Mantis & The Prayer celebrate the life of Vodou Queen Marie Laveau

Mantis & The Prayer will celebrate the life of Vodou Queen Marie Laveau on 19 September at 8pm at Voodoo Love Child Speak Easy with a special night of transcendence, spirituality, magick and more. Please join them at the best neighbourhood Southern Gothic Speakeasy in Melbourne, serving cocktails and New Orleans Soul Food while the band mixes their powerful musical potion live.

This special show will also include gris-gris bags for the first 30 souls in attendance and everyone will go in the draw to win a $200 gift certificate from Muses of Mystery, our favourite haunt for spell working ingredients and ritual advice.

Mantis& The Prayer weave sacred themes into their tunes and this show will bring transcendence, spirituality and magick, lifting the veil that separates the world of the living from the Great Unknowable that lies beyond. This 4-piece rock band from Melbourne, released their first album ‘Butterflies and Demons’ in 2016 and have since gone onto place their music in the soundtrack for independent movie ‘Queen of Hollywood Blvd’. Characterised by delicate vocal harmonies and stinging guitars, Mantis and the Prayer will be playing songs from their back catalogue and new single The Whistle of the Gods. 

Whistle of The Gods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exQ3RTfoUe0

Go Too Far:  https://youtu.be/1ijdfKJaQWk?si=izBxPNORbZJUKKJO

About Marie Laveau:

Marie Laveau was born in 1801 in New Orleans where her legendary powers were feared, respected and celebrated by the masses. Her abilities included all forms of spell casting to bring luck, love, prosperity, healing and protection. She was also said to lay fearsome curses unto the unfaithful lover or those who gave bad legal advice under her eye. She was well known to all for visiting and ministering to prisoners, extending altruistic gifts to the poor and presiding over all manner of spiritual rites in her role as Voodou Queen of New Orleans.

About Mantis & The Prayer: 
Ever since bluesman Robert Johnson struck a deal with the devil there’s been a link between esoterica and rock’n’roll. There was a revival of occultism in rock in the ’60s. Take the arcana around the Beatles for instance – rumour had it that Paul McCartney was dead and you could make out John Lennon singing “I buried Paul” if you played Strawberry Fields backwards. The ’70s had another crack: Bowie was at peak mysticism in his Starman days and Led Zepp took to quoting occultist Aleister Crowley. In 2013 Ben Lee took a trip and made a concept album about it (Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work) and now we’ve got Mantis and the Prayer, a four-piece Melbourne-based band, lifting the veil between our world and whatever the hell else is out there. – BEAT MAGAZINE


Mantis & The Prayer invite you to celebrate the life and legend of Marie Laveau:
Start Time: 8pm
Address: 143 Chapel Street, St Kilda, VIC, Australia, Victoria
Event link: 
https://www.facebook.com/share/PjJEkwQTDNHn44Jo/?mibextid=9VsGKo

Support Mantis and the Prayer on Social Media 
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Read on for more info and show details…

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Zevon – Accidentally Like A Martyr – Starring Henry Wagons

Warren Zevon is the songwriter’s songwriter. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have covered his songs. Linda Ronstadt had massive hits with “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me” and “Carmelita”. Jackson Browne was his producer. He called David Letterman his greatest champion. His visible hits “Werewolves Of London” and “Lawyers, Guns & Money” and “Excitable Boy” barely scratched the surface of the lyric genius found on his albums.Read on for more info and show details…

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Master Songwriter Charles Jenkins unveils new acoustic album ‘When I Was On The Moon’ & Australian tour dates!

Lauded Melbourne songwriter Charles Jenkins has released a surprise acoustic album, in a stripped-back style which highlights his exemplary lyricism.

The album ‘When I Was on the Moon’ features the ARIA-nominated songwriter at his most poignant, performing 10 new songs, solo, on a nylon string guitar.Read on for more info and show details…

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Melbourne Artists Hudson Taylor & ConpleX Go From Nowhere to Number 1 on Triple J Unearthed!

 

Melbourne hip hop artist, Hudson Taylor and cowriter, Conor Ewing-Crellin, aka ConpleX, got a message this week from Triple J radio telling them their song, Right Way, was number one on this week’s Triple J Unearthed Hip Hop Top 100!

 

 

“This came out of nowhere,” Hudson says. “Last week, nothing – this week, there we are at number one, with some of our favourite artists in the top ten with us. Insane.”

 

DOWNLOAD HERE:

https://www.triplejunearthed.com/jukebox/play/track/7704406

 

Hudson is a 21 year old rapper/soul digger from Melbourne’s northern suburbs who started writing his own rap lyrics at the age of 14. Growing up in a strict Christian family, he was only allowed to listen to Gospel music, “I wasnt even allowed to watch The Simpsons, but one day a friend from my grade three class gave me a CD which was 50 cent ‘In Da Club’ and I’ve been hooked ever since. No cure, right?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hudson’s style varies from RnB, Trap and 90’s Boom Bap, but he follows the beat wherever his heart and soul take him, “ I try not to get too caught up in one particular style because i pride myself on my versatility.” Hudson said. He performs with his collective ‘DrankWater’ in collaboration with Conor Ewing-Crellin, who raps under the name ConpleX, who is also the co-writer and performer on Right Way.

ConpleX is a 22 year old singer/songwriter from inner North Melbourne who started rapping at the age of sixteen. His inspirations are Retchy P, E40, GoldLink, Big L and RedMan. Like Hudson, his style is old school and trap. He started DrankWater two years ago with his mate Syd-G with a view to “be able to collaborate with mates and create a new wave in the Aussie Hip Hop and so that we can record and perform, it’s just what we love to do,”

“Once I heard the hook Hudson made I came back with the lyrics for my verse in about 20 minutes. Sometimes you just feel it.” Ewing-Crellin said. Right Way also features UK rapper Rydah and was produced by LeinadBeats, which was then mixed and mastered by Adrian Swish.

“This track was recorded at a friend’s house at a total cost of zero dollars, which worked for us as we’re all broke! I mean, we all do shifts as rubbish removalists and Hudson is homeless at the moment and couch surfing between the houses of the other three ‘DrankWater’ members, but we got it done. I kinda feel like we went from the rubbish bin to the top of the heap this week, thanks to Triple J.”

Hudson’s E.P “Hit A Lick” is out on all platforms.

ConpleX – https://soundcloud.com/therealconplex

LAUNCH GIG DETAILS TBC – Watch This Space!

Sharon Shannon (Ireland) releases new single ‘The Machine’ ahead of Australian Tour Dates

 

The Machine is a song that Sharon first heard sung by Alyra Rose at Acoma Indian Reservation in New Mexico. The lyric and sentiment of the song had a big impact on Sharon. (Alyra and her father were also very involved with the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Three Forks Reservation in North Dakota.)

Sharon’s album was already titled Sacred Earth, so the inclusion of the song on the album was a natural fit. Sharon worked on the song with Alyra and engineer Craig Mulvagh and brought in Susan O Neill on vocals and trumpet, resulting in a trad Irish/ hip hop/ rap hybrid with an important message. Read on for more info and show details…

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Mary Coughlan (Ireland) – Live and Kicking Australian Tour

Mary Coughlan is live and kicking and coming to Australia for dates in February and March 2019 and bringing her most recent album ‘Live And Kicking’ with her!

Mary is arguably one of Ireland’s greatest female jazz and blues singers, a true artist who has carved out a timeless and highly regarded career and a legion of devoted fans worldwide. Described as “Ireland’s Billie Holiday” Mary has overcome childhood trauma, alcoholism & drug addiction to become a musical force like no other. “Her life story gives weight to the truth that the best singers are the ones with the most painful lives.” — The GuardianRead on for more info and show details…

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Eric Bibb & Band Australian Tour May 2019

A leading bluesman of his generation, two time Grammy-nominated Eric Bibb will take to the stage with his sensational band for an evening of uplifting and inspiring folk and blues. Having previously wowed Australian audiences many times over the years, it will be an honour to welcome this fiery singer with true soul, gospel and folk roots, back to Australia.Read on for more info and show details…

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Gaby Moreno – Australian Tour March 2019

Gaby Moreno is coming to Australia for a string of dates to sing her heart out for you!

A superb vocalist and uniquely gifted songwriter originally hailing from Guatemala, Gaby is an Emmy nominee and Latin Grammy winner who has released 4 solo records internationally. Her latest album Ilusión 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.Read on for more info and show details…

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Connie Lansberg residency at Chinacy Bar & Restaurant

On the back of her sold out launch of Insomnious Volume 1 Connie Lansberg will be doing a residency at Chinacy Bar & Restaurant at 352 Chapel Street, South Yarra every Friday and Saturday night. Connie will be appearing with her quintet CLQ.

If you haven’t heard her lush new CD Insomnious Volume 1, it’s available from Bandcamp at https://tinyurl.com/ybbzbhuh.

Contact me for an interview or a review copy.