Jeremy Spencer: Original Fleetwood Mac Guitarist Announces 2014 US Tour & New Release 'Coventry Blue'

Original Fleetwood Mac Guitarist Jeremy Spencer Announces 2014 US Tour & New Release 'Coventry Blue'

"Dublin, Ireland - Jeremy Spencer’s fans in the US have long been waiting for his return. In fact, except for a few brief US appearances (in 2006 and 2010), 43 years have passed since Jeremy last toured the US (with Fleetwood Mac in 1971). Jeremy announced today that he is scheduled to tour the US in February and March of 2014, initially booking venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Jeremy has launched a Kickstarter Campaign offering advance premiums that will extend his tour to other cities in the US and fund the new CD. Kickstarter supporters will be eligible to receive pre-release downloads of “Coventry Blue”, autographed CDs or LPs, original artwork or private concerts. There will also be an exclusive 2014 Tour Club that will provide exclusive video and audio live updates from the tour.

Kickstarter URL:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeremyspencer/jeremy-spencer-2014-tour-and-new-album-coventry-bl

Jeremy Spencer is renowned as a consummate slide guitar player with the years only enhancing his subtlety and taste. He still is the foremost Elmore James stylist alive - bar none. Jeremy can and does tear it up, retaining his verve, passion and devotion to the blues, but now he brings a cultivated maturity, assured conviction and compositional purpose that are truly sublime. His songs come via his intimate journey from the spiritual core of his heart and connect profoundly with listeners. The original Fleetwood Mac were Britain's most authentic blues band during the sixties boom before morphing into mega-million selling pop celebrity. Their beloved alliance remains an historic testament to the era's meeting of generations, melding of continents and shared musical devotion.

This tour will afford Jeremy the opportunity to display his many facets with a wider evolved guitar pallet as displayed on Bend. At last he will deliver live on the record with its haunting melodies and exquisite guitar harmonies as well as select mighty Mac blues and rock n' roll in his inimitable style. Expect his alternatively dirty and precise Elmore James slide stings; he'll delve deep into blues nuggets that he discerningly curates and revitalize the primordial rock that he spot on mimicked famously and comically on stage with the Mac. Further treat is his expansive range of influences from Django Reinhardt to Marty Robbins to Mark Knopfler, fingering them effortlessly and seamlessly incorporating them into his own compositions as natural an easy fit as that of his beloved ceramic slides. Jeremy's tour return to these shores at a creative pinnacle makes this a rare opportunity for fans.

“Bend in the Road” has garnered rave reviews:

“Making a full-blown return now, the veteran released his fifth solo album, ""Bend in the Road"", that shows the master hasn't lost a bit of his youthfulness. Spencer is in his element on this collection of newer cuts and classics such as Otis Rush's punchy, mesmeric ""Homework"" and Homesick James' ""Homesick"". They all feature that mythical slide, but Jeremy also plays a fine piano that breaks the album in the middle from classy to exceptional. But the genuine magic settles in after an ivories-lighted, deep ""Merciful Sea"", marries widescreen anger to a pacifying sway in an alchemic manner which can move mountains and souls. And then there's peaceful title song to elegantly sign it all off - and leave Jeremy's fans wanting more. The road goes on, so may Spencer's time be long.” - Dmitry M. Epstein, “Let it Rock”

“Jeremy Spencer, the Fleetwood Mac alum, has found inspiration in working with new voices, old masters and his own muse — creating an album of intimate, handmade joys that moves confidently from blues to Americana to rootsy pop. Bend in the Road, recalls in many ways the Elmore James-focused contributions he made to Fleetwood Mac’s first pair of Peter Green-led recordings in the late 1960s. But there’s much more than that going on here. Spencer, the roving gypsy heart of this project, finds inspiration everywhere — switching to keyboards on tracks like the majestically restrained “Merciful Sea” and James’ sizzling “Cry for Me Baby,” while uncovering inspirational wellsprings that reside far beyond the iconic Delta cottonfields and shotgun shacks of traditional acoustic blues. In the end, this gives Bend in the River the feel of a career valedictory. It’s gloriously hard to pin down — something personified in standout tracks like “Homework,” which finds Spencer howling like old rock and stinging like Otis Rush, all over a loose groove that would have been right at home on an Eric Clapton solo recording from the early 1970s. It’s that kind of record. The very good kind.” – Nick DeRiso, “Something Else Reviews”

“Bend in the Road” admirably demonstrates why Spencer’s in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Impeccably picked notes are still the trademark of Spencer’s guitar-picking, and it begins with the first cut, “Homesick,” a loping blues. Spencer’s slidework on “Whispering Fields,” an instrumental, sounds like silk sliding on satin. No string screech, no missteps, just pure, clean slidework, a maestro at his best. Spencer’s long absence from the public eye is our loss. Let’s hope he’s back to stay. There’s a certain serenity that pervades this album that goes beyond the eye of the beholder, and the twelfth cut, another instrumental, “Merciful Sea,” exemplifies it.” - Lou Novacheck, “Elmore Magazine”

""Bend in the Road"" finds Jeremy Spencer doing what he does best, delivering quality blues. It's a great album filled with many exceptional cuts, once again assuring that Spencer will forever be remembered as one of the greats. And what's best? He is far from done. Be ready for some more music to surface in time to come.” - Mark Kadzielawa, “69 Faces of Rock”

“In following up “Precious Little,” his notable 2006 comeback, Jeremy Spencer has crafted his fifth and finest solo release. Maybe “Precious Little” was Spencer’s way of getting his studio legs back after a nearly three-decade absence from recording. Or perhaps choosing to make “Bend in the Road” a collaboration gave it that extra oomph. Then again, it could simply be — as he told The Oakland (Mich.) Press in January 2010 — that “I’ve got so much material ’cause I’ve just been, like, dormant. I just turned 61, so you do kind of want to get it out while you can and show people what you’ve got.” Whatever the reason, “Bend” is a startling achievement for the founding Fleetwood Mac slide guitarist.” – Peter Hund, “Good New Music”

Jeremy Spencer tour dates:

Feb 12: Fingerprints Long Beach, CA - In Store
Feb 13: Largo at the Coronet, Los Angeles, CA
Feb 14: LeStats, San Diego, CA
Feb 15: Westwood Music Workshop
Feb 16: Soho, Santa Barbara, CA
Feb 17: The Chapel, SF, CA
Feb 19: Moe's Alley, Santa Cruz, CA
Feb 20: Minor's Foundry, Nevada City, CA
Feb 21: Palm's Playhouse, Winters, CA
Feb 22: Freight & Salvage Workshop, SF
Feb 28: Winchester Hall, Cleveland, OH
Mar 1: Callahan's, Detroit. MI
Mar 2: The Ark, Ann Arbor. MI
Mar 6: Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Mar 7: Buddy Guy's Legends, Chicago, IL
Mar 8: Rosas Lounge, Chicago, IL
Mar 9: Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
Mar 12: Love & War, Plano TX
Mar 13: Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX
Mar 20: Regatta Bar, Cambridge MA
Mar 21: Black Eyed Sallys, Hartford, CT
Mar 22: Passim Workshop
Mar 22: Bearsville Theater, Woodstock NY
Mar 23: Turning Point, Piermont NY
Mar 24: BB Kings Blues Bar, NY
Mar 25: Blues Alley, Washington, DC
Mar 27: Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
Mar 28: Splatter Concerts, NJ
Mar 30: Jalopy Theater, Brooklyn, NY

www.JeremySpencer.com
www.JeremySpencerTour.com

Jeremy Spencer: Bend In The Road after Fleetwood Mac

http://jeremyspencer.com

San Francisco, CA - On April 21st, legendary guitarist Jeremy Spencer, an original member of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and featured artist on Propelz, released a limited edition double vinyl album titled 'Bend In The Road' for International Record Store Day. The release packs a “vintage vibe” by way of Jeremy’s handmade touch, fusing his artistry as a consummate slide guitarist, singer/songwriter, interpreter, and illustrator. His evocative watercolor graces the timeless gatefold cover, recalling enduring albums when records were the sum of their parts and made with consequence. Within is an equally crafted collection of songs coming from the deepest core of his heart. He sounds as authentically tasty and fiery as ever, displaying a far wider guitar palette, insight, and conviction that have continued to evolve since his long absence from the public eye. On August 28, 2012 Jeremy Spencer's 'Bend In The Road' will be released on CD worldwide with a new package design.

In Fleetwood Mac, Jeremy shared the spotlight with reticent star-super nova Peter Green, embodying Elmore James riffs and vocals obsessively and uncannily. He possessed an equal fervor and absolute command of quintessential early rock and roll, personifying personal hero Buddy Holly and his ilk spot on. On 'Bend In The Road,' the Elmore and Buddy influences and impeccable blues and rock rendering remain intact and vibrant, while also present is a new collaborative nature. He selflessly trades guitar licks and support with Brett Lucas (the young Detroit guitarist and aficionado who co-produced the album and whose band augments the proceedings) in the way Green and Kirwan shared on the iconic "Albatross", the torching "Like It This Way" and the introspective "World In Harmony". On the album’s elegant "Merciful Sea", producer Brett managed to persuade Jeremy to reveal his hereto unsung, intimate, and affecting piano playing for all to marvel. Throughout the full 32 tracks recorded at this time, one can hear an expansive range of influences from Django to Marty Robbins. Jeremy plays effortlessly while seamlessly incorporating these influences and making them his own, as natural and easy of a fit as that of his beloved ceramic slides.

This record is a career culmination of technique meeting soul that has a transcendent, “Layla-esque,” quality. With its escalating and emotive sequence of songs, which are spiritually driven and invested (recalling LPs of yore, but without sounding dated), the album instead sounds intoxicatingly assured, relaxed, and out of the blue resonant.

The Special Limited 2-LP Gatefold Edition released on Record Store Day, April 21st, 2012, contains 17 tracks, 4 of which are exclusive: Jambo, Strange Woman, The Sun is Shining, and Blind Lover (but without the song Homework, which only appears on the CD).

In 2006 Jeremy Spencer released his album 'Precious Little', which met with enthusiastic reviews and marked a new beginning for Jeremy after virtually disappearing from the music world for 33 years.

Press surrounding 'Bend In The Road' includes:

"I had chills up my spine listening to it tonight, and when I heard 'Aphrodite' the first time a few days ago, I was literally right back into 'Then Play On' territory...couldn't believe it...an instant classic right there." Rick Frystak, Amoeba Records

"Inside is a collection of songs that come from Spencer's love of the blues. It's an intimate journey but one that will connect profoundly and repeatedly with listeners." Clive Rawlings, Blues Matters

"An album I am sure will satisfy all good music lovers, from those who loved the original Fleetwood Mac, to the younger ones, who enjoy pop music, blues, rock, classical music, soul... So, if you like good music, this album is perfect for you." Vincent Zumel, La Hora del Blues

" 'Bend In The Road' flows with the ease of a master craftsman at the top of his game. His obvious skill and passion for what he does makes this disc impossible for me to remove from the player. It has simply mesmerized me." Monte Adkinson, Suncoast Blues Society

'Precious Little' left Blues aficionados eager for more… and now, six years later, Jeremy Spencer has put together a masterpiece with his new release, 'Bend in the Road'.

For more Information: http://jeremyspencer.com/