Anthony Toner is celebrating the release of his brand new album, The Duke of Oklahoma & Other Stories, to be supported by a month-long PR campaign and a series of dates across Northern Ireland.

Anthony Toner's heart-filled songs have made immediate connections with audiences and listeners throughout Northern Ireland and as far afield as Canada and Nashville. He has a unique way with words and guitars - leading one observer to describe him as 'like John Prine meeting James Taylor in a second hand bookshop'.

He released his debut album, Eventually, in 2002, which featured the radio-friendly 'Cousins at Funerals' and 'The Way Love Goes'. He scored major airplay and success with the 2008 album A Sky For Every Day, which featured the hit singles 'Sailortown' and 'Marion That's All Right'.

Recently Anthony was part of a delegation of Belfast songwriters who travelled to the United States to play a special concert (left) in Nashville with Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Lee Roy Parnell and Gary Nicholson. He also played a showcase gig at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. He plans a return visit to the States in 2010 to pick up on some of the contacts made during the recent trip.

He's currently working on a strong batch of new material under the working title The Duke of Oklahoma and Other Stories. Work has already begun on basic tracks at No Sweat Studios in Coleraine, with former Van Morrison bassist Clive Culbertson at the controls.

The album will be released in mid-September, with a run of tour dates to follow from September through to March of next year. The tour will feature Anthony on guitars, vocals and loops, Clive on bass and vocals and John McCullough on hammond and piano.

For more details on Anthony's activities, reading habits, photographs and shoe size, visit his own website at www.anthonytoner.net. And sign up for the mailing list.