  Announcing The Exile Follies! Grant-Lee Phillips, John Doe and Kristin Hersh will tour jointly this fall throughout the US. The tour, which kicks off on in Atlanta on Sept 18th, promises to underscore the convergence of three unique song writing voices whose paths have frequently kept both their audience and themselves guessing. Envisioned as an opportunity to highlight a distinct caliber of artists, The Exile Follies also longs to nurture camaraderie, especially at a time in musical history that brazenly undervalues the worth of songwriters. The billing was born out of mutual admiration among each of the names involved, whose commonalties are worth considering. Hersh founded Throwing Muses, producing some of the most, distinctive music of the late 80's. She launched a vital solo career with the album 
Hips and Makers in '94,
yielding the darkly inviting single "Your Ghost" featuring a guest appearance by
Michael Stipe. Hersh's most recent full-length album, Sunny Border Blue,
released in 2001, has received well deserved praise. Says Rolling Stone Magazine -
"'Sunny Border Blue' is a gutsy roller-coaster ride from an artist familiar with the
thrill of emotional contretemps and musical collisions." Hersh was also among the first
artists to embrace the potential of the internet, offering fans the opportunity to
download unreleased material direct from her site
www.throwingmusic.com
John Doe, forever associated with the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, has continued to 
expand his many intriguing merits, including a solo musical career, acting in several
major film and television productions and poetry. Originally recording for Slash records,
X was considerably more complicated than such labels might imply. Strains of rockabilly
and country merged with a hard edged intelligence which continues to elevate Doe's work
today. His recent album, Dim Stars, Bright Sky might aptly be described in the words
of co-Producer Joe Henry, who before the project began, said to Doe, "Let me make
your late-night-rainy-acoustic record. It'll be the film-noir period of your career."
Meet John Doe by visiting his official web site at
www.thejohndoe.com
As with Doe and Hersh, Grant-Lee Phillips continues to bare a strong association with his former group, the highly influential Grant Lee Buffalo. Signed to X’s original label Slash, the group produced four greatly lauded albums 
before vanishing into the
sunset of the late nineteen nineties. Phillips emerged at the outset of 2001 with
new gusto and a solo career which has produced two albums thus far. The recent
Mobilize, explores a new era of sounds and songs, finding Phillips performing
on all instruments. Like Doe, he too has ventured into the world of acting,
guest starring over the course of three seasons as the Town Troubadour on the
WB hit series, The Gilmore Girls. Meanwhile, Phillips' acoustic album,
Ladies Love Oracle has recently been reissued on Zoë/Rounder, after having been
limited to Internet/venue purchase only. The album will contain a previously
unreleased bonus track as well as newly enhanced packaging, including lyrics
and additional photographs. More information about Grant-Lee is available at his
website, www.grantleephillips.com
The aim of The Exile Follies is to bring together various maverick personalities whose 
differences are their stock and trade. Typically these aren’t the types who
travel in packs, at least not forever, which makes this event all the more rare
and inviting. Phillips ushered the concept into being with the intention of creating
future gatherings with various artists as the model develops. Says Phillips, “My hope
is that a tour like this would give us each a chance to have that one on one with our
audience and perhaps a chance to explore playing together, however the mood struck.
That kind of spontaneity and raw intensity, none of which you can really plan for,
is really missing today. You’ll hardly find it on the radio, and it’s getting harder
to come by in general. This makes for lonely listeners and lonelier musicians, for
that matter. The Exile Follies is a town hall meeting for all of us oddballs!"
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