AC Sapphire Announces New EP "Omni Present" and Spring Tour Dates With Lauren Ruth Ward and Valley Queen
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Portland-based artist AC Sapphire has announced the release of her debut EP “Omni Present”, and now shares "Mini Tour", the first single to be lifted from the forthcoming release.
AC Sapphire has also announced a national tour in support of the EP. There will be performances in Portland at The Doug Fir and sets at New Orleans' Folk Alliance Festival before joining Lauren Ruth Ward and Valley Queen for a spring tour. The upcoming tour will include shows in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia and more. All upcoming shows are listed below.
The Mojave is a desolate dreamscape, a vista of mind-bending scenery that seems to transform with every sand-swept step. There’s something exquisitely wild about it, tinged with a hint of danger. The same can be said for the music of longtime desert denizen AC Sapphire. It has the same surreal qualities, the same sense of constant metamorphosis, the same expansiveness and emotional evocation, the same sense of wonder and revelation, and the same wild and perilous spirit. Her cosmic sound blends disparate elements into an ethereal folk rock while her strong voice shakes listeners awake as she spins her passionate, dust-blasted tales. All these qualities can be heard on her upcoming EPs, “Omni Present” and “Desert Car'“, slated for release later this year.
Sapphire’s life began in Eastern Pennsylvania where her household overflowed with eight home-schooled children. When she was 14, she was given a singing part in a Shakespeare production. “I had no idea I was even able to sing and then I found my purpose,” she explains. “My father, an antique dealer, had this really beat up guitar with one string. I would just play that one string and pretend I was shredding. Eventually, my dad helped me ad the other five. I started writing songs right away. By the time I was 17 I was gigging.” Sapphire soon teamed up with two of her siblings to form Sisters3, finding regional success. Then her younger sister quit the group. For AC, it was devastating. She needed a change and knew just where to find it. For years, she had been selling pizza at music festivals around the country. “I worked for a company of outsiders, artists, and travelers,” she explains. “Every year after working at Coachella I would spend two weeks in Joshua Tree. I was entranced by the desert. I wanted to live there.” She followed that Siren’s song west to her new home. "The desert changed me. There’s mental clarity because you can see everything. There’s room. There’s space.”
This freedom and awe influenced songs like Omni Present’s “Desert Stars,” about the death of a friend and mourning the inability to share the marvels of the sandy wilds, and “Rock and Roll Van,” a more lighthearted fantasy about escaping the 110-degree heat via musical road trip. A different California landscape inspired Desert Car’s “Stick and Poke Tattoo,” a story of one of Sapphire’s real body decorations set against the backdrop of a brief affair with an Irish blacksmith and the crashing waves of the Big Sur coastline. “The Thrift Store Song” features Particle Kid and details what Sapphire describes as the best feeling in the world, “going to the thrift store and finding something that fits you perfectly.”
Despite her affinity for the arid expanse, Sapphire eventually decided to move on. These days she can be found in Portland, Oregon where she has put together a new band while also singing harmony and recording with Kyle Craft. Sapphire feels strongly about championing women in the music industry. She has volunteered as a vocal coach for the Portland Rock & Roll Camp for Girls and plans to raise money for the organization throughout her tour.
AC Sapphire Tour Dates:
01.22 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge %
01.23 - New Orleans, LA @ International Folk Alliance
01.24 - New Orleans, LA @ International Folk Alliance
01.25 - New Orleans, LA @ International Folk Alliance
01.26 - New Orleans, LA @ Carnival Lounge ^
03.01 - Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
03.04 - Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield Winery
03.05 - Forrest Grove, OR @ Grand Louge
03.07 - San Francisco, CA @ The Make Out Room
03.12 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets +
03.13 - San Diego CA @ Casbah *
03.23 - Vancouver, WA @ Biltmore *
03.24 Portland OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
03.27 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
03.29 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
03.31 - Kansas City. MO @ The Riot Room *
04.01 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
04.02 - Milwaukee, WI @ Back Room Collectiveo *
04.03 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen *
04.10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall, Philadelphia PA #
04.17 - Houston, TX @ The Rustic *
04.18 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
04.19 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links *
04.22 - Albuquerque NM @, Launchpad *
04.23 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel *
04.24 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon *
05.06 - Eugene, OR @ Sams Garage
* with Lauren Ruth Ward & Valley Queen Solo
# With Mason Porter and Hezikiah Jones
% With Drunken Prayer and Hearts of Oak
^ with Casey Jane, Julie Odell
+ with Feisty Heart