Michael Nesmith to Play 3 UK Shows

Monkees Mania never really went away – that much was proven by the outpouring of love following the death of pint-sized Monkee Davy Jones. The group sold out many of their most recent tour dates, too (sadly I missed my chance to see them, and now I probably won’t get another one). When Davy died, one of my favorite eulogies came from Mike Nesmith, his former bandmate – an amazingly well written piece on how death is transforming (and not even all that new agey for someone straight out of the sixties).

Michael Nesmith has always been my favorite of the group – he helped bring 1984’s Repo Man to the big screen, and that in itself is a reason to love him. He goes so much further than most stars or even artists: he invites top thinkers to his ranch every two years to hold a Council on Ideas (aka solve the world’s most pressing issues). He let go of his Monkees fame to focus on ideas and art and being a cool dude. And he’s a great writer/producer/all around renaissance man, not just a musician, and he does one of my favorite things for older celebrities to do: use social media.

That’s how the veteran of the music industry announced he was going to play some UK shows… via his facebook page. These shows are probably going to be music and art affairs, we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll update as more details become available

MICHAEL NESMITH TO PERFORM IN THE UK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS.

We are pleased to announce the autumn arrival of Michael Nesmith. The Californian music legend will arrive in Britain for a rare and exclusive brace of live concerts set to take place in October in London, Manchester and Glasgow.

“The shows will take a complete look at the songs I’ve recorded over the years, starting back when I was just a solo folk singer,” says Nesmith of forthcoming dates. “I have decades of music to draw from and I think I can put together something exciting, something that will make for a very full, dramatic and emotional evening.”

In a career that has endured for almost 50 years, Michael Nesmith has made his mark on popular culture as a songwriter, performer, author, film-producer and actor. In the 1960s Nesmith found fame as one quarter of The Monkees. As a songwriter he has written music for such performers as Linda Rondstadt and had his songs covered by artists ranging from Run DMC to Andy Williams. A successful film producer, his name has appeared on the credits of such pictures as the cult-classic Repo Man and the Tim Robbins movie Tapeheads. In 1980  Nesmith was one of the men behind the launch of the revolutionary television channel MTV.

But it is Michael Nesmith’s prolific body of solo work that brings him to the UK for this rarest of visits.

The author of no fewer than 15 solo albums, Nesmith was a key pioneer in the development of country rock music, most notably with his work with The First National Band. His 1975 album Prison – A Book With A Soundtrack introduced the innovative notion of combining a written story with recorded music.

His most recent solo work, Rays, was released in 2006.

This body of work has been described by Rolling Stone magazine as “the greatest music never heard.” The opportunity to hear these compositions played in an intimate setting amounts to nothing less than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So far the tour dates look like this:

Friday October 26 in Glasgow

Glasgow, Oran Mor

http://www.gigsinscotland.com/content/default.asp?page=s6_1&gigid=3737

Ticket link www.gigsinscotland.com / 08444 999 990

Sunday October 28th in London

Queen Elizabeth Hall

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/music/gigs-contemporary/tickets/michael-nesmith-68108

Monday October 29th in Manchester

Manchester, RNCM

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/event_ate_14995a.html

www.alt-tickets.co.uk / 0845 413 4444

Onsale:  Friday 15th June 9am

Thanks to Elisabeth MacPeek

http://www.loudlocker.com/features/michael-nesmith-play-3-uk-shows