Keith Urban confirms he’s touring Australia
Keith Urban has confirmed that he’ll be returning to Australia on his RipCORD World Tour, which kicks off in June in the US.
No dates have been firmed up, however. But the Australian-raised country music superstar told Billboard, “Initially we’re just going to get to Canada and Australia, but I think hopefully we’ll be able to extend out. I’d love to get back to Europe. It’s been a little while since we played there.”
The 45 US shows start on June 2 and ends through June, to August, then resumes in October and November.
He’s teamed up again with tour production designer Roy Bennett, who created the look for the 2013-2014 Light the Fuse Tour, which visited Australia.
Urban told Billboard that the stage production will “try to find new ways to connect with the audience, to make it feel intimate in a big setting and to just visually give something that we’ve never done before. I’m always fascinated with how we can do that. But every time I think there’s just nothing else that can be done we stumble upon things that we are willing to try.”
He’s currently working in Nashville on his next album, RipCORD, which he hopes to finish off before the American shows begin. The album will cut through a number of styles. He’s already done sessions with the likes of Nile Rodgers (with Urban jamming with him on banjo) and Rick Rubin, although whether those tracks make the final cut remains to be seen.
Two tracks have already been released. John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16, from last June, is nominated for best country solo performance at the Grammys. Break On Me was released in October. Last year he celebrated the 10th anniversary of his third album Golden Road which sold three million copies.
His last album Fuse came out three years ago. A delay was due to Urban’s commitments as a judge on American Idol for four years. The show ends its 15-year run in 2016, freeing him up to do other projects.
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