Monthly Archives: November 2021

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News and Touring

Gareth Koch Releases ‘A Christmas Album’

Imagine timeless European Christmas music played instrumentally, as if upon a choir of lutes. Ancient & exquisite songs, deep within the human psyche, are now newly arranged by ARIA Award winning guitarist Gareth Koch. The interpretations reveal his signature blend of contemporary flair laced with medieval sensibilities.

The arrangements are both elegant & appealing, sidestepping any notion of commercialised Christmas clichés. Re-imagined as troubadour-like ballads or tender Austrian folk songs, each carol receives a unique treatment. The listener is invited into an array of soundworlds, ranging from the early medieval to English folk-revival.

The music of this album leads us away from the bustle of many modern realities. Instead, we are drawn into a gentler universe, filled with subtlety & nuance. In any year, at any time, this album presents a Christmas message we all need to hear.

Song Description
Little Drummer Boy
This timeless mid-tempo classic Christmas carol is dealt with not just using multiple classical guitar parts but with hand percussion and rice shakers.

Ding Dong Merrily On High
An up-tempo and superbly played Christmas piece dating right back to the 1800’s. Even some 12 string electric features in Gareth’s new arrangement.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
A very old piece, dated to the 16th century and referred to in Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’. Gareth recreates the vocal melody perfectly and becomes a terrific hum along piece. Bass guitar rounds out the arrangement featuring multiple guitars: acoustic, nylon string and electric creating a lush sonic tapestry.

About Gareth Koch
Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning recording artist, guitar soloist, composer & songwriter. He has recorded a diverse repertory across multiple albums spanning works for classical guitar, flamenco, original compositions, arrangements, medieval projects & song writing. He has appeared at major festivals within Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.
Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects. Over the past two years he has released two collaborative albums with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church). Earlier this year a third collaboration with Steve saw the release of double album ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’ which was nominated in this years AMP Prize.

A Christmas Album is OUT NOW  November 26th – via MGM
Pre order CDs in shrink wrapped double gatefold package below

Order CD from the Official Store or stream/download below

CD’s Also available at good retail record stores across Australia

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Connect with Gareth Koch: 

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News and Touring

Grant Stevens releases single V8 Sandman

Irreverence, style, art, honesty, dynamism and the growl of guitars – this is musician and composer Grant Stevens. His metaphor laden lyrics have positioned him as one of the best songwriters in Germany where he has had successes such as “Everlasting Friends” which was used as a television jingle for Holsten Pilsener in Europe, and another of his singles “Sage Ha!” which entered the pop charts in Germany and Europe.

 He has recorded several albums and EPs for his bands Nervous Germans, The Soho Jets and Razar, produced by Kit Lambert (producer for The Who).

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His music is guitar driven rock with a big dollop of blues and a little twist of country. It’s also melodic with lyrics that reflect his life experiences and engage with the audience. It’s sometimes uplifting and sometimes downright depressing and aggressive, but hey that’s life, reflecting the range of universal human feelings that everybody has at one time or another.

Grant is an Australian artist based in Berlin since the 70’s, giving rise to a musical career full of achievements, as you can find in his Wikipedia profile:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Stevens

 After successful tours of Europe and the composition of several musicals of great projection in Germany, Grant presents his new musical album Devil’s Machinery to be released in February 2020.

The first single “V8 Sandman” is a classic blues-rock tune inspired by the memories that many had in the classic Australian 70’s cult wagon of the same name. V8 Sandman brims with energy and life, providing a petrol fuelled boost to your day.

Stream the Single:

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Connect with Grant Stevens:

https://www.facebook.com/TheMezcaltones/

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News and Touring

Daxton Releases New Single Otherside

Producing and playing music since his early teens, Daxton’s passion has kept him continually creating new material both for his band and solo career. On stage, Daxton comes across like he was born to play, his unique guitar style blending perfectly with heart-warming vocals.

Daxton has appeared at major festivals including the Sydney Blues & Roots and Tamworth Country Music Festival where he supported artists such as Kasey Chambers and Beccy Cole. He also has had one of his tracks ‘Moody Liz’ featured in the popular American TV series Doll House.

Based in Sydney, Daxton is best described as a blues/rock artist with a twist of pop and rock. He plays slide guitar rock/blues songs with a fresh and innovative sound. The new album ‘Electric Satellite’ is a heavy, rustic blues rock album with psychedelic pop/rock sounds scheduled for release in 2022.

Daxton’s raw and bluesy acoustic guitar and harmonica begin this laid-back mid-tempo blues tune. The drums and bass come in from the chorus to fill out the mix and some subtle guitar riffs add to the hooks. Daxton’s vocal delivery is heartfelt and real, a perfect match to the music.
The song was recorded at home during the recent lockdown. Daxton and his collaborator guitarist Pat Dow, both working in isolation, found a new musician friendly digital recording software system which they both downloaded and were able to swap files back and forwards. The entire album was recorded in this way and just shows how far technology has come as the end result speaks for itself.

Daxton – Otherside is out NOW
Foghorn/MGM

Download or Stream:

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News and Touring

Halfway Homebuoy Release New Single The River

It’s been a strange path for Halfway Homebuoy to finally end up as ‘based’ on the NSW Central Coast, an hour north of Sydney. The band was formed almost 10 years ago on the ski slopes of Switzerland where all of the (then) members were working the season and playing shows at night.

With three Englishmen and one Aussie the band moved out here and were recommended to Foghorn Records where they quickly found a home. As things happen after a few years the visa’s ran out, the Aussie moved back to Europe and the sole remaining member, principal writer and singer, Jack Davison, married an Aussie and stayed here. Unfortunately, he was left without a band.

Not to be deterred, Jack found local musicians, new songs were written, live shows booked, a new album released, the band continued on. With Eps, Albums and live recordings released, airplay on national radio including Triple M the boys were well received from the start.

Now based on the coast and with a new record almost finished the guys are ready to reboot post lockdown into 2022.

All the Homebuoy recordings have been made at Damien Gerard Studios, first in Balmain and now, the new album at the new facility in West Gosford. With Andrew Beck engineering and co-producing, Jack says, “DG’s has always made us sound magical, and the new spot is no exception, not to mention close to home”. The new record features new material, some penned by Jack and others written by the whole band in preparation for the recording session. The new songs continue the bands’ own UK/Euro/Aussie rock style with the additions of extra guitar and keys adding interesting layers. Russell Pilling is the mixing engineer and has just finished these two songs mastered by Andrew Beck – the first taste of the new album.

Song Descriptions
The River 
The first single from Halfway Homebuoy for 2021 features a powerful guitar and drum intro along with some Chilli Pepper’s like bass runs. Jack’s power vocals soar over the mix and the solo guitar has some brilliant hooky riffs. An up-tempo rock song, closes out with some strong backing vocals.

Kick Me Out
Acoustic guitar and vocals begin this mid-tempo song that carries till the band kick in with a strong rhythm and guitar bed. The chorus is truly anthemic with backing vocal and keyboard layers intermingling to create a very catchy and memorable tune.

The River is OUT NOW – November 5th via MGM

Streaming:

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News and Touring

Jack Nolan Gabriel album launch Live Show

‘The GABRIEL Album Launch’

Book here – Tickets

Friday 12 November,
8pm
The Red Velvet Room
Upstairs at The Coogee Diggers
2 Byron Street Coogee

Support Australian music & musicians 

After all these crazy months, we’re finally live again.

Join me and the band at the Red Velvet Room – upstairs at the Coogee Diggers, 2 Byron Street, to release and celebrate the critically acclaimed LP ‘Gabriel’, released earlier this month.

Get your VINYL copy at the show.

Come and support Australian music and check out my great band.

Jack Nolan – Acoustic & electric Guitars

Travis New – Electric Guitars – Andrew Farris INXS, Mi-Sex, Imogen Clark

Andy Horvath  – Drums – Casey Donovan, Adam Brand, Boney M, O’Shea, Jack Vidgen, Cyrus, Vanessa Amorosi, Kate DeAraugo, to name a few.

Tim Sampson – Base – Andrew Farris /Christine Anu

Check Out Jack Nolan’s New Website

Gabriel is Jack Nolan’s fifth solo album, and the first album he’s yielded to someone he trusted enough to produce: This is an album that mines its own carefully sculpted acoustic world with a profoundly atmospheric sense of place, and a depth of self-knowledge that speaks of arrival after a lifetime of sometimes hard, sometimes tender experience.

The genesis, Gabriel came to Jack a few years ago, sat at his side on a long desert drive that he wasn’t sure he’d come back from. The title track, in its own unhurried and roundabout way, eventually found itself in Nashville, USA, on an album completed just before COVID-19 wrought its havoc on the world.

Atonement is upfront in titles like The Hopeless Son and Restitution Song. Others — Tomorrow Came, Faster Than the Speed of Change, A Fool Would Follow Me — are deeper stocktakes, songs from life’s rear view mirror. Ghosts of people and places and other, maybe darker things, receding for sure, but too close to ignore.

Produced by Justin Weaver and captured on two-inch tape in the aptly named ‘Welcome to 1979’ Studios by engineer Chris Mara, the assembled band included drummer Jimmy Paxson, bassist Chris Autry, keys player Phil Towns and pedal steel player David Spires who were joined by backup singers Terri Lynn Weaver & Siobhan Maher Kennedy. Justin himself applied the deeply textured lead and electric guitars.

Gabriel, is a record offering up evocative, ethereal stories, perhaps best signalled on the album’s title track, with Nolan singing “Endless lanes /endless cars // In the absence /of stars” reminding us of this new world, turned on its axis in 2020/21.

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Gabriel is OUT NOW Oct 8 Quay Records/MGM.
Vinyl LP, CD and Digital

Stream or Download:

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