When news broke that Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield were dropping an entire album of Elliott Smith covers, our first question was, "When are they coming to town?" The answer is "soon," as the duo will be hitting up 13 different U.S. cities this spring in support of their forthcoming disc Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith.
"With a considerable portion of the setlist being comprised of covers by another artist, Jessica and I are certainly heading into unchartered territory," Avett said in a statement. "I'm expecting these performances to be among the most intimate of our lives to date."
Here are the tour dates (via Diffuser.fm):
03/10: McGlohon Theatre - Charlotte, NC
03/11: The Birchmere - Alexandria, VA
03/12: Town Hall Theatre - New York, NY
03/14: Keswick Theatre - Glenside, PA
03/17: James K. Polk Theatre/TPAC - Nashville, TN
03/18: Southern Theatre - Columbus, OH
03/20: Athenaeum Theatre - Chicago, IL
03/22: Fitzgerald Theatre - St. Paul, MN
03/24: Boulder Theatre - Boulder, CO
03/26: Neptune Theatre - Seattle, WA
03/27: Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
03/29: Palace of Fine Arts - San Francisco, CA
03/31: Wilshire Ebell Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
As previously reported, the idea for a tribute album began in 2011 in Concord, N.C., and was recorded over the following three years. As Mayfield points out in a promotional video for the album (seen below), Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith relies on taking Smith's original melodies and making them their own.
The disc is due March 17, and tickets for the tour go on sale Jan. 23 via the duo's website, which is apparently in the middle of being reupholstered.
