Define your genre in five words or less:
Alt-folk Australiana roots.
Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like?
Because of the way I sing, people immediately say we sound very Australian. The instrumentation is quite Celtic, though, so it’s somewhere in between.
What’ve you got to sell CD-wise?
We’ve just released our debut album, Somebody’s Opus through Vitamin Records, this show is part of our national launch tour. It’s already had some great reviews, and there’s some fantastic players on the album. Luke Plumb on mandolin, Laura Targett on fiddle. Beth Kimber from Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel played some outstanding accordion, and Sal plays some banjo for a duet I do with Sara Tindley.. It was an honour and great fun to work with those guys.
What do you love about making music?
My favorite thing is when someone gives me their interpretation of one of my songs and it’s nothing like how I meant it to be. I love how when it comes to music, no-one’s ever right or wrong.
What can a punter expect from your live show?
We always have heaps of fun when we play. It’s our main priority. The show travels through really simple acoustic ballads to full-on, high-energy bluegrass and sea shanty sing-alongs. The mood changes throughout the show, but there’s always a great energy and we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
When’s the gig and with who?
We play at The Retreat on Sunday August 26. We’re doing the whole album launch tour as a four-piece, so we have Jason Caspen on drums and Steve Cook from Nambour on fiddle and mandolin. We’ve got Matty Green Band supporting us too, which is going to make for a ripper of a night. He’s been a busy boy lately so we were stoked to be able to net him for this one.
What inspires or has influenced your music the most?
My biggest influences are the great songwriters like Paul Simon, Ryan Adams and Paul Kelly. Their lyrics are quite conversational and specific, as opposed to being really broad and accessible. You know they’ve had the experiences, and you get those little glimpses. I love great musicianship and I’m always striving to be a better player, but for me it’s the story which is most important.
