Michael Shannon’s Latest Role: Touring in an R.E.M. Cover Band

If you ask him, Michael Shannon will tell you he doesn’t entirely approve of the turn his career has taken. At the age of 50, the prolific actor, twice nominated for an Academy Award, finds himself the singer in an R.E.M. cover band. And loving every minute of it, much to his dismay.

On February 14, Shannon will begin his second tour inside of a year devoted to R.E.M. It will take him to more than a dozen cities in the US. Interest in the shows has been so high, with some tickets for a stop…