As first reported here last month, former Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard will begin Jan. 26 in Athens, Ga., two days after the release of his debut solo release for Merge, “From a Compound Eye.”
So far, dates are scattered through late April, but more are expected to be added, including a mid-March appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
Pollard will be backed by guitarist/keyboardist Tommy Kenne, Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster, former Verbow/Bob Mould Band bassist Jason Narducy and guitarist Dave Phillips, formerly of Frank Black and the Catholics.
“I don’t think it will be much different than a Guided By Voices show,” Pollard told Billboard.com of the upcoming tour. “I don’t know how else to do it. It’s not going to be me sitting at the piano with a spotlight on me. I’ll get drunk, come out and stumble around!”
The artist has not ruled out performing GBV material during the shows. “First of all, there are 26 songs on ‘From a Compound Eye,’ and we’re going to do 22 or 23 of them,” he says. “That’s a big chunk of the show. I’ll do a few songs from some of my EPs, two or three from the [side project] Moping Swans, and there’s a Circus Devils song I want to do. I may do eight or nine songs from old Robert Pollard albums, and maybe a GBV song or two in the regular set. Then, maybe an entire Guided By Voices encore.”
Here are Robert Pollard’s tour dates:
Jan. 26: Athens, Ga. (40-Watt Club)
Jan. 27: Carrboro, N.C. (Cat’s Cradle)
Jan. 28: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Feb. 9: Cleveland (Beachland Ballroom)
Feb. 10: Columbus, Ohio (Little Brother’s)
Feb. 11: Newport, Ky. (Southgate House)
Feb. 24: Los Angeles (Knitting Factory)
Feb. 25: San Francisco (the Independent)
Feb. 27: Portland, Ore. (Doug Fir Lounge)
Feb. 28: Seattle (Crocodile Cafe)
March 30: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
March 31: Chicago (Metro)
April 1: Detroit (St. Andrews Hall)
April 20: New York (Irving Plaza)
April 21: Boston (Paradise)
April 22: Philadelphia (TLA)
