Features
A Bloody Tour
Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is headed to Japan for a mini-tour to mark the release of his first “best of” collection and his 2005 novel, “Misfortune,” in that country. The singer, who describes his work as “gangsta folk,” will also perform a few dates in the U.S. this summer to celebrate the release of a new live DVD, “A Bloody Show” and his second novel “by George.”
The Jo(h)n tour kicks off June 30 at Super Deluxe in Tokyo, and will make stops in six other Japanese cities, including Yokahama (July 2), Nagano (July 3), Kyoto (July 4), Osaka (July 6) and Kamakura (July 8). Harding will be joined on the first two dates by John Auer of The Posies, and in Nagano, Kyoto and Kamakura by Japanese novelist and singer-songwriter Goro Nakagawa.
In addition to his concert dates, Harding, joined by Nakagawa, will also take part in a symposium at the Kyoto University of Art And Design on July 5.
Harding will return to the States for a performance July 16 at Bassline Studio in Omaha, Neb., before heading West to hit Seattle (July 17), San Francisco (July 18) and Santa Monica (July 22). Additional dates will be announced in next few weeks.
The singer is also scheduled to play at this year’s Bumbershoot festival in Seattle on September 2.
Harding’s hits collection is titled “The Gospel According to John Wesley Harding” and is a digital-only release that will be available exclusively in Japan.
“A Bloody Show” is a recording of a live performance at Seattle’s Bagley Wright Theater during the 2005 Bumbershoot festival. The show includes readings from “Misfortune” by Harding and Robyn Hitchcock interspersed with selections from the CD “Songs of Misfortune,” which features tunes from the novel, performed by The Love Hall Tryst, Harding-led rock band the Minstrel in the Galleries and a string quartet.
The disc captures Harding at his wry best, performing such numbers as “Miss Fortune,” “Lambkin,” “The Lady Dressed in Green,” and “The Abandoned Baby,” all of which, in true English tradition, deal with cheerful subjects such as murder, adultery and eternal sin – a fact the singer readily acknowledges, at one point drolly warning the audience, “We’re going to be entering the infanticide portion of the set very shortly.”