Kemado Records recording artists THE SWORD have been named as one of Billboard Magazine's 2006 Artists To Watch. The Austin, Texas-based quartet are part of Billboard's just-announced list in the publication's January 7, 2006 issue.

The band appear amongst a Billboard hot list of artists "expected to explode at any moment" that also includes CHRISTIAN SCOTT, NE-YO, JEREMIAS, MYLO, ANJA HARTEROS, TEDDY GEIGER, DECEMBERADIO, ARTIC MONKEYS and SHANNON BROWN. A portion of the Billboard Artists To Watch article can be viewed at this location:

The Sword's debut album, Age of Winters, will be released via Kemado on February 14th and the band (guitarist / singer J.D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Trivett Wingo), will launch a six week U.S. tour in support of the release beginning February 1st in Philadelphia, PA. The final track listing for Age of Winters is 'Celestial Crown', 'Barael’s Blade', 'Freya', 'Winter’s Wolves', 'The Horned Goddess', 'Iron Swan', 'Lament For The Aurochs', 'March Of The Lor' and 'Ebethron'. The song 'Iron Swan' has been posted online and can be previewed here

Upcoming Sword tour dates with PRIESTESS and EARLY MAN are as follows:

February

1 - Philadelphia, PA at The Khyber
2 - Baltimore, MD at Ottobar
3 - Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506 (The sword only)
6 - Atlanta, GA at EARL
7 - Nashville, TN at The End
8 - Memphis, TN at Hi-Tone (with A LIFE ONCE LOST)
9 - New Orleans, LA at One Eyed Jack's
10 - Houston, TX at Walter's on Washington
11 - Austin, TX at Emo's
12 - Dallas, TX at Gypsy Tea Room
15 - Albuquerque, NM at Launchpad
16 - Tucson, AZ at Plush
17 - Tempe, AZ at The Big Fish Pub
18 - Los Angeles, CA at Spaceland
19 - Santa Ana, CA at Galaxy Theatre
20 - San Diego, CA at The Casbah
21 - San Francisco, CA at 12 Galaxies
23 - Portland, OR at Dante's
24 - Seattle, WA at Crocodile Cafe
25 - Vancouver, BC at The Red Room
27 - Salt Lake City, UT at Lo-Fi Cafe
28 - Denver, CO at Larimer Lounge

March

2 - Minneapolis, MN at 7th Street Entry
3 - Madison, WI at The High Noon Saloon
4 - Chicago, IL at Empty Bottle
6 - Cleveland, OH at Beachland Tavern
7 - Detroit, MI at Magic Stick
8 - Columbus, OH at Little Brother's
9 - Buffalo, NY at Mohawk Place
10 - Brooklyn, NY at Northsix
11 - Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell's