On the heels of the June 19th release of “Nightflight”, her first solo
album in two years, and her first US live shows since Fall 2010,
chart-topping Australian singer/songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke is proud to
announce that she will return to the US in September and October to
support the Ben Folds Five on their eagerly awaited North American reunion
tour. These upcoming tour dates, which is BFF’s first tour in twelve
years, are a reunion for Kate as well as she opened for Ben on his solo
shows in Fall 2009 during her first US tour to support her critically
acclaimed debut stateside release “Curiouser”.
You can catch Kate and the Ben Folds Five in the following cities
(ADDITIONAL SHOWS TBA):
9/13/12 – HOLYOKE, MA – MOUNTAIN PARK AMPHITHEATRE
9/14 /12 – NEW YORK, NY – CENTRAL PARK RUMSEY FIELD
9/16/12 – CARY, NC – KOKA BOOTH AMPHITHEATRE
9/18/12 – ATLANTA, GA – TABERNACLE
9/19/12 – CHARLESTON, SC – NORTH CHARLESTON PAC
9/23/12 – DALLAS, TX – PALLADIUM BALLROOM
9/24/12 – AUSTIN, TX – STUBBS WALLER CREEK AMPHITHEATRE
9/25/12 – HOUSTON, TX – BAYOU MUSIC CENTER
9/28/12 – KANSAS CITY, MO – STARLIGHT
10/2/12 – DETROIT, MI – THE FILLMORE (TKTS ON SALE 7/20)
10/5/12 – BUFFALO, NY – KLEINHAN’S MUSIC HALL (TKTS ON SALE 7/20)
Over the last three years, Miller-Heidke has won over audiences with her
operatic vocal flair across the world – from Australia to Asia, the US and
UK, including highly praised performances at SXSW, Coachella and Lilith
Fair. The new disc, “Nightflight”, debuted at #2 in her home country and
the new album was previewed on a sold-out Australian tour following her
performance in “The Death Of Klinghoffer” for the English National Opera
in London. For the recent US release on Sony Music Entertainment
Australia, she has been in the States doing live shows in select markets
in June and July, including residencies at LA’s Hotel Café and NYC’s
Rockwood Music Hall (her last date there is tomorrow, Tuesday, July 17th).
Written between the frenetic jolt of London and the sleepy backwaters of
Toowoomba, Australia (which was hit by deadly floods in 2011),
“Nightflight” showcases songs about real people’s lives: family members
who have died, teenagers who went missing in the ‘90s, friends looking for
love in the wrong places and Kate’s own longing for home. In previous
albums, Kate has immersed herself in high cabaret drama, polished
electro-pop and heart-arresting ballads. With “Nightflight”, her mission
was simple: to focus on the craft of pure human storytelling with
clear-eyed clarity.
The record was produced by her collaborator/husband Keir Nuttall with
Lindsay Gravina (Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey, The Living End, Magic
Dirt) in his Birdland studio in Prahran, Melbourne and mixed by Cenzo
Townshend (Florence And The Machine, Kaiser Chiefs). Recorded over two
months in Melbourne, “Nighflight” is made up of eleven songs in which we
see Kate meditate on homesickness, mortality, love and surrender, in an
album that is both sonically lush and emotionally stark, deeply personal
and yet utterly panoramic.
Acording to Kate, “Everything I’ve ever done has been a reaction against
the previous thing.” She continues, “’Nightflight’ is definitely a more
vulnerable and exposed record than anything I’ve done before. If
‘Curiouser’ was a playful, dysfunctional adolescent, ‘Nightflight’ is more
like a damaged, melancholy person in her late 20s. With ‘Nightflight’, we
wanted something darker and more organic, more beautiful and more
expansive.”
Although nominated for an ARIA for Breakthrough Single from her Australian
debut record “Little Eve” in 2007, Miller-Heide’s innovative,
occasionally-operatic, sci-fi pop music first began to be known worldwide
in 2009 as she developed an ever-growing hoard of devotees thanks to her
viral hit, “Are You F**king Kidding Me? (The Facebook Song)”, which had
the Twitterati buzzing.
Her 2010 US debut “Curiouser”, which went to #1 in Australia and double
platinum, featured the NPR “Song of the Day” honored single “Caught In The
Crowd”, which addressed the serious subject of teenage bullying based on a
recognizable real story of lingering childhood regret. With this song,
Kate and her collaborator/husband Keir Nuttall made history as the first
Australians to win the Grand Prize in the prestigious International
Songwriting Competition (based in Nashville). The song was handpicked from
more than 17,000 entries to woo judges including Tom Waits, The Shins’
James Mercer, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Neil Finn and The Kinks’ Ray
Davies.
Last Fall, she grabbed the attention of TV viewers and radio listeners in
the New York area when her irresistibly catchy track, “Are You Ready?”
(from the record “Liberty Bell”, created by her electronic side project),
was used regularly for the NY Lottery campaigns.
Known for having some of the most gloriously elastic vocal chords in
contemporary music, Kate’s unique vocal and performance dynamics, learnt
through early operatic training, have made her distinctly unforgettable.
In one song, she will sound as hushed and intimate as a lover before
sleep, before reverberating with an operatic force so great, it seems
possible walls might collapse and time will fold in on itself.
http://www.katemillerheidke.com
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