The Black Keys will embark on the first leg of their U.S. tour this March, with shows in arenas such as New York’s Madison Square Garden, Boston’s TD Garden, and Chicago’s United Center.  They will kick off their tour in Cincinnati, OH on Friday, March 2 at U.S. Bank Arena. The shows are in support of their new album, El Camino, due out December 6 on Nonesuch Records. In advance of the release, five tracks from the record are currently streaming on the band’s web site. El Camino is available for pre-order at www.theblackkeys.com, www.nonesuch.com, and iTunes, with an instant download of the single “Lonely Boy” included. Concert ticket and album packages are available at the band’s site. Additionally, The Black Keys are teaming up with Tickets-for-Charity to offer fans access to some of the best seats in the house. Proceeds will benefit Community Support Services in Akron, OH and W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville, TN. 

Tickets for the Cincinnati show go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 9 at www.Livenation.com, www.Ticketmaster.com, the U.S. Bank Arena box office and all Ticketmaster outlets including select Kroger stores.  Charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000

In anticipation of the release, the duo will join Steve Buscemi on tomorrow’s episode of Saturday Night Live. This is the band’s second time this year as musical guests on the show, a “rare distinction,” says Rolling Stone. Other television appearances next week include The Colbert Report on December 6 and the Late Show with David Letterman on December 7. Moreover, the band is being featured on several MTV programs, including the week-long series Road to Release: The Black Keys, an interview with Matt Pinfield on MTV2’s 120 Minutes, and a live stream of their album release show at New York’s Webster Hall on December 5 exclusively on MTV Hive.

Produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys, El Camino was recorded in the band’s new hometown of Nashville during the spring of 2011. In advance of the release, the album’s first single, “Lonely Boy,” was released October 26, to acclaim from fans and press; the song has been climbing the radio charts rapidly and is rising toward #1 on the Alternative and AAA charts. Additionally, the accompanying video has been viewed nearly three million times on YouTube. See reverse for complete El Camino track list.

Describing the sound of the album, drummer Patrick Carney tells Rolling Stone, “Every record, we figure out the mood and stick with that. With Brothers, we were listening to a lot of hip-hop and old R&B and drawing from that. This is the first record we’ve made where it’s all rock & roll.” And in an interview with Spin Magazine Auerbach says, “I’ve never been into guitar solos. I really like when every instrument in the band is a rhythm instrument. This record has a lot of that going on—guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards all working together as a rhythm instrument. But unlike Brothers, which has more of these slower songs with an open feeling, [the new LP] is definitely fast.”

El Camino follows the most successful two years in The Black Keys’ career. In May 2010 they released their breakthrough album, Brothers. Debuting at #2 in the U.S., it went on to win three Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award, and topped numerous year-end lists, including iTunes, NPR, and Rolling Stone. Brothers, which included the hit singles “Tighten Up” and “Howlin’ for You,” has been certified Gold in the U.S. and U.K., and Platinum in Canada. Worldwide sales are now over one million and counting.

The Black Keys—Akron, OH natives Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney—released their debut album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness (2003) and Rubber Factory (2004). In 2006 they signed to Nonesuch Records in the U.S. and released their fourth album, Magic Potion, which was followed by the Danger Mouse-produced Attack & Release in 2008. El Camino is the first Black Keys album Nonesuch will release worldwide.

“…tremendous, hook-laden, all-killer-no-filler, by some distance the most powerful, compelling rock album of the year.”  —Independent, *****

“This is both a supremely confident record and a ridiculously enjoyable one. A decade into their career The Black Keys have not only outlasted their more celebrated peers but outstripped their own past achievements. El Camino feels like the dawn of greatness.”—Uncut