Tag Archives: singer songwriter

Kaijin Solo New EP Universal Love

May 15, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Kaijin Solo is a contemporary singer/songwriter based on the NSW Central Coast with a blues rock influence.

Universal Love is an experiment in letting other people find their way into his music.
The idea came about from jamming original songs live with a host of different people on the local open mike circuit. The result is an electric mix of ideas that provides a solid rocking sound-scope for the lyrics.

Mark Cashin and Jake Hunt from The Little Hussies were the collaborators this time round, with Russell Pilling at Damien Gerard Studios engineering. The combination of talent without prima donna egos made the sessions into a fun day with a fantastic output and every song grew in dimension.
The EP was Mastered by Andrew Beck.

Universal Love – “When we can think, speak and act the way we want to be treated ourselves, the power of love will exceed the love of power and the world will know peace.” Is what Universal Love is about, it was inspired by a quote from Jimi Hendrix “When the power of love exceeds the love of power the world will know peace.

Into the Dream was written the morning after a Ryan Adams concert, thinking about how much things has changed since the beginning of the century.

The Republic is a tribute to the people and their achievements, and a wake up to call to Canberra to get on with it.

Spirit on the Wind is an ode to the Spirit of Freedom.

Like Sunshine is a love song to music itself.

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Gareth Koch Releases New EP Code Blue

May 8, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Following the critically acclaimed collaboration album with Steve Kilbey(The Church) and with a new album pending from the pair Gareth found time during lock down to complete and sneak out this EP with the title song very close to his heart-literally….

“How does an artwork or song come into being and take form where once nothing existed?

The answer has layers of complexity, and varies from artist to artist, but there are partial explanations. Usually there is some type of catalyst, a half-remembered whisper, idea or a musical phrase which forms a point of creative departure. Sometimes though, an actual event might spark inspiration.”

The song Code Blue is jaunty & upbeat with tongue-in-cheek lyrics, but these provide clues to an underlying seriousness:

‘code blue runnin outa time,…show a vital sign,… in emergency ICU…o honey i’d die for you….’

A ‘code blue’ is a hospital crisis situation in which the patient is in cardiopulmonary arrest, requiring a team to rush to the specific location and begin rescue efforts.
The narrative of the song draws on a sudden medical emergency in which Gareth was saved by the skill of medical staff.

Both the song Code Blue and EP are dedicated with love and gratitude to the wonderful medical professionals across the world.

The Video for the Song Premiered on Scentre below

The other tracks hold their own as well-

Come Heavy Sleep is a type of re-imagined Elizabethan ballad, while The Flame carries echos of the great Blue Oyster Cult. The surprise inclusion on this EP is the notorious rock song ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ by Australian rock band The Angels. In this rendering Koch re-invents the song as a ballad of unimaginable sensitivity, laced with subtlety & classical guitars.

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Stream or Download The EP

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Tim Walker’s New Album Bridge of Angels Out Now

April 3, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Ex-Sydney singer-songwriter Tim Walker moved back to his hometown of Adelaide earlier this year and immediately began recording this new album, his first for a while.

The album was inspired by a recent trip to Europe, where Tim was struck by a culture saturated with centuries of spiritual and religious symbols, strivings and sentiments. The new album has more universal themes than his first (Fellow Traveller), which was very Sydney-oriented.

Beginning in folk, he went into a country rock act, and now is a prolific soloist, doing gigs around Adelaide. He was a regular on the Sydney live circuit and played at several NSW festivals. He found a SA recording studio in Grange this year, and immediately began laying down tracks according to a careful plan, devised over many months.

Track list with Descriptions:

On The Bridge (a prelude): This is a crossroad, of civilisation, of history, the course of your own life, a juncture, a leap. The “bridge” refers to Rome’s Bridge of Angels of the album’s title, which is lined with 10 angels and overlooked by a castle, on the River Tiber. A short classical piece, it provides the thematic underpinning of the entire album – a beautiful, floating spark of hope and redemption for a world in flux.
The Loving Arms (those we love): The race is on from the day you are born as time and love play off against each other, and the kindness of strangers. The real currency of life, more valuable than gold or silver, never to be taken for granted.
Every Story Tells a Picture (the plague): With 7.8 billion people on Earth and millions more being added every year, we are running out of everything, including our humanity and our judgement.
Mirror of Love (a reflection):A photograph can lie, but love cannot lie. It is the ultimate mirror.
Red Velvet Chair (a friend in need): When you sit in this chair you tell the truth, and the truth is told to you. It’s the advice of a friend, the helping hand. But hey, you can have some fun with it too!
Streets of Rome (eyes are opened): The ancient capital was no stranger to the album’s themes. Without the benefit of science, its original citizensinvented their own answers to life, preserved today with respect and awe, embedded in every stone of the city. And they had to deal with the same spiritual questions as us. Rome was therefore the accidental epicentre of the album.
The Bolshie Swing (the dance): Time for a break. This track started off as a playful riff and expanded into a mini-orchestra, was left on the shelf for a while, then rushed into action as track 7. It was the understudy.
Face Without a Name (stare inside): Ultimately we are just one of the crowd. It’s a big world and that crowd is made up of billions. Not often can we roar; more often at most we can squeak. Not invisible -but maybe only a “hill of beans”, as Bogart said in one of his films.
Fly into the Sunrise (flying home): You have been away, seen many things. Now you wing your way on a long flight home, from the nighttime behind (the past) to the sunrise ahead (the future). The huge jet streams past, its passengers look out and simultaneously look in, through half-asleep eyes; the moment is sublime.
Star (inspiration): Maybe it’s love at first sight; maybe it’s the inspiration that keeps alive a distant flame. Perhaps it’s fate.

Listen on your favourite platform:

Videos

Margaret Anne and the Rock It Man – Soul Laid Bare -Official Music Video

Video October 25, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Videos

Jessie May Kitchen – Star Child (Official Video)

Video October 25, 2019 Marshall Cullen

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Margaret Anne and The Rock It Man Lay Their Souls Bare

October 25, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Margaret Anne and The Rock It Man’s debut album is called Soul Laid Bare. Lyrically it’s an intensely personal exploration of emotional turmoil after a marriage breakup, while musically it’s an exciting blend of Americana, country, roots, blues, funk and rock.

The title track is due for release on October 25. It was written while singer Margaret Anne was making the agonizing decision to leave a 20 year marriage, break up a family and family home. The song conveys a search for clarity and expresses the fear and recklessness in making such a massive and life changing decision for all involved.

Another album highlight is a song Margaret Anne wrote with renowned Australian singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson. Entitled Don’t Look Back, the track is an exploration of marriage in the aftermath of her breakdown. “Just 2 months after leaving my husband,” says Margaret Anne, “Don’t look Back was written on a sheep station in Nundle (outside Tamworth). It has undertones of loss, sadness and questioning and the decision to move on from the wreckage and not look back.”

Growing up in a seaside town on the south coast of NSW, she was blessed to belong to a musical family so classical piano, guitar and song became a big part of her life.

Margaret Anne says she was heavily influenced by her surfing brothers as she grew up. “We would pool our pennies to buy the latest records. My favourites, and certainly most early influences were Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Stones, Carol King, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Hair! Anything Woodstock!”

Adventurous and a passionate singer songwriter, Margaret Anne continually touches her listeners with her inclusive heartfelt singing, dynamic stage presence and empowering songs. She currently manages and performs in the successful band Firefly.

Soul Laid Bare is a collaboration with Doug Weaver, a talented multi instrumentalist, producer and screenwrite. He has produced and written music for over 200 episodes of the American TV show The MythBusters and also many local programs including Border Security and Beach Cops.

Margaret Anne has always been an adventurer, having previously travelled the world for 11 years and visiting 56 countries. This time her attention is turned inwards and the result is an emotive album full of vulnerabilities and strength.

Soul Laid Bare (the single) is out on October 25.

The album of the same name is due in March 2020.

Download or stream from October 25:

Watch Soul Laid Bare here:

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The Eden Project EP Gatefold Art Melissa Black 200918 MASTER

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Melissa Black’s Eden Project Makes Mark Overseas

August 23, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Melissa Black has just wrapped a series of interviews in the US and has also scored several enthusiastic reviews for her recent EP release, The Eden Project.

Melissa told Indie Music Discovery in the US, “I’ve had an amazing experience recording my new album with Riversong Music at The Back 45. Andy and Scott are an incredibly synergistic duo in the studio. They’re not afraid to push the envelope and the entire creative process is inspiring. I have found my authentic voice and sound.”

The Bandcamp Diaries enthused, “Fallen Angel has a cool 70s throwback sound, which reminds me of artists like Fleetwood Mac. I love Melissa’s energetic vocals and the overall cohesion of the instrumental track!”

The Red Carpet Living blog said, “In a world riddled with destruction, when something pure comes along – you feel it in every pore of your fibre. Because purity and the really good stuff – is translucent. Just like Eden. Her voice is like milk and honey on the radio waves of empty rasp, forced empowerment, and seductive allure.”

Melissa Black – The Eden Project EP is out now on Riversong.

Download or stream The Eden Project EP now:

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Lily Duval Offers New Single ‘The Last Goodbye’

May 24, 2019 Marshall Cullen

Full bodied acoustic guitar is the hallmark of this terrific new original single from Lily Duval. The classic sound of this song has its own time and place and transports you somewhere else.

Her writing comes from her own experiences and also longtime influences such as Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin. Lyrically, The Last Goodbye explores the sense of an ending, the realisation that you may never again see the person you love. Lily describes this song as, “a love story. I wrote this last winter. I deliberated over the key change at the end but then felt it worked.”

With help from accomplished session men – Peter Holz on guitar and Andy Beck adding the medieval sounding Celesta, the track is woven together by the expert ears of producer Russell Pilling.

Previously Lily has digitally released a number of acoustic blues originals to a warm response on Community Radio and online.

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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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Jessie May Kitchen – NEW SINGLE “Teen Love”

November 6, 2018 Marshall Cullen

Hot on the heels of her sparkling debut, “Coffee Shop”, comes Jessie May Kitchen’s second single, “Teen Love.” A jangly guitar-driven pop song, it’s a sweet ode to all the uncertainties in the early days of teenage romance.

The 17 year old singer-songwriter says her new single, “goes through the emotions of our day by day, week by week, forbidden puppy love. It is written about the previous relationship I was in, when the person I was dating wasn’t sure about what they wanted or who they were yet, so it was very confusing for me.”

Jessie May says she knew very early how much she wanted a life in music: “I wanted to become a singer/songwriter when I was 5 years old. I remember seeing people singing on TV and thinking, “Hey! That’s me!” My parents told me I could be anything I wanted as a young girl, but like most families panicked in my high school years telling me I, “should find a plan B” or go for something, you know, is, “easy, safe or guaranteed money,” So, for a while I was lost and didn’t write for years, until one day in 2016, I realized that I’m happiest in songwriting and singing; that this is who I’m supposed to be. So, I picked up a guitar and was me again. My parents are much more supportive of me now that I’m older.
And even if it’s not the ‘safest’ road to travel, it sure is the sunniest.”

A new video for “Teen Love” is in production right now and will be released soon.

In the meantime, check out her previous video “Coffee Shop”(which premiered on Scenstr earlier this year) as well as all the links and release details below!

The song has already been added to Mood Media and Soundslikecafe networks and it’s being picked up by community radio stations all around the country.

The new single release features 3 versions of the song – the main track, an acoustic-only version just like Jessie performs it live and an instrumental.

Jessie May Kitchen – Teen Love (Foghorn/MGM)
Released October 12 All Digital Platforms

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