STEVEN WILSON, ROCK RENAISSANCE MAN, HITS THE U.S.

I love the branding of Steven Wilson as a “rock renaissance man,” as dubbed so in a recent press release announcing his first-ever North American solo tour. I mean, he is, right? Aside from being the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of Porcupine Tree — one of the biggest prog bands of the past 20 years — the man’s a talented multi-instrumentalist, member of Blackfield, No-Man, and several other bands, an accomplished producer (including, most notably, Opeth) and he’s still somehow got time to forge a solo career and tour behind it. How does he do it?

Fewer questions, more rocking: Wilson is in North America right now touring in support of his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, with a killer backing band highlighted by Marco Minnemann on drums. Those folks who live in NYC — where the tour stops tomorrow — can also catch a rare in-store acoustic performance at J&R Music World this Friday, November 11th… which happens to be Veterans Day, meaning you might not even have to play hooky to go. For the rest of you, jump on this opportunity to see a special performance while you can, because it could be a long while before he’s back playing these songs.

Tour dates after the jump.

Grace for Drowning North American Tour
Nov. 8 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
Nov. 10 – Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head
Nov. 11 – New York, NY – Best Buy Theater
Nov. 12 – Philadelphia, PA – Temple PAC
Nov. 13 – Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center
Nov. 14 – Montreal, QC – Corona
Nov. 16 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
Nov. 18 – Chicago, IL – Park West