ANNOUNCES COAST-TO-COAST TOUR WITH JACOB GROOPMAN
Aug. 28 release follows RockyGrass festival band competition win
AUSTIN, Texas — Melody Walker’s debut album, GOLD RUSH GODDESS, will be released nationally Aug. 28, but she and partner Jacob Groopman already have reason to celebrate: With their band Front Country, they won the band competition at RockyGrass, the July festival founded 40 years ago by bluegrass icon Bill Monroe.
Walker and Groopman are now spreading the sound they like to call “Americali” on a nationwide tour that includes stops at Aug. 22’s Jerry Garcia Tribute Concert in Berkeley and in Nashville for September’s Americana Music Festival & Conference. (See below for a list of tour dates, or check melodywalkermusic.com.)
Walker, a Bay Area native, and Groopman, raised in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, describe “Americali” as Americana with a California twist, but just as Americana melds many influences, their music draws from diverse genres including bluegrass, rock, jazz, classical, Afrobeat, samba and even Balkan folk. They never stray too far from their American folk roots, however, preferring to create literate music that honors tradition, yet sounds completely of the moment.
Led by the title track and “Family Band,” GOLD RUSH GODDESS is already drawing high praise. The Turnstyled Junkpiled blog calls it “easily one of the strongest Americana releases of 2012.” No Depression claims, “Melody Walker has created an album of exceptional tunes.” And influential Bay Area radio station KPFA-FM raves, “She kicked it out of the ballpark on this album!”
Walker and Groopman co-produced the album, recorded in a historic former general store on a remote cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But now, they’re ready to spread Americali from sea to shining sea. And this is one gold rush you’re gonna want to get in on right now.
Upcoming tour dates include:
Aug. 14 – Park Chalet, San Francisco
Aug. 18 – El Sobrante Stomp house concert, El Sobrante, Calif.
Aug. 19 – Art in the Park, Martinez, Calif.
Aug. 21 – Hotel Utah, San Francisco
Aug. 22 – Jerry Garcia Tribute Concert Ashkenaz, Berkeley, Calif.
Aug. 23 – Hideout Saloon, Mariposa, Calif.
Aug. 24 – Cozmic Café, Placerville, Calif.
Aug. 25 – Concerts in the Plaza, Mill Valley, Calif.
Sept. 5 – Firefly Bistro, Pasadena, Calif.
Sept. 6 – The Raven Café, Prescott, Ariz.
Sept. 7 – Plush, Tucson, Ariz.
Sept. 8 – Cowgirl BBQ, Santa Fe, N.M.
Sept. 11 – The Five Spot, Nashville
Sept. 12 – Americana Music Conference, Nashville
Sept. 18 – Acoustic Coffeehouse, Johnson City, Tenn.
Sept. 19 – Preservation Pub, Knoxville, Tenn.
Sept. 20 – High Rock Outfitters, Lexington, N.C.
Sept. 21 – The Bywater, Asheville, N.C.
Sept. 22 – Ashland Coffee & Tea, Ashland, Va.
Sept. 26 – Baine’s Books, Appomattox, Va.
Oct. 2 – The Purple Fiddle, Thomas, W.Va.
Oct. 3 – The Corner Store, Washington, D.C.
Oct. 4 – Rockwood Music Hall, New York
Oct. 5 – Cyber Café West, Binghamton, N.Y.
Oct. 6 – Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Oct. 7 – Outer Space, Hamden, Conn.
Oct. 8 – Cantab Lounge, Cambridge, Mass.
Oct. 10 – The Middle East Corner, Cambridge, Mass.
Oct. 11 – Slainte Wine Bar, Portland, Maine
Oct. 12 – She Doesn’t Like Guthries, Lewiston, Maine
Oct. 13 – MindFull Books & Ephemera, Jaffrey, N.H.
Oct. 14 – Club Passim, Boston,
Oct. 15 – Cat in the Cream, Oberlin, Ohio
Oct. 17 – Natasha’s Bistro & Bar, Lexington, Ky.
Oct. 21 – Woodsongs Coffeehouse, Milwaukee
Oct. 23 – The Mill, Iowa City, Iowa
Oct. 25 – Avogadro’s Number, Fort Collins, Colo.
Oct. 26 – Highlands Church (Strings & Wood Concert Series), Denver
Nov. 16 – Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, Calif. (live concert recording)
For more information: melodywalkermusic.com, mcguckinpr.com
For album review copies or interview requests, contact Heidi Labensart,
McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.478.0578; heidi@mcguckinpr.com
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