| Billy Howerdel, offering a final preview of his forthcoming solo album, What Normal Was (June 10, Alchemy Recordings/Rise Records/BMG), has released the track “The Same Again” Howerdel launches a five-week North American tour on June 11 in Ventura, Calif. (dates below). The trek finds Howerdel joining his APC bandmate Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer for two shows: June 12 at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles) and July 1 at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (Rochester Hills, Mich). Tickets, and VIP packages, for all headlining dates are on sale now, visit www.billyhowerdel.com for additional info. VOWWS open on all headlining dates. The A Perfect Circle co-founder and guitar player has shared five songs from the eagerly-awaited album, with the four previously released singles being “Selfish Hearts” (https://youtu.be/6R6tpn5aqko), “Beautiful Mistake” (https://youtu.be/gS_ekjh8n-k), “Poison Flowers” (watch the video here) and “Free and Weightless” (https://youtu.be/Hc6Wpx9KWnk). What Normal Was is one of 2022’s most highly-anticipated rock records. Guitar World described the music as “treading a line between Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails,” Loudwire said Howerdel “paints a haunting visual with a dark palette,” and Consequence said “trip hop and electronic influences peer through… beneath ethereal guitar passages.” Album pre-orders and pre-saves, which include an array of limited-edition vinyl variants, and other physical formats, are available now (https://billyhowerdel.lnk.to/WhatNormalWas). | |
 |
| Tour dates: June 11 Ventura, CA Ventura Music Hall June 12 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre * June 14 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up June 15 San Francisco, CA The Independent June 16 Roseville, CA Goldfield Trading Post June 18 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom June 19 Seattle, WA Neumos June 21 Salt Lake City, UT Metro Music Hall June 22 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre June 24 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Café June 25 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest June 26 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall June 28 Chicago, IL Cabaret Metro June 29 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall July 1 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook Amphitheatre * July 2 Toronto, ON Axis Club July 3 Montreal, QC Café Campus July 5 Allston, MA Brighton Music Hall July 6 New York, NY Gramercy Theatre July 8 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts July 9 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage July 10 Charlotte, NC The Underground July 12 Atlanta, GA Masquerade July 14 New Orleans, LA House of Blues July 15 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall – Inside Downstairs July 16 Dallas, TX The Echo Lounge & Music Hall July 17 Austin, TX Emos July 20 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom *-w/Puscifer – no VOWWS | ||
| Photo credit: Erica Weitz |
| New Jersey-born and Los Angeles-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Billy Howerdel has quietly asserted himself as an alternative music auteur whose knack for massive hooks belies a keen emotional understanding and sonic acuity. Devoting his life to music after witnessing Pink Floyd live, he acted as something of a behind-the-scenes journeyman, working as an in-demand touring and studio tech for the likes of David Bowie, Guns N’ Roses, and Nine Inch Nails. Striking up a friendship with Maynard James Keenan when Tool opened for Fishbone (for whom Billy served as a tech), he occupied a room in a North Hollywood cottage with Maynard. Billy founded A Perfect Circle with Maynard in 1999. The group’s seminal full-length debut, Mer de Noms, went platinum and made history as the “highest Billboard Top 200 bow for a rock band’s debut.” They followed it with the platinum Thirteenth Step [2003] and gold Emotive [2004]. The group made their return with 2018’s Eat The Elephant, marking their fourth consecutive Top 5 debut on the Top 200. In between, Billy’s music has also appeared in video games and on the big screen. During 2008, he made his first solo statement under the moniker Ashes Divide with Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright. In the next decade, the album quietly pervaded as a cult favorite with millions of streams. On his 2022 proper full-length solo debut, What Normal Was [Alchemy Recordings/Rise Records/BMG], he inhabits a space that’s reverent of his past, present, and future all at once. After all of these years, songs, and shows, Billy is ready to introduce himself. |
