From Patrick Durkin:

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD SET TO RELEASE THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE ON AUGUST 24TH

Michael Franti & Spearhead return with their much anticipated album, THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE, on August 24th through Capitol Records/Boo Boo Wax. The album’s first singles are already gaining momentum at radio with “Shake It” hitting the Top 40 and Hot AC radio formats, and the album’s title track, “The Sound of Sunshine,” currently at #2 on the AAA charts after only five weeks at radio. THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE is Michael Franti & Spearhead’s seventh studio album and the follow-up to 2008’s Top 40 hit All Rebel Rockers. For a sneak peek at the THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE album cover, head to www.michaelfranti.com .

THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE was conceived after Franti was hospitalized for a ruptured appendix in August 2009. “Music is sunshine. It gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose. You can’t hold it in your hands, smell it, taste it or even see it, yet somehow just coming together and feeling these little vibrations that tickle our eardrums can somehow lift us all up out of our most difficult moments in life to unimaginable heights,” says Franti.

Franti and Spearhead have no doubt succeeded in creating perhaps what is their most cohesive, romantic and life-affirming album to date. THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE opens with the album’s title track – a breezy sing-a-long that seeks to “bottle that experience of waking up in the morning, pulling the blinds and seeing that there’s a sunny day in front of us,” explains Franti. It is this optimistic energy that flows throughout the record’s eleven songs from the happy groove of “Shake It” to the joyously anthemic “I’ll Be Waiting.”

The band began recording in Jamaica with legendary producers Sly and Robbie (Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, No Doubt) as well as in Franti’s home in Bali and hometown of San Francisco. With the record still not complete, Franti decided to bring a mobile studio on the road with him while he toured with John Mayer this past winter. The album was finished in dressing rooms and hotel rooms along the way with Franti playing songs he had recorded earlier in the day to the audience that evening. THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE continues to showcase Franti’s desire to communicate directly with his fans.

Michael Franti is the creator and lead singer of Michael Franti & Spearhead. For over two decades, the Bay Area born Franti has been bringing our world exceptionally powerful, deeply felt music.  Franti first formed the punk band The Beatnigs while studying at the University of San Francisco, and later the far more hip hop-inflected The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In the mid-Nineties, Franti created Spearhead, and increasingly in recent years, he’s found his own voice musically and his own organic brand of popular success. Franti’s impressive series of recordings have vividly reflected his status as a musical citizen of the world.

Franti & Spearhead will be touring throughout the summer. For tour dates, ticket information, official Michael Franti news and to check out the latest v-blogs on FrantiV, go to www.michaelfranti.com .

Tour Dates

June

Sat 26                   Taos, NM Taos Solar Music Festival

July

Sat 3                      Sioux City, IA  Bandshell Grandview Park
Sun 4                     Louisville, KY  Waterfront Park
Thu 15                   Jacksonville, OR Britt Festival
Fri 16                     Berkeley, CA Greek Theater
Sun 18                   Alta, WY Targhee Fest
Thu 22                   Edmonton, AB Windspear
Fri 23                     Calgary, ALB Calgary Folk Festival
Sat 24                    Vancouver, BC The Vogue Theater
Sun 25                 Corning, CA Mystic Garden Party
Tue 27                   Salt Lake City, UT Deer Valley
Thu 29                   Aspen, CO Belly Up
Fri 30                     Aspen, CO Belly Up
Sat 31                    Morrison, CO Red  Rocks Ampitheater

August

Sun 1                     Durango, CO Animis Cliffs
Wed 4                    Reno, NV Knitting Factory Concert Hs
Thu 5                     Bend, OR Les Schwab Ampitheater
Fri 6                       Eugene,OR  Cuthbert Amphitheatre
Sat 7                      Redmond, WA Marymoor Amphitheatre
Tue 10                   Eagle, ID  Eagle River Pavilion
Wed 11                  Missoula, MT The Wilma Theater
Thu 12                   Missoula, MT The Wilma Theater
Fri 13                     Sandpoint, ID Festival At Sandpoint
Sat 14                    Billings, MT  Magic City Blues Festival
Sat 21                    Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay/The Beach  SOS Festival
Thu 26                   Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Fri 27                     Live Oak, FL Blackwater Sol Revue/Spirit of the Suwanee
Sat 28                    Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
Sun 29                   Richmond, VA The National
Tue 31                   Charlotte, NC The Neighborhood

September

Thu 2                     Tampa, FL to Grand Cayman ZAC BROWN CRUISE - Sep 2–Sep 6                            
Sun 19                  Laytonville, CA Earthdance: United Beats of Peace Festival