Credit: Rob ShanahanRingo Starr kicks off a U.S. tour leg with his All Starr Band tonight in Syracuse, New York, and to celebrate the new trek, he’s holding a press conference live from the Lakeview Amphitheater that will be streamed online at his official Facebook page at 3:45 p.m. ET. At the event, Ringo and his band mates will take part in a Q&A and will play a few tunes.
As the trek gets underway, the ex-Beatles drummer tells Billboard he’s well into recording a new studio album, which he’s hoping to release in early 2017.
Starr reveals that he has eight songs in the works that mainly need lyrics before they’re complete, among them two tracks he’s co-writing with Toto and All Starr Band guitarist Steve Lukather that he plans to finish while the group’s on the road.
“We’ve got the tracks down; now we have to write the words,” Ringo explains. “We know where it’s going. We’ve got the idea. We’ve got the first verse of one of them. The second will be a ballad.”
Another song earmarked for the album’s was written with his frequent collaborator Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and originally was intended for a country album Ringo planned to make. He now says he’ll do the country project at a later date.
Starr’s last album, 2015’s Postcards from Paradise, included the “Island in the Sun,” the first tune ever co-written by an All Starr Band lineup. He tells Billboard he isn’t sure there’ll be a similar collaboration on this record, since some of the All Starrs, like Todd Rundgren and founding Santana singer/keyboardist Gregg Rolie, may not be available because of outside musical commitments.
Meanwhile, Starr admits to Billboard that although he tends to consider retiring from the road at the end of each All Starr Band trek, he’s enjoys playing with the group so much that he inevitably agrees to keep touring.
Here are the remaining All Starr Band U.S. dates:
6/3 — Syracuse, NY, Lakeview Amphitheater
6/4 — Salamanca, NY, Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino
6/5 — Port Chester, NY, Capitol Theatre
6/7 — Englewood, NJ, Bergen Performing Arts Center
6/8 — Bangor, ME, Cross Insurance Center
6/10 — Gilford, NH, Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
6/11 — Worcester, MA, DCU Center
6/12 — Reading, PA, Santander Arena
6/14 — Wilkes-Barre, PA, FM Kirby Center
6/15 — Staten Island, NY, St. George Theatre
6/17 — Washington, D.C., Warner Theatre
6/18 — Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium
6/19 — Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium
6/21 — Fort Wayne, IN, Foellinger Theatre
6/22 — Cincinnati, OH, PNC Pavilion
6/23 — Detroit, MI, Fox Theatre
6/25 — Lincoln, NE, Pinewood Bowl Theater
6/26 — Wichita, KS, Hartman Arena
6/28 — Denver, CO, Paramount Theatre
7/1 — San Diego, CA, Humphreys Concerts
7/2 — Los Angeles, CA, The Greek Theatre
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
