MIKE MILLS OF R.E.M., CHUCK LEAVELL OF THE ROLLING STONES AND AWARD-WINNING VIOLINIST ROBERT MCDUFFIE JOIN FORCES FOR A NIGHT OF GEORGIA MUSIC

TOUR CELEBRATES BELOVED MUSICIANS OF GEORGIA INCLUDING RAY CHARLES, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, OUTKAST, GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS, BROOK BENTON, THE B-52S AND JAMES BROWN

FEATURING MILLS’ CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN, ROCK BAND AND STRING ORCHESTRA

Building on the success of their collaboration on Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, R.E.M. bassist and songwriter Mike Mills and award-winning violinist Robert McDuffie join forces with Rolling Stones keyboardist and music director Chuck Leavell for A Night of Georgia Music, a concert tour in tribute to great musicians born and raised in the state of Georgia. See below for announced tour dates.

The momentous collaboration highlights artists including Ray Charles, The Allman Brothers Band, Outkast, James Brown, Gregg Allman, R.E.M., Gladys Knight and the Pips, Brook Benton, The B-52s and more. The shows will also include a performance of Mills’ Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, originally commissioned by and performed with longtime friend McDuffie.

The concerts will feature Mills on electric bass, guitar and piano, McDuffie on violin and Leavell on piano. They will be joined by John Neff and William Tonks on guitar and Patrick Ferguson on drums, as well as the MCS Ensemble from the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University. Arrangements and additional music for the Concerto are by David Mallamud, and arrangements for the Georgia songs are by David Mallamud and Mike Mills. Ward Stare will conduct.

“What I really like about this is that we are combining two worlds, rock and roll and classical,” says Mills of the program. “The Venn diagram, I think, has a little more overlap than most people believe, so we’re just trying to prove that, to combine the styles and come up with something interesting.”

“All my life I’ve been playing dead white European male music,” jokes McDuffie. “I couldn’t be more excited to perform works by these beloved contemporary songwriters.”

Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra received its world premiere in June 2016, and the pair has since toured the piece throughout the United States and internationally. Rolling Stone described the subsequent album as “cinematic but never schmaltzy, rock-inflected but never corny, classical but never stuffy.”

Mike Mills is a founding member of groundbreaking alternative rock group R.E.M. and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He first crossed paths with McDuffie when the pair were growing up in Macon, Georgia where Mills’ parents were in the choir of the First Presbyterian Church and McDuffie’s mother was the music director.

Chuck Leavell was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their career and has toured with The Rolling Stones as principal keyboardist and music director since 1982. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he has toured or recorded with renowned artists include Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Gov’t Mule, John Mayer and more.

Robert McDuffie is a Juilliard-trained, Grammy-nominated violinist who has appeared as a soloist with most of the world’s major orchestras including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; the Chicago, San Francisco and National Symphonies; and the Philadelphia, Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras. He is the founder of both the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in his native city of Macon, Georgia.

For more information, please contact Chris Schimpf or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

MIKE MILLS, CHUCK LEAVELL AND ROBERT MCDUFFIE
A NIGHT OF GEORGIA MUSIC

September 29 /// Atlanta, GA ///Atlanta Symphony Hall
October 2 ///Birmingham, AL ///The Lyric Theatre
October 4 /// Savannah, GA /// Lucas Theatre for the Arts
October 5 /// Augusta, GA /// Miller Theater