Like so many musicians, Men at Work frontman Colin Hay had his 2020 touring plans sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the singer/songwriter has now unveiled a new series of U.S. solo concerts scheduled for late summer.
The trek is plotted out from an August 4 show in Hyannis, Massachusetts, through a September 11 performance at the Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, California.
Hay will be promoting a brand-new studio album on the tour, a 10-track collection of covers titled I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself that’s due out on August 6.
Colin was inspired to make the album during the COVID lockdown, after he recorded a version of the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” following the death of that group’s lead singer, Gerry Marsden, in January 2021.
Hay’s frequent collaborator and producer Chad Fischer suggested Colin record more cover tunes, and Hay decided to make a full album of tunes he loved when he was younger.
I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself also features the title track, which was penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and was a big U.K. hit for Dusty Springfield in 1964, as well as songs by The Beatles, The Kinks, Faces, Blind Faith, Glen Campbell and Jimmy Cliff.
The album can be pre-ordered now, and is available on CD, vinyl and in various digital formats.
“I recorded an album of songs written by other people that have meant a lot to me ever since I was a young fellow,” Hay notes. “I can’t wait to play them for you on this upcoming jaunt across the land.”
Here’s the full I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself track list:
“I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” (Dusty Springfield)
“Waterloo Sunset” (The Kinks)
“Wichita Lineman” (Glen Campbell)
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” (The Beatles)
“Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
“Ooh La La” (Faces)
“Driving with the Brakes On” (Del Amitri)
“Across the Universe” (The Beatles)
“Can’t Find My Way Home” (Blind Faith)
“Many Rivers to Cross” (Jimmy Cliff)
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