Citizen Cope Announces Album and Tour

The Rainwater LP, a laidback gumbo of acoustic blues, singer/songwriter rock 'n' roll and deep soul grooves, was recorded over the course of 2009 at both Brooklyn Recording in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and The Document Room in Malibu, CA, with extensive periods of touring in between sessions. Among the musicians accompanying him this time were such studio stars as bassist Preston Crump (OutKast, Organized Noize, Raphael Saadiq), keyboardist James Poyser (D'Angelo, The Roots, Jill Scott, John Legend), percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, Madonna), legendary go-go bassist Michael "Funky Ned" Neal and top DC-scene go-go drummer Paul "Buggy" Edwards.

Like the music therein, the album takes its name from a number of deeply personal sources. "It's pure," Greenwood says. "It's also the name of someone that was close to me when I was growing up, so it just made sense."

When discussing how he came to self-release his music after many years on major labels, he says: "A lot of labels wanted to put it out, but I kept hearing things like 'Retail's gonna need you to do this' or 'The artwork has to be like this.' I don't want to be led into those confines anymore. I want to be able to do it my own way. Being able to operate efficiently, not having to move buildings to do anything, just seems so basic for any artistic endeavor."

A remarkably charismatic live performer, Citizen Cope has been a committed road warrior, introducing his music to the people by traveling America's highways and byways, often performing in places where other major artists fear to tread.

"When you do the major cities, people come from all these other places and say, 'Come to this town,'" Greenwood says. "So the next time you tour you think, 'Okay, let's try Tulsa, Oklahoma or Oxford, Mississippi or Fayetteville, Arkansas.' It's been amazing, every year it just gets bigger and bigger."

Tour dates are below:

Feb
2 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
3 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
4 Towson, MD Recher Theatre
5 Towson, MD Recher Theatre
6 Richmond, VA The National
10 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
11 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
12 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
13 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
14 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
17 New Haven, CT Toad's Place
18 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
24 Providence, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
25 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
26 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
27 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club

March
2 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
3 Louisville, KY Headliner's Music Hall
5 Chicago, IL The Vic
6 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
7 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
9 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
10 Dallas, TX House of Blues
12 Austin, TX Stubbs
13 Houston, TX House of Blues
15 Baton Rouge, LA Varsity Theatre
16 New Orleans, LA Tipitina's
30 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
31 Portland, OR Roseland, Theatre