The Music of the Machine
2015 Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement for Songwriting award winners
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have made their long-awaited return to Australia with two very special shows at the Bangalow A&I Hall this weekend.
‘We are very excited, once again, to be bringing our songs and ourselves, and a few of our good friends, all the way from Tennessee to the land of Australia way down under.
‘We will be driving the wild back roads from Perth to Melbourne, Sydney to Brisbane… come out and say howdy when we roll in to town!’
– Gillian Welch & David Rawlings.
The dynamic duo were last here a long 11 years ago in 2004. No-one had quite expected the sublime beauty and simple complexity of their voices and instruments in their live shows. From the grandious Forum Theatre in Melbourne to the tiny Meeniyan Town Hall, they slayed ’em all in shows.
Dave Rawlings Machine play in support of the recently released and critically acclaimed album Nashville Obsolete, which features seven original compositions written by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. The Machine live band will feature Dave and Gillian, as well as Willie Watson, Punch Brother Paul Kowert and incredible fiddler Brittany Haas.
Nashville Obsolete marks the seventh studio album on which Welch and Rawlings have collaborated together over a two-decade-long creative partnership. In 2015 The Music referred to them as the ‘Americana dream team’ and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree.
They constantly moved the musical goalposts with the same brilliant results. As Fasterlouder recently said about Nashville Obsolete: ‘It’s possibly the recording career high point for Rawlings and company’.
The night Gillian and David were awarded the 2015 Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Awards for Songwriting, Robyn Hitchcock gave a speech that succinctly and brilliantly summed up this writing tour de force: ‘Like a jewel they have many facets.
They may appear as an old-time Appalachian pair stood by a wooden wagon. Or as 90s indie rockers, finding the essence of a Radiohead song. Or they may strike you as a jam band.’
Bangalow A&I Hall Saturday (SOLD OUT) and Sunday at 6.30pm. Tickets at redsquaremusic.com.au.
Americana At the Rails
Released in June 2015 to a wave of critical acclaim, James Thomson’s second album Cold Moon wowed multiple national publications and has been heralded as one of the finest Americana albums of recent years.
James Thomson is joined by The Strange Pilgrims, with Craig Rattray on bass and Tim Burns (ex-Perry Keyes) on drums.
The Highway Nights tour will take the band to new cities and towns along the east coast from Brisbane to Melbourne, kicking off on Friday and Sunday at the Rails.
Jez goes the Golden Mile at the Bolt Hole
After many years touring as a solo artist, Jez Mead has formed an evocative instrumental 3-piece.
The Golden Mile creates a cinematic and psychedelic soundtrack of the wide open road and this country’s landscape using haunting trumpet, guitar and a driving rhythm section.
The Golden Mile are in residence at The Bolt Hole, Byron Bay, four Sundays in a row, starting this Sunday at 6pm. The Bolt Hole is a dimly lit refuge from Byron Bay’s sun-dazed, crowded streets.
Entering via a vintage church door, visitors will find themselves in a cosy vintage haven, with references to hunting, steam trains and nautical escapades.
The Bolt Hole boasts American smokehouse barbecue and a killer selection of 69 whiskies, 40 gins, craft cocktails, organic wines and canned beers from all over the world. As part of The Golden Mile’s residency, The Bolt Hole will be launching Smokehouse Sundays with $5 Young Henrys Tinnies, $10 Craft Cocktails, $5 Barbecue Sliders and Smokehouse Barbecue Platters.
Get there early. (9 Fletcher St Byron)
Big Byron Bowlo of Jazz and Duck
Based in Sydney, the Galapagos Duck was an integral part of the foundation and success of jazz club The Basement.
The band performed in the club continuously for 16 years, during which The Basement became known as one of the greatest jazz clubs in Australia and the world.
The ‘Duck’ also toured extensively all throughout Australia visiting the Capital cities on many occasions and performing frequently in country areas including the remote areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
International performances at Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz Yatra Festival in Bombay (Mumbai), Musexpo in USA and more. Aside from festivals there have been extremely successful performances in England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.
Galapagos Duck make one very special appearance at the Byron Bowling Club on Wednesday 17 February at 7pm. Tix $15 – 6685 6202.
Men Behaving Bradley on Valentines Day
Popular Byron Bay musical entertainer Jon J Bradley delivers live, energetic music from retro-rock classics to more recent radio hits. Jon’s earthy acoustic renditions exhibit strong, versatile vocals with warm harmonica and rhythmic guitar.
This multitalented ‘one-man-band’ also DJs between his sets and often likes to encourage audience participation in his shows. Catch him at Club Lennox this Sunday for Valentines Day at 4pm.
Yes for Yossarian
London-based post-art alt-rock outfit Yossarian have announced details of their second studio album Light Up My Head, released in Australian in January.
The album was crowdfunded by fans in 38 countries from Mexico to Japan and recorded in London and at producer Tom Peter’s studio in Bury St Edmunds.
Post-art-rock band Yossarian are a difficult bunch to pin down. Their lyrics are dark, melancholic and ambiguous, drifting between themes of meaningless mortality and universal human dreams and nightmares.
The vocals are dealt out starkly over an ever-changing landscape that shifts between ethereal soundscapes, building accelerating guitars and orchestral layers that resemble the musical love-child of Elbow and The National.
Friday at the Byron Brewery from 8pm. Free entry.
Meet the Elliotts
The Elliotts are a Melbourne-based indie rock three-piece founded by songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist Robbie Elliott. The lineup includes bassist James Howlett and drummer Josh Thompson.
Robbie Elliott met James Howlett at a gig in 2011. Uniting under a love of harmonies, they honed their craft; collaborating with music producer Pete Dacy (Taxiride, The Androids, Superjesus) and artists such as Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo). Early 2013 saw the lineup completed with the addition of Josh Thompson.
The Elliotts are currently recording their debut EP. Find out what all the fuss is about this Thursday at the Rails.
Feeling perky?
A few months ago one of our most impressive singer/songwriters, Mr Tex Perkins, quietly made his way to the stage for a modest gig at the Bangalow Hotel.
It was one of those gigs that music lovers hanker for – when a big-name artist plays their local pub. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch Mr Perkins once more when he plays the Bangalow Hotel this Thursday.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
