May 26, 2011 — New York, NY – Rounder Records is excited to announce that Robert Plant and Band of Joy have been nominated for three Americana Music Association awards – Duo/Group of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. The winners will be announced tat the Americana Music Festival and Conference October 12 – 15, 2011 in Nashville, TN.
Plant and Band of Joy will be coming back to these shores to begin an 11-date North American tour that begins in San Diego, CA, and ends at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. The shows on previous legs of the tour have been some of Plant’s most inspired live performances in years. Nearly one year into playing together, the Band of Joy has found that rare sweet spot where composition and improvisation meld to create a firey and soulful brand of jubilant rock’n’roll. Jim Fusilli of the Wall Street Journal said, “The concerts are an eclectic mix pulled together by the charm and force of Mr. Plant’s personality, the wonder of his voice and his spirited band.”
These new dates, which feature a stop at the prestigious Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, are the latest that have been confirmed in support of the two-time Grammy-nominated Band of Joy, which Rolling Stone magazine in its four-star review called “sweet, elegant folk that still swings like Satan’s barn door.” The touring band is the same that made the record: Patty Griffin, vocals; Darrell Scott, multi instrumentalist/vocals; Byron House, bass/vocals; Marco Giovino, drums and percussion/vocals, and co-producer Buddy Miller, guitar/vocals. The full itinerary is listed below.
The response to Band of Joy has been glowing, and appeared on numerous year-end best-of lists, including the Rolling Stone Top 30, the Spin Top 40, the American Songwriter Top 50, the Uncut Top 50 and the Q Top 50, to name a few. Time called the new album “smoldering,” while Entertainment Weekly noted that Plant “sounds vocally re-energized.” Spin described the songs as “moonshine-soaked country blues with a gospel undercurrent,” and American Songwriter claimed that the record “reveals another side of Plant’s persona, and touches on all the places he’s been while simultaneously pointing to an appealing, restless future.” The Washington Post hailed, “Plant has nuance and subtlety to match his power and range,” while the New York Times raved that the performances on Band of Joy are “consistently surprising.”
The tour dates are below:
June
8 San Diego, CA Copley Symphony Hall
9 Highland, CA San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino
12 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
13 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
15 St. Louis, MO Fabulous Fox Theatre
16 Highland Park, IL Ravinia Festival
19 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
21 Winnipeg, Canada Centennial Concert Hall
23 Ottawa, Canada Ottawa Jazz Festival
24 Montreal, Canada Wilfrid-Pelletier Theatre @ Place des Arts
25 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
