‘It will be a grand jaunt’: The Band’s Garth Hudson, Sister Maud set for series of summer appearances

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Even as Garth Hudson continues working on a new studio effort, the Band’s very busy multi-instrumentalist is prepping for a tour in Japan, to begin at the end of July.

Hudson and Sister Maud, his wife and longtime musical partner, confirms that they’ll perform on July 30, 2013 at Billboard Live in Osaka — “the last show of his 75th year,” Sister Maud said, in an exclusive talk. Hudson will then perform on August 2 at Billboard Live Tokyo. “It will be a grand jaunt,” Sister Maud adds.

Hudson will also join Jim Weider as a special guest for the former late-period Band guitarist’s May 18, 2013 show at the Egg in Albany, N.Y., celebrating Weider’s new album Pulse. Weider was with the Band from 1985-99, and later was a member of Levon Helm’s solo group.

[SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: Garth Hudson joined us for an exclusive SER Sitdown to connect the dots between his early influences and the Band’s later rootsy triumphs.]

Hudson, who turned 75 last August, has recently also been part of an emotional concert with Jimmy Vivino in honor of the Band’s fallen voices; a Canadian celebration of his former group, with Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn and others; and — set to arrive in June — a recording of turn-of-the-century tunes called The Beautiful Old, with Richard Thompson, Graham Parker and others.

Hudson, a member of the Band from 1965 through 1999, was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame in 1989, and then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Band vocalists Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and then Helm have all passed, leaving Hudson and guitarist/songwriter Robbie Robertson as the original lineup’s lone surviving members.

In all, Hudson appeared on 10 studio efforts as a member of the Band, and has previously issued a quartet of solo albums — all since 2001. He’s also recorded as a sideman with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, the Flying Burrito Brothers’ Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Van Morrison, Roger Waters and Robertson, among others.

Something Else!