DEVIN TOWNSEND Returns To Live Stage After Three Years; Video Available

THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, the band led by Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR),kicked off its North American tour with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, CYNIC and SCALE THE SUMMIT this past Friday night (January 8) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fan-filmed video footage of THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT's performance can be viewed below.

Regarding his first tour in about three years, Devin recently stated, "I have a great team together, and we are performing selections from all my solo albums. However, I will not be playing STRAPPING material. I love that band and everyone involved and respectfully leave the legacy. However, through all of my solo albums (and the current DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT with the next record 'Deconstruction') you can count on there being a ton of heavy material. From 'Ziltoid', 'Physicist', 'Deconstruction' etc, mixed with 'Addicted', 'Ki', 'Terria', 'Infinity', 'Ocean Machine' etc.

"The first tour I'm doing to get my sea legs back is with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, who I met on Ozzfest and are a FANTASTIC band, CYNIC, who I have been a fan of for many, many years and are masters, and SCALE THE SUMMIT, a really cool new instrumental band. I am playing second, and it's a relatively short set, but for my first tour back it's a total honor. It will be a different style of performance for me, as there is no 'mask.' However, this incarnation is very different from the DTB (DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND); this is definitely heavier...somewhere between SYL and DTB. And in truth, that's pretty much where I feel I was meant to be all along.

"I'm honored to be invited on such a GREAT bill for the first tour back."

"Addicted", the second in a series of albums from Townsend to be made available under THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT moniker, sold 3,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 168 on The Billboard 200 chart. It also landed at position No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

In a recent interview with AOL's Noisecreep, Townsend stated about the musical direction of "Addicted", "Every time I put something out, folks are like, 'Oh well, that's the direction you're going in,' or, like, 'That's your identity now.' I'm just trying shit out. I've always been into easy music. When I was 15, the record for me was 'Hysteria' by DEF LEPPARD. I loved it, dude. But we go through our adult life, and it becomes a little less en vogue to state your appreciation for pop music. But at the same time, this isn't the last record I'm going to ever do. I wanted to do a record like this, and during the process of this whole DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT thing, and putting together all these songs, there was a record full of that shit."