CONTACT:
Randi Millman
The Wilbur
Randi@TheWilbur.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Steve Earle & The Dukes are coming to The Wilbur

WHAT: On Tuesday, July 14th, 2015, Steve Earle & The Dukes are coming to The Wilbur in Boston’s historic Theatre District.

Steve Earle and The Dukes’ album, Terraplane, had a fantastic first week landing at #21 on the Top 200 and #39 on the Billboard 200. Additionally, it took the #1 spot on the Blues Chart, #2 in Folk, #3 in Country, #3 in Independent Current Albums and #13 in vinyl albums. This follows a lightning speed ascent up the Americana radio chart to #1 in just three weeks.

Earle will kick off a full band tour on April 15 in Little Rock, Ark., which will include a performance at Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. on April 24. Earle will also play two sold out shows next weekend, March 6-7 at City Winery Nashville.

On Monday, Earle made his final appearance on the “Late Show With David Letterman,” which came nearly 26 years to the date after his 1989 debut on the show when he performed his now classic “Copperhead Road.” Armed with his longtime band The Dukes he played the shuffling single “You’re The Best Lover That I Ever Had,” which Rolling Stone called a “stomping, steaming slab of juke joint blues,” adding, “Earle reworked the grit and groove of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Smokestack Lightning’ into his own bittersweet tribute to a departed lover.” Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m__J7X2gObE

While back home in New York this week, Earle and The Dukes performed two intimate shows at Electric Lady Studios and turned Jimi Hendrix’s famed Greenwich Village studio into a sweaty Texas juke joint as they played new album Terraplane in its entirety for some very lucky attendees. Tuesday’s concert was captured for a special episode of the “Steve Earle Show: Hardcore Troubadour Radio” and will air this weekend on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country, beginning Saturday, February 28 at 9 pm EST and repeated several times throughout the week. Village Voice was on hand for night two, a listener event for NY public radio’s WFUV and succinctly captured the riveting evening: “‘Sometimes the cure for the blues and the path to the blues is sheer audacity, which is one of my best things,’” Earle told the crowd before swaggering into blues bragger ‘King of the Blues.’ And with the applause peaking, they quickly turned it around into a rocking ‘Hey Joe,’ doing justice to the house and the man who built it.”

Last night, Earle appeared on “Tavis Smiley” where he discussed his deep connection to the blues and what influenced the album as well as his songwriting camp, “Camp Copperhead.” He closed the show with an acoustic performance of “You’re The Best Lover That I Ever Had.”

Throughout his more than 30-year career, Earle has mined the rich veins of American roots music from country to rock and roll, folk and rockabilly. On his 16th studio album of his singular career, Terraplane, Earle pays tribute to the blues, influenced by the blues giants he saw growing up in Texas – Lightnin’ Hopkins, Freddy King, Johnny Winter, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Canned Heat and Billy Gibbons. Recorded in Nashville by Ray Kennedy and produced by R.S. Field, the new collection is his homage to the music that he calls “the commonest of human experience, perhaps the only thing that we all truly share” and a record he has wanted to make for a long time. Over 11 original tracks, Earle and his band The Dukes traverse various forms of the blues – from the Texas roadhouse blues of opener “Baby Baby
Baby (Baby),” to the acoustic country blues of “Ain’t Nobody’s Daddy Now” and the Chicago blues of “The Usual Time” to the pre-war blues of “Baby’s Just As Mean As Me,” a duet with Eleanor Whitmore. The electrified “King of The Blues” features some scorching guitar playing from guitarist Chris Masterson” and on “The Tennessee Kid” Earle sounds like a possessed street preacher as he retells the Faustian crossroads legend over a John Lee Hooker-esque boogie.

Described by Mojo as “Earle’s passion for blues in its rawest form,” Terraplane has been receiving rave reviews with Uncut choosing it as their “Americana Album of the Month” and London’s Express & Star exclaiming “It’s like Robert Johnson meets Johnny Cash – and it’s a truly stunning work.” Rolling Stone awarded it three and half stars and called it “less a soul-searcher than a sturdy vehicle, built to chug uythrough hard times,” while Vintage Guitar remarked, “In a time when far too many modern ‘blues’ records feel antiseptic and slick, Earle and band superbly integrate new songs and old sounds.”

For tickets and more information about The Wilbur and other great events visit https://wilburboston.wpengine.com.

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WHEN: Tuesday, July 14th, 2015 – 8:00 PM

COST: $29.50 – $37.50

WHERE: The Wilbur | 246 Tremont Street | Boston, MA 02116 | 617.248.9700

TICKETS: Visit www.wilburboston.wpengine.com, or call the box office at 617.248.9700

About The Wilbur:

Celebrating 100 years, The Wilbur, nestled in Boston’s historic Theatre District, is the premiere destination for comedy and music in Boston, MA. Built in 1914 by The Shubert Brothers, The Wilbur opened in 1915 and was named for The Shubert Theatre’s manager A.L. Wilbur. Recently revitalized by former Comedy Connection owner Bill Blumenreich in July of 2008, The Wilbur has become a first-class venue showcasing A-list comedians and musicians. A Comedy Central verified venue, the theater has attracted the best of the best in comedy including Aziz Ansari, Louis CK, Kevin Hart, Katt Williams and Jim Gaffigan. They also boast award-winning musicians from all genres such as Boyz II Men, Lauryn Hill, Lyle Lovitt and Smoky Robinson. Offering an intimate show setting, The Wilbur provides the perfect environment for enjoying comedy sensations and chart topping artists in the heart of Boston’s historic Theater District.
The Wilbur is located at 246 Tremont Street in Boston, MA. For more information, please visit www.wilburboston.wpengine.com, or call 617.248.9700.
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