CD Release & UK Tour Dates - Mike Doughty

MIKE DOUGHTY - ‘THE QUESTION JAR SHOW’

-  RELEASED 11^TH JUNE

Label: Hornblow Recordings (via The Orchard)

Full UK tour supporting Suzanne Vega: June 11^th– 21^st

11^thJune marks the release of ‘The Question Jar Show’, a double-disc live album recorded during Mike’s US tour of the same name. It perfectly captures Doughty’s hip hop-influenced folk/Americana/blues, and just as importantly, his deftness at charming crowds. Essentially, Mike is a master of on-stage banter. “Would you rather play twister with Dick Cheney or punch a kitten in the face?”

This is just one of the bizarre, comedic questions written on scraps of paper by Doughty fans and placed in a jar on-stage pre gig. These were then answered between songs in highly-entertaining fashion by Mike, plus his eccentric sidekick and cello player, Andrew 'Scrap' Livingston.

When not answering questions, Doughty and Scrap play stripped down, rhythmically intense and haunting versions of Mike’s cult classic songs, including '27 Jennifers,' 'Busting Up a Starbucks,' and 'Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well.'

Although not as large in scale and profile as feted live albums like the Who’s ‘Live At Leeds’ or the Stones’ ‘Get Yer Ya Yas Out’, ‘The Question Jar Show’ deserves status as a unique and intimate classic of the format.

Mike Doughty’s last artist album ‘Yes And Also Yes’ was released to critical acclaim both here and over the pond. It was written at legendary artists' colony Yaddo, where Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Truman Capote and Sylvia Plath worked.

It featured singles ‘Holiday’ - a duet with Roseanne Cash and ‘Na Na Nothing’, which bagged Mike a top 7 hit on the US AAA chart. Penning of the latter single was aided by Nikki Sixx, Matt Gerrard and Dan Wilson who also co-wrote Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’, plus ‘Secret Smile’ and ‘Closing Time’ for his band Semisonic.

Doughty used a capsule of the antidepressant Duloxetine as a percussion instrument on several tracks and played a Chinese lute (called a Zhong Ruan) on the song ‘Telegenic Exes, #1’.

A prolific blogger and writer, Mike wrote a biography focusing on his career in Soul Coughing and his “ugly, drug-doing years”. ‘The Book Of Drugs’ came out to huge praise from the likes of the Rolling Stone, The Word, The Arts Desk, Publishers Weekly, Billboard and The New York Post. Due to huge demand, the book has recently gone into its 4^thrun of printing.

June tour dates. . .

Mon 11^th  LONDON              Borderline (Headline show)                            7.00pm                                0844 847 2465

Wed 13^th     LONDON              Union Chapel (with Suzanne Vega)              7.00pm                                0870 154 4040

Thu 14^th      BRIGHTON           The Dome (with Suzanne Vega)                    7.15pm                                01273709709

Mon 18^{th       G}LASGOW           Oran Mor (with Suzanne Vega)                      7.00pm                                0141 204 5151

Tue 19^th         GATESHEAD      The Sage (with Suzanne Vega)                      7.30pm                                0191 443 4661

Wed 20^th     YORK     Grand Opera House (with Suzanne Vega)                 8.00pm                 08448 713 024

Thu 21^st        BASINGSTOKE  The Anvil (with Suzanne Vega)                       8.00pm                                01256 844244    

More Info: www.mikedoughty.com / www.facebook.com/mikedoughty /http://mkdo.co/