Blackberry Smoke to Perform with Ida Mae at the State Theatre

Blackberry Smoke will perform a series of stripped down shows this spring as part of their "Break It Down Tour," the band's first-ever acoustic tour. The tour, featuring Ida Mae, includes a stop in Easton at the State Theatre on Friday, April 5th.

Show time is 7:30 PM. Tickets are $49 (Gold Circle)/$39/$35 and can be purchased by visiting the State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, by calling 1-800-999-STATE, 610.252.3132 or online at www.statetheatre.org.

The shows celebrate the release of Blackberry Smoke's new acoustic EP, The Southern Ground Sessions, which was released last fall. Created as a companion to the band's latest full-length album, Find A Light, the EP was recorded at Southern Ground studio in Nashville, TN and features stripped-down versions of five album tracks as well as a rendition of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" featuring Amanda Shires. The EP, which was recently named one of the "10 Best Country EPs of 2018" by Rolling Stone, continues to receive critical acclaim. Guitar World praises, "With the new EP, a band that has defied critics to pigeonhole them have further proven that there is no one genre that can contain their versatile sound," while Rolling Stone Country declares,"Blackberry Smoke's crunchy Southern rock may be made for fuzzed-out electric guitars, but their songs sure do translate well to being played acoustically."

Additionally, the band's sixth studio album, Find A Light, was released last April and debuted as the best-selling Country and Americana/Folk album in the country and entered at #3 on theBillboard Top Country Albums chart and #2 on the Billboard Americana/Folk Albums chart. Of the album, NPR Music praises, "...Find a Light pushes the envelope while providing that famous Blackberry Smoke autonomy, delivered with soulful vocals, haunting harmonies and kick ass songs," while Relix declares, "Blackberry Smoke have long been heirs to the road-warrior mantle established by their classic-rock and country heroes. And, with their sixth full-length album, Find A Light, the quintet has now firmly established an authentic legacy of their own."

Blackberry Smoke is Charlie Starr (vocals, guitar), Richard Turner (bass, vocals), Brit Turner (drums), Paul Jackson (guitar, vocals), and Brandon Still (keyboards). Since their debut in 2004, the band has independently released six full-length records and has toured relentlessly, building a strong and loyal community of fans. In addition to their work as musicians, Blackberry Smoke remains committed to charitable work and has raised nearly $200,000 benefiting children's cancer research.

It's quite some transformation from their grunge-blues band Kill It Kid, but former members, and now husband and wife, Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean are opening up a whole new musical world. The duo is now emerging from a period of self-discovery and mutual creative power to create the rawboned and stripped back musical romance that is, Ida Mae.

Ida Mae's magic lies in the sensuous dovetailing of two voices and the intimacy of their songs. Their chemistry on stage isn't just a dramatic pose and is a truly captivating sight to behold.

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