NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Dropkick Murphys have announced a new album bringing Woody Guthrie’s words to life on This Machine Still Kills Fascists, to be released digitally and on CD on September 30 via the band’s Dummy Luck Music with a special edition vinyl out in November. The first single and video, “Two 6’s Upside Down,” will debut on July 6.
In the ten songs that make up This Machine Still Kills Fascists, the band brings Woody Guthrie’s jabs at life – many of which are from the 1940s and ‘50s – into the present, with the resulting music relevant to today’s world. And they’ve done it all without their usual electric guitars. Not a single amplifier was used to animate Guthrie’s words.
Dropkick Murphys founder Ken Casey explained, “The project has been a long time in the making. Nora Guthrie thought her father would’ve got a kick out of us, would’ve liked us, that we were somewhat kindred spirits, so to speak, which to us was a huge honor.”
The band will launch their first-ever reserved seated tour in support of this powerful acoustic album. Jaime Wyatt will be the direct support on the tour, and Jesse Ahern will open the shows. This Machine…Theater Tour runs from October 20 in Concord, NH, through November 19 in Nashville, TN. Tickets for most shows go on sale Friday, June 24.
The idea for the collaboration has been percolating between Nora Guthrie and the band for more than a decade, with Nora curating a collection of her father’s never-published lyrics for the band over the years. The challenge was always finding the right time to pull it together. When co-lead vocalist Al Barr took a leave of absence from the band to care for his mother, the perfect time to take on the project had presented itself.
Nora Guthrie explained, “I collected lyrics on all kinds of topics…lyrics that seemed to be needed to be said – or screamed – today. Ken Casey is a master at understanding Woody’s lyrics, which can be complicated, long, deadly serious, or totally ridiculous. DKM is capable of delivering them all.”
As Woody once said: “A folk song is what’s wrong and how to fix it, or it could be who’s hungry and where their mouth is, or who’s out of work and where the job is, or who’s broke and where the money is, or who’s carrying a gun and where the peace is.” Dropkick Murphys have always held true to this view in both song and deed.
DKM This Machine … Theater Tour Dates
Thu., Sept. 1 Allentown, PA The Great Allentown Fair
Fri., Sept. 2 Essex Junction, VT Champlain Valley Fair
Sat., Sept. 3 Syracuse, NY The Great New York State Fair
Fri., Sept. 16 West Springfield, MA The Big E *
Thu., Oct. 20 Concord, NH Capitol Center for the Arts
Fri., Oct. 21 Providence, RI Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Sat., Oct. 22 Atlantic City, NJ Caesars Atlantic City – Circus Maximus
Mon., Oct. 24 Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre
Tue., Oct. 25 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre
Thu., Oct. 27 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Performing Arts Center
Fri., Oct. 28 Raleigh, NC Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts
Sat., Oct. 29 Cincinnati, OH The Andrew J Brady Music Center
Sun., Oct. 30 Greensburg, PA (Pittsburgh) Palace Theatre
Tue., Nov. 1 Tulsa, OK Tulsa Theater
Wed., Nov. 2 Omaha, NE The Holland Center
Thu., Nov. 3 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
Sat., Nov. 5 Phoenix, AZ Orpheum Theatre
Sun., Nov. 6 Silverado, CA Oak Canyon Park (Punk In The Park)
Tue., Nov. 8 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre
Wed., Nov. 9 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Thu., Nov. 10 Monterey, CA Golden State Theatre
Fri., Nov. 11 Reno, NV Silver Legacy Resort & Casino – Grande Expo Hall
Sun., Nov. 13 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
Wed., Nov. 16 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre
Thu., Nov. 17 Des Moines, IA Hoyt Sherman Place Theater
Fri., Nov. 18 Chesterfield, MO (St. Louis) The Factory
Sat., Nov. 19 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
