Over the course of his lengthy career, cockney rebel Billy Bragg has become just as well-known to the music-consuming public as a Woody Guthriesque rouser of rabbles as he has an accomplished singer/songwriter. But following an emotionally tumultuous 2011 and spurred on by a fan’s tweet referring to the oft-nicknamed crooner as the “Sherpa of Heartbreak,” Bragg turned his acoustic guitar’s attention to something the instrument had not experienced in some time: the composition of ol’ fashioned love songs. Bragg recorded his new batch of relationship-driven tunes in just five days at the start of 2012, laying down each track live with no retakes or overdubs.
After spending the rest of the year focused on promoting the re-release of his Wilco collaboration Mermaid Avenue and celebrating Guthrie’s centenary, Bragg will finally unleash his weepers upon a hopefully forlorn public March 19 via Cooking Vinyl, coinciding with an extended North American tour. Here’s hoping the old timer will show that Taylor Swift who’s the real Sensei of Personal Suffering in this town.
Tooth & Nail tracklisting:
01. January Song
02. No One Knows Nothing Anymore
03. Handyman Blues
04. I Ain’t Got No Home
05. Swallow My Pride
06. Do Unto Others
07. Over You
08. Goodbye, Goodbye
09. There Will Be A Reckoning
10. Chasing Rainbows
11. Your Name On My Tongue
12. Tomorrow’s Going To Be A Better Day
Dates:
03.14-16.13 - Austin, TX - SXSW
03.23.13 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
03.24.13 - Albuquerque, NM - KiMo Theatre
03.26.13 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom
03.28.13 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
03.29.13 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03.30.13 - Petaluma, CA - McNear’s Mystic Theatre
04.02.13 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
04.03.13 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
04.04.13 - Victoria, BC - Alix Goolden Hall
04.05.13 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
04.06.13 - Nelson, BC - Live at the Royal
04.08.13 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall
04.09.13 - Regina, SK - Orr Centre
04.10.13 - Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre
04.12-13.13 - Chicago, IL - City Winery
04.15.13 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre
04.17.13 - Nashville, TN - The Belcourt Theatre
04.19.13 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
04.20.13 - Glensdale, PA - Keswick Theatre
04.21.13 - Morgantown, WV - Mountain Stage
04.22.13 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head Theatre
04.26.13 - Ithaca, NY - State Theater
04.27.13 - New York, NY - Town Hall
04.28.13 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center
04.30.13 - Cincinnati, OH - The Southgate House Revival
05.01.13 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
• Billy Bragg: http://www.billybragg.co.uk
• Cooking Vinyl: http://www.cookingvinyl.com