Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy and friends play R.E.M.

Today, Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy And Friends announce a 2025 U.S. tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s iconic 1985 album, Fables of the Reconstruction. After the pair’s acclaimed, sold out run honoring R.E.M.’s famed debut album Murmur, which saw the four original members of R.E.M. come together for the first time in 17 years at the tour’s Athens stop, the Fables tour will take Shannon & Narducy to nearly three times as many cities across the country, including shows in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and more, along with two nights in R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, GA.

Kicking off Friday, Feb. 14th at Pappy & Harriets in Pioneertown, CA, the tour will see Shannon & Narducy—alongside Jon Wurster (drums), John Stirratt (bass), Dag Juhlin (guitar), and Vijay Tellis-Nayak (piano)—playing Fables of the Reconstruction in full each night in addition to many other R.E.M. songs. 

Shannon, an actor/musician known best for his film/series/stage work, and Narducy (Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, Verböten, Split Single) have been collaborating for the last eleven years, playing entire albums by some of their favorite artists such as Neil Young, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, The Smiths, and T. Rex at various Chicago clubs. In July 2023, they performed Murmur at Chicago’s Metro to a full house, with a guest appearance from R.E.M.’s own Mike Mills. Initially planned as a one-off performance to honor both the album and venue’s 40th anniversary, the show’s success inspired Shannon and Narducy to take the project on the road.

“I had never done a tour before. Jason nudged me after the Murmur set in Chicago at Metro. Now it’s all I want to do,” Shannon says. “I’m happy this one is twice as long. The last one was too short. This music is beyond comprehension and I cherish every chance I get to deliver it, even second generation. R.E.M. means the world to me. And this band led by Jason is stone cold ridiculous. Even if I never walked onstage, you would get a hell of a show.”

Narducy adds: “After Michael and I took the band on the road playing Murmur, we discussed possibly trying something again in 2025. It will be the 40th anniversary of Fables Of The Reconstruction so we will open with that album, in sequence. Then we will dig deep into the R.E.M. catalog to round out the performance. Each show will have unique setlists. We love celebrating the music of this great band.”

Dave Hill is a comedian, writer, actor, and musician originally from Cleveland but now living in New York City, which is great. He has appeared on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Girls5eva, Joe Pera Talks with You, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Tick, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and the new U.S. version of Would I Lie To You among other programs. And he plays a Devo-obsessed weed dealer in the new film Drunk Bus starring Ozark’s Charlie Tahan and Will Forte. Dave has also starred in his own TV series, The King of Miami, on the MOJO Network, which was cancelled even though Dave really liked it.

Dave is a regular contributor to public radio’s This American Life and Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly Prairie Home Companion) and also hosted his own radio show, The Goddamn Dave Hill Show, on WFMU in Jersey City, New Jersey for five years. Dave is also the resident heavy metal expert on Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast.

Dave performs live comedy in theaters, prisons, and basements all over the world. He appears regularly with fellow comedians such as Janeane Garofalo, Tom Papa, and Gary Gulman and has opened for musical acts including Snoop Dogg, Tenacious D, Broken Social Scene, Down, Autopsy, Quicksand, and Rhett Miller.

Dave also plays guitar and sings in his own rock band, Valley Lodge, whose song “Go” is the theme song for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in addition to fronting Painted Doll with death metal legend Chris Reifert (Autopsy, Death). He is also the founding member of Witch Taint, most extremely extreme Norwegian Black Metal band from Gary, Indiana ever probably (go to www.theblackmetaldialogues.com for more info). He also composes music for TV and film.

Dave has written for The New York Times, The Paris Review, Salon, GQ, McSweeney’s, The New York Observer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Guitar World, among other publications, and is author of three books, Parking the Moose (2019 Doubleday Canada/Penguin Random House), Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (2016 Blue Rider Press, and Tasteful Nudes (2012 St. Martin’s Press). His fourth book, The Awesome Game: One Man’s Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey, will be published by Doubleday Canada and Triumph Books in the fall of 2023. He also smells really great you can ask anyone.