Update

Now on tour and currently finishing some northern shows, Tailor Birds is heading south for the end of March and beginning of April:

Sat 19th March               Harvest Festival VIC

Sat 26th March               Y Water Discovery VIC

Sun 27th March               Sedona Winery VIC

Sat 2^nd April                       The Exeter Adelaide SA

Sun 3rd April                      Flinders St. Market SA

 

Some words from Sophie about the tour so far: “After QLD, we headed to NSW, to play Wollongong, Sydney, and Newcastle.  We played some promo shows at the Glebe and Paddington Markets, and the Rocks, and were lucky enough to play Mr Falcons.  What a feeling that if you bring something slightly left of center, people welcome it with open arms. Mr Falcons has to be, one of my favorite shows to play – intimate, and beautifully welcoming.  Our sound was sucked up with open arms, and it’s these kinds of shows that make us want to keep going in this wild world.”

Here’s a taste of their live show filmed January 25th 2016

 

 

 

and previously……

Returning from no less than their 3^rd European tour this Melbourne group
Release the first single from their forthcoming second album…….

With electric violin at its’ finest, and at the core of the sound, this is music that soothes the soul and warms the spirit.  Experimental, electric act, Tailor Birds bring you their new single, Winters’ Fall(Cd Baby-Oct 30).

We were able to have a chat with the groups founder Sophia Kinston

1Tell us about your early influences?-

“I started playing violin from a young age, doing my undergraduate studies in the UK, it wasn’t until I came out to Australia in 2006, to study at the VCA, where I really found my feet. The vibrant music scene in Melbourne inspired me to be part of something positive. Australia has such amazing festivals, that you can’t help but want to be a part of that.

Playing in the Rosie Burgess Trio, I became immersed within the independent artist world, touring Australia wide & America/Canada. And then performing and recording for various other such as Sally Dastey, Hussy Hicks, Pataphysics was also in part, the inspiration that led me to setting up Tailor Birds.

So many elements go into creating your own act. Artists such as Sigur Ros, Gorillaz, Kronos Quartet, all think outside the box, and so i guess it was inevitable alongside inspiration of course, that has led me to this point.

Studying music and fine art, and growing up in London, exposed to multiple arts, and to be performing within orchestras, quartets, choirs, bands, to shift into a touring act, recording, traveling, performing, Tailor Birds has been the result of all this work.”

2 Australian Music?

I think that Australian music is quite spectacular. In Australia you can tour and perform as an independent artist. You can sustain and grow, and really produce quality.
Of course there will be the classic artists such as Jeff Lang, Lloyd Spiegel, and John Butler who are hugely respected and loved. Aussie greats, who I hope, will continue through many years, and stay strong to their roots, but also act as spokespeople for music in Australia. However, there will be an underlying current of acts that are independent that will come and go, some will tour and travel and become big in other countries, and will surprise and enchant us.
And then there will be some who will really step up and represent something new and fresh, some breakout artists, such as wonderful act, DD Dumbo.
We will continue, what with our plethora of venues and wonderful festivals, but the change of media and online mediums will enable and challenge us to to grow in ways we wouldn’t expect.

3 This year and next?

In 2015 I finished writing Tailor Birds’ 2^nd album, and things are gradually slotting into place. I am now back from europe’s 3^rd tour, launching the new single, Winters’ Fall.
And so 2016 it’s just about continuing the work – touring the new single, releasing the 2^nd album, and touring both of these through Australia and Europe (particularly Holland and Ireland). There’s always the focus on performing in places that we make an impact. With Tailor Birds being left of centre, alternative, but on the edge of mainstream, we have to grow where it makes sense. But yes, the future looks bright, and it’s a case of always moving and continuing forward.
“Being a band is not the thing i think about, as bands come and go. But the thing that sticks, is the music, and the energy, the passion, and most importantly the artistry. Baring your soul i guess.” – Sophia Kinston

 

Hussy Hicks – That Old Heartache

Coastal Heart, Southern Soul.

Added to 2016 BLUESFEST LINEUP FOLLOWING THEIR STUNNING AMW PERFORMANCE

Now receiving air play by Sarah Howells on Roots n All – Triple J

and as of today NUMBER 3+6 ON AIRIT METRO AND REGIONAL CHART

When you think of the USA’s Deep South, you think of bluegrass and country, rhythm and blues. And when you think of the Gold Coast it’s all about the surf. Hussy Hicks have taken the best of both and brought them to life with their latest single ‘That Old Heartache’.

The girls from Burleigh Heads  with countless local and international tours under their belt venture out yet again for summer with a new single  and tour to lead into their 2016 album release….interview and tour dates below….

Here’s some background from a chat with singer Leesa-

1. What inspired you to become a singer/writer/ and who are your early influences.(Leesa) I grew up listening to really traditional country music, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton… you get the idea! I think the initial inspiration to become a singer was when mum and dad took my sister and I to the Tamworth country music festival, it must’ve been about 1990, and after watching all the concerts and glitzy costumes I was totally sold… Singing was pretty much all I wanted to do from that point, so I started having vocal lessons when I was 9 years old and then started playing pub gigs with my sister at about 13. Julz started really young as well, she was plying violin from about age 3, then picked up the guitar at about 7 or 8. She hit the gig trail at 13, just like me, playing with a bunch of different Gold Coast acts and eventually joining the Phil Emmanuel band. Julz’s influences are definintely more from the blues world, her dad is a real blues-lover and you can hear a lot of that in her playing.

2-Tell us a little about how you write, how do the songs come? What gets you going creatively? I write in bursts and under deadlines… I always have books full of bits and pieces of unfinished lyrics and melodic ideas and then when it’s time to get back into the studio I’ll knuckle down and finish off half a dozen songs in an afternoon or two. Sometimes I’ll sit and dedicate time to writing and it will be a complete failure, then I go through phases where almost everything I hear will inspire a little song to emerge in my head.

3-A recent story would be? An article popped up recently that mentioned an incident from many years ago that has been a real talking point of late – Julz once got into a bar fight with Osama Bin Ladens cousin… it sounds rather dramatic but it actually happened by accident and was over before we even realised what went down. I’ll elaborate: Julz and I were playing a series of shows in Dubai back in 2006 and we hit the clubs one night after our gig. We were having a great time and got a little over-exhuberant with our dancing, pulling out some kind of ninja moves and Julz stepped back and bumped into Prince Bin Laden. He pushed her out of the way and Julz continued to play along with her ninja dancing thinking he was totally in on the fun, until things got serious and security came running in and took the prince away to the VIP room and gave us a very stern talking to!

4-Fave food or drink and is there a story associated with that…. Julz and I like to tend toward vegetarianism but both of us are suckers for Cajun Crawfish. It’s a totally southern thing and it’s one of the many drawcards to spend time in Alabama. They’re essentially yabbies that get boiled up with cajun spices and are usally served with corn and potatoes… and they’re the perfect food for a lazy afternoon sipping on beer and watching the world go by

Tour Dates

October

10 –  Federal Hotel, Bellingen NSW

16 – Taps, Brisbane QLD

18 – Buskers by the Creek Festival, Currumbin QLD

21 – house concert, Thirroul NSW

22 – Lazybones, Marrickville NSW

23 – Sydney Blues and Roots Festival, WIndsor NSW

24 – Great Northern Hotel, Byron NSW

30 – Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin QLD

November

1 – Grass Roots Music Festival, Brisbane QLD

6 – Cinema under the Stars, Ballina NSW

7 – State Library, Brisbane QLD

18 -The Basement-Sydney

19-22 Australian Music Week, Cronulla NSW

28 – Destination Blues, Glasshouse Mountains Tavern, Qld

Dec

4 – The Night Quarter, Gold Coast QLD

 

www.hussyhicks.com