Neil Murray: April 2010
Hi Folks,
Well March has come and gone and Neil was again involved in the Lake Bolac Eel festival and associated Healing Walk. (He also entertained 70 souls on March 25th at the Wander Inn in the peaceful valley of Wartook in the Grampians).
The Lake Bolac Eel festival went off this year on Saturday march 27th with 800 people enthralled by puppetry, dance and music- including a particularly personal and emotional performance by Archie Roach.
Neil Murray followed with a band comprising of Steve (stretch) Teakle, Dave Williams (drums) and Ed Mondo on bass. Neil kicked off songs from his new album Witness then dusted off old faves such as Bulukbara Man, Tjapwurrung Country, Wilderness and Blackfella Whitefella. Also seen ambling on stage during “long grass band” and “native born” was none other than the senior song man himself, Shane Howard, as well as Bart Willouby on percussion, with Amy Saunders, Rachel Taylor and Andy Alberts adding their vocals to various tunes.
This month Neil is at Harvester Moon on April 9th accompanied by Bedge.
Then its over to the West for shows in Perth, Fremantle, Quindanning and Margaret River. On April 26th Neil is giving a talk on song writing for the launch of the WAM song of the year 2010. For the gig at the Perth Blues club on Tues 27th, Neil will be accompanied by Johnny Wilson on bass and Russel Smith on guitar.
May sees him return to Sydney on Friday May 7th at the Cat & Fiddle Hotel in Darling St Balmain and on Sunday 16th May he appears at the Northcote Social Club for a matinee show accompanied by Bedge on keys/mandolin and accordion. This will be his last gig in Melbourne before heading north for the winter.
On the way through South Australia, Neil will be performing at that glorious old church hall known as the Singing Gallery in McClarenvale on Sat May 29t and in his only Adelaide city show he appears at the Promethean on Sunday May 30th from 7.30pm.
We’d like at this point to pay tribute to Rob & Kerryn Cooper for their gracious hospitality and willingness to organise a house concert at short notice for Neil when he was in Newcastle on February 26th- coincidentally the day Witness was officially released by ABC Music.
The following is the speech Rob made to introduce Neil to the audience assembled in his back yard:
Thanks so much for coming out to see Neil tonight.
I have had the great pleasure of knowing Neil for a number of years through a mutual friend Tonchi McIntosh.
I first met Neil Murray in the early 1990s. Neil probably wouldn’t remember but I introduced myself after he played at Newcastle Uni. Tonchi had earlier given Neil a tape of songs we recorded, and I bowled up and said hi I think a mate of mine gave you a tape of songs; well I am on that tape too. Neil said something like, oh right … and turned and put his guitar in his van.
Neil’s music has been a good friend over the years, and he is certainly I believe an Australian Treasure and one of our greatest songwriters.
The best time to listen to Neil’s music is when driving through Australia. Neil’s songs I feel represent Australia and challenge Australia perhaps more than any other I know.
Whether it is “burning your right arm driving through the desert” or walking into the “wind that knows me too damn well” or realising there is always “good light in Broome” or singing along to “my island home”. His words have a ring of truth about them, even though sometimes an uncomfortable truth.
Not many artists have immersed themselves in Aboriginal Australia as Neil has as founding member and songwriter with the Warumpi Band. As Martin Flanagan, Melbourne author and journalist with The Age says, he “has seen things most Australians will never see. He was living in the desert of central Australia when there were still old Aboriginal people about who had grown up and lived totally outside the ambit of white culture.”
Neil walks a path not many would choose to treat, and it is a shame that someone who has written songs that could easily be our national anthem remains unknown or a curiosity to many. Again as Martin Flanagan said of Neil, “the more he has walked towards the centre of this country the more he has moved out of sight of most Australians.”
Well not tonight because he is here in our backyard.
Neil it is a real thrill to have you here tonight, and I hope for everyone else too. |
Thank you Rob & Kerryn Cooper!
Further dates are listed below:
| 9 Apr 8:00 PM |
Harvester Moon
Cost: $45
Bookings: 03 5259 3200 |
2320 Portarlington Rd, Bellarine, Victoria |
| 22 Apr 8:00 PM |
Clancy’s Fish Pub |
Fremantle,
Western Australia |
| 23 Apr 8:30PM |
Quindanning Hotel |
Quindanning, Western Australia |
| 24 Apr 2:00 PM |
Duckstein Brewery |
Margaret River,
Western Australia |
| 25 Apr 2:00 PM |
Duckstein Brewery |
Margaret River,
Western Australia |
| 27 Apr 9:00 PM |
The Perth Blues Club |
Charles Hotel, Charles St, Perth, Western Australia |
| 26 Apr 7:00 PM |
Empyrean
WAM song of the year 2010
Cost: $20
|
12 lake St, Northbrisge, Perth, Western Australia |
| 7 May 8:15PM |
Cat & Fiddle Hotel
Cost: $20 |
456 Darling St Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales |
| 16 May 3:00 PM |
Northcote Social Club
Box Office: 03 9486 1677
Cost: $20 |
Hight St, Northcote, Melbourne, Victoria |
| 29 May 7:30 PM |
The Singing Gallery
Bookings: 08 8327-1647.
Doors open 6.30pm.
More info: www.singinggallery.com.au |
Main Road, McClarenvale, South Australia |
| 30 May 7:30 PM |
The Promethean
Cost: $20 |
116 Grote St, Adelaide, South Australia |
Happy travels people!
John King
www.neilmurray.com.au
www.myspace/neilmurraymusic
island.home.music@bigpond.com |
