ARTIST NOTES
September 13, 2024 / VIEW
album artwork / click for hi-res version
photo credit: Rachel Deeb / click for hi-res version
JOY OLADOKUN CONFIRMS ADDITIONAL DATES FOR “THE BLACKBIRD TOUR”
TICKETS ON-SALE THIS FRIDAY
ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM OBSERVATIONS FROM A CROWDED ROOM OUT NOW
October 28, 2024—Acclaimed singer, songwriter, producer and performer Joy Oladokun confirmed additional dates for her recently announced headline tour, “The Blackbird Tour,” set to kick off in January. Newly added dates include stops at Asbury Park’s The Stone Pony, Annapolis’ Ram’s Head on Stage, Colorado Spring’s The Black Sheep and Pioneertown’s Pappy + Harriet’s. Oladokun will also perform a special show at Asheville’s Orange Peel on February 12, with all proceeds benefitting the North Carolina Community Foundation.
Tickets for the new dates will be available for pre-sale starting this Wednesday, October 30 at 10:00AM local time with the general on-sale following this Friday, November 1 at 10:00AM local time.
“The Blackbird Tour” will also feature stops at Chicago’s Thalia Hall, New York’s Irving Plaza, West Hollywood’s Troubadour (two nights), Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, Boston’s Royale, Denver’s Summit, Austin’s Scoot Inn and Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre (with all proceeds benefiting the East Tennessee Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund). See below for the complete tour itinerary. $1 from each purchase will benefit The Ally Coalition. Full details can be found at www.joyoladokun.com/tour.
The upcoming tour celebrates Oladokun’s critically acclaimed new album, Observations From a Crowded Room, which is out now via Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. Stream/purchase HERE. Written, produced and largely performed by Oladokun alone, the album marks a personal and creative turning point for the Nashville-based artist and was crafted during a period of intense introspection and questioning. The 15-track collection—comprised of 12 songs and 3 spoken interludes—finds Oladokun reflecting on her place in the world, both as a person and an artist, while blending her pop-folk roots with electronic and psychedelic elements.
Critical acclaim for Observations From a Crowded Room:
“one of the great singer-songwriters pushing beyond roots or conventional singer-songwriter music today…her most ambitious record so far”—NPR Music
“stunning”—Billboard
“One of the most refreshing voices coming out of Nashville... there’s a deeply honest quality to her music that makes her hard to shake.”—Consequence
“The self-produced album, a first for the artist, clearly benefited from that approach, with brutally honest lyrics that hit like a punch to the gut”—them
“electrifying…the epic closing song, ‘Goodbye,’ an elegant masterpiece Paul McCartney would envy”—No Depression
“the most vulnerable, confessional, and compelling lyrics she’s ever sung”—Atwood Magazine
“Joy Oladokun has proved herself a unique voice of her generation”—The Indy Review
“a transformative experience for the artist and listeners”—HYFIN
“[Oladokun] has always wowed her audiences with her soulful folk sound and evocative storytelling, but her fifth studio album, Observations From a Crowded Room, feels like a fresh start for the beloved artist.”—Sweety High
Since her breakthrough in 2020, Oladokun has released a pair of hugely acclaimed full-length albums—2021’s in defense of my own happiness and 2023’s Proof of Life—both of which landed on numerous best-of-the-year lists. Of Oladokun, The New York Times praises, “her songs are conversational and confessional, and her hooky but profound melodies turn her lyrics into mantras,” while Rolling Stone calls them, “Nashville’s most low-key musical revolutionary…in this time of shifting priorities away from work toward self-care and connection with others, Oladokun is offering a master class in those subjects” and NPR Music asserts, “She has a remarkable ability to distill how forces at work in the world…she can make even social and political protest feel like an intimate, warmly human act.”
Moreover, in the last few years, Oladokun—a proud queer Black person and daughter of Nigerian immigrants—has performed on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “CBS Saturday Morning,” “TODAY,” PBS’ “Austin City Limits and NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk (Home) Concert” series. Oladokun’s music has also been included in the Al Sharpton documentary, Loudmouth, CBS’ “CSI: Vegas,” NBC’s “This Is Us,” ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC’s “Station 19,” NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and HBO’s “And Just Like That,” while her song, “i see america,” was also selected as a finalist for the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Award, Best Song for Social Change. Widely respected by her peers, Oladokun has collaborated with artists such as Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Jack Antonoff, Jason Isbell and Noah Kahan and has joined Morris, Isbell, Kahan, John Mayer, My Morning Jacket, Tyler Childers, Pink Sweat$, Leon Bridges and Manchester Orchestra on the road.
For more information, please contact Asha Goodman, Catherine Snead 615.320.7753 or Carla Sacks
212.741.1000
at Sacks & Co.
Kierra Felton at Republic Records.
Erin Ryan at Verve Records.
OBSERVATIONS FROM A CROWDED ROOM TRACK LIST
1. LETTER FROM A BLACKBIRD
2. AM I?
3. OBSERVATION #1
4. STRONG ONES
5. DRUGS
6. QUESTIONS, CHAOS & FAITH
7. NO COUNTRY
8. OBSERVATION #2
9. HOLLYWOOD
10. flowers
11. DUST/DIVINITY
12. GOOD ENOUGH
13. OBSERVATION #3
14. I’D MISS THE BIRDS
15. GOODBYE
JOY OLADOKUN CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
BOLD on-sale this Friday, November 1
November 5 /// Perth, Australia /// RAC Arena*
November 6 /// Perth, Australia /// RAC Arena*
November 8 /// Adelaide, Australia /// Adelaide Entertainment Centre*
November 12 /// Melbourne, Australia /// Sydney Myer Music Bowl*
November 13 /// Melbourne, Australia /// Sydney Myer Music Bowl*
November 15 /// Sydney, Australia /// Qudos Bank Arena*
November 18 /// Brisbane, Australia /// Riverstage Brisbane*
November 20 /// Auckland, New Zealand /// Spark Arena*
November 22 /// Christchurch, New Zealand /// Wolfbrook Arena*
November 23 /// Christchurch, New Zealand /// Wolfbrook Arena*
January 9-13 /// Riviera Cancun, Mexico /// Moon Palace
January 16 /// Minneapolis, MN /// First Avenue
January 17 /// Chicago, IL /// Thalia Hall
January 18 /// Detroit, MI /// El Club
January 20 /// Louisville, KY /// Headliners Music Hall
January 21 /// Columbus, OH /// Newport Music Hall
January 22 /// Cleveland, OH /// House of Blues
January 23 /// Toronto, ON /// The Axis Club
January 25 /// Montreal, QB /// Theatre Beanfield
January 26 /// South Burlington, VT /// Higher Ground Ballroom
January 28 /// Portland, ME /// State Theatre
January 30 /// New York, NY /// Irving Plaza
January 31 /// Asbury Park, NJ /// The Stone Pony
February 1 /// Boston, MA /// Royale
February 4 /// Philadelphia, PA /// Union Transfer
February 6 /// Annapolis, MD /// Rams Head On Stage
February 7 /// Washington, D.C. /// The Howard
February 8 /// Charlotte, NC /// The Underground
February 11 /// Raleigh, NC /// Lincoln Theatre
February 12 /// Asheville, NC /// The Orange Peel+
February 13 /// Knoxville, TN /// Bijou Theatre^
February 14 /// Atlanta, GA /// Variety Playhouse
February 25 /// Tulsa, OK /// Cain’s Ballroom
February 26 /// Kansas City, MO /// The Truman
February 28 /// Colorado Springs, CO /// The Black Sheep
March 1 /// Denver, CO /// Summit
March 3 /// Salt Lake City, UT /// Soundwell
March 5 /// Seattle, WA /// The Showbox
March 6 /// Vancouver, BC /// Commodore Ballroom
March 7 /// Portland, OR /// McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
March 9 /// San Francisco, CA /// The Fillmore
March 12 /// West Hollywood, CA /// Troubadour
March 13 /// West Hollywood, CA /// Troubadour
March 15 /// Pioneertown, CA /// Pappy + Harriet’s
March 16 /// San Diego, CA /// The Observatory at North Park
March 18 /// Phoenix, AZ /// The Van Buren
March 19 /// Santa Fe, NM /// Meow Wolf
March 21 /// Dallas, TX /// Studio at The Factory
March 22 /// Austin, TX /// Scoot Inn
March 25 /// Birmingham, AL /// Saturn
March 27 /// Nashville, TN /// Ryman Auditorium
May 5-7 /// Miramar Beach, FL /// Moon Crush: The Sea & ME
*with Hozier
^Benefit show with all proceeds going to the
East Tennessee Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund
+Benefit show with all proceeds going to the
North Carolina Community Foundation