Tag Archives: new album

Fiona Joy Hawkins New Album Moving Through Worlds

July 30, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Fiona Joy Hawkin’s Presents New Album and Video
Moving Through Worlds

As the Australian Bushfires crept toward her rural home, Fiona Joy Hawkins turned to her Stuart & Sons piano to do what has always bought her solace: writing music. After crafting 4 songs that she later marketed as fundraisers for firefighters and wildlife rescue – and which are included on this album – she began final preparations on Moving Through Worlds.

Although she began recording and conceptualizing the album three years ago, one could say it is an album 44-years in the making. One of the more classical-crossover pieces is “For the Roses” which a 12-year-old Fiona wrote for her Grandmother’s funeral.

Fiona says, “I believe music is a gift from another world, from ancestors of the past communicating to inspire and give us hope. Music is a universal language that connects us without prejudice, it speaks to us all equally, yet is received with great variation. My wish is to open a few more hearts to the power of music. Now more than ever we need the connection to our past to find the pathway to our future.”

The 14-track album was beautifully produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records) and Tom Eaton. As per her usual style, Fiona defies genre by bringing Classical, Contemporary Piano, and New Age instrumentals together to create something uniquely her own, and reflective of all the worlds that she has moved through so elegantly while this powerful music gathered in her soul.

Fiona Joy Hawkins is an Australian Pianist, Composer and Singer who enjoys and regularly tours China and the USA and is also a member of the Contemporary instrumental group FLOW (Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, Jeff Oster, Will Ackerman). Fiona Joy Hawkins is best known for her romantic, melodic songs and lush arrangements. A prolific composer, she has always been interested in creating music that evokes images, emotions and tells stories.

Fiona Joy is known for ‘Grace’, her song on a Grammy Winning album in 2014 and for her extensive catalogue produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records). In 2016 she won two categories of the Independent Music Awards at the Lincoln Centre in New York and has been awarded Best Piano Album by International Radio (ZMR Awards) for several of her albums. Nominated alongside Pete Seeger for Best LIVE Performance Album in the Independent Music Awards,Fiona was an ARIA Finalist in Australia in 2008. Fiona works with Australian piano maker Stuart and Sons, and has several albums with Blue Coast Records (content partners with Sony Music for hi-resolution releases).

Watch the Video (Premiered on Scenstr) for Calling County Clare here

In the case of Fiona Joy Hawkins’ latest collection Moving Through Worlds, there are glorious exceptions where it’s not hyperbole in any sense and fits today, tomorrow and for all…let’s just say I can’t imagine there ever being a time in the future when listening to this deeply personal, socially conscious, stylistically expansive 14-track musical narrative would grip me any less than it does today, in the midst of world gone mad 2020. – Jonathan Widran, JWVibe

“Moving Through Worlds” is OUT NOW (July 7) via Little Hartley Music.

Streaming

ALL OTHER DSP’s Click Here

Connect with Fiona Joy:

For further information, Files, CD and Interview Requests please contact:
Marshall Cullen at Foghorn Media
0416 143 030
marshall@foghornrecords.net

Videos

Fiona Joy Hawkins – Calling County Clare(official)

Video July 9, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Videos

Steve Kilbey and Gareth Koch-Journey to Byzantium(Official)

Video June 24, 2020 Marshall Cullen

News and Touring

Steve Kilbey And Gareth Koch New Album Songs From Another Life: Music Of Antiquity

May 29, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Songs from Another Life (Music of Antiquity) is the second collaborative album by Steve Kilbey and Gareth Koch. It follows their successful debut Chryse Planitia earlier this year.

These two artisans have produced a unique musical creation – an esoteric masterpiece which is difficult to define. It is an entirely new body of work, evoking a living connection to the past which resonates with us all.

It is tantalising to reflect on how music of the ‘ancients’ might have sounded. Our clues lie in the iconography and artistic representations of the pre-Christian era, and within specific types of folk music which have a living tradition. This continuum provides a valuable framework for the attempt at reconstructing ancient music. Indian folk music and flamenco for example create an interesting template, since both these traditions merged and are further coloured by the Moorish invasions of Andalucia.

It is significant therefore that the earliest form of notation was created in Babylonia, probably in about 1400BC. The instructions are fragmentary, but the cuneiform tablets suggest that the music was composed using scales, harmonies and gestures not altogether unfamiliar to today’s listener.

In Steve’s words on the liner notes to the LP he says:

“Working with language scholars and local musicians, we have attempted to bring these ancient songs alive. They have rendered the songs in a manner that is comprehensible to the modern listener. The songs and recordings represent the thoughts and sounds of a distant antiquity. Here then is the past – and now the past is here.”

Out Now

Connect with Steve Kilbey:

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For further information, and Interview requests please contact:
Marshall@foghornrecords.net
0416 143 030

News and Touring

Gareth Koch Releases New EP Code Blue

May 8, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Following the critically acclaimed collaboration album with Steve Kilbey(The Church) and with a new album pending from the pair Gareth found time during lock down to complete and sneak out this EP with the title song very close to his heart-literally….

“How does an artwork or song come into being and take form where once nothing existed?

The answer has layers of complexity, and varies from artist to artist, but there are partial explanations. Usually there is some type of catalyst, a half-remembered whisper, idea or a musical phrase which forms a point of creative departure. Sometimes though, an actual event might spark inspiration.”

The song Code Blue is jaunty & upbeat with tongue-in-cheek lyrics, but these provide clues to an underlying seriousness:

‘code blue runnin outa time,…show a vital sign,… in emergency ICU…o honey i’d die for you….’

A ‘code blue’ is a hospital crisis situation in which the patient is in cardiopulmonary arrest, requiring a team to rush to the specific location and begin rescue efforts.
The narrative of the song draws on a sudden medical emergency in which Gareth was saved by the skill of medical staff.

Both the song Code Blue and EP are dedicated with love and gratitude to the wonderful medical professionals across the world.

The Video for the Song Premiered on Scentre below

The other tracks hold their own as well-

Come Heavy Sleep is a type of re-imagined Elizabethan ballad, while The Flame carries echos of the great Blue Oyster Cult. The surprise inclusion on this EP is the notorious rock song ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ by Australian rock band The Angels. In this rendering Koch re-invents the song as a ballad of unimaginable sensitivity, laced with subtlety & classical guitars.

Connect with Gareth

Stream or Download The EP

News and Touring

Tim Walker’s New Album Bridge of Angels Out Now

April 3, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Ex-Sydney singer-songwriter Tim Walker moved back to his hometown of Adelaide earlier this year and immediately began recording this new album, his first for a while.

The album was inspired by a recent trip to Europe, where Tim was struck by a culture saturated with centuries of spiritual and religious symbols, strivings and sentiments. The new album has more universal themes than his first (Fellow Traveller), which was very Sydney-oriented.

Beginning in folk, he went into a country rock act, and now is a prolific soloist, doing gigs around Adelaide. He was a regular on the Sydney live circuit and played at several NSW festivals. He found a SA recording studio in Grange this year, and immediately began laying down tracks according to a careful plan, devised over many months.

Track list with Descriptions:

On The Bridge (a prelude): This is a crossroad, of civilisation, of history, the course of your own life, a juncture, a leap. The “bridge” refers to Rome’s Bridge of Angels of the album’s title, which is lined with 10 angels and overlooked by a castle, on the River Tiber. A short classical piece, it provides the thematic underpinning of the entire album – a beautiful, floating spark of hope and redemption for a world in flux.
The Loving Arms (those we love): The race is on from the day you are born as time and love play off against each other, and the kindness of strangers. The real currency of life, more valuable than gold or silver, never to be taken for granted.
Every Story Tells a Picture (the plague): With 7.8 billion people on Earth and millions more being added every year, we are running out of everything, including our humanity and our judgement.
Mirror of Love (a reflection):A photograph can lie, but love cannot lie. It is the ultimate mirror.
Red Velvet Chair (a friend in need): When you sit in this chair you tell the truth, and the truth is told to you. It’s the advice of a friend, the helping hand. But hey, you can have some fun with it too!
Streets of Rome (eyes are opened): The ancient capital was no stranger to the album’s themes. Without the benefit of science, its original citizensinvented their own answers to life, preserved today with respect and awe, embedded in every stone of the city. And they had to deal with the same spiritual questions as us. Rome was therefore the accidental epicentre of the album.
The Bolshie Swing (the dance): Time for a break. This track started off as a playful riff and expanded into a mini-orchestra, was left on the shelf for a while, then rushed into action as track 7. It was the understudy.
Face Without a Name (stare inside): Ultimately we are just one of the crowd. It’s a big world and that crowd is made up of billions. Not often can we roar; more often at most we can squeak. Not invisible -but maybe only a “hill of beans”, as Bogart said in one of his films.
Fly into the Sunrise (flying home): You have been away, seen many things. Now you wing your way on a long flight home, from the nighttime behind (the past) to the sunrise ahead (the future). The huge jet streams past, its passengers look out and simultaneously look in, through half-asleep eyes; the moment is sublime.
Star (inspiration): Maybe it’s love at first sight; maybe it’s the inspiration that keeps alive a distant flame. Perhaps it’s fate.

Listen on your favourite platform:

News and Touring

The Mezcaltones Mexican Hillbilly Surf Music

March 4, 2020 Marshall Cullen

The Mezcaltones Mexican Hillbilly Surf Music
The band’s third album finds them at the top of their game with brilliantly written and played originals along with a tasteful selection of covers lifted from their live set. Recorded and mixed in just over a week at Damien Gerard’s new expanded studios on the Central Coast, the album stands as their most cohesively accessible and sonically pleasing to date.

Only released last Friday to coincide with the launch on Sydney’s Northern Beaches to their home crowd the Album is already garnering reviews such as
“The third album from the enigmatic Mezcaltones is cranking, feelgood drinking music that crawls into your boots and drags you to the dance floor of any number of dusty roadside Mexican Saloons.” Redback Rock
“The good, the bad, the groovy, playing all things cool with a Tarantino and strong Mexican flavour.Blog

The band have also been invited to co host Ross Fear’s influential Australian Spectrum show this Tuesday March 3 (tonight).

The band will be playing over the next few weeks to promote the record, see dates below.

And now to the band – Just what is it about the Mezcaltones-
Four guys dressed as cowboys and two women dressed like Spanish Mexican Senoritas that you might find in a Quentin Tarantino movie – two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer a Crazy front man and a beautiful dancer/percussionist. Whilst their original songs have an alt country flavour with rich Cowboy guitar sounds reminiscent of another century the guitar tones also reach into the realms of 60’s surf instrumentals.

See them live at

Album – Out Now – Foghorn/MGM
CD on sale at Shows
Click below for DSP’s

Connect with The Mezcaltones:

For further information please contact:
Marshall Cullen at Foghorn Media
0416 143 030
marshall@foghornrecords.net

News and Touring

Steve Kilbey and Gareth Koch New Album Chryse Planitia

January 28, 2020 Marshall Cullen

New Reviews

Adam Jones Melbourne Writer

Redback Rock

Backseat Mafia

What unites the musical spheres of an Australian rock icon

and a Viennese-trained classical musician?

The answer lies in a shared aesthetic and approach to their craft. There is a wistful and haunting lilt to the Kilbey/Koch songs, as they float seamlessly through a narrative of fallen crowns, fatal hours, and enchanted gardens. To compliment the poignant lyrics is a delicious instrumentation, weaving and wafting, ghostly and waif-like, alternately brimming with rhythmic drive, present yet somehow elusive.

Hot on the heels of two critically acclaimed singles, the debut album Chryse Planitiapulses with a strong and immediately recognisable musical identity. Kilbey and Koch have forged an entirely new sound characterised by a fluid and elegant movement across genres. Their partnership draws inspiration from medieval music to post-modern psychedelia, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, with every imaginable influence in between.

Steve Kilbey, also known as the frontman of veteran rock band The Church, has generated a lifetime of beautifully crafted songs. His subtly esoteric lyrics create an aura of mystery, posing questions and teasing the listener with riddle-like answers. Kilbey’s words evoke a succession of images, half-remembered whisperings at the edge of our consciousness. He is a poet-master of unsaid things whose writing arouses the dreamer within us.

Gareth Koch is a European-born classical guitarist and composer who has recorded most of the major repertoire. His compositional style reflects a lifelong engagement with classical, folk and flamenco music. Although not easy to define, Koch’s music is often characterised by medieval gestures, influenced by the unrequited longing style of the French Trouveres (singer-poets) of the 12^thcentury.

Expertly tracked by Andrew Beck and mixed by Russell Pilling of Damien Gerard Studios and superbly mastered by Grammy Awardwinning King Willy Sound, Chryse Planitiais a feast for the ears.

Out Now

Connect with Steve Kilbey:

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For further information, and Interview requests please contact:
Marshall@foghornrecords.net
0416 143 030

News and Touring

10cc Star Graham Gouldman Released First Solo Album in Eight Years UPDATE

January 28, 2020 Marshall Cullen

10cc Star Graham Gouldman Released First Solo Album in Eight Years plus Tour In Australia and New Zealand.

On February 21 2020, 10cc’s Graham Gouldman released ‘Modesty Forbids’ here in Australia to coincide with the 10cc Australia / New Zealand Tour.

UPDATE – with the release of the album now, a new review by Michael Smith:

http://soundslikecafe.com/graham-gouldman-album-modesty-forbids-new-review/

Released on British independent record label Lojinx, Modesty Forbids is the fifth solo album of Graham’s career, and his first since 2012’s ‘Love And Work’.

Listen now on your preferred service

Featuring eleven tracks, the album’s release will coincide with 10cc’s 14-date Australia and New Zealand tour, ahead of the rest-of-world release in March 2020.

With Graham’s 10cc tours enjoying ever-increasing success around the world in recent years, in 2018 he was invited by former Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr to join his All Starr Band for tours of Europe and the USA, during which the band played three 10cc songs, elevating Graham’s profile yet further.

That relationship continues, with Ringo making a very special guest appearance on Modesty Forbids, playing drums on a song called ‘Standing Next To Me’.

Graham said, “Playing with Ringo Starr and The All Starr Band was absolutely brilliant, and having Ringo play drums on one of my new album’s songs was the icing on the cake. In it, I write about how I came to be asked to join Ringo’s band and about my experience of being on the road with him, alongside Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Gregg Rolie, Warren Ham and Gregg Bissonette, who also plays drums on three of the album’s tracks.”

Ringo Starr added, “It was such a thrill for me to have Graham in my All Starr Band in 2018, with his great songs and great bass playing and his very British personality! And look what happens – he goes home and writes a great song and then asks me to play drums on it! It was my honour because the track is fab and I want to congratulate him on such a good album too.”

Co-produced by Graham Gouldman and Graeme Pleeth, all of the songs on Modesty Forbids were recorded at The Pleeth Station Studios, except for ‘Waited All My Life For You’, which was recorded at Astral Drive London. Additional recording also took place at London’s Hoxa HQ to complete the track ‘That’s Love Right There’. The album was then mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. The album’s cover artwork was design by StormStudios, with illustrations by Dan Abbott.

The album’s eclectic mix of song styles includes swing (something Graham’s never tried before), the blues and gospel is something he hopes everybody enjoys as much as he did making the album.

Graham said, “I can’t begin to tell you what a pleasure it was making Modesty Forbids and to be able to work with so many fine musicians. When listening back to the album I realise that there are two recurring themes. One is about climate change awareness and the other is a call for ‘peace and love’. These two subjects may be clichés, but I don’t care – as long as we take action on the first and practice the second we’ll all be ok.”

10CC Australia New Zealand Tour Dates 2020

Connect with Graham:

For further information, Guest-Listing and Interview requests please contact:
Marshall@foghornrecords.net
0416 143 030

News and Touring

Margaret Anne and The Rock It Man Lay Their Souls Bare

October 25, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Margaret Anne and The Rock It Man’s debut album is called Soul Laid Bare. Lyrically it’s an intensely personal exploration of emotional turmoil after a marriage breakup, while musically it’s an exciting blend of Americana, country, roots, blues, funk and rock.

The title track is due for release on October 25. It was written while singer Margaret Anne was making the agonizing decision to leave a 20 year marriage, break up a family and family home. The song conveys a search for clarity and expresses the fear and recklessness in making such a massive and life changing decision for all involved.

Another album highlight is a song Margaret Anne wrote with renowned Australian singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson. Entitled Don’t Look Back, the track is an exploration of marriage in the aftermath of her breakdown. “Just 2 months after leaving my husband,” says Margaret Anne, “Don’t look Back was written on a sheep station in Nundle (outside Tamworth). It has undertones of loss, sadness and questioning and the decision to move on from the wreckage and not look back.”

Growing up in a seaside town on the south coast of NSW, she was blessed to belong to a musical family so classical piano, guitar and song became a big part of her life.

Margaret Anne says she was heavily influenced by her surfing brothers as she grew up. “We would pool our pennies to buy the latest records. My favourites, and certainly most early influences were Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Stones, Carol King, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Hair! Anything Woodstock!”

Adventurous and a passionate singer songwriter, Margaret Anne continually touches her listeners with her inclusive heartfelt singing, dynamic stage presence and empowering songs. She currently manages and performs in the successful band Firefly.

Soul Laid Bare is a collaboration with Doug Weaver, a talented multi instrumentalist, producer and screenwrite. He has produced and written music for over 200 episodes of the American TV show The MythBusters and also many local programs including Border Security and Beach Cops.

Margaret Anne has always been an adventurer, having previously travelled the world for 11 years and visiting 56 countries. This time her attention is turned inwards and the result is an emotive album full of vulnerabilities and strength.

Soul Laid Bare (the single) is out on October 25.

The album of the same name is due in March 2020.

Download or stream from October 25: