Carina Round Hits the Road With Annie Lennox

Carina Round has amounted herself hefty musical pedigree since the release of her 2001 debut, 'The First Blood Mystery.' In that time, the Wolverhampton, England-born singer-songwriter has opened for Coldplay, Ryan Adams and the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown.

"It was very surreal," she tells Spinner of the gig with the late music icon. "It was at a really small venue in Hackney in London, and probably 3,000 capacity. I went up there with an acoustic guitar and I just thought, 'What am I going to do?' It was the first record and all the songs were completely morose -- I thought everyone wanted to kill themselves. I just went on stage, started clapping my hands and singing Etta James' 'Damn Your Eyes.' And the audience began clapping along. I was a statue of fear because I thought, 'When I get to the end of this song, I don't know what to do.' But I got through it and it was great."

A road-tested solo Round will add another name to her impressive list when she launches a 16-date tour with Annie Lennox, beginning tonight in San Diego. "It's just me and my guitar," Round says of the jaunt. "Luckily for me, I traveled the U.K. with just my guitar for five years. I knew that would come in handy one day. I'm really excited. I just keep thinking back to waking up in my mother's house and looking at the Eurythmics album. I just thought, 'Wow, that woman is incredible' -- with this bright red hair and this black mask that she had. Now I'm going on tour with her. I'm being blessed."

Meanwhile, Round has already begun writing the follow-up to her latest album, 'Slow Motion Addict.' She describes the material, only five songs in, as "Kate Bush on acid." "It's taken a Carina Round's bedroom-type direction -- which is quite the odd one," Round says. "I kind of hole myself up with my acoustic guitar and say, 'That needs a rhythm line, and I'm going to stomp my feet and clap my hands, and go, 'oooo' -- vocals everywhere. I can spend a whole day tracking vocals on a demo. I'm obsessed."

Carina Round tour dates with Annie Lennox:
10/08: San Diego, CA, San Diego Civic Theatre
10/10: San Francisco, CA, Nob Hill Masonic Center
10/11: Beverly Hills, CA, Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
10/14: Dallas, TX, McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
10/16: Boulder, CO, Macky Auditorium Concert Hall
10/18: Minneapolis, MN, The State Theatre
10/19: Chicago, IL, Cadillac Palace Theatre
10/22: Detroit, MI, Music Hall Ctr. For The Perf. Arts
10/23: Toronto, ON, Massey Hall
10/25: Washington, DC, Lisner Auditorium
10/28: Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium
10/29: Atlanta, GA, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
10/31: Miami, FL, Carnival Center For The Perf. Arts
11/03: New York, NY, United Palace
11/10: Philadelphia, PA, Merriam Theatre
11/11: Boston, MA, Symphony Hall