Todd Rundgren's "A Wizard, A True Star" Live Limited To Only Seven USA Performances

PR Log (Press Release) – Jul 29, 2009 – In a recent interview with Steve Beck of onlinerock.com, Pop/Rock icon Todd Rundgren explained why there will likely only be seven "A Wizard, A True Star"  live performances in the USA.   The entire interview can be found at this URL:  http://www.onlinerock.com/interview/todd_rundgren.shtml

"There are a couple of constraints. One is that it being a much larger production, we have to compress the production period down into something relatively compact. It’s not something that I can take off the road for a while and then just start up again. And the significant musical constraint is that Roger Powell still has a regular job which he has to return to. So he can’t go out for months and months at a time. He can go out for a couple of weeks and then has to go back to the job."

When Steve asked about the production of the performances,  Todd said, "Well, you’ve got to be methodical about it. Right now I’m in the process of breaking it down into proper-size chunks. And, in addition to that, it’s not simply a musical presentation, its got to be more of a theatrical thing. I think the expectations exceed a typical sort of concert. Also it’s of an era when, at least with my shows, I think most artists were doing something that was a little bit more production-oriented live. People were wearing costumes and they had special effects and lasers and that sort of stuff to enhance the shows. We’re going to truck a bunch of that out as well ... it will not just be the music of the era; it’ll be a presentation in the style of that era."

The seven USA shows have already been announced:

September 6, 2009 in Akron, OH, at the Akron Civic Theatre (SOLD OUT)
September 7, 2009 in Akron, OH, at the Akron Civic Theatre
September 9, 2009 in Stamford, CT at the Stamford Center for the Arts Palace Theatre
September 10, 2009 in Bethesda, MD at the Strathmore Music Hall
September 12, 2009 in Chicago, IL at Park West
September 13, 2009 in Chicago, IL at Park West
September 15, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN at the State Theatre

Ticket information for the first four performances can be found at www.AWATSlive.com.  Tickets for the Park West and State Theatre shows can be found on their respective websites.

In 2010, Todd will be doing "A Wizard, A True Star" live performances in London at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo on February 6th and in Amsterdam at the Paradiso on February 8th.  Todd mentioned in the onlinerock.com interview that they would like to add more performances in Europe, "It’s going to take us a week to rehearse it then we only play seven dates (USA). We hope it is successful enough so that we might get some additional dates added in Europe."

A Wizard, A True Star - - - The title of Todd Rundgren's 1973 solo album aptly sums up the contributions of this multi-faceted artist to state-of-the-art music. As a songwriter, video pioneer, producer, recording artist, computer software developer, conceptualist, and, most recently, interactive artist (re-designated TR-i), Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both the form and content of popular music.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager, going on to found and front The Nazz, the quintessential `60's cult group. In 1969, he left the band to pursue a solo career, recording his debut offering, the legendary Runt. But it was 1972's seminal Something/Anything?, on which he played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts, and acted as his own producer, that catapulted Todd into the superstar limelight, prompting the press to unanimously dub him 'Rock's New Wunderkind'. It was followed by such landmark LPs as The Hermit of Mink Hollow and the above mentioned A Wizard, A True Star, as well as such hit singles as I Saw The Light, Hello It's Me, Can We Still Be Friends, and Bang The Drum.

In 1974, Todd formed Utopia, an entirely new approach to the concept of interactive musicianship, and embarked on an extensive round of touring and recording. Standout Utopia offerings included Oops! Wrong Planet, Adventures in Utopia, and Oblivion. Along the way, Utopia combined technical virtuosity and creative passion to create music that, for millions, defined the term "progressive rock."

Rundgren's myriad production projects include albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall And Oates. Rounding out his reputation as rock's Renaissance Man, Rundgren composed all the music and lyrics for Joe Papp's 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton's Up Against It  (the screenplay commisioned by The Beatles for what was meant to have been their third motion picture). He also has composed the music for a number of television series, including Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Crime Story.

In 1998 Todd debuted his new PatroNet technology which for the first time allows fans of a musical artist to subscribe directly to the artist’s musical output via the Internet. This caps a long history of groundbreaking early multimedia "firsts", including:

• 1978: The first interactive television concert, broadcast live over the Warner/QUBE system in Columbus, Ohio (the home audience chose each song.in real time during the concert by voting via QUBE’s 2-way operating system).

• 1978: The first live nationally broadcast stereo radio concert (by microwave), linking 40 cities around the country.

• 1979: The opening of Utopia Video Studios, a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility. The first project produced by Todd there is Gustav Holst’s The Planets, commissioned by RCA SelectaVision as the first demonstration software for their new videodisc format.

• 1980: Creation of the first color graphics tablet, which was licensed to Apple and released as The Utopia Graphics Tablet.

• 1981: Time Heals, the first music video to utilize state-of-the-art compositing of live action and computer graphics (produced and directed by Todd), becomes the second video to be played on MTV (after Video Killed the Radio Star).

• 1982: The first live national cablecast of a rock concert (on the USA Network), simulcast in stereo to over 120 radio stations.

• 1982: The first two commercially released music videos, one of which was nominated for the first-ever Grammy awarded for “Best Short Form Video” in 1983.

• 1992: The release of “No World Order”, the world’s first interactive record album on CD-i. Also the first commercially available music downloads via CompuServe.

• 1994: The release of “The Individualist”, the world’s first full-length Enhanced CD.

• 1995: The world’s first interactive concert tour.

• 1998: Launched PatroNet, the world’s first direct artist subscription service

Todd plans to use the latest technologies to document the upcoming "A Wizard, A True Star" live performances.  "It’ll be recorded, it’ll be video taped and other possible things were thinking of is a pay-per-view Internet stream live during the show for people in other parts of the world who can’t make the trip."

Todd's "A Wizard, A True Star" band lineup will include some of the members from his former bands Utopia and The New Cars.  The all-star band lineup for the  "A Wizard, A True Star" performances include:  Todd Rundgren, Jesse Gress, Greg Hawkes, Roger Powell, Prairie Prince, Bobby Strickland, and Kasim Sulton.

Guitarist Jesse Gress tours and records with Todd Rundgren and the Grammy-nominated Tony Levin Band.  Greg Hawkes is the famed keyboardist and co-founder of The Cars (1977-1987).  Keyboardist Roger Powell was a member of the band Utopia and played keyboards and synthesizers for the band from 1974 until its disbanding in 1985.  Drummer Prairie Prince has been a founding member of art-rock band The Tubes since 1969.  Saxophonist Bobby Strickland played and toured for two of Todd's albums and is currently with the Gary Cambra Band.  Bass player Kasim Sulton, was member of the band Utopia and has worked with other artists including Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Hall and Oates, Patti Smith, and Patty Smyth.