Ben Folds Confirms NYC Show; Releases New Record With Nick Hornby

Lonely Avenue, a collaboration between two eminent artists-American singer-songwriter Ben Folds and English novelist Nick Hornby-has received critical acclaim since its release. Folds and Hornby recently performed at New York's Housing Works for SPIN's Liner Notes series and appeared on an episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" while the press continues to praise the album:

"An affecting and intelligent record: the pair shouldn't shy away from a sequel."-BBC

"This is the beauty of Lonely Avenue...each track is a little story, often told in the first person, about what it's like to be a 9-year-old girl, a washed up rockstar, or the world's most famous hockey-playing teen dad. And in every story, there's something relatable."-TIME
"The collaboration clicks: There's a depth to the lyrics rare in pop songs, and they inspire top-notch work from the ever-inventive Folds...Hornby's lyrics are smart, profane, violent, poignant, hilarious and absolutely true."-Associated Press

"[Lonely Avenue is] masterful and catchy."-CNN
"Intelligent, funny, heartbreaking alt-rock."-Mojo
Folds is set to tour the U.S. throughout November in support of Lonely Avenue, concluding the dates with a performance at New York City's fabled Beacon Theatre on December 14. The tour also includes a Thanksgiving weekend homecoming performance at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center to benefit the Nashville Symphony. Folds has designated that in addition to benefitting the Symphony, a portion of the proceeds from his November 27 show at Tennessee Performing Arts Center will go to two volunteer firefighting organizations in the Middle Tennessee region. "The flood happened in a matter of hours, but digging out of it will take years," Folds notes. "This concert is an effort to help keep the recovery in the front of our minds and to help restore our great symphony hall, which was severely damaged. Of course, a donation to our first responders like our volunteer firefighters is in order too, because without them the Middle Tennessee community would have lost so much more." Please see below for a list of tour dates.

In addition to the new record and tour, Folds is set to embark on his second season as a judge on NBC's a cappella competition The Sing-Off. Set to begin airing on December 6, the successful series will reward America's best a cappella group with a Sony Music recording contract and $100,000.

The idea to create an album of Folds' unique pop songwriting sensibilities with Hornby's insightful prose was conceived during a dinner conversation between the two friends one night in 2009. After that, Hornby began regularly emailing lyrics to Folds, who then turned them into Lonely Avenue's 11 musical short stories. The songs touch on subject matter ranging from a mother with a child in the hospital over New Year's Eve to the work of Doc Pomus, lyricist of countless '50s and '60s pop hits.
In addition to Lonely Avenue, Hornby and Folds, the latter of whom is known for using the Internet as a creative instrument, recently collaborated with YouTube sensation Pomplamoose on a song titled "Things You Think" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G5JaicYuVU), which has garnered over half a million views since its release. Additionally, British YouTube phenomenon Charlie McDonnell made a video for the song "Saskia Hamilton" which has amassed over half a million views in less than two weeks and ranked as the most discussed video on YouTube. The video can be streamed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JP5lUN_4Eo.

Ben Folds first found mainstream success as the leader of the critically acclaimed platinum-selling Ben Folds Five. He has gone on to have a very successful solo career, recording three studio albums in addition to a pair of records documenting his renowned live performances and a remix record. Folds also recently released Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, a collection of his songs performed by college groups. In 2009 Folds was featured as a judge on NBC's a cappella competition The Sing-Off. Folds previously collaborated with Hornby on a song for the Folds-produced William Shatner album Has Been, which the Huffington Post called "one of the few records in recent memory that dared to tell the unvarnished truth about the human condition."

Folds also has a special relationship with symphony musicians, having performed with some of the world's greatest orchestras including a record-breaking sold-out Australian tour in 2006 and repeatedly sold-out nights at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops with conductor Keith Lockhart, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Nick Hornby often writes about music, musicians, and music lovers in his fiction and nonfiction work. His six novels, some of which have been turned into successful films, are High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down, Slam, and Juliet, Naked (just released in paperback). He has also published several works of non-fiction, including Fever Pitch, Songbook (a collection of essays about songs that influenced his life), and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, as well as a book of short stories, Otherwise Pandemonium. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the film An Education for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Ben Folds TOUR
November 5 The Riviera Chicago, IL
November 6 The Fillmore Detroit, MI

November 7 The Orbit Room Grand Rapids, MI

November 8 LC Pavilion Columbus, OH

November 10 Bogarts Cincinnati, OH

November 11 Club Zoo Pittsburgh, PA

November 12 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY

November 13 Tower Theatre Philadelphia, PA

November 17 Orpheum Theater Boston, MA

November 18 Welmont Theatre Montclair, NJ

November 20 The Fillmore Charlotte, NC

November 21 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA

November 27 Tennessee Performing Arts Center Nashville, TN

December 14 Beacon Theatre New York, NY