Van Morrison announces 37th studio album
'Roll with the Punches' will be out in September, with a full UK tour in November
Sir Van Morrison has announced his new album ‘Roll with the Punches’ will be released on September 22 including a selection of rhythm and blues classics (by the likes of Bo Diddley, Mose Allison, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Lightnin’ Hopkins) alongside original material. The first single ‘Transformation’ is out now. The LP is self-produced and includes a number of high profile collaborators including Georgie Fame, Jeff Beck, Paul Jones and Jason Rebello.
Van commented: "From a very early age, I connected with the blues. The thing about the blues is you don’t dissect it – you just do it. I’ve never over-analysed what I do; I just do it. Music has to be about just doing it and that’s the way the blues works – it’s an attitude. I was lucky to have met people who were the real thing – people like John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Witherspoon, Bo Diddley, Little Walter & Mose Allison. I got to hang out with them and absorb what they did. They were people with no ego whatsoever and they helped me learn a lot. The songs on 'Roll With The Punches' - whether I’ve written them or not - they’re performance oriented. Each song is like a story and I’m performing that story. That’s been forgotten over years because people over-analyse things. I was a performer before I started writing songs and I’ve always felt like that’s what I do.”
His UK tour dates include...
November 6 Edinburgh Playhouse
November 7 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
November 12 London Eventim Apollo
November 13 Birmingham Symphony Hall
November 15 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
November 20 Cardiff St Davids Hall
November 21 Bristol Colston Hall
November 24 Torquay Princess Theatre
November 25 Plymouth Pavilions
December 4 Europa Hotel, Belfast
December 5 Europa Hotel, Belfast