“Violent Shiver,” His First Single, Is Out Now
Booker Will Support Jack White On July Tour Dates
Full-Length Debut Album To Be Released Later This Year
Tour Dates Include U.K. Headline Run, June NYC Shows And Performances At Newport Folk Festival And Lollapalooza
“Violent Shiver,” the debut single from 22-year-old New Orleans based singer-songwriter Benjamin Booker, is available now at all digital retailers, including iTunes and Spotify. The track can be streamed HERE and this video captures Booker performing “Violent Shiver,” accompanied by drummer Max Norton.
A 7″ of “Violent Shiver,” backed with “Spoon Out My Eyeballs,” will be released on May 13. Last week Zane Lowe premiered “Violent Shiver” on his BBC Radio 1 show and NME named it as one of the “Tracks You Have To Hear This Week,” observing, “it’s made great by Benjamin Booker’s vocal, which is rough and loud and harsh with that all-American whiskey/cigarette/flu type of hoarseness…and his proficiency on the guitar hints at someone who’s been playing the instrument for most of his 20-odd years.” The 7″ can be pre-ordered at http://smarturl.it/BenjaminBooker.
Booker’s debut album, produced by Andrija Tokic(Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff), will be released later this year. He is signed to ATO Records in the United States and Rough Trade in Europe.
As announced yesterday, Booker will be opening for Jack White on a series of July dates. Benjamin is currently supporting Hurray For The Riff Raff on its Northeastern U.S. run and will perform at the 2014 NON-COMM radio convention in Philadelphia (May 14-16). After his first U.K. headline tour and a trio of European shows in May, Booker will play a series of dates with Courtney Barnett, including the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (June 14) and New York City’s Bowery Ballroom (June 17). He will also be performing at numerous festivals this summer, including the Newport Folk Festival and Lollapalooza. See below for itinerary.
“Benjamin Booker blasted a raw brand of blues/boogie/soul,” observed the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot in his SXSW wrap-up. “He likes to leave the rough edges intact, bringing to mind the houserockin’ records that Hound Dog Taylor once did for Alligator Records in the ’70s.” American Songwriter said, “The 22-year-old New Orleans guitarist/songwriter – joined live by drummer/mandolin player Max Norton – took the stage as an unknown and…stepped off the stage a conqueror.” “It might look like just two people onstage but Benjamin Booker’s voice surely counts as a band member in its own right. Soulful and sandpaper-rough…” noted The Guardian while NME said, “he takes the ripped, raw racket of The Dirtbombs and smothers it in fuzzy, inherently moody-sounding riffs that recall The Gun Club and T Rex in equal measure.”
Benjamin Booker – Upcoming Tour Dates
4/8 * – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Upstairs 4/9 * – Washington, DC @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue 4/10 * – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 5/2 ** – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theater
5/3 ** – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theater
5/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival @ Masquerade Music Park & Old 4th Ward Park
5/18 – Brighton, UK @ The Green Door Store
5/19 – London, UK @ Water Rats
5/20 – London, UK @ Old Blue Last
5/21 – Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
5/24 – Paris, FR @ Mécanique ondulatoire
5/27 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Exil
5/29 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
6/14 ^ – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg 6/17 ^ – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 6/18 ^ – Boston, MA @ Sinclair 6/24 ^ – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater 7/18-20 – Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival @ Louisville Waterfront Park
7/20 ^^ – St. Louis, MO @ Fox Theatre
7/21 ^^ – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/23 ^^ – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
7/24 ^^ – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre
7/25-27 – Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
7/27 ^^ – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE – Outdoors
7/28 ^^ – Detroit, MI @ The Fox Theatre
7/30 ^^ – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre
7/31 ^^ – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre 8/1-3 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza @ Grant Park
8/29-31 – Wiltshire, UK @ End of the Road Festival
* supporting Hurray For The Riff Raff
** supporting Drive-By Truckers
^ supporting Courtney Barnett
