Blog Archive
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September 1, 2008 - Monday
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House call
Current mood:  awake
Hello out there people!
This is a general call for anyone who might be inclined to have me perform in their house or backyard ( or someone elses) to let me know- and if I'm coming to your area maybe we can tee something up? House concerts are a viable and growing alternative to traditional venues- and lets face it- the music business is on its arse and the only way to survive is move beyond it.
I'm in the Brisbane area this weekend,( just a bit late for a house concert there this week folks), next week I'm in the Alice- and so looking forward to catching up with my old stomping ground mates out that way.
I'll be in Darwin in the latter part of the month- no gigs booked there- so wide open for a house call in that neck of the woods. So come on how bout it? I'll even do the dishes.
4:18 PM
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June 15, 2008 - Sunday
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the far out west
Category: Music
Gday peoples. Just completed three gigs here in WA- where everyone wants to play!
Can't say the numbers were great- though if enthusiasm can be quantified then my crowd at Clancy's in Freo and Redcliffe on the Murray in Pinjarra ( a great new venue) punched well above their weight. Other than that my reputation as a national secret remains intact.
I enjoyed catching up with songwriter and all round good fellow Dave Johnson ( played support at the Charles Hotel and did sound at Clancy's) and also having Ben Franz(waifs bassist) accompany me for the Clancy's and Pinjarra shows. Ben is a fine player and a gentleman and when next I'm in the west I hope to use him again.
(I'm working towards having a rythymn section in every city.)
Wet weather yesterday and today. I tell you folks, I've seen more rain here than I've seen in victoria for the last six months. And on the drive to Pinjarra there was more green grass than I've yet to see in victoria at all this winter.
Wots coming up? Mildura on July 3rd then a few dates in Darwin, Humpty Doo (18th,19th,20st) and Gagadju Lodge at Cooinda in Kakadu on Friday 25th and sat 26th. Check the dates as they appear on the website. I've probaby got them wrong again ( thanks to the gal from texas for pointing out that june only has 30 days)
till next time- keep it lit folks
nm
11:16 PM
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May 26, 2008 - Monday
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State of play
Category: Music
Gday. Just did a few gigs over the weekend. Accompanying me was John Bedggood (keys, mandolin& accordian) and Michael Storey(bass) who both did an excellent job. We played in Canberra at the Merrie Muse ( with Johnny Huckle supporting- what a consumate performer he is) and in Dawson mall, Mt Druitt as part of Reconciliation week.
On Sunday we did an afternoon gig at The Harp in Tempe,Sydney with old Rainmaker , Bill Heckenberg sitting in on drums. It was neat to play with heck again.(Wayne Gillespie opened the show) I enjoyed all the gigs, though it was dissappointing that audience numbers were down.
Maybe its the rising fuel prices and people just think twice about going anywhere.( I know driving up and back from Melbourne to Sydney was an expensive undertaking) Most likely my audience is diminishing- maybe they are dying off! God knows a few of my peers have gone in the last 12 months. Once you are in your fifties it comes with the territory I guess. I'm seeing more funerals than weddings now.
The reality is it is very tough for everyone in the music business now, so for all those who do support my work, I appreciate your continued patronage.
I don't know what else to do, so I guess while the songs come I'll keep doing it.
Must say we had a smooth overnighter from sydney to melbourne on Sunday night. Bedge, fueled up on Red Bull and 4XXXmints handled admirably most of the steering wheel attendant duties. We snuk into melbourne about 4.30am, woke Michael up in the back seat so he would be ready for work at 8.
I haunted Northcote on foot till about 9am, crashed out and got up again about 2pm not knowing where the hell I was.
I hope to have all my faculties back on line by the time we hit the stage at The East Brunswick Club on Saturday 31st June. With Jordie Lane, before us and Dan Sultans band ripping it up after us it should be a choice night.
Be there or be square folks.
For senior patrons I recommend an afternoon nap before the gig,( I'll be having one) so you'll be able to go the distance.
5:52 PM
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May 14, 2008 - Wednesday
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THE GET BACK TO THE COUNTRY TOUR CONTINUES…
Current mood:  optimistic
Category: Music
NEIL MURRAY
OVERNIGHTER
THE GET BACK TO THE COUNTRY TOUR CONTINUES…
"Neil Murray is simply one of the greatest singer/songwriters Australia has ever produced....his music is hard hitting and true to life... it's real..., just like the man himself." Lee Kernaghan, Australian Of The Year
"Get Back To The Country" came to me at the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel (LA) in September 2006. I was on my way home from Nashville. I'd met a lot of expats, both there and in LA who were trying to make it in the States. As if that was the holy grail. A lot of 'em were homesick too. I felt sorry for them. I told 'em, "Get home ya bastards!" I wouldn't trade my life in Australia for that dream. Each to their own I guess." Neil Murray
Singer, songwriter, author, activist and founding member of pioneering indigenous rock group The Warumpi Band, Neil Murray is one of Australia's most respected performers. Since 1989 he has forged a solo recording career that has produced the albums 'Calm & Crystal Clear', 'These Hands', 'Dust', 'The Wondering Kind', 'Going the Distance', the 2CD compilation 'About Time', the Spoken Word Album 'Spoken' and now the new album 'Overnighter'. After more than two decades of writing, recording and performing, Neil Murray was awarded the APRA song of the year in 1995 for 'My Island Home' which was originally written for the Warumpi Band and re-recorded by Christine Anu. 'My Island Home' has become something of an unofficial anthem and featured in the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Neil Murray performs regularly at festivals and live music venues in Australia and overseas and recently returned from his second visit to the US with gigs and showcases in NYC, LA, Nashville and Atlanta. Since the release of 'Overnighter' through ABC/Warner Music in late 2007, Neil has been on the road, literally 'getting back to the country'.
www.neilmurray.com.au www.myspace.com/neilmurraymusic
CHRISTINE TAYLOR
PUBLICITY – PROMOTIONS - PUBLIC RELATIONS
Tel (02) 4782 5867 (m) 0416 521587 ctaylorpublicity@bigpond.com
TOUR DATES BELOW:
NEIL MURRAY - OVERNIGHTER
THE GET BACK TO THE COUNTRY TOUR CONTINUES…
MAY
Friday 23rd May, - Merry Muse, Turner, ACT www.merrymuse.org.au
Sunday, 25th May - The Harp Tempe, Sydney NSW www.theharp.com.au
(Afternoon show at 2pm)
Saturday 31st May - East Brunswick Club, East Brunswick, VIC
With special guests, Dan Sultan & Band and Jordie Lane www.eastbrunswickclub.com
JUNE
Sunday 1st June - Peninsula Lounge, Moorooduc VIC
With special guests Dan Sultan & Band www.peninsulalounge.com.au
Thursday 12th June - Clancy's Fish Pub, Fremantle WA www.clancysfishpub.com.au
Friday 13th June - Charles Hotel, North Perth www.charleshotel.com.au
Sunday 15th June - Redcliffe on The Murray, Pinjarra WA
AUGUST
Wednesday 13th August -The Vanguard, Newtown NSW www.thevanguard.com.au
Thursday 14th August – The Brass Monkey, Cronulla NSW www.brassmonkey.com.au
Friday 15th August – The Heritage Hotel, Bulli NSW www.heritagehotel.com.au
Saturday 16th August – Lizotte's, Kincumber, Central Coast NSW www.lizottes.com.au
Sunday 17th August – Triselies, Katoomba NSW www.myspace.com/triselies
12:07 AM
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April 17, 2008 - Thursday
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New Video’s on You Tube
Current mood:  breezy
Category: Music
New videos now online at You Tube
Long Grass Band
Get back to the country
Check them out
12:55 AM
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March 10, 2008 - Monday
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2 songmen - New "Live in Darwin" CD Released
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Music
A couple of years ago I was driving back from Adelaide with Shane and Neil. A federal election was underway and there were lots of John Howard posters and there was what my dear old mother would call little Johnny and the big words: John Howard For A Stronger Australia. We were coming through a town near the South Australian border when Shane spotted one which had been amended to read : John Howard – For A Stranger Australia. He's certainly delivered on that promise. It's strange and getting stranger.
When I think of where we are in Australia today, I think of the old Credence Clearwater line: Long as I can see the light. The light I see in the two songmen is how long they've held the line, given all the things that have worked against them, like the vast indifference of Australian people to Aboriginal people, how they've walked on like true explorers, how they walked so far they disappeared from sight from mainstream Australia, and still they kept walking because they'd seen something and they knew it was true, and that was the spirit of Aboriginal Australia, the spirit of the land, the thing that however assaulted and injured has survived Christ knows how many thousands of years, and one wrote a song called Solid Rock and the other wrote My Island Home.
Those two songs became something lots of Australians knew even if they didn't know the two men who wrote them, and they kept walking ever more solitary paths, then Shane was discovered in Ireland, and all sorts of bridges were made, new songlines forged between that country and this, between indigenous Ireland and indigenous Australia, and a new idea of indigenous was born; meantime, Neil wrote a book called "Sing For Me Countryman", and I don't want to embarrass him by saying it again, but you gotta believe me, it's the best book on Aboriginal culture by a contemporary whitefeller I've read.
It's like that big rock in the desert – nothing can erode it even if only a few people can see it and it'll still be there in 100 years time. And they both took what they had learned in northern Australia back to western Victoria where they were from and made albums about it and they both wrote songs about what happens in the mid-40s when the life we've lived appears to hold less and less connection to the life we'd hoped for, and still they kept walking, out there out of sight, writing songs about hope and loss, about love and reconciliation, another word for peace, something we may need plenty of in this country before too long, and all of it was born of experiences which would have broken many another but somehow they kept going.
I look at Neil and Shane and see what it takes to create truly Australian culture. I see two songmen who walked to the spiritual centre of this country, found themselves alone and kept walking I see two artistic paths that may not be much appreciated or understood today but will have a life and importance beyond this poor bewildered era.
Ladies and gentlemen – it's my privilege and honour to introduce two of the heroes of the Australia fighting to be born, Shane Howard and Neil Murray.
Martin Flanagan
The Corner Hotel, Richmond, Melbourne
Sunday August 6 2006
"2 songmen - Live in Darwin" is available to purchase online by Clicking Here
11:40 PM
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December 8, 2007 - Saturday
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Season’s Greetings
Current mood:  thankful
Category: Music
"I'd like to thank all of you out there who have supported my music, especially getting behind my new album "Overnighter" and requesting the "Lights of Hay" filmclip on CMC and Rage. Im looking forward to exciting and new opportunities for 2008. Have a safe and merry Christmas and a happy new year and I'll see you at a gig sometime soon"
Neil Murray 6/12/07
8:35 PM
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Rage and Country Music Channel play Lights of Hay
Current mood:  good
Category: Music
The new video clip for Lights of Hay played on Rage abc.net.au/rage
and The Country Music Channel countrymusicchannel.com.au
Watch it now - Click Here
Individual songs also now available online at abc.destramusic.com
4:52 AM
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November 25, 2007 - Sunday
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SARA STORER & NEIL MURRAY IN CONCERT
Current mood:  ecstatic
Category: Music
For the first time in their career's Sara Storer and Neil Murray will join forces to perform some very special shows.
With both artists releasing new albums in early November, this will be an opportunity for them to showcase some of their new songs as well as perform many audience favorites from their past albums.
The shows will be an intimate acoustic evening of songs and stories. Sara and Neil will be performing solo sets along and with some surprises!
They will be joined on stage by the multi talented Bill Chambers.
Sara Storer has had a busy 2007 – writing and recording her highly anticipated 4th album which is set for release on 3rd November through EMI Music.
Co-produced by the Waifs Josh Cunningham and highly respected musician/producer, Matt Fell, "Silver Skies" marks a new chapter for Sara in what has already been a stellar career so far.
Apart from the shows with Neil, Sara is also touring with the Waifs and the Songbirds (Gina Jeffreys and Beccy Cole) in October and November and international star, Suzanne Vega in early 2008.
Neil Murray has just returned from his second trip to the US co-writing and performing in NYC, LA, Atlanta and Nashville. Neil's new album "Overnighter" is released by ABC Nov 3rd. The album is preceded by the first radio cut "Lights of Hay" which is accompanied by a brilliant video.
Neil continues to tour Australia in solo, band or 2 Songmen mode, the latter being with great friend Shane Howard.
The special guest opening act will be Bec Willis – an artist creating a buzz in the industry with her recently released, self-titled, debut album produced by Kasey Chambers and Bill Chambers.
Here's your chance to experience two of the finest singer/songwriters Australia has produced.
www.sarastorer.com.au
www.neilmurray.com.au www.myspace.com/neilmurraymusic
Don't miss Sara Storer & Neil Murray in concert!
Nov 30th Harp, Tempe
Dec 1st Heritage Hotel, Bulli
For further info contact Costa
www.artistnetwork.com.au
Ph: 02 98196411
Fax: 02 98196466
Mobile: 0417220380
PO Box 113,
Drummoyne,NSW 2047.
costa@artistnetwork.com.au
2:34 AM
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October 23, 2007 - Tuesday
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Update from Neil Murray
Current mood: thankful
Category: Music
Hi there,
Straight after the G. R Burarrawanga memorial concert held in Darwin on August 25th, which was an emotionally powerful yet serenely satisfying event, I found myself on a plane bound for the US.
Among other things I visited New York for the first time and I can report it certainly is a buzz. It truly is a world city that never sleeps. If money was no object and I was a big city person one might be tempted to live there for a spell. I found myself wandering around the streets, avenues, parks and squares thinking of all the songs I'd ever heard about New York. I thought about the beat writers and poets, the folk singers, the artists and jazz musicians that had come to the big apple. Innovative and ground breaking music, writing and art can be found anywhere in the world, its just that if it happens in New York the world gets to hear about it quicker. Its like New York is one gigantic all powerful radio transmitter.
I suppose a lot of people are attracted to New York and the US generally with an idea of making it on the big stage. I don't suffer that particular affliction. As an ambition, it seems somehow flawed to me, just as fixation on a destination can undermine the journey. I can only write from the life and times I was born into. That's enough for me to do.
Apart from a couple of gigs I did at "aussie" bars in Manhattan, I spent the time visiting galleries and museums and taking in the colourful street life. And yes I had a sobering walk around Ground Zero. I also caught up with Fred Myers, the head of the anthropology department at NYU. I'd first encountered Fred in the early 80's at Papunya. He'd been doing his research in the western desert since the mid seventies. We spent a couple of evenings pontificating on the impact that western desert Aboriginal culture had made to our lives. (We must have been the only 2 people to have ever had that conversation in New York).
I went on to Nashville and wrote several songs with writers there and did a couple of show case performances at cafes. It's nigh impossible to get paid for a gig in Nashville as the place is overloaded with music. I also did a house concert in Atlanta for Jill Sweetapple, who must be my number one fan in the US just about, well at least in Georgia.
I went home via several days in LA, where I played a gig at the Genghis Cohen and wrote a couple of songs with Stephen Rowe (originally from Broken Hill) and Henry Fenton (another aussie from Sydney). Both of these guys have been in the US for a long time and are pursuing their music there.
I can also report that I'm very pleased the ABC have got behind my new album Overnighter and I'm looking forward to the Spiegeltent show with Shane Howard on October 31st, the Tarerer festival on November 10th & 11th and particularly the shows with Sara Storer at the Harp in Sydney on November 30th and the Heritage Hotel in Bulli on December 1st. I heard a sneak preview of some tracks from Sara's new album recently and I was very impressed.
Also I want to thank David Nicholson for the superb job he has done in cobbling together a film clip for "Lights of Hay" from my Overnighter album. You can see by clicking here to play the video
Anyway people, think green, plant trees, save whales and be kind to all creatures including your own families.
That should give you enough to do before I see you next.
Neil Murray
9:40 PM
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