Another bluegrass/old time package tour starts this week, combining three national touring acts with a female focus.

Billed as The American Revival Tour - Celebrating The New Stars Of American Roots Music, this road show will include 19 shows in 25 days, each with performances from Dixie Bee-Liners, Sierra Hull & Highway 111, and Uncle Earl.

The tour starts in Raleigh, NC on October 29 and wanders through NC, VA, SC and GA until the second week on November, when they head down to Louisiana and Texas. After a swing through the middle of the country, the road show concludes in Pittsburgh on November 22.

All three bands are female fronted – at minimum. Uncle Earl is comprised of five talented women, Dixie Bee-Liners is half-and-half, and Sierra Hull manages a quartet of fellas in her band.

We asked Tobias Tumarkin, who is producing this tour for Columbia Artists Management, whether they had planned to make this a spotlight for the ladies from the start.

“We didn’t plan for it to work out that way, but when it looked like that was the way it was headed, we liked it, and even considered making a reference to that in the title before deciding to go with American Revival.

What we wanted was to find groups that were up and coming and whom we felt would do a great job in appealing to theatre crowds who are often different than fans that you would usually find at Bluegrass Festivals. We wanted to expand the audiences of the band and introduce great new bands to audiences that might not already know these groups.

In coming up with the specific bands we worked closely with Michael Jaworek of the Birchmere. Michael has a vast knowledge of bands from all over the country and acted as an advisor and helped us reach out to make contact with the bands we wanted to work with.”

Uncle Earl will be headlining the show, and KC Groves, who plays guitar, mandolin and bass with the group, is raring to go.

“We’ve so excited be a part of this series and hope that we can, by playing to some new audiences, spread the joy that we know bluegrass and old time music can bring.”

Brandi Hart of Dixie Bee-Liners explained how they came to be a part of this tour…

“We were selected for the American Revival tour after a representative from Columbia Artists Management saw our official showcase at World of Bluegrass 2008.  Of course, we were thrilled to be chosen, and we immediately began working with Pinecastle Records to fast-track the release of Susanville. We are always thinking 2-3 albums ahead, and we’d been writing Susanville for about five years. However, when the CD release was accelerated to coincide with American Revival, we jumped into high gear.

We’ve also been saving back a special bonus track for the American Revival tour. For the time being, this track will only be available to American Revival concertgoers who participate in our ‘Textual Activity’ promotion. Fans should bring their cell phones to shows (in silent mode, please!) and be prepared to get textual with The Dixie Bee-Liners this fall. More information is coming soon at www.dixiebeeliners.com!”

Susanville will be released on November 3, and audio samples from all 19 tracks can be heard online. It’s a concept album about life on the road, with a very creative packaging theme.

You can find all the details about The American Revival Tour online as well.