Songsmith KRIS GRUEN Confirms Bi-Coastal Tour Dates And CMJ Appearance In Support Of Sophomore Release PART OF IT ALL
October 28, 2010Son Of Famed Rock Photographer Bob Gruen Shares Personal Stories Of Love, Relationships And Family
Vermont -based singer-songwriter Kris Gruen (www.krisgruen.com) confirmed that he is set to make his College Music Journal (CMJ) debut on October 23, in New York City at the Living Room.
Additionally, Gruen plans to tour both the East and West Coasts in support of his new CD Part Of It All. Confirmed tour dates include:
11/01 @ Mississippi Pizza, Portland OR
11/03 @ Linfield College, McMinnville, OR
11/04 @ Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
11/07 @ The Alternative Cafe, Seaside, CA
11/08 @ Rose’s Landing Morro Bay, CA
11/10 @ Zoey’s, Ventura, CA
11/11 @ Molly Malone’s Los Angeles CA
additional tour dates to be added
Released on April 20, 2010 via Mother West (www.motherwest.com), Part Of It All is a collection of songs about Gruen’s relationships, past and present, to his family, his partner, society and the world. Touching on the dark and light sides of competing career goals in a committed relationship (“Part Of It All,” “Euphoria”), childhood ghosts and influences (“Memoir,” “Red Doors”) and politico-social agendas (“Dunrovan’s Farm,” “Activist”), Gruen’s storytelling is intimate yet universal. “I want to be available in each song,” says Gruen. “Not just to a small group interested in a tiny piece of what I may have to say, but to everyone who may be able to relate to these experiences.”
Familial relationships helped serve Part Of It All, with Gruen’s half-brother JJ Beck taking on co-production honors alongside Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields, AM, Soko, The Black Kids), while playing a few instruments and bringing in some friends such as drummer Butch Norton (The Eels, Lucinda Williams, Rufus Wainright), bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Dixie Chicks), Nashville’s Jason Goforth on lapsteel, and drummer Nick Brown from New York City’s The Dig.
A music video for the song “Red Doors” will be released this fall. In the song Kris reminisces about growing up in NYC as a child, and the video is sprinkled with unreleased photos taken during that period from rock photographer Bob Gruen’s personal collection.
