US country artist Kelly Willis has announced that she will tour the UK this month.
The seven-date tour starts in Gateshead on Friday 21st July and will visit cities including Bristol, Nottingham and Leeds, as well as a show at The Lexington in London, before finishing in Edinburgh on 29th July. It’s in support of Willis’ sixth album, Back Being Blue, which was released on 6th July via Premium Records/Thirty Tigers.
Willis says of the album: “I attempted to make music that could fit in any era but leans on the simplicity of the music that first inspired me. Roots rockabilly country blues, to narrow it down for you! Kind of a Nick Lowe meets Skeeter Davis meets Crystal Gayle. Sounds that were in full blaze when I first moved to Austin.”
Back Being Blue is Willis’ first solo release in 11 years, following 2007’s Translated From Love. Since releasing her previous album, Willis has been collaborating with her husband Bruce Robison on duo projects.
The album was produced by Robison in an analogue style at his rural recording studio in the couple’s home state of Texas. Willis wrote six of the ten tracks on the record herself, with support from legendary singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell on the other four. The album also features guests including Eleanor Whitmore (who’s worked with The Mastersons and Steve Earle and the Dukes), Son Volt’s Mark Spencer and Trevor Nealon from Band of Heathens.
Originally from Lawton, Oklahoma, Willis began singing at the age of nine. She joined her first band, Kelly Willis and the Fireballs, at the age of 16 and released her debut album Well Travelled Love in 1990. Now based in Austin, Texas, Willis’ music has received critical acclaim from the New York Times and Rolling Stone Country.
See Kelly Willis on tour in the UK this July:
21st July – Sage, Gateshead
23rd July – Redgrave Theatre, Bristol
24th July – The Lexington, London
25th July – Maze, Nottingham
27th July – The Met, Bury
28th July – Seven Arts, Leeds
29th July – Voodoo Room, Edinburgh
