After shows with Matthew Perryman Jones and GRAMMY® winner Shelby Lynne, singer-songwriter Charlie Mars will head out on tour with Griffin House. See below for a complete itinerary. Mars spent most of 2010 touring in support of his critically acclaimed album, Like A Bird, Like A Plane, which is featured in Amazon.com’s “Fill Your Player” promotion, running through January 31st.
“Mr. Mars plays shaky, rhythmically ambitious folk music that’s not without its moments of humor,” said The New York Times while The Washington Post praised his “lush musical vignettes.” “Mars combines the lyrical, melodic, and rhythmic gifts of Paul Simon with the dark, rootsy quality of Bruce Springsteen,” noted Berkshire Living and the Jackson Free Press said: “Charlie’s sultry alternative-southern-soul mastery sounds like what the lead singers for Coldplay or The Verve might sound like if they grew up in the south listening to REM and Nick Drake.”
“When he’s onstage, songs with deep grooves get some breathing room, and his lush choruses inevitably lead to raucous audience sing-alongs,” said Esquire, which featured both Charlie and Griffin in a Danny Clinch photo spread of the magazine’s favorite singer-songwriters last year. Mars appeared in the November issue of Vogue in a feature on CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists:
http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/americas-got-talent/#/gallery/americas-got-talent/7
Three tracks from Like A Bird, Like A Plane are currently being played at AAA radio – lead single “Listen to the Darkside,” “Meet Me By The Backdoor” and “No Place Like Home.” A live acoustic version of “Listen to the Darkside” was recently released as a digital single. “Listen to the Darkside” was featured in an episode of “Weeds” and the show’s star, Mary-Louise Parker, appeared in the video for the track, which was directed by Danny Clinch. The video for “Meet Me By The Backdoor,” available in the iTunes Store, was directed by renowned photographer Nigel Parry. It premiered at VanityFair.com and was accepted by VH1.com. “No Place Like Home,” another album track, was used in the hit CBS series “Cold Case.” An acoustic version of “No Place Like Home,” which Mars recorded live at KGSR in Austin, is included on KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 18. Charlie headlined one of KGSR’s “Blues on the Green” concerts last summer and also performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Mars recently debuted “I Do,” an evocative new composition, in an acoustic performance video for on-airstreaming.com. You can check it out at:
http://www.on-airstreaming.com/videos/
Born in Arkansas and raised in Mississippi, Mars released three independent albums before signing with V2. His self-titled, 2004 major label debut was hailed by Rolling Stone as “Big emotional rock from Mississippi…with a knack for hooks, and the hooks here have real barbs: They tug at you and just might draw some blood.” High profile tours with artists such as R.E.M., KT Tunstall, Citizen Cope, John Butler Trio and Bob Schneider followed. When V2 folded, Mars returned to his independent roots, financing Like A Bird, Like A Plane himself, and releasing it on Rockingham Records in conjunction with the Nashville-based Thirty Tigers.
Griffin House is touring behind his latest album, The Learner. Born in Ohio, he released his debut album, Lost & Found, in 2004 on Nettwerk Records. He spent most of the subsequent three years on the road, supporting Ron Sexsmith, Patti Scialfa, Josh Ritter, John Mellencamp and Mat Kearny, while also finding time to record several “direct-to-fan” releases, a pair of EPs (House of David Vol. 1 & 2) and the 2006 digital release Homecoming. The critically acclaimed Flying Upside Down, produced by Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow) and featuring Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell, followed in 2007. It contained the hit “The Guy Who Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind,” which Esquire hailed as “a carefully clever collision of wit and sentiment.”
Charlie Mars – Upcoming U.S. Tour Dates
1/20 Decatur, GA Eddie’s Attic headlining
1/21 Birmingham, AL The Red Cat w/Matthew Perryman Jones
1/22 Nashville, TN The Rutledge w/Matthew Perryman Jones
2/3 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom supporting Shelby Lynne
2/4 Pontiac, MI The Crofoot Ballroom supporting Shelby Lynne
2/20 New York, NY City Winery w/Griffin House
2/23 Asbury Park, NJ The Saint w/Griffin House
2/24 Philadelphia, PA Tin Angel w/Griffin House
2/25 Vienna, VA Jammin Java w/Griffin House
2/26 Annapolis, MD Rams Head w/Griffin House
3/1 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark w/Griffin House
3/2 Indianapolis, IN Birdy’s Bar and Grill w/Griffin House
3/3 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall w/Griffin House
3/4 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall w/Griffin House
3/5 Iowa City, IA The Mill w/Griffin House
3/6 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater w/Griffin House
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