Kinks principal Ray Davies will tease his upcoming solo debut with the “Thanksgiving Day” EP, due Nov. 22 via V2. A portion of the proceeds from the collection will benefit New Orleans music education programs. The title track, which will premiere Nov. 15 via iTunes, was inspired by a 1999 Thanksgiving dinner experience with a New England family.
“What struck me was that it was more like the family Christmas I enjoyed as a child growing up in London,” Davies says. “Thanksgiving is a time for sharing and even though they throw up their eyes as though it were a chore, family members traditionally gather for a reunion at the house of the oldest relative.”
Appropriately, Davies will perform “Thanksgiving Day” on Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.” The week after, the artist will play a one-off show in New York, with date and place to be determined.
The EP is rounded out by an alternate mix of the title cut, “Yours Truly, Confused N10” (first recorded in 2002 with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra) and two selections from Davies’ 1998 album “The Storyteller”: the title track and “London Song.”
Davies’ long-awaited solo album, “Other People’s Lives,” is due Feb. 7 via V2. A live version of another tune from the set, “The Tourist,” can be found on a recently released import-only EP of the same name, which is also available via iTunes.
Additional U.S. dates are in the works in support of the project.
