The Black Keys will support their new album, Brothers (due out May 18 on Nonesuch Records) with a summer tour beginning June 2 in Salt Lake City. The tour will include a newly added second show at Central Park's SummerStage on July 28 that follows the band's July 27 performance, which quickly sold out.
The Black Keys will also be playing select dates in April and May, highlighted by an opening slot for Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 20, as well as performances on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on May 25 and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on May 26.
Brothers arrives on the heels of three other acclaimed projects the band released in the past year: Dan Auerbach's solo effort, Keep It Hid, the debut LP from Patrick Carney's band Drummer, and Blakroc, a collaboration between The Black Keys and renowned MCs including RZA, Mos Def, Q-Tip, and Raekwon.
The new album includes the Danger Mouse-produced song "Tighten Up" (streaming now on the band's MySpace: myspace.com/theblackkeys) and a cover of the Jerry Butler classic "Never Gonna Give You Up." The remaining songs on Brothers are written, performed and produced by The Black Keys. Carney admits Brothers is the album they've always wanted to make and taps into their creative force as a duo. "Dan and I grew up a lot as individuals and musicians prior to making this album. Our relationship was tested in many ways but at the end of the day, we're brothers, and I think these songs reflect that."
Carney and Auerbach recorded the bulk of the album at the legendary Alabama studio Muscle Shoals with additional sessions at Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound System in Akron, OH and The Bunker in Brooklyn, NY. Muscle Shoals, an old building located in the sparse Alabama town that lends the studio its name, has produced iconic recordings from The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, and Wilson Pickett, among many others. Of the album, Auerbach says, "We like spooky sounds
like Alice Coltrane, where a dark groove is laid down. That's the headspace we tried to get into for this record."
With the exception of a handful of tracks, co-production duties were handled by Mark Neill. The record was mixed by Tchad Blake. Carney explains the sound the band wanted for this record: "We are big fans of Tchad Blake. The way he approaches mixing is the same way we approach making music. Respecting the past while being in the present. The mixes he did for us on Blakroc impressed us so much we knew he had to mix Brothers."
THE BLACK KEYS TOUR DATES
*with Mondo Drag
with Brian Olive
§with The Morning Benders
April 8 University of Iowa Memorial Iowa City, IA*
April 10 Yuri's Night Bay Area 2010 San Francisco, CA
April 17 Wanee Music Festival Live Oak, FL
April 18 The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater Miami, FL
April 19 The House of Blues Orlando, FL
May 20 Madison Square Garden New York, NY
May 25 "Late Show with David Letterman" New York, NY
May 26 "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" New York, NY
June 2 The Depot Salt Lake City, UT
June 3 The Fillmore Denver, CO
June 4 The Crossroads Kansas City, MO
June 8 First Ave Minneapolis, MN
June 9 First Ave Minneapolis, MN
June 10 The Pagaent St. Louis, MO
June 11 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN
July 27 Central Park SummerStage New York, NY§
July 28 Central Park SummerStage New York, NY§
BROTHERS FULL TRACK LIST
1. "Everlasting Light"
2. "Next Girl"
3. "Tighten Up"
4. "Howlin' For You"
5. "She's Long Gone"
6. "Black Mud"
7. "The Only One"
8. "Too Afraid To Love You"
9. "Ten Cent Pistol"
10. "Sinister Kid"
11. "The Go Getter"
12. "I'm Not The One"
13. "Unknown Brother"
14. "Never Gonna Give You Up"
15. "These Days"
