Sara Watkins launches a US tour this weekend with two sets at the Bluebonnets & Bluegrass festival at Old Tyme Wonderland in College Station, Texas, Saturday and Sunday. The tour celebrates the forthcoming release of Watkins' new album, Sun Midnight Sun, which is due out on Nonesuch Records on May 8 and is now available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive 9x12" print based on the cover art and signed by Watkins. The nationwide tour includes headlining shows, a series of special tour dates with Dawes, and a number of summer festival sets. See below for all of the currently scheduled dates; for additional details and ticket links, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.

The tour also includes a special acoustic set and signing at The Exclusive Company in Madison, Wisconsin, next Saturday afternoon, April 21, prior to her show at the High Noon Saloon. That's Record Store Day, which brings the release of a limited-edition 7” of a rendition of The Everly Brothers classic “You’re the One I Love,” on which Fiona Apple duets with Watkins.

Sun Midnight Sun, Watkins' second solo album, was produced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Blake Mills, co-founder of the band Simon Dawes, and features special guest appearances by Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Shawn Everett at Zeitgeist Studio, Los Angeles, and includes songs written by Watkins (“You and Me,” “Take Up Your Spade”) as well as several collaborations with Mills (“The Foothills,” “Be There,” “The Accord,” “Impossible,” and “Lock and Key”). It also features songs by Dan Wilson (“When It Pleases You”) and Willie Nelson (“I’m a Memory”), and the duet with Apple on The Everly Brothers' “You’re the One I Love."

For more information on Sun Midnight Sun and to reserve a copy with a signed print today, head to the Nonesuch Store now.

SARA WATKINS ON TOUR

† w/ Watkins Family Hour for L.A. Bluegrass Situation
* opening for Dawes