FM: TODD BRODGINSKI/BRANDIS DEZON
BIG HEAD TODD & THE MONSTERS:
"ART SHOULD BE FREE;"
BAND TO DELIVER MUSIC FREE AND “ON DEMAND” VIA "BIGHEADTODDCAST";
2006 TOUR DATES CONFIRMED
As BIG HEAD TODD & THE MONSTERS plan their return to the road, the group is announcing that new material is being offered free to fans via Podcast. The platinum-selling trio will release four-song "BigHeadToddcasts" every month, with compilation CDs made available for those wanting the Podcast in the CD format. "I’ve always believed that art should be free," says singer/guitarist TODD PARK MOHR. "That's the way music fans are using the technology by the hundreds of millions, so clearly I’m not alone."
The group has been recording music in MOHR's solar-powered Colorado studio and on their lengthy tour outings. "The old model of two-year album cycles can really be limiting to a band’s creativity. Rather than the long, stagnating cycle of going into the studio, working singles at radio, shooting videos and touring, with the Podcast we can continuously be releasing music. We are able to be more current, more spontaneous in this format, which is what music is all about. Podcasting is allowing us to get much more music to our fans.”
Big Head Todd and the Monsters' original members have stayed together since their beginning in the mid-'80s. They are truly a "band" in every sense of the word, rare in today's world of short-lived collaborations. The band's tight and explosive rhythm section is comprised of drummer BRIAN NEVIN and bassist ROB SQUIRES, who met Mohr at Columbine High School in Colorado and joined forces to develop what would be an enduring musical partnership.
The band launched its own independent label, Big Records, to release their first two albums Another Mayberry (1987) and Midnight Radio (1990), still considered cult classics. These two self-releases and BHTM's constant roadwork soon put the band in the national spotlight. In the process they sold–notable for the pre-Internet days–58,000 copies on their own without any major distribution or help. Their first major label release Sister Sweetly would become a platinum-selling smash, producing several top ten rock radio hits such as "Broken Hearted Savior," "Circle" and the fan favorite "Bittersweet."
BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS are one of those very special bands that defy genres and categories…a rock-n-roll band in the broadest sense –folk, blues, country, rhythm and blues, soul, contemporary, indie, alternative and everything in between. In a review of BHTM's most recent studio release Crimes of Passion–recorded in TODD's solar-powered studio–The London Times described the band as "scandalously overlooked" and "as classy as American rock gets" (3/26/04).
As for upcoming live shows, BHTM will kick off their 2006 tour January 12 in Colorado, with the trek scheduled to conclude with their second Caribbean fan cruise, where they'll travel on a masted clipper ship to exotic locations and perform impromptu sets for fans. Check out www.bigheadtodd.com.
Confirmed tour dates are as follows:
Date: City: Venue:
Thu 1/12 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
Fri 1/13 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
Sat 1/14 Park City, UT Deer Valley Resort
Mon 1/16 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
Tue 1/17 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
Wed 1/18 St. Louis, MO Pageant
Fri 1/20 Minneapolis 1st Avenue
Sat 1/21 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
Sun 1/22 Indianapolis, IN Vogue
Tue 1/24 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
Thu 1/26 Philadelphia, PA TLA
Fri 1/27 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Sat 1/28 Carrabassett, ME King Pine Room
Sun 1/29 Boston, MA Avalon
Tue 1/31 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Thu 2/02 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Fri 2/03 Charleston, SC The Music Farm
Sat 2/04 Orlando, FL House Of Blues
Mon 2/06 Baton Rouge, LA Varsity Theatre
Tue 2/07 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues
Thu 2/09 Houston, TX Meridian
Fri 2/10 Dallas, TX Gypsy Ballroom
Sat 2/11 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
Mon 2/13 Santa Fe, NM Lensic Theater
Tue 2/14 Tempe, AZ Marquee
Wed 2/15 San Diego, CA 4th & B
Fri 2/17 Los Angeles, CA House Of Blues
Sat 2/18 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
Sun 2/19 Reno, NV Crystal Bay Club
Tue 2/21 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
Wed 2/22 Seattle, WA Showbox
Fri 2/24 Jackson Hole, WY Mangy Moose
Sat 2/25 Park City, UT Suede
Fri 3/10 Chattanooga, TN Tivoli Theater
Sat 3/11 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
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