One of Ireland's most successful musical exports, Duke Special, returns with three unique new projects to be released simultaneously on March 8th 2010 in a box set under the title "The Stage, A Book & the Silver Screen".
After playing a set of stunning and intimate show in London, Belfast and Dublin last week, Duke Special has announced a string of dates across UK theatres in May.
Duke Special has also confirmed a new single "Wanda, Darling of the Jockey Club", taken from "The Silent World of Hector Mann" album to be released on May 17th.
May live dates:
Saturday 1st May - Holy Trinity Church, Leeds
Sunday 2nd May - Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate
Monday 3rd May - Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh
Tuesday 4th May - Oran Mor, Glasgow
Thursday 6th May - Cluny 2, Newcastle
Friday 7th May - St Phillips Church, Manchester
Saturday 8th May - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Sunday 9th May - Thekla, Bristol
Tuesday 11th May - Academy 1, Oxford
Wednesday 12th May - Glee Club, Cardiff
Thursday 13th May - Shaw Theatre, London
Duke Special releases his three new records "The Stage, A Book & the Silver Screen" on March 8th via Pledge Music.
1) "The Silent World of Hector Mann" album based on "The Book of Illusions" by Paul Auster - recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago and featuring Neil Hannon and Ed Harcourt
2) "Huckleberry Finn" album. An unfinished musical by Kurt Weill based on Huckleberry Finn - Duke is the first person ever to record this suite of songs
3) "Mother Courage" album - Duke has written the music to a new production ofBrecht's "Mother Courage" and has just played to 100,000 people at the National Theatre - the entire production is based around his music and the band's performance.
Duke Special is self-releasing the three albums after raising capital via a unique fan funding model called Pledge Music [link]
Rather than just putting the records in the shop, Duke Special offered all sorts of unusual artefacts and experiences for which fans could pledge varying amounts to help raise money to fund the project, rather than relying on a traditional record company advance.
The pledges available were tiered so that fans could pledge one amount for a simple digital download, ranging all the way up to a top tier pledge of Duke Special playing a private concert.
Duke Special's Pledge went live in December, raised £10k in one hour, and in one day reached over 50% of its target. The Pledge completed in February and has raised £52K.
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