Singer, songwriter, and memoirist, Zoe FitzGerald Carter, announces a string of tour dates in her home state of California including a headlining concert at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, Hotel Utah in San Francisco, The Backroom in Berkeley, Luigi’s in Martinez, Jeweled Universe in Pasadena, an appearance at the Far West Music Conference, and at the Cambria Arts Center for a Tribute to Tom Waits and Ricki Lee Jones.  She is currently on the road to support her 2024 LP, Before the Machine, the follow up to her critically acclaimed solo debut, Waterlines.
 
"After a couple of months touring on the East Coast, I’m back in California and looking forward to a busy fall of gigs, recording projects, and new releases,” says the songwriter. “First up is a show at the iconic Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley on October 9 where I’ll be playing songs from my latest album - Before the Machine — along with my new, high-energy band. Joining us will be two fantastic local bands — Conspiracy of Beards (basically dudes singing Leonard Cohen songs acapella) and The Familiar Strangers, an electric Americana band from the North Bay. From there, I’ll be hitting the road to go to the Far West music conference in L.A., slipping out to play gigs in Hollywood and Pasadena while I’m there. In November, I’ll be back in the Bay Area and playing at The Back Room in Berkeley, Luigi’s in Martinez and Hotel Utah in San Francisco. I’m excited to reconnect with my musical community on the West Coast and will be adding gigs as the fall progresses.”
 
Before the Machine features nine original Americana songs weaving in folk, jazz, blues, and rock. The album was produced by Jeffrey Woods, mixed by Alberto Hernandez, mastered by Ken Lee and recorded at Opus Studio and Alberto Hernandez Audio (Fantasy Records), in the singer’s hometown of Berkeley, California.  Inspired by memories of a pre-smart phone world, the title track explores how technology, and specifically smart phones, has irrevocably altered our experience of time. And Zoe is happy to announce that the song just won first place in the 2024 Corpus Christi Songwriters Contest.
 
The video for the first single, “Magic Pill,” premiered via Americana Highways who raved, “this video captures, visually, the psychedelic underground theme of obsessive attractions expressed in the song. If you’ve ever been absolutely addicted to a person or something else, as there are metaphors afoot, this song will bring it all back – the thrill, the pain, the feeling of being wild. Zoe is onto something with this one. We applaud the new direction.”

Zoe FitzGerald Carter grew up in Washington D.C. where she began playing guitar and singing as a teenager. But while music was her first love, writing was her first career. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, the songwriter has written for numerous national magazines (The New York Times, Newsweek, Vogue) and, in 2010, published an award-winning memoir, Imperfect Endings.
 
In 2018, Zoe released an album of original songs with her band Sugartown, Waiting for the Earthquake, and in 2021, Zoe released her first solo album, Waterlines. Ranging in style from folk to funk, the album featured an impressive crew of musicians and established Zoe as an exciting, literary lyricist. The critics took note:
 
“There aren’t any boring moments. They’re all well-crafted songs. On ‘Below the Waterline,’ Zoe sounds like she’s channeling the songwriting style of Nanci Griffith thru a Mary Chapin Carpenter tone. Zoe’s lyrics are applied with expertise. The accordion drenches the melody in a Parisian flavor. The showcase is refreshing.” – Americana Highways
 
Picking up where her last album, Waterlines, left off, Before the Machine further showcases the artist’s vivid, literary sense of language while weaving a rich and confident fabric of folk, country, rock, blues, and jazz.

Don’t Miss Zoe FitzGerald Carter on The Road This Fall!
October 9th              Sweetwater Music Hall                Mill Valley, CA
October 17th-20th    Far West Music Conference        Los Angeles, CA
October 19th           Jeweled Universe                         Pasadena, CA
October 21th           Hotel Café                                     Los Angeles, CA
Nov 9th                    The Back Room                            Berkeley, CA
Nov 13th                  Luigi’s Deli                                     Martinez, CA
Nov 23rd                  Hotel Utah                                     San Francisco, CA
Dec 1st                    Cambria Arts Center*                     Cambria, CA

*Tom Waits & Ricki Lee Jones tribute show