Don McLean is as hot as can be right now and in demand across the globe. He has just returned from dates in South Korea and Taiwan and will be in concert across the USA, Canada and England this summer before embarking on a three week tour of mainland Europe in October. Australia is pencilled in for 2009 as well as an August 2009 return to the UK and Ireland for confirmed festival dates and a probable date at the Royal Albert Hall.

Upcoming shows in 2008:
May 17 - Scottsdale, Arizona (Ctr. for the Performing Arts)
May 24 - Freeport, Maine (free concert)
May 31 - Alto, New Mexico (Spencer Theater)
June 14 -  Virginia Beach (Sandler Center)
July 5 - Interlochen, Michigan (Kresge Auditorium tickets.interlochen.org)
July 6 - Sudbury, Ontario (Bell Park Amphitheatre)
July 13 - Ottawa, ON  (Lebreton Flats Park)
July 19 - Louisville, Kentucky (live with the Louisville Pops Orchestra at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts)
July 25 - Tourhart, Belgium
July 27 - Trowbridge, UK (Trowbridge Festival)
August 30 - LA (The Canyon)
Sept 27 - Rochester, MN  (Mayo Civic Center)
Oct 4 - Temecula, CA

October 2008 - Three wek tour of Europe including Italy, Germany and Scandanavia.

Don McLean is the headline act at the Trowbridge Festival, Wiltshire this July.

Full details: http://www.trowbridgefestival.co.uk/index.htm

Police reports that they've uncovered Don McLean's original handwritten lyrics of American Pie in a house in Edinburgh have been hitting the headlines today but are wide of the mark:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7225857.stm

The "discovery" was in fact the limited edition reproduction sold through his website a few years ago!

Don McLean was able to confirm to the Scottish Daily Record that the original lyrics are still safely in his ownership:

Singer Don McLean Rubbishes American Pie Lyrics Find In Edinburgh Flat

SONGWRITER Don McLean yesterday laughed off claims that his original lyrics for American Pie had been found in a drugs raid in Scotland.

Police said they had found rock memorabilia in a dealer's Edinburgh flat - including what they believed to be the first draft of the classic song.

But they had missed a vital clue - inside the picture frame was a plaque with the words "reproduction of handwritten lyrics 188/1000".

McLean, 62, said: "The original lyrics, on pages from a notebook, are in the library of Harvard University. I gave them to the university.

"This was something my record company put out for sale for a few hundred dollars.

"This was obviously 188 out of 1000 such sets."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-news/2008/02/05/lyrics-find-is-just-pie-in-the-sky-86908-20309588/

The Australian promoter is, with the Sydney and Melbourne venues only, going to run a pre-sale offer.

Details are:

The Palms @ the Crown Casino Melbourne
Pre-sale starts: 9am 23rd Janaury
Pre-sale link: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=DONMCLEA08

Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House Sydney
Pre-sale starts: 9am 23rd Janaury
Pre-sale link: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/Priority/DonMcLean.aspx

After a period of some confusion, here are the final confirmed tour dates for Australia 2008:

MARCH 2008

7 - Cairns Brothers
8 - Rockhampton Great Western
10 - Tweed HDS Twin Towns
12 - Tamworth Tamworth Entertainment Centre
15 - Perth WCBR
17 - Melbourne Palms
18- Melbourne Palms
21 - Byron Bay ECBR
23 - Sydney Opera
24 - Sydney Opera
26 - Hobart Wrest Pl
27 - Brisbane Ent Ctr

Don will be doing a full media day this Thursday and next Tuesday to promote the tour.

The "Legendary Songs" CD/DVD will be released in Australia for this tour.

Joel Dorn, the Grammy-winning record producer who worked with Don McLean, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, the Neville Brothers, Herbie Mann and numerous other jazz, R&B and pop musicians in a career spanning 40 years, has died at age 65 in New York of a heart attack.

Don McLean says:

"Joel Dorn was the best friend an artist or a song ever had. I am honoured to have worked with him and known him for over 30 years. Joel was a giver, not a taker and he was the only producer who really understood me and what I was trying to be as an artist. He will always be with me."

Don McLean

Breaking news...Don McLean will be touring Australia, Japan and China in March 2008!

Also, more concerts in Canada are being lined up.

More details soon.

The new CD and DVD from EMI will be released on October 1st and is available for pre-order from amazon.co.uk

Currently featured are tracks from Rearview Mirror (2005) and Starry Starry Night (2000).

The Don McLean Music Player is located on the main home page at http://www.don-mclean.com/ (flash required).