Melodic Alt-Punk band Nathan Gray & The Iron Roses release their third studio album, Rebel Songs today, December 17, 2021, and have also recently announced a 20-date US tour with BlackGuyFawkes. Kicking off on February 25, 2022 in Providence, RI, the tour winds its way west making several stops out to Milwaukee, WI (3/7), Chicago, IL (3/9), back east with a show in Brooklyn, NY (3/16), and ending in Philadelphia, PA on March 18th.
After nearly two years absent from the road, the prospect of upcoming tour dates thrills frontman Nathan Gray:
“It’s the connection that I am most excited about. Any time I am not on the road, there is an intense void in my life because being on stage is like my personal therapy couch. There is a very palpable energy exchange that happens within live music. It’s very symbiotic – I need my audience as much as they need me! Not being able to tour for so long was a real challenge for me to stay above the darkness mentally – that’s why I wrote the album that I did!”
Gray and band turned toward creating music during the pandemic, fired up by both the isolation as well as in response to the division caused by the previous administration.
Gray says:
“The inspiration both musically and lyrically came from just seeing a lot of the darkness surrounding us, and seeing it taking over so many people during a difficult time in the world (and in this country), especially within the last four or five years. The darkness was being allowed too big a place in this world, and Rebel Songs is my rebellion to that – it’s a call for joy as an act of revolution. Seeing greed and bigotry and hatred, and even the way groups were playing to people’s brokenness, which was very calculatedly being exploited by politicians and much of the upper class, shattered my heart. The entire album is a rebellion against that darkness. A lot of horrible political opinions reside in hopelessness and the best way to combat that nihilism is to show people that there IS hope and they don’t HAVE to be broken and sad – there’s a light and that light is right there inside of them.”
Upcoming Tour Dates:
2/25 – Providence, RI @ Askew
2/26 – Boston, MA @ O’Briens
3/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Funhouse
3/02 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing Co.
3/03 – Knoxville, TN @ Brickyard Bar and Grill
3/04 – Memphis, TN @ Growlers
3/05 – St Louis, MO @ Red Flag
3/06 – Bloomington, IL @ Nightshop
3/07 – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade
3/08 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
3/09 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
3/10 – Hamtramck, MI @ Small’s
3/11 – Cincinnati, OH @ Legends Bar & Venue
3/12 – Columbus, OH @ Spacebar
3/13 – Nashville, TN @ Springwater
3/14 – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs
3/15 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel
3/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory
3/17 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
3/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milk Boy
