Yola Does It 'My Way' With New Music, A New Sound And A Listening Tour

Yola is preparing to hit the road on “My Way: An Intimate Tour,” described as a “fan-first touring experience” that will visit select, limited capacity rooms including Racket in New York City, The Atlantis in Washington, D.C., El Rey in Los Angeles, Terminal West in Atlanta and Basement East in Nashville where it launches March 6.

The tour is intended to give fans a first listen to Yola’s upcoming EP, My Way, landing May 24. The collection of songs marks a change in direction for the British songbird, whose previous albums, Walk Through Fire and Stand For Myself, were produced by Dan Auerbach to critical praise.

For My Way, Yola has enlisted Grammy Award-winning producer Sean Douglas, noted for his work with Lizzo, Chris Brown, Madonna, Selena Gomez and Sia.

Tickets.go on sale Friday, Jan. 19 at Yola’s website.

Over the last three years, Yola has averaged hard ticket sales of 847 per show for a gross of $28,528, while performing at numerous festivals including last year’s BeachLife Ranch, Pilgrimage Music & Culture Festival; FairWell Festival, Beale Street Music Festival, Old Settler’s Music Festival, and “Love Rising: Let Freedom Sing (And Dance).” She also opened tours for Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and The Lumineers.

My Way promises “a reintroduction of Yola to the industry on her own terms,” but with the same disregard for the constrictions of genre that she’s always put on full display, drawing on her influences including progressive R&B, electronica and dancefloor-ready synth pop.

Her new music is described as “a harmonious synergy of her most eclectic influences and is a sonic reset crushing any preconceptions in its wake” and tracks invite comparisons to Janet Jackson and En Vogue-era R&B, as well as Anita Baker and Parliament, all anchored by her exquisite vocals.

“Welcome to my new era: a utopia of black creativity, freedom and power,” Yola says in a statement. “I cannot wait for fans to hear my new music – written and conceived in rooms of diversity – inspired by music I’ve long loved from Janet Jackson to Anderson .Paak to Mary J. Blige. I’m taking these new songs on the road to play for fans to hear it first in intimate venues– true fans know I’ve always been genre-fluid, experimenting and reworking my catalogue through live performance to encompass my love of soul, R&B, electronica and beyond. If you’ve seen the shows you already know where this is heading. This new music is the culmination of that work. This project is also born of my desire to surround myself with creatives of color, to express myself on every level of making this music, and finally, to do this all my way.”

Yola is a six-time Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter, and actor who has achieved critical acclaim, breakout success, and has been proclaimed as one of the most exciting and innovative artists in music today. NPR called her latest album, Stand For Myself (2021), the “best soul record of the past 20 years”, while Rolling Stone championed her as “one of contemporary pop’s greatest singers, who just so happens to also be one of its sharpest songwriters.”

Yola made her acting debut as a founder of rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama, “Elvis,” and earned a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture.

TOUR DATES:

3/6 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East

3/8 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West

3/22 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns Session PBS Taping

3/25 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey

4/15 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis

4/18 – Manhattan, NY – Racket NYC