Michael Franti & Spearhead announce new album and Summer tour dates
Music News | Jun 24th, 2010
Michael Franti & Spearhead return with their much anticipated album, The Sound of Sunshine, on August 24th through Capitol Records/Boo Boo Wax. The album’s first singles are already gaining momentum at radio with “Shake It” hitting the Top 40 and Hot AC radio formats, and the album’s title track, “The Sound of Sunshine,” currently at #2 on the AAA charts after only five weeks at radio. THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE is Michael Franti & Spearhead’s seventh studio album and the follow-up to 2008’s Top 40 hit All Rebel Rockers. For a sneak peek at the The Sound of Sunshine album cover, head to www.michaelfranti.com.
The Sound of Sunshine was conceived after Franti was hospitalized for a ruptured appendix in August 2009. “Music is sunshine. It gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose. You can’t hold it in your hands, smell it, taste it or even see it, yet somehow just coming together and feeling these little vibrations that tickle our eardrums can somehow lift us all up out of our most difficult moments in life to unimaginable heights,” says Franti.
Franti and Spearhead have no doubt succeeded in creating perhaps what is their most cohesive, romantic and life-affirming album to date. The Sound of Sunshine opens with the album’s title track – a breezy sing-a-long that seeks to “bottle that experience of waking up in the morning, pulling the blinds and seeing that there’s a sunny day in front of us,” explains Franti. It is this optimistic energy that flows throughout the record’s eleven songs from the happy groove of “Shake It” to the joyously anthemic “I’ll Be Waiting.”
The band began recording in Jamaica with legendary producers Sly and Robbie (Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, No Doubt) as well as in Franti’s home in Bali and hometown of San Francisco. With the record still not complete, Franti decided to bring a mobile studio on the road with him while he toured with John Mayer this past winter. The album was finished in dressing rooms and hotel rooms along the way with Franti playing songs he had recorded earlier in the day to the audience that evening. The Sound of Sunshine continues to showcase Franti’s desire to communicate directly with his fans.
Michael Franti is the creator and lead singer of Michael Franti & Spearhead. For over two decades, the Bay Area born Franti has been bringing our world exceptionally powerful, deeply felt music. Franti first formed the punk band The Beatnigs while studying at the University of San Francisco, and later the far more hip hop-inflected The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In the mid-Nineties, Franti created Spearhead, and increasingly in recent years, he’s found his own voice musically and his own organic brand of popular success. Franti’s impressive series of recordings have vividly reflected his status as a musical citizen of the world.
Franti & Spearhead will be touring throughout the summer. For tour dates, ticket information, official Michael Franti news and to check out the latest v-blogs on FrantiV, go to www.michaelfranti.com.
Tour Dates
June
Sat 26 Taos, NM Taos Solar Music Festival
July
Sat 3 Sioux City, IA Bandshell Grandview Park
Sun 4 Louisville, KY Waterfront Park
Thu 15 Jacksonville, OR Britt Festival
Fri 16 Berkeley, CA Greek Theater
Sun 18 Alta, WY Targhee Fest
Thu 22 Edmonton, AB Windspear
Fri 23 Calgary, ALB Calgary Folk Festival
Sat 24 Vancouver, BC The Vogue Theater
Sun 25 Corning, CA Mystic Garden Party
Tue 27 Salt Lake City, UT Deer Valley
Thu 29 Aspen, CO Belly Up
Fri 30 Aspen, CO Belly Up
Sat 31 Morrison, CO Red Rocks AmpitheaterAugust
Sun 1 Durango, CO Animis Cliffs
Wed 4 Reno, NV Knitting Factory Concert Hs
Thu 5 Bend, OR Les Schwab Ampitheater
Fri 6 Eugene,OR Cuthbert Amphitheatre
Sat 7 Redmond, WA Marymoor Amphitheatre
Tue 10 Eagle, ID Eagle River Pavilion
Wed 11 Missoula, MT The Wilma Theater
Thu 12 Missoula, MT The Wilma Theater
Fri 13 Sandpoint, ID Festival At Sandpoint
Sat 14 Billings, MT Magic City Blues Festival
Sat 21 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay/The Beach SOS Festival
Thu 26 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Fri 27 Live Oak, FL Blackwater Sol Revue/Spirit of the Suwanee
Sat 28 Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
Sun 29 Richmond, VA The National
Tue 31 Charlotte, NC The NeighborhoodSeptember
Thu 2 Tampa, FL to Grand Cayman ZAC BROWN CRUISE – Sep 2–Sep 6
Sun 19 Laytonville, CA Earthdance: United Beats of Peace Festival
