Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins and Anais Mitchell Want You to "Use Your Voice"

 SINGER/SONGWRITERS UNITE WITH LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS FOR MAJOR U.S. TOUR AND VOTER ENGAGEMENT DRIVE

 38-CITY TREK SEES ACCLAIMED TRIO PERFORMING TOGETHER ON STAGE

 "THE USE YOUR VOICE TOUR 2016" BEGINS FEBRUARY 12 IN ST. PETERSBURG, FL

(NEW YORK, NY) GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Patty Griffin is teaming with fellow artists Sara Watkins and Anaïs Mitchell for a major U.S. tour and voter engagement drive in conjunction with the League of Women Voters. The "Use Your Voice Tour 2016," produced by Columbia Artists Management LLC, gets underway February 12 at St. Petersburg, FL's Mahaffey Theatre and then visits 37 more U.S. cities through early April (see itinerary below).

"The League is excited to be teaming up with Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins and Anaïs Mitchell to make sure all voices are heard on Election Day 2016," said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters. "We're ready to help fans get the election information they need, whether it's how to update their voter registration, find easy-to-understand local candidate and voting information, or learn about getting involved in the League's work."

The "Use Your Voice Tour 2016" follows the recent arrival of Griffin's extraordinary new album, SERVANT OF LOVE. Produced by longtime collaborator Craig Ross, the album - which includes the powerful first track release, "Rider of Days" - marks Griffin's ninth studio recording and first to be released via her new self-owned PGM imprint in conjunction with Thirty Tigers. SERVANT OF LOVE has quickly drawn worldwide critical approval, with American Songwriter applauding her "unorthodox but effective foray into more oblique musical and philosophical waters...a bold, unexpected shift in vision."

Sara Watkins is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California and founding member of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek along with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. Over the summer, Sara and Sean toured and released their family-band-of-sorts project, Watkins Family Hour, that included stops at Conan, NPR's Tiny Desk Concert and Newport Folk Festival. The project featured an all-star band of Fiona Apple, Benmont Tench, Sebastian Steinberg and Don Heffington. Next year, Watkins will release her first solo offering in nearly four years. 

Anaïs Mitchell is a Vermont and Brooklyn-based songwriter who comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Her recent albums have found themselves on year end 'Best-Of' lists including NPR, Wall Street Journal and the Guardian. She's currently developing her folk-opera album Hadestown into a full stage production, which will premiere off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in spring 2016. 

For more, please visit www.pattygriffin.com, www.sarawatkins.com, www.anaismitchell.com, www.lwv.org 

ABOUT THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS: A respected leader in the voter engagement field for 95 years, the League of Women Voters is active in all 50 states and nearly 800 communities. League volunteers conduct nonpartisan voter registration, education and mobilization year-round, every year with the goal of empowering millions of voters to participate and ensure they have fair and equal access to the vote. Visit the League's award-winning voting website, www.VOTE411.org, to find out about upcoming elections in your community.

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 PATTY GRIFFIN, SARA WATKINS, AND ANAÏS MITCHELL THE USE YOUR VOICE TOUR 2016

Presented in Partnership with The League of Women Voters

 FEBRUARY

12 - Mahaffey Theatre - St. Petersburg, FL

13 - Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center - Jacksonville, FL

16 - Hodgson Hall - Athens, GA

17 - Opelika Center for Performing Arts - Opelika, AL

18 - Egyptian Ballroom - Atlanta, GA

19 - Clemens Fine Arts Center - Paducah, KY

20 - Otis A. Singletary Center for the Arts - Lexington, KY

23 - Peace Center Concert Hall - Greenville, SC

25 - Ferguson Center for the Arts Concert Hall - Newport News, VA

26 - Page Auditorium - Durham, NC

27 - Camp Concert Hall - Richmond, VA

28 - Shaftman Performance Hall - Roanoke, VA

MARCH

1 - Music Center at Strathmore - North Bethesda, MD

2 - Grand Opera House - Wilmington, DE

3 - Weis Center of the Performing Arts - Lewisburg, PA

4 - Mayo Performing Arts Center Theatre - Morristown, NJ

5 - Jorgensen Auditorium - Storrs, CT

6 - Kelley Theatre - Fairfield, CT

8 - Fuller Hall - St. Johnsbury, VT

9 - Hart Theatre - Albany, NY

10 - Sanders Theatre - Boston, MA

11 - Music Hall Portsmouth - Portsmouth, NH

12 - Music Hall Tarrytown - Tarrytown, NY

13 - Wilkins Theatre - Union, NJ

15 - Strand Theatre - York, PA

16 - Eisenhower Auditorium - University Park, PA

18 - Dave Finkelman Auditorium - Middletown, OH

19 - Macomb Center for the Performing Arts - Clinton Township, MI

20 - Palladium Center for Performing Arts - Carmel, IN

22 - Bass Concert Hall - Austin, TX

23 - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts - San Antonio, TX

24 - Dosey Doe Coffee House - Houston, TX

25 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX

26 - Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre - Hutchinson, KS

28 - The O'Shaughnessy Auditorium - St. Paul, MN 

30 - Jackson Hall - Davis, CA

31 - Uptown Theatre - Napa, CA

 APRIL

1 - California Center for the Arts Concert Hall - Escondido, CA

2 - Great Hall - Northridge, CA

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For more information, please contact: Ken Weinstein, [email protected]; Sarah Sigro, [email protected]