Violent Femmes announce tour dates; appear on Colbert tomorrow

VIOLENT FEMMES WILL   DO ANYTHING ON UPCOMING HEADLINE TOUR   NORTH AMERICAN DATES BEGIN MAY 2ND   AT THE DEPOT IN SALT LAKE CITY, UT   NEW SINGLE, "MEMORY," LIGHTING IT UP AT RADIO NATIONWIDE   FIRST US NETWORK TV APPEARANCE IN 16 YEARS SET FOR TOMORROW ON CBS' LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT   WE CAN DO ANYTHING ARRIVES AT LAST ON FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH   PANDORA EXCLUSIVELY ALBUM STREAM TO LAUNCH FEBRUARY 25TH

(New York, NY) - Violent Femmes have announced the first North American dates of their upcoming world tour. The trek - which celebrates the legendary band's hugely anticipated new album, WE CAN DO ANYTHING, due March 4th via [PIAS] - gets underway May 2nd at Salt Lake City, UT's The Depot and then travels through the month (complete dates below). Additional dates will be unveiled soon - for updates and complete ticket information, please visit www.vfemmes.com/tour.   WE CAN DO ANYTHING is available for pre-order now at all leading online music retailers. In addition, a number of special bundles are on sale at the official Violent Femmes store, with extras including an exclusive screen print poster, limited edition gold vinyl, t-shirts, and much more. Pandora will exclusively stream the complete album beginning February 25th.   DIGITAL CD VINYL   Violent Femmes will herald WE CAN DO ANYTHING with their first network TV live performance in 16 years. The performance of the acclaimed new single, "Memory" is slated for tomorrow, February 23rd, on CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert (check local listings).   "Memory" is shaping up as another Violent Femmes favorite, charting on the back of widespread airplay on college radio and multi-format alternative outlets nationwide. "Memory" premiered last month exclusively via NPR Music, noting the track "feels like a classic...'Memory' has the playful quirkiness, infectious beats and jittery observations of the band's earliest work, from the 1980s. But teen angst is replaced with middle-aged irritation."   Violent Femmes will spend March on an epic tour across Australia and New Zealand, highlighted by a co-headline trek alongside Hoodoo Gurus, Sunnyboys, and Died Pretty as well as top billed sets at such festivals as Adelaide, AU's WOMADedlaide (March 11th) and Meredith, AU's Golden Plains (March 13th). As if that weren't enough, Violent Femmes has just been announced among the star-studded line-up for Radio 104.5's 9th Birthday Show at Camden, NJ's BB&T Pavilion, slated for June 17th. Additional US festival dates will be announced soon.   Violent Femmes' ninth studio album and first full-length collection in more than 15 years, WE CAN DO ANYTHING is among the most provocative and playful in the band's remarkable canon. As the title makes plain, founding Femmes Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (acoustic bass guitar, vocals) remain intrepid as ever before, traversing infinite genre and emotion via their immediately identifiable mash of rambunctious folk, minimalist punk, cubist blues, cosmic jazz, and back porch rock 'n' roll.   Violent Femmes came together in 1981 and were quickly applauded as one of the most inventive and original bands of the era, constantly pushing forward with their singular blend of folk and punk, sarcasm and spirituality. The Milwaukee-based band first attracted attention while busking in front of their hometown's Oriental Theatre. The performance caught the ears of that night's headliners, Pretenders Chrissie Hynde and the late James Honeyman-Scott, who invited the young group to open the sold out concert with a brief acoustic set. From there Violent Femmes released eight studio albums and more than a dozen iconic singles, among them such classics as "American Music," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Nightmares, "Add It Up," and of course, "Blister In The Sun." Violent Femmes' remarkable three-decade-plus career has earned them cumulative worldwide sales in excess of 10 million, with 1983's VIOLENT FEMMES awarded with RIAA platinum certification eight years after its initial release.   The turn of the millennium saw Violent Femmes begin a long hiatus from the studio, only coming together to record a 2009 cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" - returning the favor after Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse's psychedelic soul version of "Gone Daddy Gone" proved a worldwide smash. Violent Femmes officially returned to full time action in 2013 with an acclaimed performance at Coachella before embarking on a wide-ranging tour that included headline dates and ecstatically received festival sets around the world.   Violent Femmes captured their fresh momentum on the 2015 EP, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Recorded in Hobart between sold out shows at the world famous Sydney Opera House and Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, the EP was cut live in the studio - no baffling, no isolation booth, "the right production approach for the music that we make," says Ritchie.   WE CAN DO ANYTHING was recorded last year as Violent Femmes traveled North America on a hugely successful tour alongside Barenaked Ladies. At seven weeks, the "Last Summer On Earth 2015 Tour" was the longest live trek for the Femmes in over a decade and its effect was to sharpen the already integrated unit even further. The trek saw Gano and Ritchie fronting a seven piece combo featuring versatile drummer Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, Nine Inch Nails) as well as the one and only Horns of Dilemma, Violent Femmes' ever-evolving cabal of multi-instrumentalist backing musicians. Veteran Horn of Dilemma Jeff Hamilton took on the producer role, overseeing the recording by virtue of expertise, expediency, and his long creative relationship with Violent Femmes.   Initial tracks were recorded in Brooklyn followed by a few additional stops at studios across the country. The Nashville sessions saw Violent Femmes and the Horns of Dilemma blowing at full gale live in the studio, busting out explosive arrangements that veer on a dime from hard charging stomp to intimate melancholy. The sessions showcase the indispensible contributions of such longtime Horns as percussionist John Sparrow and saxophonist Blaise Garza - a Horn of Dilemma since he was 14 years old. Additional fuel came from Barenaked Ladies' Kevin Hearn, who stepped off his own tour bus to lend accordion, guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals.   Though it will come as no surprise to the band's legion of loyal supporters, WE CAN DO ANYTHING affirms Violent Femmes as a vital and contemporary musical force, its joyous sound and ageless energy suggesting the universe will be graced with more music before the passing of another decade.     VIOLENT FEMMES ON TOUR 2016   MAY 2 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot 3 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre 5 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl 6 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay 7 - Los Angeles, CA  - Orpheum Theatre 8 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory 10 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore 11 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore 13 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom 14 - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market 15 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom 17 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory 18 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Concert House 19 - Missoula, MT - The Wilma