The date for the Austin CD Release Show of Stephen Doster’s newest album Arizona is set for Valentine’s Day Night at Strange Brew Lounge Side. Advance tickets are on sale through Strange Brew here. When Arizona was released in November, Stephen was on an acoustic tour of the UK with Bob Cheevers, so the February 14th show will be the first time anywhere that the songs from Arizona will be performed live with a full band, and in front of Stephen’s long time Austin fans.
For the live world premiere performance, Stephen has assembled a crack team of musicians including Dony Wynn (Drums), George Reiff (Bass), Brian Standefer (Cello), James Stevens (Guitars/Vocals) and Dave Madden (Keyboards/Vocals). All but Madden, who is subbing for Kevin Lovejoy, were part of the core studio team that produced Arizona. Stevens, who is the front man for Austin’s Moonlight Towers, recorded and mixed Arizona at Ear Studio in Austin and will be handling second guitar and harmony vocal duties for this special performance.
Arizona has been glowingly received already by Austin music writers Peter Blackstock of the American-Statesman and Jim Caligiuri of the Austin Chronicle both of whom placed Arizona at the top of their respective year end Best of 2014 lists. Blackstock hailed the album as an “exquisitely crafted classic” calling it “one of the best records our city has produced this year.” Mirroring Blackstock’s praise, Caligiuri rated Arizona a 4-Star “masterpiece” containing “one charmed melody after another.”
Keep an eye out for the Friday the 13th edition of the American-Statesman as Blackstock will be publishing a feature article on Doster on the eve of the Valentine’s Day CD Release Show. Also on Friday the 13th, Doster and band will join KUTX’s Jody Denberg in Studio 1-A at 2:00 PM for a live on air interview and performance of some of the songs from Arizona.
Tickets for this special world premiere live performance of Arizona in its entirety are selling briskly at the limited seating Strange Brew Lounge Side venue. The show itself runs from 9:30-11:00 and tickets are $15 in advance available through Strange Brew Lounge Side here. If advance tickets are not sold out, there will be limited tickets available at the door for $20.
If you can’t make the CD Release Show and you want to pick up your copy of Arizona, visit Waterloo Records in Austin where Arizona is currently on sale for only $9.99 through SXSW. Digital music fans can download the MP3 album at iTunes and Amazon.