Photo Credit: Allister Ann
Maddie & Tae, with their script-flipping “Girl In A Country Song” and empowerment ballad “Fly,” have seen their music accelerate their dreams from the beginning. After a summer on the road with Dierks Bentley, the girls with well over 28 million VEVO views, announce their START HERE Tour, kicking off October 10 at New York City’s Highline Ballroom.
Designed to focus on listening rooms and historic music clubs, the irrepressible duo will bring their high-powered acoustic songs of coming of age, life on life’s terms and taking care of one’s dreams to a dozen key markets, as well as Nacogdoches, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, before wrapping November 7 at Joe’s on Weed Street in Chicago.
“Maddie and I wanted to get out and play all the songs from this new record,” Tae says. “We’ve spent a few years writing these songs, figuring out how to say what we thought was important about being our age, and figuring out how to create our kind of music, so before we get back onto someone else’s tour, we wanted to take some time and show people all of who we are!”
“Spending the summer with Dierks Bentley was an amazing masterclass in playing,” continues Maddie. “He has such a great sense of how to connect with the audience, but he also understands how to keep music the focus… to make sure the playing and the songs don’t get lost in the fun of it. To write songs that matter is one thing, to bring people inside them is another. I can’t wait to share all the songs with the fans once START HERE comes out.”
Slated for release August 28, START HERE chronicles two young women’s take on the world, mean girls, dumb boys and coming into one’s own with the candor, heart and humor that marked their breakout “Girl In A Country Song.” Voted Single of the Year by Nashville Scene’s Country Music Critics’ Poll, “Girl In A Country Song” went from demo to master to Country radio in weeks and became the first female debut act to hit #1 in eight years, as well as igniting critical acclaim from The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and NPR.
NPR’s Ann Powers was one of the first to weigh in, raving “Maddie and Tae are more. They’re songwriters, powerful harmonizers and in the video for ‘Girl In A Country Song,’ natural comediennes.” That spirit defines their upcoming Dann Huff-produced debut – which the triple CMT Music Awards and ACM Vocal Duo Of The Year nominees paused after a whirlwind year to make sure all the songs and arrangements were just right.
“A lot of what’s happened to us is a blur,” Maddie says with a laugh. “So much, so fast, so wow. But every face we’ve seen, every smile in the crowd, every person we’ve met who tells us about one of our songs, whether it’s ‘Fly’ or ‘Shut Up and Fish,’ we remember that. With the album almost here and this tour being announced, it finally feels like we’re catching up with ourselves and our dream.”
“Looking back, maybe it was crazy for Maddie and I to pick up, leave home and chase these songs to Nashville,” Tae continues. “But the music was too strong, and our need to hear songs that talked about the things happening in lives like ours was too real… and so we didn’t have a choice. Suddenly, with everything coming together, it feels real. And this tour means we get to share it with all the people just like us.”
START HERE TOUR 2015
10/07/15 Highline Ballroom New York, NY
10/08/15 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
10/10/15 The Asylum Portland, ME
10/15/15 Cotton Eyed Joe Knoxville, TN
10/16/15 Amos’ Southend Charlotte, NC
10/17/15 Track 29 Chattanooga, TN
10/22/15 Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, OK
10/23/15 Banita Creek Hall Nacogdoches, TX
10/24/15 House of Blues Houston, TX
11/05/15 Boondocks Springfield, IL
11/06/15 St. Andrew’s Hall Detroit, MI.
11/07/15 Joe’s On Weed Street Chicago, IL
CONTACT: Jake Basden Big Machine Label Group jake.basden@bmlg.net | 615.324.7769
