The State Theatre Presents

Crash Test Dummies

With Special Guest Willie Stratton

Date

Wed, Jul 26, 2023
Expired!

Time

8:00 pm

Cost

Advanced - $46 (includes fee); Day of Show - $51 (includes fee)

Member Presale:

April 25, 2023 12:00 pm

Public Sale:

April 28, 2023 10:00 am

Location

The Friedman Auditorium
130 W. College Ave. State College, PA
Category

Full Speed Ahead in 2023

In 2018, 25 years after the release of their multi-Grammy nominated hit album “God Shuffled His Feet”, The Crash Test Dummies hit the road for the first time in 20 years with an Anniversary Tour that spanned North America. The overwhelming reception led to a 30th Anniversary Tour in 2022 for their debut release “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” that touched down in the US, UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Canada.

And the band is showing no signs of slowing down . . .

“Touring again was not something we’d planned on, but surprisingly – at least to me – there are lots of people who many years later, still want to come and hear us. The folks that are coming out to see these shows tell us their stories, some of them very funny, some very dark and all very personal. It’s very humbling, being in the confidence of so many people” says lead singer-songwriter Brad Roberts, “and it has inspired us to continue to tour and make music.”

Early 2023 will see the release of a new, original Crash Test Dummies single “Sacred Alphabet“ as they again hit the road in North America and Europe.

Willie Stratton

For more than a decade now, Willie Stratton has been building his good name on stellar sonic shape-shifting and a charismatic, super charged live show.  The Halifax-based singer-songwriter has proven time and again that he can dive into any of rock ‘n’ roll’s various iterations—heartsick blues, twanged-up country, hip-shaking rockabilly, groovy surf, anything and everything in between—and emerge, again, as a maestro of the style. But on his latest album Stratton seeks synthesis: Drugstore Dreamin’ finds him playing alchemist, melting down the myriad sounds he’s mastered over the years to create singular sonic gold. As Stratton deftly weaves and mixes musical forms, Drugstore Dreamin’s intoxicating concoction brings his timeless songwriting to the forefront. 

Lyrically Stratton delivers a dose of gravitas as-yet unheard in his catalogue, as he and his characters grapple with the pain of loss, of growth, of sallying forth; defeats both intimate and grand in scope; and failure to break old habits.

From the tremlo-heavy highway tune, “The Way She Holds Me”, to the album’s heart-wrenching piano ballad “Chasing Rabbits” finale and everything in-between, true blue craftsman Willie Stratton achieves a harmony of style and elevation of substance that remains rare in our modern world, resulting in his most moving—and grooving—collection of songs to date

The award winning album was produced by Carleton Stone and created with contributions from some of the world’s finest musicians, including Stone, Brad Kilpatrick, Aaron Goldstein, Andrew Boulos, Laur Joamets, Robbie Crowell, Jon Radford, Melanie Stone, Todd Lumley, and Ashley MacIsaac. Recorded in Nashville at Creative Workshop, and in Nova Scotia at The Sonic Temple in Halifax and The Loft in Cape Breton.