With South by Southwest less than a month away, Austin prepares for its yearly duty of becoming the center of the music universe. Austin is an enigma of a city, managing to host and turn-out some of the best country influenced music in the nation, while also being home to a slew of progressive rock acts. So it is a fitting time for two of Austin’s most beloved acts, one past and one present, to announce a short tour that will be a must-see for a few lucky cities and a nice showcase for the music scene that has been thriving in Austin for a half-century.
As we’ve already reported, Roky Erickson will release True Love Cast Out All Evil on April 20th, marking his first release of new material in a decade and backed by Austin’s purveryers of coutrified rock, Okkervil River. In addition to a couple of high-profile appearance at the aforementioned South by Southwest, we can add fove tour dates in support of that album, featuring both acts performing selections that will lean heavily on the new record (Jambands).
Of course, anyone who has seen the documenatary on Erickson, You’re Gonna Miss Me, can tell you how unlikely it is that we are talking about new recordings from Roky Erickson in 2010. His legal and mental illness issues could have easily taken his life; a fact that will be impossible to ignore when seeing him perform. What’s more, Erickson has only played scattered dates over the last 30 years, so these full-length concerts are a whole lot of awesomeness.
No word on if Okkervil River will play any of their original tunes, but seeing the legendary musician with one of today’s finest acts should be enough to please everyone either way.
Roky Erickson w/Okkervil River:
03/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
03/18 – Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa (SXSW)
03/20 – Austin, TX @ Galaxy Room (SXSW)
04/24 – Austin, TX @ Paramount Theater
05/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Mayan Theater
05/20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/25 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
