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An Intimate Evening with Jon Anderson – The Voice of Yes – two shows – 10 & 11 April!

 
One of the most recognisable & influential voices in progressive rock, as the lead vocalist and creative force behind the band Yes, JON ANDERSON was central to that band’s phenomenal success. Jon’s solo show includes many classic tales from his days with the supergroup and his ensuing solo career as well as the timeless songs from all across the Yes songbook & his own eclectic solo work.
 
Jon was the author and a major creative influence behind the series of epics produced by the legendary supergroup Yes including  such complex pieces as “Close to the Edge”, “Awaken”, and especially “The Gates of Delirium.” Additionally, Jon co-authored the group’s biggest hits, including “I’ve Seen All Good People,” Roundabout,” and “Owner Of A Lonely Heart.” Noted for singing in his original Lancastrian accent, this is a chance to see this truly unique musician perform solo, up close and personal.
 
“Yes, Jon still is the voice…Anderson’s voice remains exquisite, never more so than on Find My Way Home, Wondrous Stories and the sublime Soon excerpt from The Gates Of Delirium.” 
– EXPRESS & STAR
 
Irish-born JON ANDERSON, started off fronting Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, before forming Yes, however his musical career has never been creatively limited. Be it working on four celebrated albums with Oscar winner Vangelis, or playing with the likes of Toto, Glass Hammer, Dream Theatre, Kitaro, King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, Peter Machajdik, Gowan, Rick Wakeman’s concept album ‘1984’ and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones or producing 13 highly acclaimed solo albums. Jon has always found different avenues for creativity, be it composing and playing with dozens of orchestras throughout the world, composing ballet scores or contributing to countless film scores and painting. 
 
2013 will mark JON ANDERSON’s first ever solo Bluesfest and sideshow appearances. A masterful musician, a weaver of stories both verbal and musical, JON ANDERSON will make these nights linger long in the memory.
THE CORNER, MELBOURNE – Wednesday April 10, 2013 – Bookings: www.bluesfesttouring.com.au  or (02) 6685 8310  (LIMITED RESERVED SEATING)
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We reached 23,852 punters before even picking up the phone

We checked our Facebook “people reached” figures and there it was. 23,852 for the week. (“People reached” means individual people who saw a post.)

Of course we also reach many thousands more through conventional media as always. However, we had just consolidated all our social media channels—Blog, Facebook and Twitter. Surprised by the figures? Nah.

Bertram!! More absinthe!!

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Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy – You Are Everything – new cd & launch dates announced!

Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy 2013 8

Dear Fellow Galactic Adventurers,

Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy invite you to join them as they launch the third installment of their cosmic artistic union ‘You Are Everything.’

 

Steve Kilbey from enigmatic rockers The Church, and writer of one of rock music’s greatest songs Under The Milky Way, once again teams up with All India Radio‘s Martin Kennedy to release their third album You Are Everything, completing a critically acclaimed trilogy that began in 2009 with Unseen Music Unheard Words followed by White Magic in 2011.

 

The pair will launch You Are Everything in Melbourne and in Sydney – for one night only in each city, showcasing songs from all three albums and featuring Kennedy’s lush downtempo soundscapes and Kilbey’s ageless, silky croon and stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

 

“It is not anything like what went before with albums one or two

you will find intensity brilliance darkness and light

more Low/Bowie/Eno influence that German sound and feeling

the melodies the arrangements the intent

probably one of the best 3 records I ever worked on

I don’t say it lightly!

elegant elegiac modern classic strange

turbulent disturbed and yet so fucking lovely

yeah I know I can blow my own horn

but just wait till you hear this”

–       Steve Kilbey, thetimebeing.com February 2013 

 

Melbourne Album Launch

Sunday 12 May – Toff In Town –  6.30 pm – $30 plus bf

With special guests Glenn Benie & Phillipa Nihill (GB3)

Bookings: http://www.moshtix.com.au

 

Sydney Album Launch

Saturday 8 June  – The Vanguard – 6.30 – various seating and ticket options including dinner and show and premium packages

Bookings: http://www.thevanguard.com.au

 

You Are Everything is released in Australia through MGM Friday, 10 May and in the US on June 11.

More info at www.kilbeykennedy.com

www.facebook.com/kilbeykennedy

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Krista Polvere launches Pledge Music campaign for Reservoir Drive album! www.pledgemusic.com/projects/kristapolvere

PRESS RELEASE 
Krista Polvere launches Pledge Music campaign for Reservoir Drive
Alt/Country singer/songwriter Krista Polvere takes to the pages of Pledge Music to raise funds for the release of her second full length album in both Australia and the U.S.A.
Krista penned 12 new songs for Reservoir Drive including ‘Jack and Me’, the follow up single to ‘Looking For Love’ (featuring Ryan Adams).
A tale of love and treachery, ‘Jack and Me’ mines rich alt-country territory, combining both the femme fatale archetype pioneered by Bobbie Gentry and the gritty female troubadour of Lucinda Williams.

The Krista Polvere Reservoir Drive Pledge Music page can be found here – http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/kristapolvere

About Krista Polvere:
Playing shows around the small bars and clubs in Adelaide, Polvere followed her muse to Melbourne for its famed live music culture and also ventured to New York City for an adventure, travelling to the heart of where the folk scene began. Known to be a huge Dylan fan, she was mesmerized by the history of the music scene there.  An introduction to Jon Graboff of The Cardinals led to a meeting with Ryan Adams, with whom she co-wrote tracks for her debut album Here Be Dragons.
Krista clocked up expert live performance experience accompanying Ryan Adams and The Cardinals on a national Australian tour to sell out shows, also opening for Canadian folk man Ron Sexsmith and touring with Steve Earle.
Marc Ford (The Black Crowes) and his long-time friend /music collaborator Anthony Arvizu recorded and mixed Krista’s second album live in their Long Beach Californian studio, The Compound in just three weeks.

The result is the sparkling alt/country ride Reservoir Drive, a showcase for Krista’s song writing ability and voice – out on iTunes and through Bandcamp on April 30.

“She’s going to be the next big thing. I did some guitar and some vocals and I would say this: I have always been impressed by her. She’s always impressed me as a songwriter and a friend. But the songs I’ve heard this time, I can honestly say I had no idea that she was capable of what I heard… I was shocked at how intricate it was…. a powerful record. It’s going to be a real game-changer.” – Ryan Adams

 

Pre-order now through the Pledge Music page.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/kristapolverekrista polvere pic josh robenstone

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Peace Love Ukulele – JAKE SHIMABAKURO live at the Corner Hotel Friday, 5 April

“Jake is taking the instrument to a place that I can’t see anybody else catching up with him.”
– Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) after releasing his own album of ukulele songs
“Forget everything you know about the ukulele…and go do a Google search. The first video that pops up won’t be some grainy clip of Tiny Tim or George Formby but a performance by a hair-gelled 34-year old Hawaiian named Jake Shimabukuro.”
– Time Magazine

 

When Jake last played Bluesfest in 2008 the word went out and the buzz filtered through the festival about the young Hawaiian guy shredding it on the uke that resulted in a swell of excitement for his second set last time. It’s rare for a young musician to earn comparisons to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. It’s even harder to find an artist who has entirely redefined an instrument by his early thirties. But Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-boo-koo-row) has already accomplished these feats, and more, in a little over a decade of playing and recording music…on the ukulele.On his most recent album ‘Peace Love Ukulele’ (which debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Album Chart), Jake and his “uke” effortlessly (it seems) mix jazz, rock, classical, traditional Hawaiian music, and folk, creating a sound that’s both technically masterful and emotionally powerful…and utterly unique in the music world.
For Jake, his life has always centered on the ukulele. He started playing the instrument at the age of 4, at the urging of his mother (who also played). “Everyone plays in Hawaii,” he says. “But I became obsessed with it.” Although a few well-received album releases helped the musician earn some fame in Hawaii, his career really skyrocketed when a YouTube clip of him performing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in Central Park went viral – with over 10.5million views and counting.
Celebrity fans and collaborations include Bela Fleck and Flecktones, Bette Midler, Yo-Yo Ma, Cyndi Lauper, Ziggy Marley, Levon Helm, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Les Paul, Dave Koz, Chris Botti, and Jimmy Buffett. He’s played on shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “The Late Show with Conan O’Brien,” “The Today Show” and “Last Call with Carson Daly,” was a featured artist on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and more recently was a featured artist on Rolling Stone Live. He’s landed slots on the Monterrey and Playboy Jazz Festivals, performed at Google and the influential TED conference, and performed in front of the Queen of England in Blackpool (alongside Bette Midler). Jake also received a cameo in the Adam Sandler movie “Just Go with It,” where he also recorded a few songs for the soundtrack.Forget everything you think you know about the limitations of this traditional Hawaiian instrument and let this young uke axeman show you a thing or two.
Be warned – he’ll make you want to pick one up and have a go

“If everyone played the ukulele, the world would be a better place,” says Shimabukuro. Get your masterclass when Jake Shimabukuro shreds his uke in your town.

In Melbourne at the Corner Hotel – ONE SHOW ONLY – 5 April.  Tix at www.cornerhotel.comjakejump

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BETTYE LAVETTE – SOUL TIME AT THE CORNER HOTEL, THURSDAY 4 APRIL!

Returning to Bluesfest and two very special sideshows to celebrate a staggering 50 years in the music industry, Bluesfest are both thrilled and honoured to welcome back Grammy Award nominated soul singer, Bettye LaVette.

“Miss LaVette now rivals Aretha Franklin as this generation’s most vital soul singer”
New York Times
With declarations such as this from the New York Times, it is not surprising that her 2012 Bluesfest performance captivated festival headliner John Butler and kept the audience transfixed for her entire set: at times reducing herself, and a great number of her audience, to tears with her soul-baring, gut-wrenching delivery.

Despite being discovered and signed at the age of 16 with the infamous MOTOWN label, her rise to superstar status has been nothing short of what Bettye has described as “….a scramble. The scramble is my story”.

To mark this triumphant year for Bettye, she has released two major creative endeavours – a brilliantly reflective album, Thankful N’ Thoughtful  and a riveting autobiography, A Woman Like Me. Together they present Bettye at the top of her form, an artist with the unflinching courage to confront her past while reshaping her future.
“You’ve got a singer here who is willing to stretch and is not content to live in the safety zone”   – Elvis Costello
An exceptional interpreter of song, Bettye delivers through her rough yet tender, sensuous voice. Her dynamic power seethes throughout each song, wringing out the sorrow, sharing her hard earned wisdom and story throughout these tales of reinvention. By the time Bettye’s finished recording a track, she has fully inhabited its body and soul.
Bettye’s new album, Thankful N’ Thoughtful features a selection of contemporary tracks written and previously recorded by Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Patty Griffin, Gnarls Barkley just to name a few. Bettye rearranges deep within her soul and exorcises as her own through her voice filled with longing, rage, desire, despair, survival and victory. The album has attracted rave reviews.
“She sings, she smoulders, she testifies… standouts included a shiver-inducing cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”, as well as re-workings of songs by the Beatles, Ray Charles and her old friend Otis Redding. LaVette still brings a world of pain to every note”.
 Dimitri Ehrlich, Uptown Social.
“LaVette’s nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command.”
Rolling Stone.
An artist, a story and a woman not to be missed!
 bettye
Supporting Bettye at THE CORNER HOTEL will be Texture Like Sun
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Blind Boys of Alabama/Allan Toussaint/Sweet Honey In The Rock at Hamer Hall, 3 April! Get your Gospel on!

PEOPLE GET READY!
It’s time to get your Gospel on!
Bluesfest Touring presents

For 1 show only in Melbourne at Hamer Hall, 3 April – 8pm!

The Blind Boys of Alabama / Allen Toussaint / Sweet Honey In The Rock

“This ensemble is the gold standard…their voices are all fabulous, and they unite to create a sound so pure, smooth and homogenous that it does not seem humanly possible.” Fort Worth Star Telegram
The living legends of gospel music will be returning to Australian Shores with their glorious meld of gospel, blues and rock n roll.
It’s harder to find a more joyful sound than their unforgettable shows filled with laughter and packed with emotion.Winners of 5 GRAMMY Awards and honored with the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award (2009) are just some of their career highlights. The Blind Boyshave shared the stage and collaborated with the finest musicians and songwriters including Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, Mavis Staples, Tom Petty, John Fogerty and Peter Gabriel just to name a few. 

Performing with The Blind Boys of Alabama is Grammy award-winning, all-woman, acappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Their music is a celebration of the rich textures of their African-American legacy & traditions through their stunning vocal prowess that captures the complex sounds of Blues, traditional gospel hymns, reggae, African chants, hip hop, ancient lullabies and jazz improvisation.On the same bill, is Allen Toussaint, who is absolutely deserving of the title ‘Legend’ for his shaping of the sound of R&B, soul and funk as we know it, Allen Toussaint brings his incredible canon of production, soundtrack and composition work to Australia. One of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B, Allen Toussaint has produced, written for, arranged, had his songs covered by, and performed with music giants Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Plant/Krauss, The Who, Patti LaBelle, Dr. John, Aaron and Art Neville, Trombone Shorty, Joe Cocker, The (original) Meters, Glen Campbell, The Band, Little Feat, The Rolling Stones, Devo, Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas, Etta James, Ramsey Lewis and countless others.

Be blown away by the effortless beauty that is Sweet Honey In The Rock when they play as special guests to the incomparable Blind Boys of Alabama.

Let the spirit move you. 🙂allen-toussaint-horiz-michael-wilson-fountain