Sun Kil Moon To Tour U.S., Europe

SAN FRANCISCO — Sun Kil Moon, led by Mark Kozelek, will tour the U.S. and Europe for the first time beginning this month. The group's superb debut album, 2003's Ghosts of the Great Highway, has garnered numerous rave reviews and made many critics' 2003 "best-of" lists. Kozelek, of course, is also the leader of the now-legendary Red House Painters.

Since its release last November, Ghosts of the Great Highway has climbed steadily on the CMJ College charts — recently alternating between the 1 and 2 spots with The Shins. The album sold an impressive 23+ thousand copies in its first 60 days of release. Kozelek has been on the road performing solo to sold-out audiences from New York to Los Angeles. Now he's taking the band on the road.

His hometown alt-weekly, SF Weekly, recently proclaimed on its cover: "Don't call Mark Kozelek's new album a Comeback, call it a Masterpiece," referring to the fact that this is the local boy's first band project in four years.

Prior to forming Sun Kil Moon, Kozelek was a busy guy, scoring the indie film "Last Ball," acting in two Cameron Crowe movies (he was the bass player in "Almost Famous") and recording and touring as a solo artist. He has just recently finished a role in the soon-to-be-released Steve Martin movie "Shop Girl," for which he also contributed music. A book of his lyrics, Nights of Passed Over, has recently been published in Portugal. The Red House Painters got back together in 2001 to tour; Old Ramon, an album they'd recorded in the late '90s but which had been shelved due to record-company problems, was released that year on Sub Pop. Kozelek has said that the Red House Painters may record and tour again in the future.

When recently asked (following a performance in San Francisco) how he feels about all the attention Ghosts of the Great Highway has been getting, the soft-spoken 37-year-old replied with a timid smile, "It's really satisfying. I worked really hard on this record. Sometimes it's hard to see young bands have such quick success doing sensitive and thoughtful music that the Red House Painters struggled to pave the way for 10 years ago, but its cool to be respected, to be trailblazers in a way. I hope this new record will show I'm trying to take things to the next level."

Information on Sun Kil Moon and Mark Kozelek can be found at the Jetset Records site. — Nicole Cohen [Tuesday, March 9, 2004]

Sun Kil Moon Tour Dates

March 20; Philadelphia, PA; Theatre of Living Arts
March 21; New York, NY; Bowery Ballroom
March 23; Boston, MA; Paradise
March 25; Chicago, IL; Park West (w/ Damien Jurado)
March 30; San Francisco, CA; The Great American Music Hall (w/ Rosie Thomas)
March 31; San Francisco, CA; The Great American Music Hall (w/ Damien Jurado)
April 2; Los Angeles, CA; El Rey Theatre (w/Mia Doi Todd)