Tag Archives: album

News and Touring

The Blind Pilots release their first full album ‘All Kinds of Crazy’

Congrats to the boys on scoring top 5 Amrap Charts in the first week of release

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All Kinds of Crazy is the first full length album for The Blind Pilots.  The band spent months working up these songs with many of them tested and refined during their many live shows.

The album was recorded in July of last year, in between the gaps of isolation during the Covid pandemic.  ARIA award winning producer – Govinda Doyle engineered the project with the band in his studio on the Northern Rivers of NSW.

Years of gigs and similar musical influences mean that the band meld together: Blues, Stoner Rock and remanences of 90’s riffage together to get their point across.  Drawing from their more recent experiences, everything from social perceptions, loosing mates, the band found inspiration from ‘All Kinds of Crazy’.  The unexpected became the topics that allowed them to bond together creatively to deliver an exceptional album.

The Blind Pilots strive for the ‘magic moments’ and serve it up with plenty of dirty slide guitar and foot stompin’ harmonica riffs.  The four friends have known each other from previous successful bands playing gigs up and down the East Coast.  All grew up listening to the same music and share common influences of artists who had something to say – Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison and well –  you can guess the rest.

After seeing each other play, a mutual friend conjured a plan to get them together at the same time in the same rehearsal room.  A few late-night jams, many entertaining stories and a full fridge, The Blind Pilots was ignited.  They released an EP in 2019 that saw them feature on the Australian Blues Charts and led to appearances at The Byron Bay Blues Festival, Woodford Folk, Festival Of the Sun and Echuca Blues with loads of pub shows in between.

The Blind Pilots produce an energetic live show full of intense commitment – whilst still maintaining a laid back vibe for all to enjoy.

The Blind Pilots are:
Owen Mancell – Guitar/Vox
Matt Hough – Drums
Ryan Stone – Harmonica
Daniel Chamberlan – Bass

Song Descriptions:
All Kinds Of Crazy
This title track really sets the scene for what’s to come.  Expertly executed rocking blues, not unlike ZZ Top and other southern blues bands.  These guys are seasoned live players and the track comes together with the classic bass, drums, slide guitars, blues harp and powerful vocal delivery.

Mood Of The Dude
Another catchy up-tempo rocking guitar blues tune, this one really sits in the groove, and is capped off by the great guitar and blues harp riffing these guys do so well.

Probably Think Of You
A catchy slide guitar riff and drum pattern introduce another up-tempo foot tapper.  By the time the harp, vocals, bass and more guitars come in this one has you hooked – just like the whole album – a great offering from this rocking blues line up.

 Stream:

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News and Touring

John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong reissues Always The Bridegroom

CD ONLY IN STORE NOW

Deluxe Reissue including bonus ‘Live at 3LO Disk’

Sold out Launch at Petersham Bowlo

Read all about it in the Bernard Zuel review right here

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An enthusiastic young music journalist once described John Kennedy as a humble genius.  Kennedy is neither a genius nor particularly humble.  Kennedy started his music career in Brisbane in with his band JFK and the Cuban Crisis.  The band moved to Sydney and after establishing itself on the indie music scene broke up leaving Kennedy to pursue a solo career.

Over the years Kennedy has shared stages with many of the acts covered on this new album.  Band members have come from or gone on to the Triffids, Paul Kelly, the Go-Betweens and Ed Kuepper.

The Sydney musician, John Kennedy, was enjoying a successful independent career in Australia in the 1980’s before the release of his band’s Always The Bridegroom LP in 1987.  John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong broke up in mid 1988 as a result in part, of the mixed responses the album received.

Now nearly 35 years later, he has taken the opportunity to re-assess the record.

Together with a bonus live disc and stand alone single tracks, this release presents a talented young band performing a strong collection of Kennedy’s songs.  The songs including some live rearrangements and cover versions, display the pop, rock, folk and country influences that Kennedy combined to create his Urban and Western sound.  Gospel and even a bit of funk were also added to the mix.

On listening to the remastered versions of these songs, Kennedy states that he can now,  “hear the care and the craft that went into them. Under the pale skin of the production, I hear the beating hearts of the songs, they are an important part of my back catalogue – part of my story –  part of my legacy.”

To those fans who liked these songs the first time round, this release will take them back to the joys of well spent years in the Australian Indie landscape of the 1980’s. Harsher critics will find some fine moments from a band that never quite reached its potential.

The Deluxe Edition CD release includes a 16 page booklet with Kennedy’s essay and band photos, record covers. posters and reviews from that period which help place John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong in the context of the golden era of Australian indie music.

“Even without the addition of the live-on-radio disc, which has brighter sounding takes of some album tracks and a bunch of older and non-band songs, and four bonus tracks which include the surfing Christmas single Run Rudolph Run, history will be kinder to this Always The Bridegroom than both Kennedy’s memory and the original reviews.
Who knows? What we do know is that this never was the album that killed his career. And that’s a good thing.”
(Bernard Zuel – 14/4/2021)

 ALWAYS THE BRIDEGROOM DELUXE REISSUE DOUBLE ALBUM WITH BONUS ‘LIVE AT 3LO’ 2ND CD. 

EXCLUSIVE CD ONLY LIMITED RELEASE

OUT NOW THROUGH MGM DISTRIBUTION AT ALL GOOD MUSIC RETAILERS – Redeye, Greville, Rocking Horse and many more.

OR MAIL ORDER HERE

 Always The Bridegroom  OUT NOW In Store CD Only

 

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News and Touring

Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy New Album Jupiter 13 Out Now

Triumphant New Album Jupiter 13 out now – first in 4 years for the Kilbey/Kennedy collaboration

Release Dates;
All Platforms and CD Instore March 5

Steve Kilbey from enigmatic rockers The Church, and writer of one of rock music’s greatest songs Under The Milky Way, once again teams up with All India Radio’ s Martin Kennedy to release their sixth album Jupiter 13.

No-one can accuse Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy of sitting around on their backsides. In their decade of working together, they have released five studio albums, half a dozen compilations and three albums of commissioned songs.

Now after a four year break they return with Jupiter 13, an album that takes them to new and unexpected places.

Musically inspired by Pink Floyd, David Bowie with elements of 1990s college rock and shoe-gaze, Jupiter 13 is overflowing with Kilbey’s trademark lyrical genius, taking us all the way from 1960s summer holidays into science fictional flights of fancy.

Working solo as he always does with Kilbey Kennedy projects, Kennedy recorded the music during COVID-19 lockdown in Tasmania early 2020. Then flew to Sydney to spend a few days at Damien Gerard studios to record Kilbey’s vocals. At this point Steve hasn’t heard any of the music, or written any lyrics. It all happens on the fly. It’s the way they’ve always worked. Kilbey’s creativity was on full display during the recording of the album. Kennedy:-

“Steve was on fire with ideas with this album. Creative madness in the best possible way, it was a joy to behold. Musically I think our album draws from the best of our previous albums with elements of Bowie, Bolan, Pink Floyd and a good dose of 1990s shoegaze. Lyrically it is pure unadulterated Steve Kilbey.”

The album was mixed by Andrew Beck (Grinspoon, Mental As Anything, Paul Kelly, Kate Miller Heidke) who brought fresh ears to the project and a vibrant live sound.

“The two Australians’ approaches to music and art seem to have been made for one another. Both are serious artistes in the old school, classical sense. They work in multiple mediums, including poetry, painting, animation, and, of course, music. On a more tangible level, Kennedy’s lush, film-like, downtempo soundscapes were an ideal backdrop for Kilbey’s ageless, arch, silky croon and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. A match made if not in Heaven, then certainly in Nirvana.” – John Bergstrom, Pop Matters

 

Jupiter 13 March 5
CDs Instore via MGM
Stream and Download Below

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News and Touring

Steve Kilbey and The Winged Heels Perform Live at MAX WATTS

 ‘STEVE KILBEY (THE CHURCH), AND HIS WINGED HEELS- GARETH KOCH (SAFFIRE) , ROGER MASON (ICEHOUSE) and BARTON PRICE(MODELS)
LIVE AT MAX WATTS
The Entertainment Quarter-Fox Studios
Saturday  21 November 2020

The live performance includes the full Eleven WomenAlbumwhere Rolling Stone Magazine said:
“Eleven Women is the first solo record from Steve Kilbey since 2018, and sees the Church frontman delivering one of his most immersive releases to date.”
Other selected tunes including some from the recent Ancient Music albums Chryse Planitiaand Songs from Another Lifeas well as new unreleased materiel and a surprise encore will be presented as a complete 90 minute set along with special guest artist Maia Marshopening the show.
The show is not to be missed and encapsulates Steve’s prodigious output this year despite the hindrances of Covid19.

Click HERE  for Tix.
Limited Numbers due to covid restrictions so get in quick.

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Eleven Women is OUT NOW via FOGHORN/MGM.
Click below to listen


Latest Video – Sheba Chiba

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News and Touring

Andrew Barnum’s New Album Dear Ancestor

Andrew Barnum’s New Album Dear Ancestor

Andrew Barnum is a singer-songwriter, whose music is a modern take on folk-blues based alt-rock. He has been recording and releasing his own original songs as a solo artist in Australia since the 1990s. With long-time collaborator Boris Hunt, they’ve now produced 8 albums. Their sound is a blend of the acoustic and electronic arcane – forgotten analogue technologies, merging with digital interfaces and an array of musicians. Boris and Andrew call it ‘Homefolktronics.’

The song-writing-performance duo of Andrew & Lissa Barnum, aka Vitabeats, had a national hit with ‘Boom Box’ (Hot/EMI) in 1985. This was followed by singles ‘Audrey’ and ‘Build it Right’ from the album ‘Spot the Spanner.’ YouTube clips: https://bit.ly/2Ctb1qo. The band stopped recording and touring in 1988. Andrew has never stopped writing, recording and performing his own songs since then.

Dear Ancestor is a letter to our past, asking for directions for the future. The songs have a dark smoky quality to them, musically they speak volumes, and have a sense of longing, lingering and meandering that is full of romance. There is a continual dark, menacing feel to the tracks that really captures the zeitgeist of today’s isolation.

The tracks were recorded live at Black Rabbit Big Room in Kanimbla NSW, Australia with Boris, Lucius Culliton (drums), Andy Gordon (bass) and Andrew (vocals guitar). Boris added more bass, keyboards and pedal steel, Andrew recorded the final vocals at home on the South Coast of NSW. 27 tracks were recorded, 11 made the cut, 9 released.

This album is part of a continuum of albums that began between Andrew and Boris starting in 1993. Dear Ancestor is their 8th album. The unique process required recording the initial 27 songs over 2 days. The final version of the album was mixed by Boris and mastered by Nat Love. Recorded before the Australian bushfires and then finalized during the arrival of the Pandemic.

Stream the new album here:
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News and Touring

Gareth Koch new album The Guitar Player

GARETH KOCH NEW ALBUM THE GUITAR PLAYER

Following the EP Code Blue earlier this year and taking time out from multiple Steve Kilbey projects, Gareth has put together this superb selection of his classical guitar work recorded in two European locations, a remote Austrian village chapel & a baroque Viennese monastery, while living in Europe for over two decades.

A curious & ancient bond unites the selections on this recording. Performed entirely on the ‘Spanish’ guitar, these works have been moulded by the traditions of Spanish classical music & the passionate folk art of flamenco. The musicological connection between folk & classical music is well documented, a phenomenon in which composers incorporate the spirit of folk music into their work. Spanish music is often imbued with the fire of ‘Gypsy song’, whose powerful artistic reach extends well beyond Spain.

ARIA Award winner Gareth Koch is uniquely placed as an interpreter of Spanish music. Trained in Vienna & Madrid, he brings both classical & flamenco perspectives to his interpretation. He is joined on tracks 3, 9 & 12 by Viennese cellist Herwig Tachezi – former Principal Cellist of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

 ‘The Guitar Player’ is an entirely natural acoustic recording using direct source microphones and purely the ambient spaces of the chapel’s thereby avoiding any extra processing.


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 & songwriting. He has appeared at major festivals within Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.
Born in Milan, Koch began his musical studies on piano and clarinet, and at age 12 was accepted into the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before winning a scholarship for advanced guitar study at the Vienna Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in Music.
In 2002 Koch formed what might be termed the first guitar supergroup. Saffire – The Australian Guitar Quartet soared to number 1 on the classical music charts and appeared on the pop charts. The quartet released a total of 3 best-selling albums.
Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects & in 2020 released two collaborative albums with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church).

The Guitar Player is OUT NOW – September 18 via MGM
All DSP’s and CD’s in store from October
 

Connect with Gareth Koch: 

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

News and Touring

Steve Kilbey New Solo Album – Eleven Women

 Steve Kilbey New Solo Album- Eleven Women

Update

Steve’s Next Live Venue  show

‘STEVE KILBEY (THE CHURCH), AND HIS WINGED HEELS- GARETH KOCH (SAFFIRE) & ROGER MASON (ICEHOUSE) PERFORM
“SONGS FROM ANOTHER LIFE”
LIVE AT BRASS MONKEY CRONULLA
FRIDAY  25 SEPTEMBER 2020

Get tickets for the early session at 530pm DINNER AND SHOW
or the late session at 8:30pm DINNER AND SHOW

Steve Kilbey has created a fine new album for 2020. His first solo release for an astoundingly creative year reveals a dazzling array of songs brimming with ideas, personality & effervescence. The collection is at once whimsical yet personal, and in a masterful sleight of hand Kilbey’s Eleven Women are not quite as one might expect.

Eleven Women is full of melodic invention & lyrical surprises. Singling out tracks for special mention is frankly impossible since this album consists entirely of highlights. Amongst these bijous however the timelessly beautiful Think of You shines brightly. This song has the unmistakeable stamp of eternity & evokes a sense of having existed since music began.

September 4 Foghorn/MGM

Hear it now

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Read the Rolling Stone Review

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Plus the RS Interview

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Watch the Zoom Interview with WhatsMyScene

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and for some insights into #thechurch as well read this great interview from backseat mafia

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Wanna see Steve play Sheba Chiba Live Acoustic- just click here

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Connect with Steve

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

News and Touring

A chat with Adam Blacksmith

On the eve of the first single ‘I Hope I’m Wrong’  from his forthcoming album ‘Blind to the Sea’ we sat down (via zoom) to chat with Adam about all things musical –

 Photo: Matt Weddis www.instagram.com/mattweddis

Tell us about the moment you decided to become a song writer? What did your family/friends have to say about it?

I was driving in my car In 1999 when I heard”Asleep in Perfection” by Augie March on JJJ. I had to stop the car to take it all in. I had loved folk music for years but had lost faith in the radio to play bands with the lyrical substance of Dylan, Joni and The Tea Party until that moment. Hearing it renewed my faith in radio and music at the same time and it gave me the hope that I could transform my poetry into music.

All my  friends at the time were in metal bands and were very supportive of my direction and my family felt the same, however, If I am honest, I don’t think they believed I’d stick with it.

Who are your early influences?

I tend to have an “all or nothing” approach to most things, not excluding music. I grew up listening to heavy metal (and still do). I was always drawn to death metal bands such as Carcass and Morbid Angel because they combined lyricism with aggression and technical mastery. I harbored a dream to either sing or play guitar in a grindcore band however didn’t really have the dexterity or disposition. I was simulaltaneously drawn to folk artists, such as Dylan, Joni Mitchel, George Harrison, Nick Drake and later Augie March as they sang about philosophy and expressed emotions through their music that I had trouble expressing myself.

Tell us a little about your writing process, how does a song come along? What gets you going creatively?

I always have a guitar with me in my loungeroom. Mostly I just muck around with chords and sounds and record anything that I like on my phone, about one in fifty ideas stick. When I’m stretched for ideas I attempt to learn a cover song and usually get some ideas from there.

Lyrically, I am inspired by my work in the jail system, from borrowed words I have jotted from Dickens novels or Audio books and from documentaries. I have a phone full of ideas and musings that may or may not find their way into a song. My latest album features two songs inspired from the plight of Aboriginal Austrlians which have a particular significance to me after learning of my own Aboriginality in more recent years. 

What is the first record you bought and why?

Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crew. I had just started earning money with my first casual job at Target while I was still in high-school. I couldn’t afford the $26 for the CD so I convinced my sister to go halves. Given she was listening to U2 at the time, I always knew it was going to be mine. Technically I still owe my sister $13

 What current/new Artists/Bands inspire you and why?

Augie March, The Drones, Marlon Williams, Julia Jacklin, CW Stoneking, Ben Howard and High Tension.

I absolutely love the lyrics of Glen Richards and Augie March and the Raw unapologetic energy replete with Australiana that the Drones bring to the table. I guess the commonality of all these artists is their brilliant lyricism. High Tension on the other hand are just phenominal live and a must see…

Stream the new single here – out Friday August 21 via MGM

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Connect with Adam

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