who aspires to be accessible. I imagined that Kid Harpoon would help with that, as well as being a set of trusted ears, since there was a lot going on. People think of producers as people who mainly make a record sound good, and Kid Harpoon did that, but he was also aware of how important the storytelling is.”

An admitted “stickler when it comes to grooves,” Byrne welcomed late-in-the-game contributions from Skinner and Refosco, with whom he’s recorded and toured for more than 30 years. Mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent and mastered by Emily Lazar, the finished product is about both hiding and revealing, or as Byrne puts it, “a chance to be the mythical creature we all harbor inside. A chance to step into another reality. A chance to transcend and escape from the prison of our ‘selves.’” These concepts are heavily incorporated in the Who Is The Sky? album package, which was designed by Shira Inbar and finds Byrne nearly obscured by radiating, colored patterns and psychedelic, spiky outfits designed by Belgian artist Tom Van Der Borght.

“At my age, at least for me, there's a ‘don't give a shit about what people think’ attitude that kicks in,” Byrne says. “I can step outside my comfort zone with the knowledge that I kind of know who I am by now and sort of know what I'm doing. That said, every new set of songs, every song even, is a new adventure. There's always a bit of, ‘how do I work this?’ I've found that not every collaboration works, but often when they do, it's because I'm able to clearly impart what it is I'm trying to do. They hopefully get that, and as a result, we're now joined together heading to the same unknown place.”

Track list:

Everybody Laughs

When We Are Singing
My Apartment Is My Friend
A Door Called No
What Is the Reason for It?
I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party
Don't Be Like That
The Avant Garde
Moisturizing Thing
I'm an Outsider
She Explains Things to Me
The Truth

North American tour dates:

09/14/2025 - Providence, RI - Veterans Memorial Auditorium
09/16/2025 - Pittsburgh, PA - Benedum Center PAC
09/17/2025 - Columbus, OH - Mershon Auditorium
09/19/2025 - Akron, OH - Akron Civic Theatre
09/21/2025 - Schenectady, NY - Proctors
09/23/2025 - Syracuse, NY - Landmark Theatre
09/25/2025 - Buffalo, NY - Shea’s Buffalo Theatre
09/27/2025 - Washington D.C. - The Anthem
09/28/2025 - Washington D.C. - The Anthem
09/30/2025 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
10/01/2025 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
10/03/2025 - Boston, MA - Boch Center Wang Theatre
10/04/2025 - Boston, MA - Boch Center Wang Theatre
10/07/2025 - Wallingford, CT - Toyota Oakdale Theatre
10/08/2025 - Portland, ME - Merrill Auditorium at City Hall
10/10/2025 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
10/14/2025 - Richmond, VA - Altria Theater
10/16/2025 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
10/17/2025 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
10/21/2025 - Toronto, ON, Canada - Massey Hall
10/22/2025 - Toronto, ON, Canada - Massey Hall
10/25/2025 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
10/28/2025 - Chicago, IL - The Auditorium
10/29/2025 - Chicago, IL - The Auditorium
10/31/2025 - Chicago, IL - The Auditorium
11/03/2025 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
11/04/2025 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
11/06/2025 - Denver, CO - Bellco Theatre
11/07/2025 - Denver, CO - Bellco Theatre
11/11/2025 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11/12/2025 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11/16/2025 - San Francisco, CA - The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
11/17/2025 - San Francisco, CA - The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
11/20/2025 - Los Angeles, CA - Dolby Theatre
11/21/2025 - Los Angeles, CA - Dolby Theatre
11/25/2025 - Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall
11/26/2025 - Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall
11/28/2025 - Dallas, TX - Music Hall at Fair Park
11/29/2025 - Dallas, TX - Music Hall at Fair Park
12/02/2025 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
12/03/2025 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
12/05/2025 - Miami, FL - Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre
12/06/2025 - Miami, FL - Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre

Josh Ritter professes 'I Believe in You, My Honeydew' on September album

Americana musician Josh Ritter will release his new album, I Believe in You, My Honeydew, September 12 via Thirty Tigers (pre-order/pre-save here). Ahead of the release, his new song, “You Won’t Dig My Grave,” is out now. Listen/share HERE.

Throughout his decades long career, Ritter has released 12 albums and earned the respect of countless music legends, with artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Bob Weir having performed and recorded his songs.

Ritter worked with frequent collaborator/producer Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Langhorne Slim) as well as live group, the Royal City Band: Kassirer (piano, organ, synthesizer, accordion), Zachariah Hickman (acoustic and electric bass, thumb piano, mandolin), Rich Hinman (guitars, pedal steel, mandolin) and Ray Rizzo (drums, percussion).

Of the project, Ritter shares:

“I lived in the woods when I was a kid. I used to believe (and maybe I was right) that I could walk out of our front door, across the gravel road and, pointing myself north, I could walk to Canada, never once leaving the tree line. Wonder was a temple with no walls, and the Muse was still just a ripple in the ponderosas. 

I felt no fear. I’m 48 now. Decades have passed. There have been times I felt my inspiration, my Muse, had passed along with them. And then, not too long ago, I decided that instead of waiting for the Muse to write me a song, I would write the Muse a song instead. I started referring to my Muse as my Honeydew. And this album was born.

The songs on Honeydew are songs for my Muse, my invisible and blinding companion of long-standing. I hope it enjoys them. I hope that it experiences a bit of what it’s like to be human, a bit of what it’s like to be lonely, scared, uncertain, joyful, righteous. I believe in you, my honeydew.”

Ritter will tour starting in August. Tickets will be available for pre-sale starting June 11 at 10:00am local time with general on-sale June 13 at 10:00am local time. A portion of the proceeds from pre-sale tickets sold via joshritter.com will be donated to Immigrant Defense Project. Pre-sale sign up and full details can be found at www.joshritter.com.

I Believe in You, My Honeydew follows Ritter’s 2024 release Heaven, or Someplace as Nice, which he recorded with legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and his acclaimed 2023 full-length project, Spectral Lines. 

In addition to his work as a musician, Ritter is also a national best-selling author, having released two novels to date: 2011’s Bright’s Passage and 2021’s The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All, for which the film rights have recently been optioned for development. Released to critical attention, Stephen King wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Bright’s Passage “shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime…This is the work of a gifted novelist.”

TRACK LIST:

1. You Won’t Dig My Grave
2. Honeydew (No Light)
3. Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)
4. Noah’s Children
5. Wild Ways
6. Thunderbird
7. Kudzu Vines
8. I’m Listening
9. The Wreckage of One Vision of You
10. The Throne

TOUR DATES:

August 9—Three Rivers, PEI—Cloggeroo Festival (solo show)
August 10—Truro, NS—Marigold Cultural Centre (solo show)
August 20—Westport, CT—Levitt Pavilion*
August 21—Portland, ME—State Theatre*
August 22—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground*
August 23—Easthampton, MA—Arcadia Folk Festival
August 24—Lowell, MA—Lowell Summer Music Series*
November 1—Rochester, NY—Concerts at Beston Hall
November 2—Grand Rapids, MI—St. Cecilia Music Center
November 3—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
November 4—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre
November 6—St. Louis, MO—The Sovereign
November 7—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
November 8—Minneapolis, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
November 9—Des Moines, IA—Hoyt Sherman Place
November 12—Pittsburgh, PA—Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
November 13—Washington, D.C.—Lincoln Theatre
November 14—Philadelphia, PA—Keswick Theatre
November 16—New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel