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Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings announce March 2012 UK tour

Posted: 12 years ago

Formed from the ashes of the Soul Providers, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have something of a turbulent history, with more line-up changes than the Sugababes.

What has shone through is the music and a deep, passionate love for soul and funk that effuses infectious joy and intoxicating colour. Jones was promoted to fronting the band after a stint providing backing vocals and on her voice, her success, the band and its parent label, Daptone Records, have built a reputation for lively, thrilling New York-inflected funk and R&B.

With Sharon Jones on lead vocal duties, the band's debut release was the dap-tastic 2002 album 'Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings'. The band's fourth record, 'I Learned the Hard Way', released in 2010, became their most successful to date, reaching No 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and shipping 100,000 copies in the first few months. It did even better on the R&B and Indie charts, hitting No 6 and No 2 respectively.

It was a watershed for a band who have since appeared on huge US TV shows including The Colbert Report and the late night chat shows of David Letterman, Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. The fifth album, 'Soul Time', was not a new studio record but a compilation of non-album tracks for UK release only, issued earlier this month. Off the back of the UK release and the huge success of 'I Learned the Hard Way', the band have announced a return to the UK next year.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings kick off their UK tour in Bristol on 3rd March 2012, followed by dates in Leeds, Glasgow, Nottingham, Birmingham and London, at the Shepherds Bush Empire, before the final show in Brighton on Saturday 10th March.

We will have tickets when they go on sale at 9AM on Friday 25th November, priced from £18.50.

Stewart Darkin