Nashville singer-songwriter Erin Rae has announced a new live album. She’ll follow 2022’s Lighten Up with Lighten Up & Try: Live & From The Heart, due out on August 25 via Thirty Tigers (pre-order). It was recorded live in her hometown, as Erin explains: “After a great six-week tour opening for Lord Huron, we came back to Nashville to play my first band show in town since 2019. The new album had been out for about 6 months, and the band was sounding tour tight. I brought this little 90s Panasonic tape recorder my dad used to use for practice tapes for his music, and my mom pressed record. So, she’s technically the engineer on the album. I love how it feels! I hear the strength in my singing voice, and shyness in my speaking voice. I felt both ways, proud & shy, which was kind of perfect for the nature of the album. Do it scared! Do it shy. Do it proud.”
The lead single from Lighten Up & Try is “Bad Mind (Live & From The Heart)” featuring She Returns From War. This rendition of the Putting On Airs track is intimate and heartfelt (as promised), and includes an intro where Erin explains the song’s personal significance. “I wrote this song about growing up in the South, where, you know, they’re still trying to pass laws to keep people from being who they are… This song is about my experience of what it’s like to grow up with that stuff in the water, that feeling,” she says. Listen below.
Erin announced the Lighten Up & Try tour earlier this summer, featuring support from Bryan Cates, Skyway Man, Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, The Lostines, and She Returns From War on varying dates. See all dates, including a Brooklyn show on September 13 at Baby’s All Right with Bryan Cates, below.
Erin Rae — 2023 Tour Dates
September 9 – Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios ^
September 12 — Manchester, VT @ Billsville House Concerts ^ (SOLD OUT)
September 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right ^
September 15 – Fort Hill, PA @ Deer Valley Folk Festival
September 17 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement ^
September 18 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel ^
September 19 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook ^
September 20 – Atlanta, GA @ The EARL ^
September 27 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge %
September 30 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios %
October 1 – Seattle, WA @ The Sunset Tavern %
October 3 – Healdsburg, CA @ Little Saint %
October 4 – Oakland, CA @ Thee Stork Club %
October 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Club Tee Gee %
October 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Club Tee Gee !
October 9 – Santa Fe, NM @ El Rey Court !
October 11 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips !
October 12 – San Antonio, TX @ The Lonesome Rose !
October 13 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues – Bronze Peacock !
October 14 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre &
October 15 – Waverly, AL @ Standard Deluxe Inc $
October 18 – Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room $
October 20 – Chicago, IL @ Judson & Moore Distillery $
October 21 – Chicago, IL @ Judson & Moore Distillery $
October 22 – Davenport, IA @ The Raccoon Motel $
October 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry $
^ – with Bryan Cates
% – with Skyway Man
! – with Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears
& – with The Lostines
$ – with She Returns From War
