Antony and the Johnsons released Swanlights earlier this month, but if you were hoping to catch Antony Hegarty and his collaborators live sometime soon, you may have to think again. The operatic crooner has hinted that he may never tour again.
Hegarty's possible retirement from touring stems from concerns over his carbon footprint. "This last year I haven't travelled at all," he told the Independent. "I've been in a quandary I have a problem with the amount of travelling there is, so it's a huge issue. And does that mean I'm never going to tour again? I don't really know."
Speaking about the planet's environment problems, he said, "It makes me frightened, uncomfortable and sad. I read a lot of scientific journals and scientists' opinions on these things, but they're not experts on the human spirit; they're just experts on statistics. So they're not necessarily the right people to ask. But I think we're definitely on a crossroads."
In addition to being worried about the environmental impact of touring, Hegarty also finds the grind of being on the road draining. "It wrings out the marrow from your bones," he said. "I remember Devendra Banhart once told me, 'I feel like a piece of charcoal.' When you've poured everything out and there's nothing left, you feel like a piece of coal." The last time Hegarty went on a major tour, he admitted, "it took [him] a year to recover."
The singer's official site currently lists just one date: October 30 at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Hegarty's longtime hometown. If you're hoping to get your fix of baroque piano ballads, you may have to satisfy yourself with the album alone.
Hegarty's possible retirement from touring stems from concerns over his carbon footprint. "This last year I haven't travelled at all," he told the Independent. "I've been in a quandary I have a problem with the amount of travelling there is, so it's a huge issue. And does that mean I'm never going to tour again? I don't really know."
Speaking about the planet's environment problems, he said, "It makes me frightened, uncomfortable and sad. I read a lot of scientific journals and scientists' opinions on these things, but they're not experts on the human spirit; they're just experts on statistics. So they're not necessarily the right people to ask. But I think we're definitely on a crossroads."
In addition to being worried about the environmental impact of touring, Hegarty also finds the grind of being on the road draining. "It wrings out the marrow from your bones," he said. "I remember Devendra Banhart once told me, 'I feel like a piece of charcoal.' When you've poured everything out and there's nothing left, you feel like a piece of coal." The last time Hegarty went on a major tour, he admitted, "it took [him] a year to recover."
The singer's official site currently lists just one date: October 30 at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Hegarty's longtime hometown. If you're hoping to get your fix of baroque piano ballads, you may have to satisfy yourself with the album alone.
