Credit: Zack WhitfordAerosmith‘s Steven Tyler officially has announced plans for his first solo tour, an intimate outing dubbed the “Out on a Limb” trek that will stop in theaters across North America. The 19-date tour kicks off July 2 in Las Vegas, and is scheduled to run through a September 13 concert in Toronto.
USA Today reports that Tyler’s shows will be similar to the Storytellers-style performance he taped last year for an episode of the public-television series Front and Center. Like at that gig, the 68-year-old singer will be accompanied on the trek by Loving Mary, a six-piece Nashville-based group whose lineup includes Steven’s frequent songwriting collaborator Marti Frederiksen. Fans can expect to hear stripped-down versions of Aerosmith classics, as well as tunes from Tyler’s upcoming debut solo album, while Steven tells USA Today that he also plans to discuss how his songs were created at the concerts.
“What would I not pay to go see [Paul] McCartney, but instead of playing with whoever he’s with now, actually do [a show] where he tells you what he was thinking when he wrote ‘Yesterday’?” Tyler explains to the newspaper. “That’s what I’m doing. I figured I’d talk about ‘Sweet Emotion’ and ‘Dream On’ and where I was when I wrote it, and ‘Seasons of Wither’ and how I played it.”
With regard to performing live with Loving Mary, Tyler says, “[I]t really is beautiful getting out there and singing with a band, where I can look at all the guys and go, ‘Stop playing right now’ and we’ll just sing a cappella. I’ve never been in a band like that, so it’s a whole new thing for me.”
Tyler has been working on an as-yet-untitled solo album in Nashville with producer T-Bone Burnett. No release date has been set yet for the project, which Steven says has “a full-on country feel.”
As for why he decided to take time off from Aerosmith to make a solo record, Tyler tells USA Today he felt “it was time for a little break. I’m such a passionate person that if I don’t go after my muse like that, I’ll wind up on drugs again. I’ll wind up arguing with people and just no good.”
Here are all of the confirmed dates on Tyler’s “Out on a Limb” tour:
7/2 — Las Vegas, NV, Venetian Theatre
7/5 — Los Angeles, CA, Dolby Theatre
7/8 — Seattle, WA, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
7/10 — Vancouver, BC, Canada, Orpheum Theatre
7/14 — San Francisco, CA, The Masonic
7/20 — Phoenix, AZ, Comerica Theatre
7/23 — Denver, CO, Ellie Caulkins Opera House
7/26 — Austin, TX, Bass Concert Hall
7/29 — Houston, TX, Brown Theater at Wortham Center
8/1 — Dallas, TX, Music Hall at Fair Park
8/13 — Chicago, IL, Chicago Theatre
8/17 — Nashville, TN, Andrew Jackson Hall at TPAC
8/23 — Washington, D.C., Warner Theatre
8/29 — Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall
9/1 — Atlanta, GA, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center
9/4 — Boston, MA, Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre
9/7 — Philadelphia, PA, Academy of Music
9/10 — Providence, RI, Providence Performing Arts Center
9/13 — Toronto, ON, Canada, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
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