Pitchfork: M. Ward Expands Touring Schedule

Being so original and so intimate can only enable you to fly undetected under the omnipotent hype radar for so long. Those in the know, know, and anyways, you just can't keep lovely talent like M. Ward's buried. Not surprisingly, Jack and Meg White know this as they are astute musos underneath all that red and white drapery. The duo rarely put a wrong foot forward (stop that racket, you Get Behind Me Satan haters!), so it's no real revelation that they have jumped all over M. Ward and have invited the man to open a number of dates during their ongoing tour, specifically, four dates sprinkled around the U.S in August and September. While we won't speculate if any more dates with the White Stripes are forthcoming, more solo dates will most likely be announced soon enough for the stellar guitarist and wonderful gnarly-voiced singer.

Besides the big-time White Stripes opening slots, another gig of note is August 7 at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, where M. Ward will be playing a solo set before joining past collaborators Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes and Jim James of My Morning Jacket for a very special set. The trio of troubadours share strong musical ties: M. Ward was alongside Oberst as part of the Bright Eyes touring orchestra ensemble in 2002, and the three toured together as a unit for last year's "Monsters of Folk" tour. Of course when we say the "Newport Folk Festival", we really mean the "Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival" as both New England-area institutions have signed a three year sponsoring partnership that will link the two by their expanding waist-lines through 2007. But you all knew that already, right-- nothing says "folk festival" like deep fried doughy goodness. Here are M. Ward's upcoming shows, both with full band and solo:

07-21 New York, NY - Castle Clinton (full band)
07-22 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (full band)
08-07 Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
08-18 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre *
09-02 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-09 Los Angeles, CA - John Anson Ford #
09-21 Boston, MA - The Opera House *
09-25 Coney Island, NY - Keyspan Park *
09-27 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavillion +
09-28 Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues *

* with the White Stripes
# with Dios Malos
+ with the White Stripes & the Shins

* M. Ward: <a

Posted by David Nadelle in on Wed: 07-20-05: 12:00 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

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