As a way to show gratitude to his audience, Dweezil Zappa will embark this summer on his first spoken word tour, “Dweezil Zappa: What’s in a Name?” Beginning July 7 in Chicago, Zappa will share stories spanning his 30-plus-year career, take questions and highlight some of the guitar playing of his late father, Frank Zappa.
According to the announcement, “When Dweezil was born, his father Frank Zappa inscribed ‘musician’ on his birth certificate in place of ‘religion.’ At the age of 12, Dweezil released his first single ‘My Mother is a Space Cadet,’ produced by Eddie Van Halen. Shortly after that, at the age of 15, Frank Zappa produced Dweezil’s first complete solo album, Havin’ A Bad Day.”
“I didn’t hear the radio until I was about 12,” says Dweezil in the press release. “I had only heard my dad’s music, whatever he was writing or working on or what he was listening to recreationally. I heard all kinds of things growing up, Johnny Guitar Watson, Stravinsky and even the Bulgarian Women’s Choir. So when I actually heard the radio, my first thought was, where’s the rest of it? It felt like what I was hearing didn’t take advantage of all the instrumentation possibilities I had grown accustomed to.”
When Frank died at 52, Dweezil dedicated his life to continuing his father’s legacy. For over a decade, he has been honoring Frank by touring the world with his Grammy-winning project, now named “Dweezil Zappa: 50 Years of Frank.”
Hitting the U.S. and Europe this year, “50 Years of Frank” includes music from throughout Frank Zappa’s career.
“I look at it what I do like an old-school Italian family business,” says Dweezil in the press release. “I want to carry on a tradition in a way that respects my father’s intentions as a composer and his integrity as a person. At the same time I have my own music to create and share with people. The best way to carry everything forward is to play the music live and share stories.”
Related: The Zappa family’s legal squabbles
Dweezil Zappa: What’s in a Name? Tour Dates
July 7 – Chicago, IL – City Winery
July 8 – Nashville, TN – City Winery
July 9 – Atlanta, GA – City Winery
July 11 – New York, NY – City Winery
Dweezil Zappa: 50 Years of Frank
* = Guitar Masterclass available
April 25 – Vancouver, BC – The Commodore
April 26 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre *
April 27 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre *
April 28 – Stateline, NV – Harrah’s Lake Tahoe South Shore Room
April 29 – San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre *
April 30 – Napa, CA – The Uptown
May 2 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
May 3 – Fresno, CA – Tower Theatre
May 4 – Solana Beach, – CA Belly Up
May 5 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
May 6 – Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theatre
July 14-16 – Bad Doberan, Germany – Zappanale Festival
July 28 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Bardavon Opera House
July 29 – Westhampton Beach, NY – Westhampton Beach PAC
July 30 – Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom*
Aug 01 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse*
Aug 02 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo PAC*
Aug 03 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center for the Perf. Arts*
Aug 04 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music Theatre*
Aug 05 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live*
Aug 08 – Arvada, CO – Arvada Center for the Arts
Aug 09 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up
Aug 10 – Durango, CO – Community Concert Hall
Aug 11 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater*
Oct 08 – Gateshead, UK – Sage
Oct 09 – Manchester, UK – Lowry
Oct 10 – London, UK – Royal Festival Hall
Oct 11 – Glasgow, UK – Royal Concert Hall
Oct 12 – Birmingham, UK – Town Hall
Oct 13 – Bexhill, UK – De la Warre Pavillion
Oct 14 – Paris, FR – Trianon
Oct 16 – Brussels, BEL – Palais de Beaux Arts
Oct 17 – Utrecht,NL – Trivioli Vredenburg
Oct 18 – Tilburg, NL – O13
Oct 19 – Hengelo, NL – Metropool
Oct 21 – Malmo, SWE – Slagthuset Theatre
Oct 22 – Gothenburg, SWE – The House Concert
Oct 23 – Stockholm, SWE – Circus
Oct 24 – Oslo, NOR – Centrum
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