After making their cultish fan base wait so long, Minnesota acoustic sextet Trampled by Turtles are finally about to return from hiatus.
Frontman Dave Simonett took to 89.3 the Current on Tuesday to announce the band's first album in four years and first concerts in almost two years, starting with two dates at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul on May 4 and 5. They also have a busy summer of tour dates ahead at such hallowed venues around the country as the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (May 18) and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorodo (July 19).
"We felt like we finally exhausted our break," said Simonett, whose typically prolific group hasn't issued an album since 2014's "Wild Animals" but finished off their new LP in December.
After scaling back on tour dates in 2016, Trampled went cold turkey in 2017, during which time Simonett and bassist Tim Saxhaug toured with their electric band Dead Man Winter, while the other members took on a wide variety of projects.
The new record, "Life Is Good on the Open Road," is due out May 4. The Current debuted a peppy new song called "Kelly's Bar," a snippet of which is posted below via Twitter. The track is named after a hangout in Red Wing where Simonett frequented when he lived in the river town (where he's playing a solo set Saturday as part of the Big Turn Music Festival).
Tickets to the Palace shows will be available Wednesday at 10 a.m. via eTix.com at $25 for standing floor or $40 for reserved balcony, with Current and Spotify pre-sale options already being offered.
