Pig Pen Theatre Co. Hits the Road Today; Stops Set for SXSW, Firefly Music Festival

Fresh off a successful fall residency at Schubas in Chicago and a visit to the recent Ann Arbor Folk Festival, award-winning seven-member indie-folk band/theater troupe PigPen Theatre Co. hits the road today, March 1, headlining dates nationwide. The tour takes the band to major markets across the U.S., including stops in Austin for SXSW (details to come) and the acclaimed Firefly Music Festival. See below for full tour itinerary. Additionally, Relix recently premiered the video for "I Crash," filmed in Vermont while the band was working on their next album. Watch the video HERE.

2013 was a busy year for the group. In addition to regular touring and their Schubas residency, PigPen spent the fall performing the Chicago production of their critical and commercial hit Off-Broadway show The Old Man and The Old Moon at Writers Theatre. Time Out Chicago called the show, "A Redmoon spectacle multiplied by a Decemberists concert," and noted, "It's tough to shake the notion that you're in at the launch stage of a group that could soon escape orbit." In the midst of the three-month run, the band also released their latest EP, The Way I'm Running, as the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2012 debut album, Bremen.

The guys of PigPen began creating their unique brand of music, film and theater as students at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. As a band they've played residencies at Schubas in Chicago and Joe's Pub in NYC and gigs at venues including New York's Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, DC's Jammin' Java and Philadelphia's World Cafe Live. Their recordings have garnered praise from the likes of American Songwriter, Relixand the Huffington Post, among others.

As a theatre company, PigPen bears the distinction of having been the first group to win top honors at the New York International Fringe Festival two years in a row (2010 and 2011), and their first commercial Off-Broadway production The Old Man and The Old Moon received critical raves, running from September 2012-January 2013 at The Gym at Judson (located in the iconic Judson Memorial Church). They've been in residence at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Orchard Project, and in addition to their two acclaimed commercial runs of The Old Man and The Old Moon, have performed at New York's famous Barrow Street Theatre, The Irondale Center, the Boston Center for the Arts, and have sold out theaters nationwide with their shows The Nightmare Story and The Mountain Song. Their work has earned them critics' picks from the likes of The New York Times, Time Out New York, New York Magazine and The Huffington Post, with reviewers ranking their productions among the top tentheatrical events of both 2011 and 2012. They are also thrilled to be developing their debut children's novel with Writers House, one of the world's leading young adult literary agencies. The group recently gave a TEDx Talk on storytelling, which can be viewed/shared HERE.

PIGPEN THEATRE CO. TOUR DATES:
March 1 Barboza Seattle, WA†
March 2 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR†
March 3 Brick and Mortar Music Hall San Francisco, CA†
March 5 The Echo Los Angeles, CA†
March 6 The Casbah San Diego, CA†
March 7 VIVA PHX Festival Phoenix, AZ
March 8 Rialto Theatre (March Radness Festival) Tucson, AZ
March 11-15 SXSW (details TBA) Austin, TX
March 16 Fitzgerald's Houston, TX*
March 19 Workplay Theatre Birmingham, AL*
March 20 Vinyl Atlanta, GA*
March 21 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC*
March 22 The Mill Room Asheville, NC*
March 23 The High Watt Nashville, TN*
March 24 Off Broadway St. Louis, MO*
March 26 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN*
March 27 The Frequency Madison, WI*
March 28 Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL*
March 29 The Basement Columbus, OH*
March 30 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH*
April 1 Mr. Smalls Theatre Millvale, PA*
April 2 U Street Music Hall Washington, DC*
April 4 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA*
April 5 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY*
April 6 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA*
April 8 Ironhorse Music Hall Northampton, MA*
April 9 The Haunt Ithaca, NY*
April 10 Iron Works Buffalo, NY*
April 11 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI*
June 19-22 Firefly Music Festival, The Woodlands Dover, DE

†with The Tragic Thrills
*with The Spring Standards

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Twitter: @PigPenTheatreCo