With the winds of critical praise billowing through his sails following the release of his "Mule Variations," Tom Waits has lined up a string of dates for a brief North American tour.
Beginning on August 23, Waits hit a trio of towns (Toronto, Chicago, and Minneapolis) playing multiple nights in each. Waits will kick off the run north of the border with two shows in Toronto on August 23 and 24, then head to Chicago for shows on August 26 and 27, and then wrap up in Minneapolis on August 29 and 30.Waits has scheduled two shows at Minneapolis' State Theater for August 29 and 30, and spokespeople for the whiskey-throated troubadour say that more will be announced soon.
While Waits will be visible on the road, he has also been turning up on MTV as well. The singer hooked up with director Matt Mahurin to shoot a clip for "Hold On," and the finished product debuted on "120 Minutes" Sunday night. The clip marked not only Waits' return to video but also that of Mahurin, who had left videos altogether. Mahurin (who has done clips for U2, R.E.M., Peter Gabriel, Metallica, and others, and who also shot the cover art for "Mule Variations") said in a statement, "When I began doing videos over 10 years ago, the process was much simpler. It was more of collaboration between a musical artist and a filmmaker. Now everyone in the record company has an opinion. It's killed the experience as a creative expression and turned into art by committee. To work with Tom was an opportunity to once again have a one-to-one connection with a great American artist."
