News

Ben Folds Announces 2011 Tour

• 10th Nov 2010

Ben Folds is set to tour Europe in February & March 2011 in support of his latest album, the acclaimed Lonely Avenue, a collaboration between him and bestselling novelist Nick Hornby, which was released on Nonesuch Records in September. The 14-date tour begins in Dublin on February 18 and includes concerts in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Holland. Tickets go on sale from November 12. Members of the Ben Folds Fan Club will have advance access to presale tickets and ticket bundle opportunities from 2pm GMT on November 10 (link).

UK live dates – February 2011:
Sat Feb 19 HMV Institute, Birmingham £25
Sun Feb 20 HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London £35
Tue Feb 22 Guildhall, Southampton £25
Thu Feb 24 O2 Apollo, Manchester £25
Fri Feb 25 O2 Academy, Glasgow £25
Sat Feb 26 O2 Academy, Sheffield £25

Tickets are available from link and link

With music and vocals by Folds and lyrics by Hornby, Lonely Avenue features string arrangements by the influential pop string arranger Paul Buckmaster (David Bowie, Elton John, Leonard Cohen). The idea to create an album of Folds’ unique pop songwriting sensibilities with Hornby’s insightful prose was conceived during a dinner conversation between the two friends one night in 2009. After that, Hornby began regularly emailing lyrics to Folds, who then turned them into Lonely Avenue’s 11 musical short stories. The songs touch on subject matter ranging from a mother with a child in the hospital over New Year’s Eve to the work of Doc Pomus, lyricist of countless ’50s and ’60s pop hits. Described by Mojo as ‘Intelligent, funny, heartbreaking alt-rock,’ the Independent wrote ‘The first of what one hopes will be many collaborations proves to be an intelligent, sometimes amusing, sometimes moving, but always engaging collection of songs.’

Lonely Avenue includes the singles ‘From Above’ and ‘Picture Window’, as well as ‘Saskia Hamilton’, for which the UK’s most popular You Tuber, Charlie McDonnell, created a video that has already attracted over 700,000 views in under a month.

Ben Folds first found mainstream success as the leader of the critically acclaimed platinum-selling Ben Folds Five. He has gone on to have a very successful solo career, recording three studio albums in addition to a pair of records documenting his renowned live performances and a remix record. Folds also recently released Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, a collection of his songs performed by college groups. Folds is set to embark on his second season as a judge on the successful series The Sing-Off, which will reward America’s best a cappella group with a professional recording contract and $100,000. Folds will be joined by his fellow judges from last season, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and the Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger. The show will air weekly from December 6.

Folds previously collaborated with Hornby on a song for the Folds-produced William Shatner album Has Been, which the Huffington Post called ‘One of the few records in recent memory that dared to tell the unvarnished truth about the human condition.’ Folds also has a special relationship with symphony musicians, having performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including a record-breaking sold-out Australian tour in 2006 and repeatedly sold-out nights at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops with conductor Keith Lockhart, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Nick Hornby often writes about music, musicians, and music lovers in his fiction and nonfiction work. His six novels, some of which have been turned into successful films, are High Fidelity, About A Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down, Slam, and Juliet, Naked. He has also published several works of non-fiction, including Fever Pitch, 31 Songs (a collection of essays about songs that influenced his life), and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, as well as a book of short stories, Otherwise Pandemonium. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the film An Education for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.