Following a summer European jaunt, California singer-songwriter Ben Harper will kick off a twenty-two-date U.S. tour with reggae sensation (and Bob Marley kin) Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, on August 10th in Phoenix.
The ever-touring Harper and his band the Innocent Criminals will be playing new cuts off his seventh effort, Both Sides of the Gun, which bowed at Number Seven this week. The follow-up to 2003's world music-inspired Diamonds on the Inside features eighteen tracks, divided into two discs: one of rock-based uptempos, the second of ballads.
"I'm jumping out of my skin," Harper told Rolling Stone in anticipation of touring the new material. "I can hardly sit still. I just can't wait to get it out and play it."
Meanwhile, Marley is currently on a headlining tour of his own -- in support of his critically acclaimed Welcome to Jamrock, which also hit Number Seven, last September. The reggae man is also slated to perform at this year's Coachella and Bonnaroo music festivals, in April and June, respectively.
Ben Harper and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley tour dates:
8/10: Phoenix, Dodge
Theatre
8/13: San Diego, Bayside Concerts
8/15: Santa
Barbara, CA, County Bowl
8/18: Berkeley, CA, Greek Theatre
8/19:
Berkeley, CA, Greek Theatre
8/20: Stateline, NV, Harvey's Lake Tahoe
Amphitheatre
8/22: Salt Lake City, USANA Amphitheater
8/23:
Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8/25: Kansas City, MO, Starlight
Theatre
8/26: Somerset, WI, River's Edge
8/27: Chicago, Charter One
Pavilion
8/31: Noblesville, IN, Verizon Wireless Music Center
9/1:
Rochester, MI, Meadow Brook
9/5: New York, Central Park's Rumsey
Playfield
9/6: New York, Central Park's Rumsey Playfield
9/8:
Boston, Bank of America Pavilion
9/10: Columbia, MD, Merriweather Post
Pavilion
9/11: Philadelphia, Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
9/13:
Cary, NC, Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency
9/14: Knoxville, TN,
World's Fair Park