Update (June 24): Tyler is making the rounds to promote his new single and was on The Today Show this morning to perform it live as part of their summer concert series. (See the clip below.)
After many (many) months of talk and two songs released as singles, details on the long-awaited debut solo album by Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler have finally emerged. It’s titled We’re All Somebody From Somewhere, and the 13-track LP will be released on July 15th by the Nashville-based Big Machine Records on its Dot Records imprint.
Co-produced by Tyler with T Bone Burnett and Nashville songwriters Dan Huff, Marti Fredriksen and Jaren Johnston. As already heard in the first two songs from the album, “Red, White and You” and “Love Is Your Name,” it’s Tyler’s take on country music, which he says “is the new rock‘n’roll. It’s not just about porches, dogs and kicking your boots up. It’s a whole lot more. It’s about being real.”
Related: Tyler tells Howard Stern that Aerosmith is planning a farewell tour
The title track will be released as Tyler’s next single on June 24. Here’s a sneak preview!
The album will also include what he says is a “darker, more countrified” take on Aerosmith’s 1989 #4 single “Janie’s Got a Gun.”
Related: Aerosmith addresses Tyler replacement rumors
The longtime Boston area resident has bought a house in Nashville and is bullish on the city and today’s country music scene. “There’s something so magical about this town and me writing with all these people,” he says. “Country music still plays stuff with melody, I have a sorcerer’s grasp of melody, I like to think,” he says. “I’m a freak for that so thank God they’re still playing it in country, and I think they’re gonna be all over songs like ‘Only Heaven.'”
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He will be supporting the album with a 19-city tour of theaters and similar intimate venues with his Music City-based backing band Loving Mary titled “Steven Tyler… Out on a Limb” that starts on July 2nd in Las Vegas. “It’s a very living-room thing to play small venues, it’s a little more personal,” he enthuses. “I get to talk to people and be up-close and personal. And talk about where I get my inspiration from and talk about the new songs on the record and get to play, finally, songs that we couldn’t because the record will be out by then.”
Related: Steve Tyler plays NYC show for charity
Tyler will join back up with Aerosmith for an appearance in September at the KAABOO festival in Del Mar, CA followed by some South and Latin American concert dates later this year. But he insists that his commitment to Nashville and country music is not just some passing fancy. “This town still has the passion for music. It’s dripping from the honeycomb of this town.” he says. “I’m in it, I’m in it neck deep. I’m gonna stay here.”
Steven Tyler 2016 “Out on a Limb” Tour Dates (Tickets here):
July 2 – Las Vegas, NV – Venetian Theatre
July 5 – Los Angeles, CA – Dolby Theatre
July 8 – Seattle, WA – Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
July 10 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre
July 14 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
July 20 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
July 23 – Denver, CO – Ellie Caulkins Opera House
July 26 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
July 29 – Houston, TX – Brown Theater
Aug 1 – Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair park
Aug 13 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
Aug 17 – Nashville, TN – Andrew Jackson Hall at TPAC
Aug 20 – Des Moines, IA – Iowa State Fair
Aug 23 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
Aug 29 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
Sept 1 – Atlanta, GA – Cobb Energy PAC
Sept 4 – Boston, MA – Citi PAC at Wang Theatre
Sept 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music
Sept 10 – Providence, RI – Providence PAC
Sept 13 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre for the Perf. Arts