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Alejandro Escovedo, Thornbury Theatre 0

After an illustrious recording and performing career spanning five decades, Texas-based alt-country rock legend Alejandro Escovedo has finally made it to Australia for the first time. Coming off a celebrated weekend at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, ably assisted by You Am I’s Tim Rogers, last night it was Melbourne’s turn to have our hearts melted by Alejandro’s wonderful life stories and compelling songs.

Escovedo is a master storyteller. His tales stem from true events and are delivered with authority, poignancy and quite often with a cheeky grin. Opening tonight’s set at The Thornbury Theatre with a five minute long monologue leading into the song San Antonio Rain, Alejandro told of his family’s move from San Antonio Texas to California. Presented to the kids as a vacation, the young Alejandro wasn’t to know until much later that they’d never return to their home to collect their belongings. He hilariously recounted the “13 kids in a sedan, with some in the trunk, some on the hood and some running behind the car, trying to keep up … and a few we lost outside of Phoenix, Arizona.” It’s no surprise that many other heavyweight songwriters such as Bruce Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt have been known to be major Escovedo fans.

Such was the impact of Alejandro’s spellbinding storytelling, that it was 20 minutes into the show before a second song was performed, yet at all times holding the audience in the palm of his hand. With “Five Hearts Breaking”, he recalled romantic notions of what America used to be, when musicians played for beer and food only but were grateful all the same. With songs from his current album The Crossing, he explored themes of immigration and the barriers facing migrants in a harsh political landscape globally.

An Alejandro Escovdeo concert is not only a journey through the troubadour’s own colourful career but also a history in contemporary music itself. Brought up on a mix of Mexican, country and big band music that his parents enjoyed, Alejandro’s influences grew to take in punk, garage and glam rock, all of which have infiltrated his own music at various stages of his work. One of his earlier bands, Rank & File tried to merge George Jones with The Clash, he tells us. His song Chelsea Hotel ’78 which was performed late in the set described life at New York’s notorious Chelsea Hotel, where Sid and Nancy were neighbours to Alejandro and The New York Dolls were regulars too.

Normally performing with a band, the economic hurdles of an Australian tour decreed that Alejandro would perform this time in duo mode. Sideman Tim Rogers provided much vocal character to Escovedo’s sensitive songs and was also responsible for the electric guitar atmospherics, which are an integral part of this music. Although the set was plagued by many on stage gremlins including wrong capo tuning, broken guitar strings and at one point, loss of Tim’s guitar sound altogether, it seemed to matter little to the audience who were caught up in the amiable, community spirit of the night.

As they have done each night throughout this Australian tour, Alejandro and Tim stepped into the middle of the audience to perform a few songs unplugged to great effect. A powerful acoustic version of the Mott The Hoople song I Wish I Was Your Mother held the audience in complete silence. A rendition of the beautiful Rosalie, a song about a couple who were separated for seven years, yet stayed in touch by writing letters to each other daily, left many in the crowd wiping back tears.

Swallows of San Juan, a song about Alejandro’s days as a young surfer in Huntington Beach pretending to be Hawaiian rather than Mexican to prevent him from being beaten up by jocks, took the concert into overtime. Leaving us in the same manner he welcomed us, it ended with a tale attached to a song. He recalled a friend phoning him up one day and asking if he had read the New York Times that morning. Featured in the paper that day was President George W Bush’s top ten iPod playlist, which happened to include Escovedo’s song ‘Castanets (I like it better when she walks away)’. “That wasn’t cool,” Alejandro told us. “I didn’t know what to do, so I retired the song until he was out of office.” Kicking into the rollicking party-piece with gusto, Escovedo and Rogers brought the audience to their feet in celebration of one of the most engaging and enjoyable shows seen at The Thornbury Theatre. Judging by the audience reaction and Alejandro’s smile, I doubt that it will be long before we see him back in Australia.

Gaby Moreno Interview 0

Gaby Moreno is Guatemalan-born Emmy nominee and Latin Grammy winner who has released 4 solo records internationally. Her current album IIlusión received a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. She has toured with Tracy Chapman, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Ani DiFranco, Punch Brothers, Milk Carton Kids and Calexico, and has shared stages with Bono, Andrea Bocelli and Van Dyke Parks.

Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips spoke to Gaby backstage at St.Kilda’s Fyrefly at the start of her 2019 Australian tour and then stayed for the show to offer a report, accompanied by some fabulous photos by Jason Rosewarne

INTERVIEW: GABY MORENO – FYREFLY ST.KILDA March 7, 2019

GIG REVIEW: GABY MORENO – FYREFLY ST.KILDA March 7, 2019
Review Greg Phillips. Photos Jason Rosewarne

It has been around a year and a half since Latin Grammy Award-winning singer songwriter Gaby Moreno had been in Australia and clearly she was delighted to be back. Kicking off her tour with two nights at one of Melbourne’s finest live music rooms, The Fyrefly Gaby eased into Intento from her 2011 album Illustrated Songs, followed by Herman Rosetta a gorgeous Spanish language variation of the Sam Phillips song Sister Rosetta. Sporting an aqua coloured top to match her exquisite Caribou model Duesenberg electric guitar, Gaby’s performance of O, Me highlighted both the strength and sweetness of her remarkable voice. Pale Bright Lights, also from the Illusion album received a grittier treatment tonight, displaying even more colours from the Guatemalan singer’s palette. Gaby’s band consisting of drummer Sebastian Aymanns and bassist Kimon Kirk not only provided a solid backing but contributed so much character to the songs with their empathic playing.

For the second set of the evening, Gaby introduced a special guest, local guitar virtuoso Sam Lemann to the stage, who seamlessly blended into the mix by adding his intricate and sublime musical notions. Set two presented two show highlights for me, one being The Weed Smoker’s Dream, which Gaby used to perform while on tour with actor/musician Hugh Laurie. It’s a slow burning blues song which again spotlighted Lemann’s thoughtful fretboard skills. The other incredible performance was Gaby’s version of Across The Borderline, which was written by Ry Cooder, John Hiatt and Jim Dickinson. Gaby recently recorded the song as a duet with Jackson Browne, featuring some guitar parts from Cooder. It will appear as one of the tracks off Gaby’s new album Spangled, which she created with Van Dyke Parkes and will be released in May. Gaby Moreno thrilled the Fyrefly audience tonight with her amiable nature, amazing vocal range and quality brand of eclectic rhythms. For discerning music fans, if you have the chance to catch Gaby and band on this tour, don’t think twice about securing tickets, a night of musical joy is assured.

REMAINING TOUR DATES
14 March – Camelot Lounge, Sydney NSW
http://camelotlounge.com/
15 March – Dust Temple, Gold Coast QLD
http://www.dusttemple.com.au/
16 March – Brisbane Jazz Club, Brisbane QLD
http://www.brisbanejazzclub.com.au/

THE PRODUCTION COMPANY LAUNCHES BOWIE’S LAZARUS MUSICAL 0

Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips attended the launch of The Production Company’s 2019 season at the Raheen mansion in Kew. The new season features 3 productions including the David Bowie music theatre work Lazarus. In our video coverage, Greg catches up with Lazarus Australian production Director Michael Kantor, actor iOTA, and launch guitarist Simon Hosford.

(Feb 19) Jeanne Pratt AC, Chairman of The Production Company, announced her Company’s 21st Season comprising three musicals. This new season will feature two Australian premieres: David Bowie’s LAZARUS and RAGTIME as well as the all time Broadway favourite, Thoroughly Modem Millie.

Lazarus opens in Melbourne’s Arts Centre Playhouse on May 18 for 27 performances. The cast will include Chris Ryan, iOTA, Emily Milledge, Phoebe Panaretos, and Mike McLeish.

Lazarus was David Bowie’s final project and was first staged in New York in 2015. It is a ground breaking music theatre work featuring 18 Bowie songs including Changes, Heroes and Absolute Beginners.

Inspired by the Walter Tevis novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Lazarus is about an alien, unable to die. We follow him during the course of a few days when the arrival of another lost soul might finally set him free. David Bowie co-wrote lazarus with Enda Walsh who also wrote the book for the award winning musical, Once.

Jeanne Pratt AC said ”The premiere of David Bowie and Enda Walsh’s music theatre masterpiece, Lazarus will open our season. It’s a great pleasure and an honour for The Production Company to be staging David Bowie’s final masterpiece with an outstanding creative team headed by the acclaimed director Michael Kantor. I love to feature a comedy in our seasons and there are few shows more joyous than Thoroughly Modem Millie, a fun-filled ride
into the heart of the roaring twenties. Our third musical, Ragtime, is a sweeping musical portrait of early twentieth century America, based on the bestselling novel by E. L Doctorow. We couldn’t have done this for the past twenty years without our musical loving audiences. Thank you, Melbourne.”

Subscriptions for TPC’s 2019 Season are now on sale.

www.theproductioncompany.com.au

Photos by Mary Boukouvalas   http://www.rocklust.com  www.whatsmyscene.com

Methyl Ethel: 'Triage' Album Interview 0

Most folks caught onto Methyl Ethel’s infectious brand of electro-pop with 2017’s hit Ubu from the band’s second album Everything Is Forgotten, with it’s earworm chorus of “Why’d you have to go and cut your hair’. Recently Methyl Ethel fans have been thrilled to discover that already released singles from the new album Triage, Real Tight and Scream Whole possess the same contagious song qualities. With the self-produced Triage (Released February 15), Webb has also happened upon a fuller sounding album than previous releases, not specifically an intended goal but a result he gladly accepts. The songs come across as epic and complex yet at their heart would stand alone comfortably in a more stripped back form, which was definitely a quality he sought out when writing for the album. When Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips spoke to Methyl Ethel’s Jake Webb about the Triage album, he was back in his home studio continuing to create new music.

Jake, you are doing quite a few interviews leading up to the release of the new album. What’s your relationship with the media like? Do you enjoy talking about your music or is it a task that you know you just have to do?
Well it’s sort of somewhere in between the two. It’s something that I guess, now that I am aware of it being something that’s part of the process, part of putting music out … I’m at peace with it.

You have a very distinctive sound. I’m wondering who some of the artist are who influenced you and lit the spark for the kind of music you play now?
I think the spark was lit mostly by 50s and 60s pop music on compilation CDs and cassette tapes that my parents had when I was growing up but everything else is from my parents music collection. The Beach Boys and Beatles and general ones that pop up. When I got older it was weird DIY artist like Gary Wilson and Stevie Moore, people like that got me interested in making music on my own.

Do you get into the history of records and how records were made?
Yeah I am a bit of a music biography nerd I guess.

When you knew it was time to create this album, did you have something specifically in mind form the get-go?
Sonically it is more honing in on a sound that I was trying to develop with the project. It’s like, with each release being able to look back and see what I’d want to improve on and better it, so it is more just a natural extension of the other two records I have made and every thing else to date.

So there were mental notes made or lessons learned from previous recordings that you took into this?
Always because I don’t stop working on the next project after one is completed, I kind of just keep working. In my mind in a way with each release .. they’re like binarisms of each other in terms of light and dark and approach to music. That might sound very faffy and weird but my first EP perhaps, I think of it as being a bit more like a shiny pop record and then the next one being darker and more experimental, using them to bounce off one another. It’s like ok I did that, maybe I’ll try something else. By Triage it’s sort of trying to hone in everything.

Has your method of writing and creating changed much over the years?
Yes it changes quite often, song to song sometimes.

Do any of the songs start out traditionally, written in one hit on a guitar or are they generally pieced together in the studio?
There was one which was written on a guitar because of exactly that. I said I want to just write a song on a guitar. I think one thing that I did go into this record as a theory in my mind was that all great songs can be just reduced to somebody just sitting down with a guitar or piano and singing the melody and you can still recognise it as a great song. I wanted each song to be able to be reduced down to its fundamental pieces and still stand up.

You self-produced the record. Why did you decide to go down that road?
I wanted to basically back myself and take the plunge. I just saw it as being potentially more beneficial going forward to take take the risk and see if I could challenge myself.

The sound seems a lot fuller than previous records, was that always the intention?
I think it would be hard to set out to achieve a fuller sound. I think maybe it’s just a lucky thing … something that just happened. I find it hard to put into words. In hindsight that sort of thing is easier. The goal is always simply to try to make something that I feel to be really good but I can only go on my own instinct.

Tell me about the creative relationship with Marta Salogni, the album’s engineer.
What started out as just a straight out mixing assignment … I actually had in mind that I was getting it mixed by someone else and then she came in and I think we struck up such a good friendship that my creative side opened up more perhaps and I threw her in to let her work her magic, which she did to great result.

Nine songs made the cut, were there many others you had for consideration?
Yes. There were quite a few more, which is not to say they won’t be heard one day. Maybe soon. Similarly to the whole idea behind … trying to keep things tight and concise … I wanted to lean towards … a lean album!

There are a number of songs on the album with upbeat tempos. Do you consider how many of those type of songs you need on an album? Is there a need for balance?
I do consider balance quite a lot actually. That’s why I find it hard to work on just one song at a time. I’m always working on groups of songs, anywhere from four to six songs and that is exactly in order to have some balancing against each other. I think having an album in mind is quite important, to write records rather than singles but at the same time, I am learning that different ways to play with that idea and be experimental without using the technical and musical tropes of what people consider to be experimental.

I imagine the track order is important to you?
It is quite important. I always use to think of track order as sort of the Greek tragic structure. Like Oedipus or something, with peaks and troughs and coming to a climax. There’s always some mad, pretentious theory behind everything I do I think.

What about song titles … do you think they are important or do you think a song could be called anything and still have the same impact?
I think both of those things and I think I have done both of those things over time. I used to name the singles off my EPs after dog breeds but then I also have used references to things that only I know the reference. I find it quite fun but you definitely get called out on it quite a bit within the journalistic world of music if you choose to have a bit of fun. Sometimes keeping it simple is the way out.

What about the gear on the album? What instruments did you play?
It’s all drums, keys, guitars … there’s a bit of saxophone in there too.

Real synths or software sounds?
Mostly real. There’s a soft synth … it’s a Spectral synthesis, so they are samples where you can record things in the environment or put in your own samples and essentially synthesize your sounds from those.

Do you listen to other artists music and then seek out sounds they are using or totally into what you create yourself?
As far as sounds go, the only person who I have obsessed over trying to learn about their sound, have been producers like Arca and Oneohtrix Point Never. I think that is probably the most exciting music that I have heard for a long, long time as far as new sounds being created. I tend to find … and even with what I do as well … there doesn’t appear to be anything that sounds like the future compared to those producers.

A lot of artists latch onto the same software sounds these days and you hear the same sounds in so many songs …
The real difficulty which is probably talked about quite a lot is how to deal with infinite possibility, that is one thing with computers and these software synths … especially if you are savvy enough to know how to get things for free on the internet, dare I say it. Then the possibilities are so, so wide and endless. Also when it comes to internet education, if you are learning how to do things from the internet, sometimes I think you tend to repeat the ideas of others. It’s difficult but we can all rest assured that there is some 12 year old, perhaps a young girl somewhere who is making more interesting music you ever will on a computer. I think that is also the beauty of that. Navigating the world of gear and things like that can be difficult.

Will it be a difficult album to reproduce live?
Difficult? Potentially but that’s the great challenge. We love getting together and nutting these things out, it’s always good fun. We’ve already expanded out to a five piece band and it seems to be ample at this stage. I mean who wouldn’t want to tour with a 14 piece band. I’m sure that would do the trick but we will get by with five. Five and a bit of wizardry.

The album is out on February 15th. What’s on for the rest of 2019?
The aforementioned figuring out the songs and just working on more new music, the addiction continues.

Triage is out now via Dot Dash / Remote Control!

Triage Album Tour 
Presented by triple j, Monster, Secret Sounds & Dot Dash

Saturday 15th June – The Astor Theatre, Perth

Friday 21st June – The Forum Theatre, Melbourne

Saturday 22nd June – The Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Thursday 27th June – The Gov, Adelaide

Friday 28th June – The Triffid, Brisbane

Secret Sounds Pre-sale: Monday 18 February 9am – Tuesday 19 February 8am LOCAL
Tickets via scrtsnds.co/MethylEthelTour

General on sale: Tuesday 19 February 9am LOCAL

NAMM 2019: Gibson Jam 0

Gibson guitars celebrated their return to the NAMM Show with a huge all-start concert at the City National Grove of Anaheim last night with live performances from Nancy Wilson, Peter Frampton, Robby Krieger, Emily Wolfe, Black Pistol Fire, Cam, Jared James Nichols and more while Jimmy Vivino, Kenny Arnoff, Daryl Jones and Jeff Young rounded out the house band. One of the many highlights of the night included Robby Krieger’s blistering version of classic Doors songs Love Me Two Times and Roadhouse Blues. Adding to the amazing energy was vocalist Lauren Ruth Ward, who is soon to front The Divinyls for an Australian tour. Other highlights included Black Pistol Fire who ripped up the stage .. on and off … and of course Peter Frampton’s magical version of Do You Feel.

Gibson is distributed in Australia by Australis Music Group.

Aussie Acts to Headline Australian Open 2019 0

Hit duo Flight Facilities with Slum Sociable & Groove City, popular rock band DMA’S and Jack River , electronic indie pop band Safia and incredible young Australian talent RUEL are among the acts who have been added to the already impressive AO Live Stage roster for 2019

Acts already announced as part of the Australian Open’s 15 days of music include: Dean Lewis, Bastille (UK), Conrad Sewell, Ball Park Music, Birds of Tokyo, Craig David & Full Live Band (UK), JET and  Angus & Julia Stone.

“We are very excited to have some of the best local and international acts here at the Australian Open,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said.

“Our fans know that we are now a big entertainment event – they can come and enjoy some great tennis action on-court and head to the AO Live stage for fantastic entertainment. Thanks to Mushroom Events we truly have something for everyone in 2019, in an event that just gets bigger and better every year,” Tiley said.

Mushroom Events CEO Michael Gudinski backed up Tiley, saying the line-up is hugely impressive and diverse.

“Our team at Mushroom Events has worked with the Australian Open incredibly hard the last few months to create such an amazing and diverse line-up for the AO Live Stage, “ he said.

“With 15 days of music, there is literally something for everyone.”

Cooper’s Saturday returns this year on Saturday January 19 featuring both Confidence Man and Total Giovanni.

The Australian Open AO Live Stage is fast developing a reputation as one of the most comprehensive music festivals in Australia.

The AO Live stage is situated at the middle terrace of Birrarung Marr and for the first time will feature a purpose-built shade structure, further enhancing the experience for music and tennis fans.

The AO Live Stage is accessible to all fans holding an Australian Open Ground Pass or stadium ticket.

The full AO Live Stage line-up is:

Sunday 13 January
Beyond Blue concert
Monday 14 January
Dean Lewis and Gretta Ray
Tuesday 15 January
Conrad Sewell and CXLOE
Wednesday 16 January
The Teskey Brothers and Odette
Thursday 17 January
Bastille and Nicole Millar
Friday 18 January
You Am I and Jebediah
Saturday 19 January
Confidence Man and Total Giovanni
Sunday 20 January
Flight Facilities and Slum Sociable
and Groove City
Monday 21 January
Safia and RUEL
Tuesday 22 January
Ball Park Music and Bec Sandridge
Wednesday 23 January
DMA’S and Jack River
Thursday 24 January
Birds of Tokyo and Last Dinosaurs
Friday 25 January
Craig David & Full Live Band and
Yo Mafia
Saturday 26 January
Angus & Julia Stone and Alex Lahey
Sunday 27 January
JET and Something For Kate

The Australian Open will also host a free concert in support of Beyond Blue on Sunday January 13.

Australian Open 2019, presented by Kia Motors in association with ANZ, Luzhou Laojiao and Rolex, will take place at Melbourne Park from 14-27 January.

All Australian Open tickets including ground passes, which allow access to Melbourne Arena, are now on sale at ticketek.com.au.