BENJAMIN BOOKER’S SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM SET FOR AUGUST 19 RELEASE BY ATO RECORDS
Booker Makes His National Television Debut Tonight On
“Late Show With David Letterman”
“World Cafe” Session Airs Wednesday, May 7
“Violent Shiver,” Album’s First Single, Available Digitally Now With
Limited Edition 7″ To Follow On May 13
Booker Will Support Jack White On July Tour Dates And Perform At
Numerous Festivals, Including Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza And ACL
Benjamin Booker will make his national television debut tonight on “Late Show with David Letterman.” The New Orleans based singer-songwriter will perform “Violent Shiver,” the first single from his self-titled debut album.
Produced by Andrija Tokic(Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff), the album will be released on August 19 via ATO Records in the U.S. and Rough Trade in Europe. It is available for pre-order now on the iTunes Store (http://smarturl.it/BBooker_iTunes) and the ATO Records e-store (http://www.benjaminbookermusic.com/store.html). Fans who pre-order the album from either store will instantly receive a download of “Violent Shiver.”
“Violent Shiver” – praised by Toronto’s Globe and Mail as “a rough-and-tough, three-chord party-starter with a punk-blues accelerant” – goes to radio later this week. Booker will appear on NPR’s “World Café” with host David Dye on Wednesday, May 7. Please check local listings HERE for further details. Before heading abroad for his first UK headline tour, Booker will perform at the NON-COMM radio convention in Philadelphia (May 14-16).
A limited edition red vinyl 7″ of “Violent Shiver,” backed with “Spoon Out My Eyeballs,” will be released on May 13. It is available for pre-order at http://smarturl.it/BenjaminBooker.NME recently named “Violent Shiver” 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.” View Booker performing “Violent Shiver,” accompanied by drummer Max Norton, in this video.
Booker, who just wrapped up a run with Hurray For The Riff Raff, 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 support Jack White in July and perform at a variety of festivals, including Shaky Knees, Forecastle, the Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. See below for itinerary.
His SXSW debut elicited praise from numerous critics. “Benjamin Booker blasted a raw brand of blues/boogie/soul,” observed the Chicago Tribune while American Songwriter said, “[He] 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. The Independent said his “frenzied guitar-strumming and raw, soulful vocals were hair-raising in intensity, recalling the blues-rock of early Kings of Leon and The Black Keys.”
Benjamin Booker – Upcoming Tour Dates
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
5/13 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
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
10/3-5 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival @ Zilker Park
10/10-12 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival @ Zilker Park
* supporting Drive-By Truckers
^ supporting Courtney Barnett
