05 April 2011
Andy Snipper
Multi-talented Grammy® and Emmy winning actor/comedian/musician and bestselling author Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers have announced the release of their second Bluegrass album in June. They will be touring the UK in July doing 3 dates
Rare Bird Alert (Rounder) is a follow-up to his Grammy®-winning 2009 release, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo (Rounder) and will be released on June 13th.
Steve Martin will do three shows in July where he will be joined by the Steep Canyon Rangers, who also toured extensively with Martin over the last year and are featured on the new album.
Rare Bird Alert features 13 new Martin-penned tracks, and was produced by Tony Trischka. Sir Paul McCartney and The Dixie Chicks also make special guest vocal appearances on the album. Martin co-wrote two of the CD’s songs with the Steep Canyon Rangers. Titles such as "Atheists Don't Have No Songs" and the infamous “King Tut” show that Steve has taken a step further combining, his zany ideas into more vocals appearing on the upcoming album, alongside some very tight bluegrass instrumentals.
Speaking about his recording experience Steve Martin said the following:
‘I came in as an outsider, so I didn’t know what the reception would be like, but it was very warm. We reached a lot of bluegrass people, and I think we reached a lot of non-bluegrass people, too’ - Billboard Magazine, March 12, 2011
UK Tour Dates;
8th July – London HMV Hammersmith Apollo
9th July – Manchester O2 Apollo
10th July – Glasgow Clyde Cultural Hall
Tickets go on sale at 9am Friday 8th April and are priced between £28.50 to £40.00 (subject to a booking fee) and are available from www.livenation.co.uk
