ZZ Top Unveils New Album with the Late Dusty Hill, “RAW Whiskey Tour” Dates
ZZ Top has announced a new album titled RAW that will be released on July 22nd. The music, which was was recorded in connection to the 2019 documentary That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, features the group’s classic lineup of Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill. The album is also dedicated to Hill, who passed away last year.
“The album’s title is derived from the unfettered and straightforward manner in which the tracks were recorded,” the ZZ Top website explains. “As seen in the film, the band members played, for the most part, together within sight of each other in the course of one day. The methodology employed was something of an homage to the way ZZ Top recorded at the start of its epic five-plus decades run at the pinnacle of rock’s pantheon. Billy F Gibbons served as producer with engineering by Jake Mann and Gary Moon; ‘RAW’ was mixed by Ryan Hewitt.”
The trio performs tracks from their career from early songs like “Brown Sugar” to their mega hits like “La Grange” and “Legs”. Gibbons and Frank weighed in on the album:
“…It was, in a very real way, a return to our roots. Just us and the music, no audience of thousands, no concession stands, no parking lot social hour, no phalanx of tour busses. Just us and the music,” they wrote. “We knew right then it was a very special circumstance, all of us in the same place at the same time and what a time it most certainly was! It was as bare bones as when we first started touring in a behemoth Chrysler station wagon, driving vast stretches between those early far-flung shows under blackened Texas skies and first hearing our records on the radio. We were bonded as brothers. ‘The Dust’ may have left the building but he’s still very much with us.”
The current lineup of ZZ Top, with Elwood Francis on bass, has also announced a new tour. The “Raw Whiskey Tour” will cover 50 markets across North America with more dates to be announced soon.
ZZ Top “Raw Whiskey Tour” Dates:
| Date | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| May 6 | Niagara Falls, ON, CAN | Fallsview Casino Resort |
| May 29 | Paso Robles, CA | Vina Robles Amphitheatre |
| June 1 | Redding, CA | Redding Civic Auditorium |
| June 2 | Saratoga, CA | The Mountain Winery |
| June 5 | Jacksonville, OR | Britt Pavilion |
| June 7 | Bend, OR | Hayden Homes Amphitheater |
| June 8 | Walla Walla, WA | Wine Country Amphitheater |
| June 9 | Spokane, WA | First Interstate Center for the Arts |
| June 12 | Billings, MT | MetraPark – First Interstate Arena |
| June 14 | Grand Junction, CO | Las Colonias Park Amphitheater |
| June 17 | Tucson, AZ | Casino Del Sol’s AVA Amphitheater |
| June 19 | Colorado Springs, CO | Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts |
| June 21 | Loveland, CO | Budweiser Events Center |
| June 22 | Grand Island, NE | Fonner Park – Heartland Events Center |
| June 24 | Park City, KS | Hartman Arena |
| June 25 | Oklahoma City, OK | Zoo Amphitheatre |
| June 26 | Little Rock, AR | First Security Amphitheater |
| June 29 | Rogers, AR | Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion |
| July 1 | Toledo, OH | Toledo Zoo & Aquarium – Amphitheater |
| July 2 | Sterling Heights, MI | Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill |
| July 5 | Fort Wayne, IN | Foellinger Theater |
| July 9 | Greenville, WI | Greenville Lion’s Park |
| July 22 | Boston, MA | Leader Bank Pavilion |
| July 23 | Watertown, NY | Watertown Fairgrounds Baseball Diamond |
| Aug 27 | Beaver Dam, KY | Beaver Dam Amphitheater |
