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American recording artist, Dean Friedman, embarks on a 40 city UK/Ireland 2012 tour, featuring a two week run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Chart topping, recording artist and pop-icon, Dean Friedman, best known to UK and Ireland audiences for his classic hits, ‘Lucky Stars’, ‘Lydia’, ‘McDonald’s Girl’, ‘Ariel’ and ‘Woman of Mine’, is embarking on a 40 city UK/Ireland concert tour running from July 30^th through November 3^rd 2012.

The tour will include a two week run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Aug. 8 thru 2 (not 13, 14). This will be Friedman’s eighth year appearing at the Fringe, where his shows are consistent Fringe sell-outs.

Friedman’s recent tours continue to garner rave reviews: “Every song in this show is a classic.” (London Theatre Guide), “With his mix of jaunty ditties, sentimental ballads and bashful charm, Friedman is the folk/pop troubadour of choice.” (Scotsman), “Songsmith Extraordinaire” – (Music Week), “Stunning Musicianship” (HotPress) , “Dean Friedman is entirely unique and utterly brilliant!” – (ThreeWeeks)… are just a few of the superlatives used to describe his unique and original talent.

Though Friedman's single, ‘McDonald's Girl’, was officially banned by the BBC for mentioning the name of the well known fast food restaurant in its chorus, the irrepressible pop song has been covered by a number of contemporary bands including top-selling, Canadian group, Barenaked Ladies (WEA), and The Blenders (Universal), whose version soared to #1 on the national airplay charts in Norway. With the advent of YouTube, video versions have gone viral and finally, this year, thirty years after the song was banned by the BBC, the McDonald’s corporation officially licensed the song for a national TV/Radio campaign, confirming the song as a pure pop phenomenon.

Since leaving the major label system, Friedman has continued to release critically acclaimed albums, as an indie artist. The albums, including his latest, are financed through a unique, collaborative, online effort, by his dedicated fans, via his website, www.deanfriedman.com. While the traditional music industry has taken a nose-dive, Friedman’s indie efforts, like those of many of his like-minded compatriots, have continued to grow and blossom. Says Friedman, ‘I make more money selling 1,000 CD’s, independently, than I did selling a million records, via the conventional mainstream music business.’

Friedman also composes and produces music soundtracks for TV and film, including the music to the hit Central TV series BOON and the soundtrack to the underground cult horror film classic ‘I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle’ (Hobo Films/U.K.) in which he performs the unforgettable track, ‘She Runs on Blood, Not Gasoline’. Friedman also serves as presenter/producer of the acclaimed radio series, ‘Real American Folk’, featured the past two summers on BBC Radio Scotland, and has also been featured as a guest star in a cameo appearance on David Baddiel’s TV sitcom, ‘The Baddiel Syndrome’ (SKY).

The Merseyside band, Half Man Half Biscuit released a best-selling EP containing a track entitled, ‘The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman’, which went to #1 on the UK Indie chart; a claim which Friedman vehemently denies, ‘I’ve never even met Nigel Blackwell’s mum!’. Friedman extracts his revenge on his latest CD, ‘Submarine Races’, in the song, 'A Baker's Tale', the hitherto untold story of Nigel Blackwell's dubious origins.

One of Friedman's recent tours was almost cancelled when it was announced that his tour sponsor www.goldenseeds.co.uk would distribute packets of cannabis seeds to the first ten people that purchased CD's at each of Friedman's gigs. The controversy was only resolved after Friedman promised not to distribute the seeds within 50 yards of the venue premises. (click to see Songwriter's C annabis Controversy).

Friedman will be performing solo, on guitar and keyboards, featuring songs from throughout his 30 year recording career, including familiar radio hits, ‘Lucky Stars’, ‘Lydia’, ‘McDonald’s Girl’, ‘Ariel’ and ‘Woman of Mine’, as well as selections from his more recent CD’s, including the critically acclaimed, ‘Squirrels in the Attic’ – comedy songs for adults, plus new material from his latest CD, ‘Submarine Races’.

Tickets, plus Friedman’s CD’s, can be ordered via Friedman’s website at: www.deanfriedman.com. Go to: www.deanfriedman.com FOR TOUR DATES and TICKET SALES.

For hi-res pics and bio go to media page: http://www.deanfriedman.com/media/media_home.html

For more info contact: Steve Schwartz media@deanfriedman.com