Mickey Hart Band Featuring Steve Kimock & George Porter Jr. Confirm Summer Run!

Grateful Dead drummer and percussionist Mickey Hart will launch a 20 city tour this summer including appearances at many of the nations premiere festivals. The outing comes on the heels of the Shout! Factory releases of The Mickey Hart Collection out this spring. The Mickey Hart Band will feature Steve Kimock on guitar, George Porter Jr on bass, Jen Durkin on vocals, and talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju. After headlining appearances at Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa on June 6 and Wakarusa on June 8, the group will head out on an 18 city trek beginning July 3 at the Rothbury Festival and continuing through July 24 at 10K Lakes Festival. The shows will feature the Robert Hunter penned songs debuted by the Rhythm Devils in 2006 including Fountains of Wood, The Center, and Your House, in addition to Grateful Dead staples such as New Speedway Boogie and Fire on The Mountain.

This spring, Shout! Factory will release The Mickey Hart collection which includes the Grammy winning Planet Drum in addition to At The Edge, Diga Rhythm Band, Superlingua, and Mystery Box. Hart’s Planet Drum won the first ever World Music Grammy and still stands as one of the genre’s benchmark albums. Mickey reunited with some of his Planet Drum band mates including tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, to form Global Drum Project in 2007 and released a record to critical acclaim followed by an extensive tour.

Mickey has kept quite busy over the past few years including tours with Hydra, Rhythm Devils, and Global Drum Project in addition to continuing his work with the Library of Congress. He also performed at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s inauguration in 2007 and more recently appeared at the “Deadheads For Obama” event along with fellow Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. On April 20, Mickey will headline Golden Gate Park with a mass drum ensemble in celebration of Earth Day as part of the Green Apple Music Festival.

Fans will also be treated to a new Rhythm Devils DVD this summer filmed in Chicago during their fall tour in 2006. TheDVD will be available this summer on The Mickey Hart Band Tour and online at various outlets.

The summer run will take the band to festivals, theatres, and outdoor events across the east coast and Midwest beginning July 3^rd at Rothbury Festival and continuing on to Milwaukee’s Summerfest, Lakeview Music Festival, and Nelson Ledges rounding out July 4^th weekend. East Coast stops include Great South Bay Festival on Long Island, Penn’s Peak in PA, and Thursday in the Park in Buffalo . Select tour dates will offer pre-sale and VIP tickets which include a special after-show meet and greet with Mickey. Check out the new www.mickeyhart.net website for all tour dates and on-sale information.