Former Smashing Pumpkins and Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur has announced her first solo live shows in 15 years, plus a number of book signing appearances in Europe.
Following the 2010 release of her second solo album, Out Of Our Minds, the Montreal-born bassist revealed that she would be taking an extended break from the music industry to focus on her family, and the curation of the arts and performance space in New York that she owns with her husband, US film-maker Tony Stone. But the 54-year-old alt. rock star returned to the limelight this year with the publication of her acclaimed autobiography (Even The Good Girls Will Cry) and a well-received photobook showcasing her eye-of-the-hurricane documentation of the game-changing '90s alternative rock scene (My '90s Rock Photographs), plus her first new music in over 15 years, Bass Womb Room: My '90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, released digitally in September and due to emerge on vinyl next month.
In recognition of this flurry of activity, the multi-talented Canadian artist has today announced her first solo live shows in 15 years, plus a select batch of book signing appearances in Europe
Auf Der Maur will be signing books at shops in London, Paris and Berlin this week, and performing live in her native Canada in January.
The dates are:
Nov 11: London Waterstones Gower Street, UK
Nov 13: Paris Yvon Lambert, FRA
Nov 14: Paris Gaité Lyrique Auditorium, FRA
Nov 17: Berlin Potografiska Berlin, GER
Nov 19: Berlin Rough Trade Berlin, GER
Jan. 15: Toronto Art Gallery of Ontario, CAN
Jan 17: Montreal Le Gesù, CAN
Bass Womb Room: My '90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings will be released on vinyl by Envision Records on December 4.
Both a standalone album and a soundtrack to an immersive multimedia artwork, Bass Womb Room features seven 4-track tape demos written and recorded by Auf Der Maur in the '90s, plus eight 'interlude' created for her museum exhibition.
Auf Der Maur revealed the existence of the album exclusively to Louder back in March.
"I'm really excited about it,: she said, "because I think it's the way that I'm going to ease myself back into sound. I need to come back in through the innocence place. I wrote this book, to be able to reconnect with that girl at 19 who was spending 24/7 obsessed with music, I need her to teach me how to get back there."
Find out more here.
