Speedy Ortiz released their critically acclaimed third album Twerp Verse earlier this year, and have been on the road since for a headline tour, followed by support tours with The Breeders, Against Me!, as well as an opening slot at Fenway Park with The Foo Fighters.
Starting tomorrow, Speedy Ortiz will embark on a tour with Liz Phair, and to celebrate the band is releasing a cover of one of their Phair favorites “Blood Keeper,” a song which Sadie and Liz discussed in their first-ever communication, which took place via Twitter DM’s, of course. The proceeds from pay-what-you-want Bandcamp sales of the cover will help produce and distribute a pocket guide called “Making Spaces Safer,” an informative how-to created by War On Women’s Shawna Potter, whom Sadie met during the “Rock’s Not Dead, It’s Ruled by Women” round-table curated by The New York Times. Listen to the cover and get your tickets to an upcoming show in the U.S. or U.K. HERE.

Sadie on “Blood Keeper” and “Making Spaces Safer” pocket guide:
“As far as our choice of song, here’s the first DM I ever sent to Liz Phair: ‘thanks much for saying hi, it means a lot!! scream tv series made me remember ‘blood keeper.’ vague plans to record it gary numan style haha.’ I have kept in touch with my hero since then, and three years later, I’m so thankful we finally get to join her on tour. ‘Blood Keeper’ is one of my favorites of hers, made all the more tantalizing because 1. it was never officially released 2. there’s, like, NO information available about it online 3. other than that it was apparently submitted for the Scream 2 soundtrack??? We tried our best to do homage to this gorgeous mystery rock song (although not so much on the Gary Numan style promise), and are psyched the money can go to Shawna’s awesome pocket guide.
“Shawna and I have a shared interest in using our music to spread awareness, and to empower people to make their scenes more inclusive. So of course I was super excited when I got my copy of “Making Spaces Safer.” If every venue’s staff had access to it, bands would have stronger allies in keeping their fans happy and safe. We came up with the idea of doing a fundraiser for the pocket guide, with the hopes of getting a few copies in the hands of each venue along our tour.”
Speedy Ortiz front person Sadie Dupuis also announces today Mouthguard, a full-length collection of poetry, published by Gramma Press and to be released on November 1, 2018. Dupuis started writing these poems in 2011, the same autumn she tossed a few home-recorded solo demos onto Bandcamp and called them “Speedy Ortiz.”
Sadie on her forthcoming poetry book, Mouthguard:
“Mouthguard’s poems are magical escapism. They’re my devotional affirmations of manic love, or they’re incantations about illness and loss and the strangeness of bodies. Sometimes they’re creepy, sometimes droll, very often woe-is-me narcissistic. I feel like I’m blurbing someone else’s book, writing all that. But I started writing these poems in 2011, the same autumn I tossed a few home-recorded solo demos onto Bandcamp and called them “Speedy Ortiz.” I wrote the last poems three years later from a tour van in Europe. Both the start and the finish feel like a past life, and so in a way, I AM blurbing someone else’s book.
“Mouthguard is a little time capsule, thematically companionate to the first few Speedy releases. Since then, my writing across both mediums has become less overtly witchy and way more politically motivated. But I’m still a sucker for sad girl art, and in revising this manuscript with my editors at Gramma, I mostly couldn’t believe these sad girl poems came out of me. I’m proud that they did, and glad I can finally share them.”
Speedy Ortiz is: Sadie Dupuis (guitar, vox, synths), Andy Molholt (guitar), Darl Ferm (bass) and Mike Falcone (drums)
Catch them live here:
9/6/2018 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse*
9/7/2018 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn*
9/8/2018 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Festival*
9/10/2018 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall*
9/11/2018 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom*
9/13/2018 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre*
9/14/2018 – 9/15/2018 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest*
9/15/2018 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
9/18/2018 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox*
9/19/2018 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom*
9/20/2018 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore*
9/21/2018 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel*
9/23/2018 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction%
9/24/2018 – San Diego, CA @ Bellly Up Tavern*
9/25/2018 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom*
9/27/2018 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk*
9/28/2018 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater*
10/1/2018 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
10/2/2018 – Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theater*
10/3/2018 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club*
10/5/2018 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer*
10/6/2018 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel*
10/8/2018 – Boston, MA @ Royale*
10/9/2018 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre*
10/10/18 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre*
10/12/2018 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall*
10/17/2018 – London, UK @ The Garage^
10/18/2018 – Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade Nottingham^
10/19/2018 – Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall^
10/20/2018 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds^
10/22/2018 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo^
10/23/2018 – Manchester, UK @ Now Wave Venue^
10/24/2018 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns^
10/25/2018 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana^
*With Liz Phair
^With Doe
%With Potty Mouth and Gypsum