Joan Baez Announces 2015 Australian Tour

April 28, 2015

Iconic singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez has announced she will return to Australia this year for string of national tour dates in September and October.

Baez’s upcoming Australian tour follows her visit in 2013, her first in over 25 years as part of her praised world tour. She’ll start off in Canberra at the Royal Theatre on Thursday, 17th September and will then play some of he nation’s other celebrated stages across Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide.

In May this year, Baez will receive Amnesty International’s Ambassador for Conscience Award for 2015, recognising her lifelong commitment as an outspoken activist, themes evident in her rich music catalogue.

Her life story reads as a remarkable list of achievements in the arena of human rights. She sang from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before Dr Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech, famously inspired Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic, stood alongside Nelson Mandela when the world celebrated his 90th birthday and attended Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration.

Her music will also be celebrated this year with the USA’s Library Of Congress selecting her 1960 debut album, Joan Baez, to be included in the National Recording Registry as a crucial part of America’s history.

Her latest album is 2008’s Day After Tomorrow, which was recorded in Nashville and is produced by Steve Earle. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had an entire album of songs that speak to the essence of who I am in the same way as the songs that have been the enduring backbone of my repertoire for the past 50 years,” said Baez in a statement.

For the Australian concert series, Baez will be backed by both her son, Gabriel Harris on
percussion, and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell on banjo, guitar, keyboards and fiddle. See tour dates and ticketing information below.

Watch: Joan Baez – Diamonds And Rust 2014