Michael Franti & Spearhead are adding U.S. tour dates throughout the fall in support of their critically acclaimed new album Stay Human Vol. II, out now on Thirty Tigers. The tour includes a hometown show at the Fox Theater in Oakland, a stop at Denver’s Mission Ballroom, and shows in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and more. Select dates are available for presale via Franti’s fan club, the Soulrocker Fam, beginning 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, July 31 at http://soulrockerfam.com, with tickets available to the general public on Friday, August 2 at 10 a.m. local time via http://michaelfranti.com. Franti will be hosting his VIP Experience prior to each headline date, which is sold as an upgrade, and includes a Q&A with Michael, a private acoustic jam, Meet & Greet photo and a signed commemorative poster. These upgrades can also be purchased at http://michaelfranti.com; see below for a complete list of dates.
Stay Human Vol. II is available for purchase and to stream at https://ffm.to/stayhumanvol2. The album debuted at #62 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as #1 on the Americana chart and #1 on the Independent Album chart. It also reached #1 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart.
Stay Human Vol. II continues to receive critical praise:
“an artist who’s clearly interested in making deep connections with listeners, speaking powerfully through his music and living by his mantra that ‘there is no one in the world that you wouldn’t love if you knew their story.’”—USA Today
“Franti’s mission, musical and otherwise, is convincing people they can.”—Billboard
“a record that’s overflowing with positivity…in these deeply divided times, Franti gives listeners about 45 minutes of nothing but good vibes, optimism and a charge to take that feeling out into the world.”—Associated Press
“[Franti] writes songs with the aim of uplifting his audience.”—Relix
“Franti and company clearly exude confidence that even in a dire and distressed world, there’s still hope to be found in simple pleasures and pastimes.”—Paste
“a refreshing dose of accessible music with life-affirming messages”—PopMatters
“On his new album, Stay Human Vol. II, the hopeful singer-songwriter reminds us that things go wrong occasionally, but when you focus on that, you miss the enormity of what goes right.”—No Depression
Additionally, Franti recently appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss the gun violence epidemic in America and share his music video for “The Flower” (feat. Victoria Canal), plus he performed at sessions for Paste and AOL Build.
Watch/share the video for “The Flower” (feat. Victoria Canal)—which recently ranked as the #1 music video at iTunes—at http://smarturl.it/MFTheFlowerVideo. The video highlights a number of Everytown Survivor Network members and other gun violence survivors from mass shootings including Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Pulse Nightclub in Orlando and the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, as well as daily acts of gun violence in cities across America, and focuses on the power of healing and each person's ability to create their own positive change.
The writing on Stay Human Vol. II—which is co-produced by Franti alongside Ben Simonetti (Zac Brown Band, Shemekia Copeland, Blake Shelton), Niko Moon (Zac Brown Band), Kevin Bard (Fitz & The Tantrums) and others—was heavily influenced by Franti’s work on his new award-winning self-directed documentary, Stay Human. He explains, “I’ve traveled the globe making music and throughout the years I’ve always hoped that it could inspire small steps towards making the world a better place. Struggling with the challenges of the world I began filming my new documentary, Stay Human, telling the stories of heroic everyday people who helped me to discover more deeply what it means to be and STAY HUMAN.”
Stay Human has won an array of awards while on the festival circuit, including the RWJ Barnabas Health Award at the 2018 Asbury Park Music & Film Festival, the Audience Award at the 2018 Nashville Film Festival, the Audience Award and the Voice for Humanity Award at the 2018 ILLUMINATE Film Festival and the Soul in Cinema Award at the 2018 Maui Film Festival. The film is now available via on demand and digital platforms through Cinedigm. Watch/share the trailer for Stay Human at https://youtu.be/NaQu7n4NA6s.
Franti began writing music as a way to process both the political landscape of the late 1980s and the unique sounds and ideas of his Bay Area upbringing. In 1994, Franti formed Michael Franti & Spearhead. Touring with his band, Franti continued to notice inequality and injustice both at home and abroad. The band released their seminal Stay Human album in 2000, reflecting on the unjust nature of the death penalty among other themes, to make sense of our common humanity in juxtaposition to near constant violations of human rights.
Franti released his first self-directed documentary, I Know I’m Not Alone, in 2005 to widespread critical acclaim. The film depicts his mission for peace in the Middle East, with a focus on the human cost of war. Franti visited war zones in Iraq, Israel and Palestine again finding common connection, playing music to both soldiers and civilians regardless of affiliation.
Michael Franti & Spearhead continue to foster the community both on and off stage and with Michael and his wife Sara’s foundation Do It For The Love, a wish granting nonprofit that brings those with life threatening illnesses, veterans and children with severe challenges to concerts. His recent musical projects have included the Billboard #1 single “The Sound of Sunshine” (2010) and full-length releases All the People (2013) and SOULROCKER (2016), which topped the Billboard rock album charts at #4 and #5, respectively.
STAY HUMAN VOL. II
1. Little Things
2. Just To Say I Love You
3. The Flower (feat. Victoria Canal)
4. Only Thing Missing Was You 2 (feat. HIRIE)
5. Stay Human 2
6. Summertime Won’t Last Long
7. This World Is So F*cked Up (But I Ain’t Ever Giving Up On It)
8. You’re Number One
9. Enjoy Every Second (feat. AGodess)
10. Nobody Cries Alone
11. Extraordinary
12. When The Sun Begins To Shine
13. Show Me Your Peace Sign
14. Take Me Alive
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD LIVE
July 31—Rogers, AR—Walmart Amphitheater (Arkansas Music Pavilion)*
August 1—Austin, TX—Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater*
August 2—New Braunfels, TX—Whitewater Amphitheater*
August 3—Houston, TX—White Oak Music Hall*
August 4—Irving, TX—Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory*
August 8—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
August 9—Leuven, BE—Halfoogst
August 10—Winchester, UK—Boomtown Festival
August 11—Cornwall, UK—Boardmasters Festival
August 12-13—London, UK—Jazz Café
August 22 (afternoon)—Ann Arbor, MI—Liberty Plaza
August 22 (evening)—Toledo, OH—Hensville Park
August 23—Grand Rapids, MI—Frederik Meijer Gardens
August 24—Madison, WI—The Sylvee
August 25—Pittsburgh, PA—Rock, Reggae & Relief
September 13—Sacramento, CA—Cesar Chavez Park
September 14—Eureka, CA—Funk ‘n’ Reggae B Street Block Party
September 19—Baldwinsville, NY—Bud Light Amphitheater at Paper Mill Island
September 20—Hampton Beach, NH—Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
September 21—Greenwich, CT—Greenwich Wine & Food Festival
October 11—Oakland, CA—Fox Theater
October 14—Monterey, CA—Golden State Theatre
October 15—Grass Valley, CA—Center for the Arts
October 17—Grand Junction, CO—Avalon Theatre
October 18—Denver, CO—Mission Ballroom
October 19—Rapid City, SD—Rushmore Plaza Civic Center – Fine Arts Theater
October 21—Kansas City, MO—CrossroadsKC
October 22—Minneapolis, MN—State Theatre
October 23—Des Moines, IA—Des Moines Civic Center
October 24—Chicago, IL—Concord Music Hall
October 25—Royal Oak, MI—Royal Oak Music Theatre
October 26—Louisville, KY—Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
October 30—Cincinnati, OH—Riverfront Live
October 31—Cleveland OH—Agora Theatre
November 1—Philadelphia, PA—Franklin Music Hall
November 2—New London, CT—Garde Arts Center
November 4—Boston, MA—House of Blues
November 6—Huntington, NY—The Paramount
November 7—Montclair, NJ—Wellmont Theater
November 8—Silver Spring, MD—The Fillmore Silver Spring
November 9—Rocky Mount, VA—Harvester Performance Center
November 22—San Diego, CA—Wonderfront Music Festival
* supporting Sublime with Rome
