Mike Doughty to perform Soul Coughing’s "Ruby Vroom"

Article Contributed by Tiny Human | Published on Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Mike Doughty is very pleased to announce that in celebration of 25th anniversary of the release of Soul Coughing’s debut LP Ruby Vroom he has decided to perform the record in full at dates all across the U.S.A. The tour begins February 20th at The Basement in Nashville, TN.

Presale tickets for the “Mike Doughty performs Soul Coughing’s Ruby Vroom” tour are available now at www.mikedoughty.com and will be on sale to the public this Friday.

Doughty will be joined on these dates by a cellist, bassist, and guitar player. While they will be performing Ruby Vroom in its entirety, in the original sequence, what the audience experiences will be different each night. “When I was looking for something to do between album cycles I decided to tour Irresistible Bliss in full” explains Doughty. “It was incredibly fun forcing myself to work within that structure. The decisions you make when putting together a set list are different from the ones you make when sequencing a record. This is like performing a single, hour-long piece of music.”

Rather than an exact replication of the studio recording, Doughty plans to use a variety of cues and hand signals to adjust the performance in real time. “Live we turn into a musical super-organism. We’re basically doing a real-time remix of the record at each show” tells Doughty. “It won’t not be a note-for-note performance. I’m very proud of the record we made; it’s the sonic embodiment of lower Manhattan in the early 1990’s. Yet there’s a whole other version of this record that lives in my head. I’m extremely excited to see how it evolves night after night.”

Doughty, founder and singer of Soul Coughing, has released 11 solo albums in the 21st Century, including Haughty Melodic and Stellar Motel, and a memoir, The Book of Drugs (he’s currently writing a second one). He makes electro tracks under the names UUL and Dubious Luxury; his opera Revelation was staged in conjunction with WNYC; he’s currently writing songs with Wayne Kramer from the MC5. He recently posted his 100th weekly new song for his Patreon subscribers. And, finally, he has three improvised-music bands in Memphis, where he lives: Moticos, Baby Men, and Spooky Party. 

Mike Doughty performs Soul Coughing’s Ruby Vroom:

*Special guest Wheatus to support all dates* 
 
2/20    Nashville, TN                         The Basement
2/21    Atlanta, GA                            The Earl
2/22    Charlotte, NC                         The Visulite Theatre
2/23    Asheville, NC                         The Grey Eagle
2/24    Raleigh, NC                           Motoroco
2/26    Richmond, VA                        Richmond Music Hall
2/27    Washington DC                     U Street
2/28    Philadelphia, PA                    Ardmore Music Hall
 
3/1      New York City, NY                 Bowery Ballroom
3/2      Boston, MA                           Brighton Music Hall
3/3      Portland, ME                         Port City Music Hall
3/5      Toronto, ON                          Horseshoe Tavern
3/6      Ann Arbor, MI                        The Blind Pig
3/7      Chicago, IL                           Sleeping Village
3/8      Milwaukee, WI                      Colectivo Coffee
3/9      Minneapolis, MN                   First Avenue
3/10    Omaha, NE                           The Waiting Room
3/12    Denver, CO                           Bluebird Theater
3/13    Salt Lake City, UT                 The State Room
3/15    Seattle, WA                           The Crocodile
3/16    Portland, OR                         Aladdin Theater
3/17    Reno, NV                               The Saint
3/19    Novato, CA                            Hopmonk Tavern
3/20    San Francisco, CA                Great American Music Hall
3/22    Los Angeles, CA                    Lodge Room
3/23    San Diego, CA                       Soda Bar
3/24    Phoenix, AZ                           Crescent Ballroom
3/26    Santa Fe, NM                         Meow Wolf
3/28    Dallas, TX                              Club Dada    
3/29    Houston, TX                           White Oak Music Hall
3/30    Austin, TX                              3Ten