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UPDATE: Mick Hart Adds New Tour Dates

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!

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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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The Sheyana Band (AUS)

The Sheyana Band Release New Single ‘Soul Sister’

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.

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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.


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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.

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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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Texas Strangers

Texas Strangers deliver new single: Always In The Rain

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.

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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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Mick Hart

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

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.

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 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.

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  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.

Listen to The Way It Is now:

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BIG MERINO (AUS)

Big Merino – Black Cockatoos Single and Video

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Big Merino – New Single – Black Cockatoos

The second single to be lifted from the current Surburban Wildlife album (MGM) is called Black Cockatoos. Released in a 3-track format, the lead song is accompanied by another album track “Sometimes” as well as a brand new, previously unreleased tune “A Day Without You” held over from the album sessions earlier this year.

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The stunning brand new video for “Black Cockatoos”(see pics)  shot by Director Alan Harca will be launched at the Black Cockatoos Launch at Django Bar Camelot on December 2, following a warm up show Sunday November 11 at the Botany View Hotel, Newtown.(this weekend)

For a sneak peak of the ‘look’ of the forthcoming video here’s the completed clip for B Side ‘Sometimes’ shot in the same space

Just click here or image below

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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 2nd Line.

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 Craig on guitar, Peter Richardson on bass and Colin Sevitt on drums.

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The Suburban Wildlife album was recorded by Russell Pilling over three weeks at Damien Gerard Studios. Russell also remixed “Black Cockatoos” specially for this single release, adding some timpani tracks that weren’t on the album mix.

The album features guest performances from some of the cream of Australia’s musical talent including-
Living legend James Greening on trombone, souzaphone, euphonium, trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn and pocket cornet (the main feature of previously unreleased song ‘A Day Without You”)
Jonathan Zwartz - Double Bass
Johnny G - from Johnny G and the E-Types on piano, organ and accordion
Jess Ciampa - Australia’s most sought after percussionist
Michel Rose - pedal steel (The Catholics) and
finally a string quartet from the Sydney Chamber Orchestra. 

See TheMusic studio sessions article here. 

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

“‘Sometimes’ with its soaring backing vocals is one of the most powerful rock songs I’ve heard in many years. ‘Black Cockatoos’ with the string quartet and a brilliant guitar work by Alex Craig is destined to become an Australian classic.”

BIG MERINO
Black Cockatoos Single
Official Release All Digital Platforms via MGM
November 2 2018

Click below to download or stream.

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John Kennedy’s Second Best reviewed by Bernard Zuel

In 2001, John Kennedy compiled the early vinyl singles and album selections from his bands JFK and the Cuban Crisis, Love Gone Wrong and the Honeymooners.

17 years later, its follow-up retrospective collection is out now in all good record stores. 

Leading music journalist and former Sydney Morning Herald writer Bernard Zuel has reviewed the set known as “Second Best: Greatest Bits Vol. 2″.

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“Well of course John Kennedy would call the second set of his career songs collections “second best”. If he’d called it something like “the other bits”, “warmed up leftovers” or “oh no, not me again”, none of us would have been surprised,” Zuel writes.  “This way he gets a play on words, a dig at himself, and a reminder he’s been around long enough to warrant at least two sets of favourite songs before we have stopped laughing: result.”

Kennedy and his band (with the current line-up of Love Gone Wrong drummer Peter Timmerman, ex-Wiggle Murray Cook on guitar and former Pop Mechanics’ leader Paul Scott on bass) blend pop, rock, folk and country, all topped with the uniqueness of Kennedy’s vocal and lyrics.

Zuel says, “Some of his lines have the double dose pleasure of being funny on first hearing and rather telling on second, an effect which is enhanced with a voice that sometimes just seems to be taking the piss. Even when it’s not. Speaking of his voice, yes, when he is not dropping down to a Johnny Cash-ish timbre he has always sounded a fair bit like Elvis Costello – which is what caught the ears of some of us way back when he first appeared as the presidential JFK & The Cuban Crisis.”

Read the entire review here at Bernard’s website: https://www.bernardzuel.net/single-post/2018/11/04/JOHN-KENNEDY-–-SECOND-BEST-REVIEW

OUT NOW on Foghorn Records through MGM.  

Available on CD and digital platforms. 

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