The Bird and the Bee have announced a new album titled Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen. The new album, set for release on Aug. 2 on No Expectations/Release Me Records, is a collection of covers of some of the most massive and wild songs from David Lee Roth-era Van Halen. They’ve also debuted a rework of “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love,” which appears on Van Halen’s 1987 self-titled debut.
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In support of the new album, the duo (vocalist Inara George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin) will embark on a 15-date North American tour. The 2019 trek will kick off in Los Angeles at John Anson Ford Amphitheater with a special one-off performance featuring Dave Grohl on drums and Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass. The special guests will perform with The Bird and The Bee on the album’s release date (Aug. 2).
The tour will run through Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin and more. The final show will be on Aug. 30 at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. Support for the tour will include Samantha Sidley, Alex Lilly and DJ Aaron Exelson on select dates.
“When I want to listen to hard-rock music there’s still nothing that hits me like” Van Halen does, Kurstin said in a release. “Every time I hear them it takes me back to when I first found them on the radio, and it felt so dangerous to me — like they were from a whole other world. It would be so great if people who would never usually listen to Van Halen heard this record, and then ended up falling in love with them too.”
The Bird and The Bee’s admiration for Van Halen was previously documented in their song “Diamond Dave,” which describes George’s high school crush on the Roth. A re-recorded piano/vocal version of “Diamond Dave” will appear on the new album.
“I remember being 10 years old and seeing their videos and feeling both excited and totally terrified — I responded to them in this very visceral way,” George said in a release.
Produced by Kurstin, who has won multiple Grammys for his work with Adele and others, the new album features guest musicians including Meldal-Johnsen (known for his work with Beck and Nine Inch Nails) and drummers Joey Waronker (R.E.M., Elliott Smith) and Omar Hakim (David Bowie, Miles Davis).
The Van Halen cover album follows the duo’s 2015 album Recreational Love and their 2010 covers LP Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates.
Listen to “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love” below, and check out a full list of tour dates after the jump.
The Bird and The Bee Tour Dates
08/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theater
08/11 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
08/12 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
08/14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
08/15- Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre
08/16 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
08/17- Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
08/20 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
08/21- Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
08/22 – Birmingham, AL @ The Saturn
08/24 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
08/25 – Austin, TX @ Parish
08/28- Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
08/29 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
08/30 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop