Sage Francis sets spoken word dates

Anti-/Epitaph recording artist Sage Francis will broaden his artistic scope when the world renowned rapper, poet, activist, humorist and cultural provocateur embarks on a series of unprecedented spoken word dates on the West Coast next month.

An original lyrical voice throughout his eclectic music career, wordsmith Francis again defies categorization by bringing his sincere, insightful brand of literary art to the stage as a poetry performer. These innovative appearances commence at Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 2, with subsequent dates confirmed for Portland(9/3), Hollywood (9/5) and San Francisco (9/6).

Most often associated with the musical underground, wordsmith Francis – who at this point has as much in common with modern wonder bards as he does microphone wizards – will assert his position as a multi-faceted and distinctive talent with these upcoming spoken word engagements.

In part, Sage Francis’ forthcoming spoken word dates germinated from a powerful, and largely impromptu 40-minute acapella set he gave at the October 2006 “If A Girl Writes Off The World” art exhibit in London. It was here, as the special guest of artist Sarah Coleman (because of the inspiration she took from his song “The Cure”) that Sage got his first major taste of poetry performance.

For the musically and lyrically diverse Francis, who spent much of the summer on the road in support of his widely-praised, incendiary sophomore Anti/Epitaph disc Human The Death Dance, 2007 has been a tremendous year. Released this past May, HTDD has drawn the most significant praise of his career.

Pitchfork called it, “Sage Francis’s strongest album to date: Its neon rainbow of tones and moods, the almost telepathic harmony between producer and rapper, the riveting fault-line tiptoe between memoir and manifesto.”

Meanwhile, Filter declared, “You can call it emo or you can call it hip-hop, but you have to call it some kind of wonderful.”

And finally, The Portland Phoenix wrote: “Sage Francis has written his masterwork – A moody, encapsulating record. Captivatingly dark and sharply funny, Francis is raw and open on the ingenious Human The Death Dance.”

Here are Sage Francis’ upcoming Spoken Word dates:

9/2, Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle
9/3, The Alladin Theater, Portland
9/5, Ivar Theatre, Hollywood
9/6, Slim's, San Francisco