OAKLAND — Hiroshima continues its summer tour with six performances at Yoshi’s Oakland from Aug. 17 to 19.
This engagement will be the band’s only Bay Area appearance this year. There will be two shows each day — Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10 p.m., Sunday at 6 and 8 p.m.
Hiroshima will perform songs from their latest CD, “Departure,” their follow-up to their 2010 Grammy-nominated “Legacy.” Highlights include “Have You Ever Wondered,” featuring June Kuramoto and guest musician Tetsuya Nakamura; the jazzy funk of “Koto Cruise”; “Blues for Sendai,” dedicated to victims of the earthquake and tsunami; and “Smiling Jack,” a college radio hit.
Dan Kuramoto, co-founder of Hiroshima, said, “It is the only shows we’ll be doing in the Bay Area for some time, so please join us, see your friends and share a great evening. We have created a new show for this year that is pretty different, using a couple of songs from our ‘Obon’ CD and at least five songs from ‘Departure.’ So far the audience response has been great — but we’ll keep workin’ on it. We want you all to have a show to remember.
“It’s been interesting doing a follow-up to ‘Legacy.’ Instead of trying to ‘top’ our last Grammy-nominated CD, with ‘Departure’ we decided to use it to chart a new direction.
“Considering there are NO record stores, we have to rely on Internet sales and word of mouth. In spite of this, the CD is actually doing surprisingly well, and Tower Records Japan (they still have a few stores) has been stocking it! We are now adding stores that will sell our CDs in Hawaii and hope to do so in various cities on the Mainland as well. We will post those stores on our site soon. Contact us if you’d like to join the list.
“We are offering a special $5 discount on the purchase of ‘Departure.’ Bring the Yoshi’s Oakland flyer to the show, and you’ll get a $5 discount at the Yoshi’s concerts. You can download it on our website at www.hiroshimamusic.com.”
Yoshi’s is located at 510 Embarcadero West near Jack London Square in Oakland. Tickets are $28. For reservations, call (510) 238-9200 or go online to http://yoshis.inticketing.com/events.
For a free ticket offer, visit www.facebook.com/hiroshimamusic, www.listn.to/hiroshima or www.listn.to/junekuramoto.
For Twitter updates, go to www.twitter.com/hiroshimamusic.