DATE: June 4, 2012
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/ MITCH SCHNEIDER/BARI LIEBERMAN
THE CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD:
EARLY CRITICAL PRAISE FOR
‘BIG MOON RITUAL,’ OUT JUNE 5
VIA SILVER ARROW/MEGAFORCE RECORDS
JUNE 5 PERFORMANCE OF “ROSALEE” ON
“THE TONIGHT SHOW”
It’s a cosmic alignment as the CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD is ready for the BIG MOON RITUAL, out tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5, when the band performs the album’s “Rosalee” on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” And, coincidentally, there will be a full moon the night before.
In a June 2012 Guitar Player review, Matt Blackett said the band has “created a roots-o-licious collection of tunes…It has beautiful guitar tones, inventive parts, gorgeous solos, and killer vocals all around.” And Relix called the album “so damn funky” and said “It’s a record informed by the road: vast seas of soulful jamming and Robinson’s free-flowing vocals come together now and then for a blowout chorus (June 2012).”
In what CHRIS ROBINSON calls a musical “take on a peyote ceremony,” the album arrives amidst a long run of tour dates, both with the BROTHERHOOD (June 14 to August 26) and as part of a trio along with Bob Weir and Jackie Greene (through June 4).
After a 118-show 2011 tour, the CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD went in to the studio to record two albums to be released via Silver Arrow/Megaforce Records: BIG MOON RITUAL and THE MAGIC DOOR, due in September. Both albums were produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Devendra Banhart, Papercuts). In an interview with Rollingstone.com, ROBINSON said that a few weeks into the tour, they knew they were onto something and when they became a band: “Just a few weeks into the California residency last year…We did 13,500 miles…I think a couple of weeks into that, we started to let the cosmic vibes flow through us and we realized, ‘Oh, wow, this is something that feels really good.’ When I think about the real pioneers of the psychedelic movement in a musical sense, not just the culture, everything had a handmade sort of vibe to it. We’re inventing our culture as we move along into this (5/30/12).” Check out the full interview and the group’s interpretation of the Sonny James’ version of “Bright Lights, Big City” here.
In 2011, after more than 20 years of intense gigging and recording, CHRIS ROBINSON set off to shape something new, a fresh rock mythology, a breathing kaleidoscopic thing stuffed with chooglin’ soul, bedrock boogie and shuffling wisdom birthed in intimate clubs and amongst the tall trees of the Golden State and eventually taken nationwide as the CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD evolved. What began as an experiment without expectations turned into a 118-show journey for Robinson (lead vocals, guitar), Neal Casal (guitar, vocals), Adam MacDougall (keys, vocals), George Sluppick (drums) and Mark Dutton (bass, vocals) that surprised these seasoned pros as music of unshakeable solidity and exuberant reach poured out of them, a New Cosmic California sound with tendrils reaching to the original Fillmore West, Topanga Canyon and outwards towards far horizons.
“This music is unashamedly what we’re into,” says ROBINSON, who cites Neu!, Melanie, Flatt & Scruggs, Mel Tillis and Morton Subotnick as regulars in their van listening. “It’s not a psych band because you have a Prince Valiant haircut and wear Beatle boots. It’s psych because that’s where our heads are. We want to make music that blossoms. We want to make music that sounds cosmic.”
www.chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com
Bio here:
http://www.msopr.com/n/client-roster/the-chris-robinson-brotherhood/
Press Releases here:
http://www.msopr.com/n/client-roster/the-chris-robinson-brotherhood/
The complete track listing for BIG MOON RITUAL is:
Tulsa Yesterday*
Rosalee
Star Or Stone
Tomorrow Blues
Reflections On A Broken Mirror
Beware, Oh Take Care*
One Hundred Days Of Rain*
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Thom Monahan
- All songs written by Chris Robinson except (*) written by Robinson/Casal
Photo credit: Alissa Anderson
CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD complete tour dates:
DATE CITY VENUE
Thu 6/14 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Fri 6/15 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
Sat 6/16 Chicago, IL Taste of Randolph Street
Sun 6/17 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
Tue 6/19 Toledo, OH Frankie’s Inner City
Thu 6/21 Columbus, OH A&R Bar
Fri 6/22 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
Sat 6/23 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
Sun 6/24 Concord, NH Granite State Music Festival
Tue 6/26 Pittsfield, MA Colonial Theatre
Thu 6/28 Asbury Park, NJ The Stone Pony
Fri 6/29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Wiliamsburg
Sat 6/30 Wilmington, DE World Café Live
Sun 7/1 Winston, NC Ziggy’s
Tue 7/3 Wilmington, NC Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
Thu 7/5 Alexandria, VA Birchmere Music Hall
Sat 7/7 Sioux City, IA Bandshell Free Show
Fri 7/13 Denver, CO Cervantes Masterpiece
Sat 7/14 Alta, WY Targhee Fest
Sun 7/15 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
Wed 7/18 Crystal Bay, NV Crystal Bay Club
Thu 7/19 Chico, CA Sierra Nevada Brewing Co
Fri 7/20 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre
Sat 7/21 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriets
Sat 8/11 Tulsa, OK Cain’s
Tue 8/14 Little Rock, AR Revolution Music Room
Thu 8/16 Chattanooga, TN Track 29
Sat 8/18 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Sun 8/19 Cincinnati, OH 20th Century Theatre
Tue 8/21 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
Thu 8/23 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
Fri 8/24 Bearsville, NY Bearsville Theatre
Sat 8/25 Amagansett, NY Stephen Talkhouse
Sun 8/26 Amagansett, NY Stephen Talkhouse
Thu 10/18 Live Oak, FL Magnolia Festival
For more information, please contact:
MSO: 818-380-0400
Mitch Schneider mschneider@msopr.com
Todd Brodginski toddb@msopr.com
Bari Lieberman mailto:blieberman@msopr.com%20(tour press)
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