Monthly Archives: July 2023
The Mezcaltones Release Single ‘I Wanna Do It With You’
‘I Wanna Do It With You’ is the second single from the fourth and latest album ‘Agave Soiree’.
On the back of the first single from ‘Agave Soirée’ (‘If l Could Make You See’), The Mezcaltones present part two of their “Modern Romance Trilogy” entitled ‘I Wanna Do It With You’. This song is a “progressive country” track and poses the question… What if Otis Redding was a member of the Allman Brothers? The spark behind ‘I Wanna Do It With You’ is the ostinato theme, set up by the lead guitar and met with a syncopated guitar rhythm to make the opening statement. Col and Dan’s vocals appear as one as they blanket the verses to be countered with a call and response guitar solo played in double stop harmony. This lyrically optimistic and light hearted jaunt is a delight to the ears and a smile to the soul.
The Mezcaltones are…
Neralita
Rhythm and slide guitar. She has and uses a handmade resonator for slide and a Gretsch for the Bigsby stuff but her guitar of choice is the Slimline telly played through a VOX AC15…
Mimi
Mimi is a graduate of the Sydney School of Theatre and has acted on stage and screen. A triple threat… she also sings and dances plus displays her skills with different apparatus including, hula hoop, ribbons, flags and anything else she can get her hands on.
Lucre
Bass guitar and one hell of a one half of the engine room. Light on his feet with fingers to match.
Don Juan
Drummer and the other half of the engine room. Dan is not only an exceptional drummer but is the primary backing vocals and harmony person. Bangin’ out the lows and belting out the highs.
Shango
Lead Guitar. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and someone with a deeply developed sense of sound textures making for an immersive musical experience.
Col Padre
Frontman. Raspy, experienced singer with an innate sense of humour which is reflected in his lyrics and delivery.
Song Description
Gotta love an up-tempo single that starts with the chorus. The Mezcaltones have scored bigtime with this catchy, upbeat, hooky tune. Plenty of guitar riffs, ooh aah backing vocals and snappy drums and bass on this full throttle Texmex track.
The Mezcaltones are a Sydney six-piece band whose aim was to put together a repertoire of obscure alt country/surf twang songs. They were found mostly on cult Mexican movie soundtracks and then matched with dance, cabaret and outrageous showmanship to form a unique and original show. Ten years and four albums later the Mezcaltones are one of Sydney’s premiere live acts. With an impressive collection of original songs, the Mezcaltones are not only able to play venues that are traditionally for original bands only but are also able to put on three set shows at some of the more mainstream venues.
The Mezcaltones love playing festivals having performed at Groundwater CMF; Sydney Blues & Roots Festival; Dashville Skyline Festival; Blue Mountains Music Festival to name a few. They have also performed at seven Tamworth Music Festivals including this year where they performed ten shows in eight days. The shows were a huge success and the band were booked for 2024 before they’d even left town. The Mezcaltones have also been booked for the 2024 Broadbeach Blues and Roots Festival in QLD.
Some of the Mezcaltones regular Sydney gigs include The Marrickville Bowling Club, The Union Hotel, Shady Pines Saloon, Narrabeen Sands, Collaroy Beach Club, Club Cronulla and The Orient Hotel.
Stream the single: Out July 21 Fog/Mgm
Connect with The Mezcaltones:
ChIPS release single ‘Frequent Flyer’
“Frequent Flyer” is an atmospheric and emotive pop song created by young people from the Chronic Illness Peer Support (ChIPS) service. The track powerfully conveys the experience of being a young person living with a chronic health condition and learning to cope with frequent stays in hospital.
ChIPS members were empowered to write, compose and record the song in collaboration with musicians/producers Luke Escombe and Benny Thatcher from “We Wrote That”. Luke and Benny are themselves “frequent flyers” living with chronic health conditions. Using music and song writing as a means of expression has been a powerful outlet for not only ChIPS members but also the musicians involved.
Check out the VIDEO to see the full story
Luke Escombe: “Frequent Flyer” was a true collaboration that evolved over many zoom discussions and writing sessions. It’s ended up being an expression of not just the individual tastes and talents of the group but of the underlying emotions we all feel about having a lifestyle that involves being in and out of hospital. It shows how powerful music can be in communicating ideas that are often too difficult or painful to put into words”.
The song was launched on 16 May at the NSW Health and Arts Framework Forum in front of NSW Health staff including Deputy Secretary Deborah Willcox. It was received with a standing ovation and the young people involved were invited to speak on their experience of using creative expression to amplify and elevate their voices.
ChIPS would like to acknowledge the support of Accessible Arts and Health Infrastructure NSW in this project.
Song Description
An indie tune put together by the ChIPS team from the Childrens Hospital and producer Luke Escombe. Some great sounds plus collaborative vocals from all the participants. Frequent Flyer is the term used for their frequent hospital visits. An important and special song which will help raise awareness.
About ChIPS
ChIPS is a peer support program that runs across Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network for young people aged 12-25 years who are living with a chronic illness or condition that affects their day-to-day lives. The aim of the program is to connect young people with shared experiences and provide them with opportunities for developing leadership and life skills through workshops, advocacy, creative projects, program planning and public speaking.
Since 2021, members of ChIPS have been collaborating with artists Luke Escombe and Benny Thatcher, of arts-in-health initiative “We Wrote That”, to write and record original songs that speak to the experience of being a young person living with a chronic health condition.
ChIPS – Frequent Flyer is out NOW July 14th through Foghorn/MGM
Download or stream
“We Wrote That” – Website with previous releases and ‘making of’ blog
https://wewrotethat.com.au/
Connect with Luke Escombe:
Jack Nolan’s Latest Single ‘Solo Sailor’ from Upcoming ‘Jindabyne’ Album and Live Launch
Just ahead of the Album launch and release next month Jack Nolan will be Ross M Fear’s studio guest on Alive 90.5 fm Australian Spectrum Show 9pm Tuesday 11 July 203 featuring a steal preview of his latest album “Jindabyne”.
The new single is Solo Sailor – see below for details including the Live Album Launch
Documenting the loss of a distant complicated man, ‘Solo Sailor’ is a soft farewell capturing a send off, a silent understanding reached, of melancholy and a life lived by the water. With an acoustic guitar augmented beautifully with a simple electric line and understated backing band, this is an ocean journey where the writer asks all fellow mariners to give the man right of way as he makes his way home. In true singer songwriter style ‘Solo Sailor’ is surely an acoustic playlist contender.
A deep cut ballad from the new Jack Nolan album: Jindabyne (released 4 August). Solo Sailor features distinctive slide and picked guitar, lush backing vocals, ambient drum backing and more than enough ducking and weaving through the textures of the song arrangement and lyrics to hold your interest.
‘JINDABYNE Album Launch’
Book here – Tickets
Thursday 3 August, 2023
From 7pm
First 50 ticket sales will receive a copy of the LP on arrival.
Clovelly Bowling & Recreation Club
1 Ocean Street Clovelly, NSW 2031
Based in Sydney, Australia, singer songwriter Jack Nolan has been performing and releasing music and albums since the mid 1990’s. Along with a six-album solo catalogue Jack also fronted The Kelly Gang, with Rick Grossman, bassist for The Divinyls and Hoodoo Gurus along with Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst and guitar player Martin Rotsey. Their 2004 album ‘Looking for the Sun’ is still considered a hidden gem, with an incredible line-up of musicians that delivered passionate and energetic live shows of the time.
Within Nolan’s music, mysterious and shimmering chords unite his sound. Once quaintly described as ‘Darlinghurst Country’ his sound unites elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and ambient atmospheres fusing Nolan’s passion for intensely charged electric guitar and finger-picked acoustic guitar.
Of recent years, the critically acclaimed 2018 album ‘Our Waverley Star’ was followed by the equally impressive 2020 outing ‘Gabriel’ – both long players being ethereal story books and rich song collections. It was these two outings that cemented Nolan’s love of the working town Nashville, an association with guitarist/producer Justin Weaver (Dixie Chicks/Wynonna Judd) that started with a one-off phone call and developed into an alliance that Nolan describes as “arriving in town, in the northern winter, when everyone’s off the road, with my swag of songs to greet all the boys again to collaborate”.
Performing in & around the traps, Jack’s Australian band includes Travis New (Andrew Farris/Imogen Clark) on guitar, Tim Samson (Christne Anu/Andrew Farris) on bass and long time drummer & Hamish Stuart (Don Walker/Ian Moss et al).
Stream Solo Sailor
Connect with Jack
Fiona Joy and Rebecca Daniel – To The Wind(Promo Video)
