Duke Special - 3 New Records + 3 Live Shows

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• Duke Special - 3 New Records + 3 Live Shows

One of Ireland's most successful musical exports, Duke Special, returns with three unique new projects to be released simultaneously on March 1st 2010 in a box set under the title The Stage, A Book & the Silver Screen.

To launch the projects, Duke Special will play three intimate live shows playing music from all three new records, accompanied by full background visuals.

February 2010 live dates:
Friday 19 Feb - Smock Alley Theatre @ St Michael John's Church, Dublin
Saturday Feb 20th - May Street Church, Belfast
Thursday Feb 25th - Hoxton Hall, London

Duke Special releases his three new records "The Stage, A Book & the Silver Screen" on March 1st via Pledge Music.

1. The Silent World of Hector Mann
Album based on "The Book of Illusions" by Paul Auster - recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago and featuring Neil Hannon and Ed Harcourt.

2. Huckleberry Finn
An unfinished musical by Kurt Weill based on Huckleberry Finn - Duke is the first person ever to record this suite of songs.

3. Mother Courage
Duke has written the music to a new production of Brecht's "Mother Courage" and has just played to 100,000 people at the National Theatre - the entire production is based around his music and the band's performance. The show is being taken to Broadway next year.

Duke Special will be self-releasing the three albums after raising capital via a unique fan funding model called Pledge Music: www.pledgemusic.com/projects/131

Rather than just putting the records in the shop, Duke Special is offering all sorts of unusual artefacts and experiences for which fans can pledge varying amounts to help raise money to fund the project, rather than relying on a traditional record company advance.

The pledges available are tiered so that the fan can pledge one amount for a simple digital download, ranging all the way up to a top tier pledge of Duke Special playing a private concert.

Duke Special's Pledge went live in December, raised £10k in one hour, and in one day reached over 50% of its target. The Pledge is now at over 90%