Sara Bareilles Announces First Studio Album in Seven Years, ‘Good Grief,’ to Be Followed by Fall Tour
Sara Bareilles has kept a fairly low profile as a performing and recording artist since prior to the pandemic, but the drought on those fronts will come to an end as she releases the album “Good Grief” on Aug. 28, to be followed by a tour of North American theaters in September and October.
“Good Grief” is Bareilles’ first studio album since 2019’s “Amidst the Chaos,” and it will have been that long since her last official road trip when she tours theaters like New York’s Radio City Music Hall and L.A.’s Kodak Theatre in the early fall.
The first single from the album, “Home,” is out now. “Home” was inspired by a conversation on Anderson Cooper’s podcast between her, Cooper and Stephen Colbert about grief and loss. “It feels like an invitation and a tone setter for the specificity and depth of this record,” she said. “It just feels really essential right now. In order for us as humans to really know and understand each other, we have to listen to each other’s stories.”
It’s a big week in Bareilles’ world apart from this announcement, as a documentary that was filmed about the making of the new album, “Sara Bareilles: Good Grief,” has its world premiere Thursday night at New York’s Beacon Theatre, followed by a performance by the singer. (Look to Variety for a forthcoming interview with Bareilles and director Josh Alexander about the film.)
The Live Nation-produced tour kicks off Sept. 9 at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway and wraps up Oct. 19 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. In-between, along with the aforementioned New York and L.A. dates, she will perform in mid-sized indoor venues in Washington, Toronto, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Denver, Austin, Houston and San Francisco.
An artist presale begins Monday at noon local time; it requires advance sign-up at sarabmusic.com. There are separate Citi and Verizon presales on Monday and Tuesday.
As the documentary makes clear, the language of the album title is not incidental, as much of the material was informed by the singer-songwriter dealing with lingering feelings of grief after losing one of her best friends, as well as topical feelings about the state of things. “This whole collection of songs felt like transmissions rather than a deliberate attempt to make sense of the world,” Bareilles said in a statement about the new album. “My deepest hope is that ‘Good Grief’ provides some kind of comfort or catharsis.”
The forthcoming album was produced by Bareilles herself. A majority of it was recorded in initial sessions captured for the documentary, at Dreamland Recording Studios in Woodstock, NY, as she worked with drummer Charley Drayton, guitarist Butterfly Boucher, keyboardist Misty Boyce, bassist Solomon Dorsey, multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose and co-producer, recording engineer and mixer Jonathan Low. Later on, Bareilles was joined by co-producer Aaron Dessner and engineer and mixer Bella Blasko at Long Pond Studios in New York.
The album includes one previously heard track, “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet,” a collaboration with Brandi Carlile written and recorded for the soundtrack of “Come See Me in the Good Light,” a documentary about the late poet Andrea Gibson that came out last year.
Bareilles has chosen the Jed Foundation, an organization helping teens and young people with suicide prevention and mental health, and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) as her two charitable partners for the tour. The Jed Foundation will get $1 from every ticket sold, and NAMI will receive 100% of net proceeds from VIP upgrade packages.
Bareilles has been busy with other endeavors during her time away from touring, including a return stint in the lead of her musical “Waitress” in 2021, another Broadway acting stint in the original revival cast of “Into the Woods” in 2022, and work on a yet-to-be-produced musical based on the novel “The Interestings.”
Sara Bareilles’ tour dates: September 9—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall at FenwaySeptember 12—Washington, D.C.—The AnthemSeptember 15—Toronto, ON—Massey HallSeptember 18—New York, NY—Radio City Music HallSeptember 21—Philadelphia, PA—The MetSeptember 24—Atlanta, GA—Fox TheatreSeptember 25—Cincinnati, OH—Taft TheatreSeptember 27—Chicago, IL—Chicago TheatreSeptember 30—Minneapolis, MN—Orpheum TheatreOctober 2—St. Louis, MO—Stifel TheatreOctober 4—Denver, CO—Bellco TheatreOctober 6—Austin, TX—Bass Concert HallOctober 7—Houston, TX—The Hobby Center for the Performing ArtsOctober 12—Los Angeles, CA—Dolby TheatreOctober 13—Los Angeles, CA—Dolby TheatreOctober 16—San Francisco, CA—Bill Graham Civic AuditoriumOctober 19—Seattle, WA—The Paramount Theatre
The “Good Grief” track list:
“Good Grief” is Bareilles’ first studio album since 2019’s “Amidst the Chaos,” and it will have been that long since her last official road trip when she tours theaters like New York’s Radio City Music Hall and L.A.’s Kodak Theatre in the early fall.
The first single from the album, “Home,” is out now. “Home” was inspired by a conversation on Anderson Cooper’s podcast between her, Cooper and Stephen Colbert about grief and loss. “It feels like an invitation and a tone setter for the specificity and depth of this record,” she said. “It just feels really essential right now. In order for us as humans to really know and understand each other, we have to listen to each other’s stories.”
It’s a big week in Bareilles’ world apart from this announcement, as a documentary that was filmed about the making of the new album, “Sara Bareilles: Good Grief,” has its world premiere Thursday night at New York’s Beacon Theatre, followed by a performance by the singer. (Look to Variety for a forthcoming interview with Bareilles and director Josh Alexander about the film.)
The Live Nation-produced tour kicks off Sept. 9 at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway and wraps up Oct. 19 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. In-between, along with the aforementioned New York and L.A. dates, she will perform in mid-sized indoor venues in Washington, Toronto, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Denver, Austin, Houston and San Francisco.
An artist presale begins Monday at noon local time; it requires advance sign-up at sarabmusic.com. There are separate Citi and Verizon presales on Monday and Tuesday.
As the documentary makes clear, the language of the album title is not incidental, as much of the material was informed by the singer-songwriter dealing with lingering feelings of grief after losing one of her best friends, as well as topical feelings about the state of things. “This whole collection of songs felt like transmissions rather than a deliberate attempt to make sense of the world,” Bareilles said in a statement about the new album. “My deepest hope is that ‘Good Grief’ provides some kind of comfort or catharsis.”
The forthcoming album was produced by Bareilles herself. A majority of it was recorded in initial sessions captured for the documentary, at Dreamland Recording Studios in Woodstock, NY, as she worked with drummer Charley Drayton, guitarist Butterfly Boucher, keyboardist Misty Boyce, bassist Solomon Dorsey, multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose and co-producer, recording engineer and mixer Jonathan Low. Later on, Bareilles was joined by co-producer Aaron Dessner and engineer and mixer Bella Blasko at Long Pond Studios in New York.
The album includes one previously heard track, “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet,” a collaboration with Brandi Carlile written and recorded for the soundtrack of “Come See Me in the Good Light,” a documentary about the late poet Andrea Gibson that came out last year.
Bareilles has chosen the Jed Foundation, an organization helping teens and young people with suicide prevention and mental health, and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) as her two charitable partners for the tour. The Jed Foundation will get $1 from every ticket sold, and NAMI will receive 100% of net proceeds from VIP upgrade packages.
Bareilles has been busy with other endeavors during her time away from touring, including a return stint in the lead of her musical “Waitress” in 2021, another Broadway acting stint in the original revival cast of “Into the Woods” in 2022, and work on a yet-to-be-produced musical based on the novel “The Interestings.”
Sara Bareilles’ tour dates: September 9—Boston, MA—MGM Music Hall at FenwaySeptember 12—Washington, D.C.—The AnthemSeptember 15—Toronto, ON—Massey HallSeptember 18—New York, NY—Radio City Music HallSeptember 21—Philadelphia, PA—The MetSeptember 24—Atlanta, GA—Fox TheatreSeptember 25—Cincinnati, OH—Taft TheatreSeptember 27—Chicago, IL—Chicago TheatreSeptember 30—Minneapolis, MN—Orpheum TheatreOctober 2—St. Louis, MO—Stifel TheatreOctober 4—Denver, CO—Bellco TheatreOctober 6—Austin, TX—Bass Concert HallOctober 7—Houston, TX—The Hobby Center for the Performing ArtsOctober 12—Los Angeles, CA—Dolby TheatreOctober 13—Los Angeles, CA—Dolby TheatreOctober 16—San Francisco, CA—Bill Graham Civic AuditoriumOctober 19—Seattle, WA—The Paramount Theatre
The “Good Grief” track list: