Features
Dave Stewart Dusts Off His Songbook
Stewart will launch the trek August 28 at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio, and wrap things up September 21 at 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
Other destinations include Ravinia Festival in Chicago suburb Highland Park, Ill. (August 29), Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta (August 31), The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif. (September 6), Royal Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia (September 9), Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary (September 13), The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City (September 18) and The Capitol One Bank Theatre at Westbury in New York (September 20).
Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster.com beginning April 19.
In addition to hits from Eurythmics like “Sweet Dreams” and “Here Comes the Rain Again,” the set-list features tracks penned by Stewart including Tom Petty‘s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” No Doubt‘s “Underneath It All,” Mick Jagger‘s Golden Globe-winning “Old Habits Die Hard,” Celine Dion‘s recent chart-topper “Taking Chances” and many more.
Stewart is excited about hitting the road and giving his songs a fresh coat of paint.
“This isn’t so much a look back but a new beginning,” said Stewart. “When stuff has been put away for a while and you dust it off, you often see something you’ve never seen before. And before you know it, you’re on the road with a 30-piece orchestra!
“I have a great band, as well as an orchestra and some amazing female voices to sing with me. Annie and I wrote over 100 songs together in Eurythmics and it was difficult to choose which ones to play, but who could turn down playing ‘Sweet Dreams’ or ‘Here comes the Rain Again’ live again with an Orchestra!”
In August, Stewart’s company Weapons of Mass Entertainment and Surfdog Records will release an album consisting of freshly arranged versions of his most celebrated material recorded with the full orchestra.
The aptly titled Dave Stewart Songbook, Vol. 1 will be accompanied by a hard-cover, coffee table book of the same name that will include a chapter dedicated to each song, with the story behind the music and stunning photos of his collaborators during the recording sessions, most of which were taken by Stewart himself.
Besides the songs he wrote with Lennox, Stewart’s catalog includes songs he has produced, co-written or recorded with an eclectic mixture of artists including Jagger, Gwen Stefani, Daryl Hall, Sinead O’Connor, Bryan Ferry, Alison Moyet, Bono, Petty, Dion, Jon Bon Jovi, Terry Hall, Anastacia, Lamont Dozier, Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Shakespeare’s Sister, Bob Geldof, Al Green, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Dr.Dre, Timbaland, The Neptunes, Beyonce, George Harrison, Joss Stone and Jimmy Cliff.
Beyond his music legacy, Stewart and Weapons of Mass Entertainment have been at the forefront of innovation linking creative ideas to a host of projects in film, television, books theatre and new media.
He was recently hired as a consultant for cell phone titan Nokia and given the title of “Change Agent,” charged with ensuring the artists’ point of view is represented in the “new world” and creating new content business models for the entertainment industry.
In May, Stewart’s HBO series “Off The Record” will air an exclusive interview with Starr, in which he shares memories and secrets from his life in The Beatles.
Stewart is currently busy writing “Ghost: The Musical” for the West End and Broadway with singer/songwriter Glen Ballard and original screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin .