UK fans who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Big Time Rush Star Kendall Schmidt and, his band, Heffron Drive, on British soil are soon to have their calls answered! The band are setting off from across the Atlantic in December, as part of an international, major-market tour in support of their new album ‘Happy Mistakes’.
Following a stretch of dates across The United States, the UK leg of the tour will see the band performing up and down Britain, at Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London.
• December 15 King Tuts Wah Wah Hut —- Glasgow, UK
• December 16 Manchester Academy 2 —- Manchester, UK
• December 17 O2 Birmingham Academy —- Birmingham, UK
• December 18 O2 Academy Islington —- London, UK
For the band’s debut album, which entered at #15 in Pop and #85 overall in the Billboard 200 album chart, Schmidt and bandmate Dustin Belt collaborated with some of the music industry’s biggest and brightest. Production and co-writing credits include friends Jimmy Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and Nick Hexum of 311, Bryce Soderberg of Lifehouse, Sean Hamilton (Justin Bieber, Rihanna, B.O.B.) and the legendary DJ collective Rice and Peas, to name just a few.
The album, ‘Happy Mistakes’, features a complex blend of pop, rock and electro sounds, while tying in acoustic arrangements. One of the album’s highlights is the band’s first single, ‘Parallel’, which premiered with major U.S. broadcaster PBS on July 4 to a live audience of 250,000 and millions more at home.
“’Happy Mistakes’ is a passion project many years in the making. We’ve worked really hard on our new album and are so thrilled to finally share our new music with our fans,” said Schmidt. “While this is only the beginning, it’s already been an incredible journey. We are so thankful for the support we’ve received, as well as the opportunity to have worked with some of the greatest artists out there to make it happen.”
Heffron Drive was founded by Kendall Schmidt prior to his joining Big Time Rush. In 2008, he met guitarist Dustin Belt at an industry event where the two realized they shared many things in common: both had been born in Wichita, Kansas (in the same hospital), and even lived on the same street – Heffron Drive. Aside from becoming instant friends, the band was formed. Thousands began streaming uploaded tunes via MySpace and the Internet was soon buzzing about the band.
However, shortly thereafter the Big Time Rush opportunity came along, bringing on Kendall and, eventually, Dustin as the touring guitarist for the group. The two never forgot about Heffron Drive though, stealing spare moments to write and plan.
Now, an ever-growing entity in its own right,Heffron Drive is bracing for a big year. 2013 saw Schmidt and Heffron Drive both in the studio and on the road for much of the fourth quarter, selling out a headlining tour in more than 20 markets.
Though Big Time Rush will always be a part of Schmidt’s life – he recently finished up a South American tour with the record-setting group – he is looking forward to his continued radio success and a full length album release in the fall via his label, TOLbooth Records.
Handling the global release of the album is Schmidt’s newly formed private record label, TOLbooth Records.
For more information and/or to receive additional tour date announcements, please visit HeffronDrive.com.
