Harry and the Potters Release New Album 'Lumos'

Wizard rock pioneers Harry and the Potters (Paul and Joe DeGeorge), have officially released their first full-length album since 2006: Lumos. Using the magic of rock and roll, Lumos chronicles the events of the seventh and final Harry Potter book where J.K. Rowling's teen wizard and his friends are on the run from a xenophobic, authoritarian regime and must work diligently to take down a dark wizard who capitalizes on fear and emboldens supremacist wizards. In other words, the subject matter of Lumos is extremely relevant. Harry and the Potters also just kicked off their first national tour of libraries since 2011 in support of the new album. Lumos was first announced to Harry and the Potters' fans with a Kickstarter campaign on April 23rd, doubling its funding goal within 24 hours of launch.

Lumos is an album for this political moment. For the parents raising a younger generation reading these books for the first time, it's an opportunity to connect the dots: the systems facilitating oppression in the wizard world - state-run media, children being separated from their mixed-blood parents, surveillance systems, and pureblood supremacy - strongly echo the daily reality of creeping neo-fascism. For the generation of Harry Potter fans that has grown up into a world where cartoonish villains occupy the halls of power, it's a reminder that there is a pathway forward. Now is the time for Dumbledore's Army, for the Order of the Phoenix. We are being called upon to become the heroes that this moment necessitates.

Paul DeGeorge tells Rolling Stone, "we're hoping that parents and their young kids might see us play at the library, hear a song explicitly critiquing pureblood supremacy and then later have a real discussion about white supremacy and how it manifests in their own lives."

These are wizard fight songs, but there are also songs about riding dragons, magic pictures of cats, and using cool spells while camping. There is even a platonic friendship power ballad duet with Kimya Dawson, who makes a special guest appearance as Hermione Granger. Truly there is something here for the whole family - especially if the whole family is invested in defeating Voldemort.

Tour dates:

June 21 - Gloucester, MA - Sawyer Free Library
June 22 - Buffalo, NY - Buffalo and Erie County Public Library
June 23 - London, ON - The Rec Room
June 24 - Toronto, ON - The Rec Room
June 26 - Ann Arbor, MI - Ann Arbor District Downtown Library

June 27 - Evansville, IN - Barnes and Noble
June 28 - Athens, OH - Athens Public Library
June 29 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Free Public Library
June 30 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
July 1 - DeForest, WI - DeForest Area Public Library
July 2 - Dubuque, IA - Eagle Point Park (rain location: Carnegie-Stout Public Library)
July 3 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
July 4 - Rapid City, SD - Memorial Park Bandshell
July 5 - Steamboat Springs, CO - Strings Music Festival
July 6 - Boulder, CO - Band Shell in Central Park
July 7 - Denver, CO - Mercury Cafe
July 8 - Provo, UT - Provo Library at Academy Square
July 9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
July 12 - Missoula, MT - Missoula Public Library
July 13 - Calgary, AB - The Rec Room
July 14 - Edmonton, AB - The Rec Room
July 16 - Vancouver, BC - Vancouver Public Library
July 17 - Anacortes, WA - Causland Park
July 18 - Olympia, WA - Olympia Timberland Library
July 19 - Seattle, WA - Seattle Public Library
July 20 - Portland, OR - St. Johns Library
July 20 - Portland, OR - Gresham Library
July 21 - Eugene, OR - Downtown Eugene Public Library
July 23 - Santa Clara, CA - Northside Branch Library
July 24 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
July 25 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Public Library Main Branch

July 26 - San Luis Obispo - San Luis Obispo Library
July 27 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Public Library

July 28 - La Jolla, CA - The Ché Café

July 29 - Bakersfield, CA - Beale Memorial Library
July 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
July 31 - Huntington Beach, CA - Huntington Beach Public Library
August 1 - Las Vegas, NV - Clark County Library
August 2 - Phoenix, AZ - Burton Barr Central Library
August 3 - Tucson, AZ - Flowing Wells Branch Library
August 4 - El Paso, TX - El Paso Public Library
August 5 - San Antonio, TX - The Magik Theater
August 6 - Houston, TX - Houston Public Library - Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza
August 7 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Public Library - Main Library
August 8 - Ridgeland, MS - Ridgeland Public Library
August 9 - Dallas, TX - LeakyCon
August 12 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
August 14 - Shawnee, KS - Monticello Library
August 15 - Tulsa, OK - Tulsa City County Library - Hardesty Regional Library
August 16 - Springfield, MO - The Library Center

August 17 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
August 18 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Public Library

August 19 - Raleigh, NC - Cameron Village Regional Library - 6pm - FREE
August 20 - Washington, DC - Woodridge Library
August 21 - Lewes, DE - Lewes Public Library
August 22 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory

August 23 - New Bedford, MA - Downtown near the Library - 7pm - FREE
August 24 - Boston, MA - Boston Public Library (Dartmouth Street Steps)

To post a comment, you must register and login.