The Big Surprise Tour: An Old Fashioned Review Featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (Feat. Gillian Welch), the Felice Brothers, and Justin Townes Earle

Old Crow Medicine Show, photo by Aaron Farrington

The Big Surprise Tour: An Old Fashioned Review Featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (Feat. Gillian Welch), the Felice Brothers, and Justin Townes Earle

Born out of a deep running comradery built on countless tours and ties between a host of excellent musicians comes THE BIG SURPRISE TOUR, a traveling show of epic collaboration and good times. Kicking off in Hampton Beach, NH on August 4th, THE BIG SURPRISE TOUR is not your standard up down up down line up. Shows will be composed of two 90-minute sets broken up by an intermission. In a free form ramshackle flow the bands and artists will share the stage, taking part in each other’s songs, resurrecting old standards, and playing newly written collaborative material as they go. Each evening is sure to be a unique experience as they all put their many combined years of musicianship and knowledge of song-craft and American music into play for these sessions.

Ketch Secor from Old Crow speaks of the special relationship these bands have and the parts they’ve played in their own individual journey as musicians. “Seven Years ago when Old Crow first met Dave Rawlings and Gilllian Welch at the Station Inn in Nashville, we stayed up till dawn singing Stan Rogers songs and playing AC/DC licks. Three weeks later we were making a record. They were that rusted sign at the fork in the road showing OCMS just where it was headed.” With the Felice Brothers as Secor explains it, “with their rockin’ unruliness, we found where we had come from in the first place. Music is a mobius strip, contort all ya want and you’ll keep winding up where you started.” Justin Townes Earle is “looking forward to being on tour with folks that are kindred spirits. We all have similar influences, which will be reflected in the covers w! e do during the show and our collaborations on stage.” For their part, James Felice reminisces that they’ve “traveled around the country with Justin and Cory (of Justin Townes Earle) playing some pretty bizarre gigs.  We couldn’t love those guys more.” “As for Old Crow…” he says, “they cleaned us out playing dice more than once.” Perhaps they’ll get a chance to even the score on these dates.

Borrowing from the title of a Felice Brothers track, THE BIG SURPRISE TOUR will live up to its namesake. As Secor states, the audience should “expect the unexpected!” “Music is wild and not tame” he says, and with this tour the artists involved hope to fully unleash the true and unpredictable spirit of creativity. Heaven knows that combined they have a wealth of it to draw from.

TOUR DATES:

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The 2nd Annual DelFest May 22-24, Allegany County Fairgrounds, Cumberland, MD

The festival will offer 3 days of intimate bluegrass, a band competition, interactive children’s programs, a craft fair featuring regional and international artisans, and an eclectic food court along with the chance to simply relax and camp with good friends in a festive environment.

DELFEST 2009 LINE-UP

Three days of bluegrass with The Del McCoury Band * Old Crow Medicine Show * Leftover Salmon * Sam Bush * Railroad Earth * Dark Star Orchestra * Peter Rowan and The Free Mexican Air Force * J.D. Crowe and The New South * Tim OBrien * Ollabelle * The Infamous Stringdusters * Steep Canyon Rangers * The Lee Boys * Joe Craven * Cornmeal * Crooked Still * Great American Taxi * Dan Paisley & The Southern Grass * Ronnie Bowman and the Committee * Davisson Brothers Band * Vinegar Creek Constituency

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Old Crow Medicine Show to Perform on Late Night and Open for Dave Matthews Band

December 19, 2008 (Los Angeles, CA) – Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) are ending 2008 with a performance of “Alabama High-Test” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Tuesday, December 23. The track, from their latest album Tennessee Pusher, has proven to be one of their most popular live songs and landed the band in Rolling Stone’s “Best of 2008” issue on the “Singles of the Year” list. The magazine called the song “a fast-rhyming banjo blues from old-timey cowpunks…”

OCMS is also excited to announce that they will open three shows for Dave Matthews Band on April 17 and 18 in Charlottesville, VA at the John Paul Jones Arena, and April 20 in Pelham, AL at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. Prior to that, the fivesome will be touring the south with The Felice Brothers as support and heading to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in their career; tour dates will be announced shortly.

Tennessee Pusher, the third Nettwerk release from OCMS, debuted in September at #50 on the Billboard 200, #7 on the Top Country Albums chart, #16 on the Top Digital Albums chart and #1 on the Top Bluegrass Album chart (where it stayed consistently for 12 weeks). The band recently wrapped a major UK and North American tour where they played close to 50 shows, the majority of which sold out. Additionally, they appeared on A Prairie Home Companion and stopped by World Café for a special session.

“It’s OCMS’s scrappy, fervent playing that reinvents old-time for a whole new generation. Live, the band is a mesmerizing mess of strings and sweat.” – The Onion

Submitted by Nettwerk Music Group

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