Sam Phillips to busk at bookstores in support of new album

Sam Phillips will kick off a seven-date tour of Borders bookstores next month to coincide with the release of her latest album.

Don’t Do Anything will be released June 3, and marks the singer-songwriter’s third album since signing with Nonesuch in 2001. The record is reportedly a marked departure from the heavy themes of Phillips’ previous Nonesuch efforts. “I realized I wanted to make something lighter, so I began to collaborate with the musicians I’d been touring with,” she said in a statement. “On the road, we’d become a band. So we went into the studio and did this album as a collaboration.”

The album is also significant because Phillips took on production duties for the first time. Phillips’ ex-husband T Bone Burnett produced her previous eight albums, but encouraged her to take charge on Don’t Do Anything. “[T Bone] said, ‘Well, if you don’t know how to make records by now…’ And it’s true,” she said. “I do know when something feels right. It’s time for me to produce my own records. It’s time for me to take the reins and go it alone.”

Phillips will kick off her Borders tour the day of her album’s release. She will also be playing several California shows in June before embarking on a nationwide tour later this year. Nonesuch promises that dates will be announced soon, so stay tuned for more details.

Dates:

June

3 - Hollywood, Calif. @ Borders Hollywood

6 - New York, N.Y. @ Borders Columbus Circle

7 - Bryn Mawr, Pa. @ Borders Bryn Mawr

8 - Vienna, Va. @ Borders Tyson’s Corner

11 - Redmond, Wash. @ Borders Redmond

12 - Tigard, Ore. @ Borders Tigard

14 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Borders Union Square

18 - San Juan Capistrano, Calif. @ The Coach House

19 - Agoura Hills, Calif. @ The Canyon Club

26 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Largo at the Coronet