Mary Black Kicks Off Her U.S. LAST CALL Tour Tomorrow

Mary Black, Ireland's premiere female singer, has tried to retire from touring since she announced her "Last Call" tour in 2014. Since that time, she's performed all over the world-the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and her native Ireland-but there are places that keep calling her back one more time. Such is the case with the U.S., which embraced her ground-breaking international hit album NO FRONTIERS back in 1989 and established Mary Black as a major concert attraction in America and beyond.

The second leg of the U.S. portion of "The Last Call Tour" will continue with a three week string of concerts beginning in the Northeast in late July. "I was feeling guilty about leaving out so many great places on 'The Last Call Tour' in the U.S., and so I'm delighted to be able to rectify this by going back for the second leg. I'm really looking forward to this summer tour," says Mary.

Supporting Mary Black on the U.S. dates will be Róisín O (http://roisino.com/), one of Ireland's most promising young artists, who has toured internationally and played support slots with Lionel Richie, Brad Paisley, The Coronas and Robert Cray on many of Ireland's biggest stages. As part of Ireland's 2016 Centenary celebrations, Ro?isi?n, alongside her brother, Danny O'Reilly, and cousin, Aoife Scott, was invited by RTE?, Ireland's national radio and television broadcaster, to perform the song 'Grace' in Kilmainham Gaol. Some weeks later, nearly a million people, at home and abroad, tuned in to watch the performance as part of RTE?'s Centenary Programme. The Sunday Times described Róisín O as having "a quality of tone and voice that is near pitch-perfect, at times evoking the likes of Joni Mitchell, Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush." She earnEd Strong notices for her debut album, THE SECRET LIFE OF BLUE, and has subsequently released several hit singles, among them "Give it Up" and "Better This Way."

Rising Artist Róisín O To coincide with the U.S. tour, Blix Street Records will release the 30th Anniversary edition of BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK, newly remixed and remastered in celebration of the milestone in North America (it is already available in Ireland). Additionally, the CD and digital versions include the following bonus tracks not included on the original 1987 album: a remixed version of "Moon River," a remixed version of "Copper Kettle," which was previously only available as a B-side on the "Once In A Very Blues Moon" single, and the newly recorded "Wounded Heart."The Seattle-based independent label championed Black's first releases in the United States beginning with NO FRONTIERS, and also released her most recent new studio recording, STORIES FROM THE STEEPLES, in 2014. "It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since the release of BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK back in 1987," says Mary Black who has been Ireland's musical ambassador to the world for at least that long. "There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then, and how time flies when you're busy and having a good time! As it's always been one of my favourite albums, I felt that it deserved to be revisited to celebrate its 30th anniversary. With that in mind we sent the old 24 track tapes to be baked (a process to preserve them), allowing us to do a complete remix and remaster of the album.

"We enlisted the services of my great friend and sound engineer Billy Robinson to do the job, and I'm delighted with the outcome," she explains. "We added a few bits where needed, and I'm happy to see it being released on vinyl again. It's been a nice journey revisiting that time and remembering the sights and sounds of life back then. As we listened closely to some of the tracks, the beautiful voice of Mandy Murphy came through, and I felt so sad the she had passed away, so young, last year. I wish to dedicate this release to her memory."

Considered Ireland's premiere female vocalist, Mary Black will be performing songs that span her lifelong career during the three weeks of shows. Black has released 11 studio albums, all of which have achieved platinum sales status and have included countless hits. She has shared stages, TV shows and recording studios with some of the most revered performers of our time. She has also played a frontline role in bringing Irish music, and particularly its wealth of talented songwriters, to an increasingly appreciative and ever-growing global audience

Mary Black's 2017 "Last Call" U.S. tour dates are as follows: July 27-River Club Music Hall, Scituate, MA July 28-Flying Monkey Performance Center, Plymouth, NH July 29-Cabot Performing Arts Center, Beverly, MA July 30-Academy of Music, Northampton, MA August 1-One World Theatre, Austin, TX August 2-Cactus Theatre Centre, Lubbock, TX August 3-Midtown Arts & Theatre Center, Houston, TX August 5 and 6-Dublin Irish Festival, Dublin, OH August 7-Midland Cultural Centre, Midland, Ontario, Canada August 10-Lake Superior Bigtop Chautauqua, Bayfield, WI August 11-Nashville City Winery, Nashville, TN August 12-Atlanta City Winery, Atlanta, GA August 13-Great American Music Hall, San Francisco CA.

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