Tag Archives: Aussie Music

What happens when the musical worlds of Australian music icon Steve Kilbey & classically trained ARIA Award winner Gareth Koch collide?

The answer lies in their new single Broken Toys– a refined and confident title brimming with sensitivity, experience and fresh ideas.

UPDATE – NOW WITH OVER 12,000 STREAMS ON SPOTIFY!

It’s not easy to describe a fascinating and unexpected collaboration such as this one. Steve Kilbey is perhaps best known as frontman of veteran rock band The Church. Gareth Koch on the other hand is a Viennese-trained classical guitarist/composer.

(photo credit: Tony Mott)

The Kilbey/Koch musical arrangements are acoustic and highly sophisticated. ‘Classical’ is one way of describing the sound. But it is much more than that. Kilbey is a self-confessed classicist, so the pairing is actually spot on. Kilbey & Koch have roughly 1000 years of music history bubbling away in their consciousness, and coupled with this knowledge is a keen awareness of contemporary sensibilities.

Sparkling effervescent textures, percussion by veteran stickman Barton Price (of Models fame), dobros, classical and 12-string guitars and even a 1966 ‘Beatle Bass’ all combine to create a unique and original soundscape.

Their eclectic partnership draws inspiration from medieval music to post-modern psychedelia, with every imaginable influence in between. These experienced musicians have created a strong and immediately recognisable musical identity, a new sound and aesthetic that comes with a fluid movement across genres. The result is a unique blend of classical & pop sensibilities with lyrics poised for repeated listening.

Expertly mixed by Russell Pilling at Damien Gerard Studios Sydney and superbly mastered by Grammy Award-winning King Willy Sound, Broken Toys is a feast for the ears.

Stay tuned for news of the second collaborative track from this stellar duo, coming soon!

Download or stream now:

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Videos

Steve Kilbey & Gareth Koch – Broken Toys (Official Video)

Video April 10, 2019 Marshall Cullen

News and Touring

UPDATE: Mick Hart Adds New Tour Dates

April 4, 2019 Marshall Cullen

UPDATE: New Tour Dates!

On the heels of Mick Hart’s sold-out Sydney launch at Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville last weekend, some new dates have been added!

New shows:

Sun 4th August – Bondi Diggers Golf Club (Sydney)
Fri 9th August – The Entrance Leagues Club (Central Coast NSW)
Sun 25th August – Gasoline Pony, Marrickville (Sydney)
Sun 29th September – Towradgi Beach Hotel, Wollongong (Sydney)
Sat 12th October – Stag and Hunter, Mayfield (Newcastle)

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED UPCOMING DATES:

Fri 26 July – Winter Blues Festival, Echuca VIC
Sat 27 July – Winter Blues Festival, Echuca VIC
Sun 28 July- Merri Creek Tavern, Melbourne

Community radio is loving the album, with widespread support on the airwaves proving it carries so many brilliant tracks! The Way It Is, 3am Or Anytime, Light My Way, Keep Hold and Peaceful Nest are all being played around the country.

Some great reviews are also flowing in for the album.

Bruce Elder at the Sydney Morning Herald declared that Hart has produced, “a classy, memorable album from a gifted musician at the height of his powers.”

“A delicious collection of blues-folk “toons” inspired by sources as rich as the early Rod Stewart (3am Or Anytime); a nod towards Free and Family (The Way It Is); Muddy Waters’ great version of Got My Mojo Workin’ (Light My Way); the edges of folk blues (Real Thing); that glorious style which involves a slow burn and driving blues with lashings of lap-steel (Time for the New); and inevitably, lots of Dylan-influenced blues and country blues (Back To The Start, Star Bed andKeep Hold).”

Elder also notes Hart’s wide-ranging musical talents – “Playing bass, lap-steel, harmonica, percussion, Rhodes, Mellotron, piano, organ, ukulele and, oh yes, guitars….ranges widely across the rich plains of the blues and American folk music.”

Meanwhile Mark Fraser at Redbackmusic.comcalled the latest single, Keep Hold, “sad, beautiful, perfect”, with the entire album, “a beautiful collection of soundscapes that caress your very soul in their own unobtrusively enveloping way.”

Read the whole review here:

Mick Hart’s new album, ‘Awake’ has just been released. ‘Awake’ is the Sydney-based singer-songwriter’s first recording in five years and features 16 brand new songs – a brilliant and epic mix of soulful indie folk rock, beautiful and intimate acoustic songs to blistering blues.

It has already spawned the two popular singles ‘The Way It Is’ and ‘3am Or Anytime’.

To celebrate the release of ‘Awake’, Mick is playing these dates below, including the official album launch in Sydney on June 21.

Sat 15 June- Harrington Hotel NSW

Sun 16 June- Harrington Hotel NSW

Fri 21 June- Lazy Bones Lounge, Marrickville (SYDNEY ALBUM LAUNCH)

Sat 22 June- The Stag and Hunter, Mayfield Newcastle NSW

Fri 26 July- Winter Blues Festival Echuca VIC

Sat 27 July- Winter Blues Festival Echuca VIC

Sun 28 July- Merri Creek Tavern Melbourne VIC

Mick is currently on tour across Europe – check out the pics below!

ARIA nominated for “Best Blues and Roots” in 2002 for his sophomore album Upside Down In The Full Face of Optimism, Mick Hart occupies a sonic space that’s influenced by Jeff Buckley and Ben Harper, from sparse acoustic songs to wild dirty blues rock and some brilliant lap-slide guitar.

Hart has been touring the world for the past 20 years, playing festivals and concerts all over Australia, the UK and Europe, Japan and the USA. Praised all over the globe, Mick has played support to Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Sting, Van Morrison, Paul Weller, Gomez, The Pretenders, Paul Kelly, The John Butler Trio and many more.

Stream AWAKE here:

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News and Touring

The Sheyana Band Release New Single ‘Soul Sister’

March 12, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Tasmanian blues act The Sheyana Band have a new single called Soul Sister that really striking a chord at #CommunityRadio

and as of April has made it to the NUMBER 1 spot of the Soundslikecafe service

The single has just hit number 2 on the Amrap Regional Charts.

Soul Sister is a remix of a track from last year’s Big Love album, for which they won the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society’s Victorian & Tasmanian Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Act/Artist of the Year.

Led by captivating frontwoman Sheyana Wijesingha, the band has recently performed at major music events in Tasmania including Party in the Paddock 2019 and they will also be appearing at the Fruit of the Roots Festival in Turners Beach, Tasmania this April.

The Sheyana Band has also received national & international recognition and airplay, supporting some of Australia’s most respected musicians including Hoodoo Gurus, Neil Finn, Meg Mac, Renee Geyer, Diesel, The Angels, Ian Moss and Bill Chambers.

The band will tour Australia later in the year and will also head to the UK, Europe & Sri Lanka for promo opportunities and some headlines shows.

Soul Sister streaming NOW.

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News and Touring

Texas Strangers deliver new single: Always In The Rain

March 12, 2019 Marshall Cullen

The second slice of Texas Strangers forthcoming Borderline album is called Always In The Rain and it’s streaming and at radio now.

Rich in harmonies and melody, this rollicking tune bounces from start to finish and is bound to be an instant smash with the band’s loyal live following as well as country radio stations all over the country.

Piano and electric guitar along with strings and slide over the top of a tight rhythm section cap off the classic Nashville style production.

The band’s penchant for a catchy tune is already evident, since their debut EP spawned 3 Number One Singles on the Country Songwriters chart.
The previous single, River Of Tears gained great support across ABC Country and regional radio.

Texas Strangers are from the Central Coast of NSW and are fronted by singer songwriter Steve Killeen, who together with his bandmates create a sound rich in classic Country tradition.

Always In The Rain was recorded during the album sessions for Borderline at Damien Gerard Studios engineered by Russell Pilling. The song was mastered by Sage Audio Nashville Tennessee.

Stream now via your favourite service:

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News and Touring

NEW RELEASE: Mick Hart releases new single ‘The Way It Is’

February 26, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Australian singer/songwriter Mick Hart has a brand new album on the way and its first offering is called The Way It Is.

A “you done me wrong” break-up song with a catchy blues groove, The Way It Is grabs the listener with its addictive chorus that features some blistering guitar and Hart’s determined lyrical growl, “I don’t owe you nothing, that’s the way it is.”

It’s the first taste of his upcoming album, Awake, which is due for release this April 26th on MGM.

Mick will tour in support of the Album starting in Europe in April and following through to Australian dates from May.

Listen to The Way It Is now:

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News and Touring

NEW RELEASE: Big Merino – Brand New Single ‘Hummingbird’

February 19, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Big Merino – New Single – Hummingbird

Sydney’s Big Merino have recorded a brand new song called Hummingbird.
It’s the very first taste of a bunch of new songs that will be recorded over the coming months at Damien Gerard Studios in Sydney. The as-yet-untitled second album from the blues-country-rock-pop group is expected to be released this Winter.

Hummingbird is not an ode to wildlife, rather a lament on the tragic and powerful consequences of unmanned military aerial drone strikes.

A special black-and-white video for the song was recently shot by band member Alex, who just happens to be a professional photographer. He captured the band on the rocks over the ocean at Maroubra Beach, Sydney and it’s available to watch now on YouTube.

Big Merino will launch Hummingbird on Saturday February 23 at Gasoline Pony in Marrickville, Sydney.

Formed a little over two years ago, Big Merino play original songs that blur the lines between rock, country, blues, roots, soul, funk and grunge, while occasionally making forays into lesser known genres such as New Orleans 2^ndLine.

Citing their major influences as Glen Hansard, The Frames, Jackson Browne and The Rolling Stones, songwriters Alex Craig and Stuart Davis write socially and politically-charged songs that are sometimes gentle and nostalgic and at other times nothing less than a fierce cry for revolution.

Lead singer/guitarist Stuart Davis cut his teeth singing Gospel with Tony Backhouse in Cafe at the Gates of Salvation, and brings that soulful Gospel feel to everything he does. He is joined by Alex Craigon guitar, Peter Richardsonon bass and Colin Sevitt on drums.

“Great songs, great songwriting and the best of it full of a real sincerity and commitment.”
Michael Smith – Rhythms

Listen to ‘Hummingbird’ at all your favourite digital music platforms from Friday, February 15, 2019:

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News and Touring

Dis-Connect’s new EP ‘Social Disease’ Launches March 30

January 31, 2019 Marshall Cullen

The new EP from Hornsby, Sydney-based 3 piece Dis-Connect is called Social Disease and it’s out on Feb 8!

Recorded in May 2018 at The Grove Studios on the Central Coast, the EP features 4 brand new tracks that use their serrated punk/pop sound to accentuate the difficult issues that are examined in the lyrics. Social Disease offers a glimpse of some of the pressures facing middle and lower-class Australians, from the use of prescription and illegal drugs, troubled relationships and the struggle of a low income to cultural diversity, sexuality and political bias.

The EP will be launched at The Hornsby Inn, Sydney on Saturday 30th March.

Dis-Connect are Phillip Lambert (lead vocals, bass guitar) Steven Tonge (back vocals, guitar) and Grahame Giles (drums). The band was formed after Phil recorded 7 songs in his bedroom and gave the songs and his drum kit to Grahame and from that point it was 6 weeks until the band’s very first gig.

After a few years of playing live gigs, Steve joined the band and they recorded a demo at Damien Gerard Studios with Russell Pilling. A lot of live gigs followed, as well as the release of their debut EP, featuring the track Harmony, which gained national radio airplay on Triple J.

Social Disease will be live on Spotify, iTunes and all your favourite streaming services on Feb 8

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