Singer's Career Rebirth Continues to Mushroom
Talk about a comeback. Beth Hart, the classically-trained musician whose powerhouse and soul-baring voice has been compared to Janis Joplin and Etta James, is on the fast-track to a spectacular career rebirth here in America. The most recent boost is her landing the Very Special Guest slot on The Ride's "Can't Get Enough Tour," a 16-date U.S. tour that kicks off in Atlantic City on September 1. The Rides is the new all-star blues-rock group comprised of Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield/CSN/CSN&Y), fellow guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and venerable Electric Flag keyboardist Barry Goldberg. The confirmed itinerary is below, and tickets can be purchased beginning this weekend; log onto www.bethhart.com for ticket info.
"I'm a big fan of these guys, so I'm really looking forward to this tour," said Hart. "I don't know if Stephen remembers this, but many years ago, he and I played a gig together in Jamaica, and we sang a song together. It was a big night for me."
Beth's reintroduction to American audiences first took place last December when she joined Jeff Beck at the Kennedy Center Honors to pay musical tribute to nominee Buddy Guy. The performance received a rare, non-nominee standing ovation that included the President and Mrs. Obama, and Guy, while not familiar with Hart at the time, was so impressed, he asked her to sing vocals on the track "What You Gonna Do About Me" for his new album, Rhythm & Blues, due out July 30. Beth hooked up with Beck again in April at Eric Clapton's Crossroad Guitar Festival held at New York's Madison Square Garden, and followed that with her first U.S. headline tour in a dozen years, with every, single date completely sold out. She impressed Conan O'Brien when she made her first late-night TV appearance in more than a decade. Seesaw, her second album with blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa was released on May 21 and debuted at #1 on Billboard's Blues chart, and her own album, Bang Bang Boom Boom, her first U.S. release in about ten years, was released in April to stellar reviews:
"...a force-of-nature singer..." CBS Radio
"...these songs suggest an American Adele or Amy Winehouse, but Hart has earned her Billie Holiday affectations and bold stylistic leaps." -- M Music & Musicians
"It is the voice that turns your head...in seconds flat, you are enraptured by what is emanating from this woman's throat. Beth Hart has got it." - Glide Magazine
"...remarkable..." - Sound and Vision
America is falling in love with Beth Hart all over again. With more dates to be announced, the confirmed itinerary for The Rides' "Can't Get Enough Tour" with Beth Hart as Very Special Guest is as follows:
SEPTEMBER 1 Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ 3 Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ 5 Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT 7 Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA 8 Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, NY 10 Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Pittsburgh, PA 13 Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, WI 14 Ohio River Throwdown at Riverbend, Cincinnati, OH 16 Lexington Opera House, Lexington, KY 20 Arena Theatre, Houston, TX 21 The Backyard, Austin, TX 24 Fox Performing Arts Center, Riverside, CA 25 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 27 Grand Sierra Ballroom, Reno, NV
ABOUT BETH HART: Beth Hart's extraordinary back-story is one of great potential, great loss, and now, redemption. Beth had a very promising career back in the 90s. She was signed to Atlantic Records after a bidding war, had bookings on the Tonight Show, Letterman, and an offer from SNL, great tours, great press, and a hit record with "L.A. Song," but lost everything to substance abuse and an undiagnosed bi-polar disorder. She hit rock bottom, but then about 10 years ago, picked herself up, got clean and healthy, got married, and started rebuilding her career in Europe. Since getting healthy, fellow performers like Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Slash and Buddy Guy have recognized her talent and initiated collaborations with her. She's now selling out 2-4,000-seat venues in Europe, sold-out her first U.S. headline tour in more than a decade, and the April 9, 2013 release of Bang Bang Boom Boom is her tool to reclaim America.
