Sister Hazel chart at #37 with “Release”

Sister Hazel, the Gainesville, Florida, rock five-piece, released their latest album, entitled “Release,” last week on indie label Rock Ridge Music, and the record has entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at #37. This is the highest chart number for any Sister Hazel album ever on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart: the platinum-certified “Somewhere More Familiar” peaked at #47, while the gold-certified “Fortress” peaked at #63. “Release” also hit #3 on the Billboard Indie Chart and #14 on the Billboard Digital Album Chart. Last week on release day, the album went all the way to #1 on the iTunes Rock Chart and #7 on the overall iTunes sales chart.

Sister Hazel was recently selected as a “recommended” user on Twitter where fans can follow the band at @SisterHazelBand. All five band members update the feed regularly. The band’s list of Twitter followers has swelled to over 300,000 people. A fan-centric promotion ran in July that allowed band supporters to call the group: Give Sister Hazel A Ring. Every three days for a week, a new phone number was released to the public via the band’s Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace pages, and fans were able to call the active numbers and speak to a band member between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern. Calls poured in from fans across the U.S. and around the globe.

Sister Hazel, who have logged over 3,500 live shows throughout the course of their career, continue touring as always and kicked off their tour for “Release” last week with an intimate acoustic WOMX-FM (Mix) radio-sponsored performance for lucky fans at a small club in Orlando (see full tour schedule below). The band taped an appearance on the nationally-syndicated “Daytime” (http://daytime.tbo.com/) show on earlier today, which is set to air on August 28th. “Release,” which is their seventh disc of original material, features twelve tracks, with the lead single “Take A Bow,” heating up at the Triple A radio format and will soon go for ads at the Hot AC format.

SISTER HAZEL TOUR DATES

August 27th – Rainbow City, AL – Center Stage

August 28th – Louisville, KY – 4th Street Live

August 29th – Palatine, IL – Palatine Street Festival

September 4th – Virginia Beach, VA – American Music Festival

September 5th – N. Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues

September 6th – Alexander City, AL – Lake Martin Amphitheatre

September 10th – Martin, TN – Tennessee Soybean Festival

September 11th – Athens, GA – The Classic Center

September 12th – Mobile, AL – Soul Kitchen

September 18th – Gainesville, FL – Univ. of FL Performing Arts/Phillips Center

October 9th – October 11th – Orlando, FL – Walt Disney World Resort/American Gardens Theatre

October 16th – Hampden-Sydney, VA – Hampden-Sydney College Lagoon Field

October 20th – Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live

October 21st – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

October 22nd – Uncasville, CT – The Wolf Den/Mohegan Sun

October 23rd – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live

October 24th – New York, NY – The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza

November 3rd – Baton Rouge, LA – Varsity Theatre

November 4th – Starkville, MS – Rick’s Café

November 5th – Tuscaloosa, AL – Jupiter Bar & Grill

November 6th – Tallahassee, FL – Floyd’s Music Store

November 7th – Tampa, FL – Zoofari

November 14th – Gettysburg, PA – Gettysburg College – College Union Ballroom

December 11th – Charenton, LA – Rox In Shortys @ Cypress Bayou

… more dates to come!