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Penny Ikinger back from Japan Tour!

Penny’s back after blazing Japan on her Sonic Bullet Tour with Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek and Tokyo musicians Masami Kawaguchi, Louis Inage and Keiichi Sakai!

Penny Ikinger has long had an affinity for all things Japanese and is thrilled to return for the second time to tour her new album ‘Penelope’ from 15 October until 21 October 2012. “I am very excited to return to Japan to play to those hipster audiences and showcase songs from my new album ‘Penelope’. My sonic collaborator on this tour will be Deniz Tek, guitarist from Radio Birdman. Deniz also toured Japan with Wayne Kramer in MC5.

We will be accompanied by Tokyo musicians Masami Kawaguchi from New Rock Syndicate on guitar, with Louis Inage on bass and Keiichi Sakai on drums from the psyche/garage rock band Hallucionz.”

The album ‘Penelope’ was called ‘a pop album with a decidedly unique attitude….out and out untouchable coolness’ by Inpress Magazine (Australia), where it was also named in the Top 3 Albums of the Year. Penny was named one of the Top 4 Artists of the Year in Time Out Magazine (Australia) and in the Top 5 Albums in Abus Dangereux (France) 2011.

Penny is well known for her career as a guitarist with Australian acts Wet Taxis and Louis Tillett and has also performed and recorded with artists such as Tex Perkins, Deniz Tek, Kim Salmon and Sacred Cowboys. She has electrified audiences around the United States, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and was hand-picked as support for two Australian tours by Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Riuchi Sakamoto).

For the uninitiated, Penny’s voice has been described as everything from a coo to a moan and her guitar work ranges from noisy fuzz guitar with expert pedal work to delicate and subdued soundscapes. She pens tales of bravery, love lost, deception and even historical allegory.

‘Penelope’ contains ‘….a menacing mix of styles and influences from bluesy, dirty rock to swaggering ‘60s inspired pop, but it all hangs together with a dangerous edge.’ Mag, JB HiFi (Australia)

‘All woman and all business – the Australian singer-guitarist – a graduate of the Radio Birdman school of axe warfare – unveils a fetching line of balladry here: black-hearted folk song draped in fuzz, topped with a dark baby-doll whisper… imagine Nico channelling Sandy Denny in front of Blue Oyster Cult – and you’re close.” David Fricke, Senior Editor, Rolling Stone (USA)

‘Penny Ikinger is precious! A very rare kind of guitarist/singer, she combines a velvet voice with a daring and adventurous playing style …from the brilliant and luminous ‘Fragile’ to the perfect ‘Sycamore Tree’… Miss Penny has more than one trick in her bag, and masters different styles with her six-string’ Alain Feydri, Abus Dangereux (France)

‘Penny Ikinger is irresistible. You know she’ll leave you damaged but you can’t resist her charms.’ Mag, JB HiFi (Australia)

PENNY IKINGER Sonic Bullet Tour JAPAN 2012 15 OCT (MON) 16 OCT (TUE) 17 OCT (WED) 19 OCT (FRI) 20 OCT (SAT) 21 OCT (SUN) OOH-LA-LA: KYOTO BEARS: OSAKA HELLUVA LOUNGE: KOBE OUTBREAK: TOKYO UFO CLUB: TOKYO CLUB SENSATION: YOKOHAMA

For a complete history and discography please go to www.pennyikinger.com Music, Videos, Press Kit: www.reverbnation.com/pennyikinger Interview and slide show by D.J. Shino (Bondi FM, Sydney Australia) with Japanese sub-titles: youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1G2gms3O4 

This project is generously supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and by Arts Victoria.

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Suzannah Espie – Sea Of Lights CD & Tour

Stargazers are in for a rare celestial convergence as three of Australia’s brightest stars – Suzannah Espie, Liz Stringer and Chris Altmann – take to the road for a special tour to launch Suzannah’s new ‘Sea Of Lights’ album.
Recorded over three 40 degree days in February 2011, Liz Stringer, Chris Altmann and a heavily pregnant Suzannah Espie sat around a couple of microphones inJeff Lang’s shed and played and sang together. The result is Sea of Lights, Suzannah’s latest full length solo offering, a collection of haunting melodic tales adorned with lush harmonies and exquisitely delicate arrangements.
“I recorded this album over three days in the heat of the Melbourne summer when I was 7 months pregnant with my second child who is now just 1. In Jeff Lang’s shed we sat around a circle of microphones and played the songs live and the music was recorded onto a 4 track tape machine The only additions were made on the spare 4th track in the days following.
“I am immensely proud of Sea of Lights. There is no end to the possibilities when it comes to the treatment of songs during the recording process, but it felt to me that this style of recording was a true celebration of the talents I had surrounding me.” – Suzannah Espie
Now, after Chris has taken up residence in Canada and Suzannah and her daughter have navigated through the first year of her life, the three come together again on the Sea of Lights tour. Together, traveling Australia as one sparkling constellation, these three will recreate the beautiful intimacy of those studio recordings and play the songs of all three of these unique artists.
“Espie’s strength lies in the wisdom of her voice; the kind that you can’t help but collect when you’ve spent as much time on the road as she has. I’d be surprised if there were many more who’ve breathed as much road dust as Suzannah”. – Jason Walker
“…this record also introduces Suzannah Espie as a songwriter of considerable clout. Heart Beating is as good as a song gets.” – Van Walker
“It was such an easy record to make, everyone came in with their shit so together – their harmonies, all the different instruments they played going down at once into very few microphones. It’s not an easy way to record, there’s pressure because any mistakes can’t be fixed, everyone has to be ‘on’ at once, yet every single take sounded virtually flawless, and the songs just floored me.” – Jeff Lang
Sea of Lights was recorded at The Enclave Studio Fawkner, produced by Suzannah Espie with Jeff Lang, Liz Stringer and Chris Altman and is available in all good record stores from September 10 through Vitamin Records.
SUZANNAH ESPIE – SEA OF LIGHTS TOUR

2012
Tour Dates:

Friday, November 2, 2012 – Instore @ The Basement Discs, Melbourne, VIC
Friday, November 02, 2012 – Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh, VIC
Saturday, November 03, 2012 – Thornbury Theatre – Velvet Room, Thornbury VIC
Sunday, November 04, 2012 – Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn Springs
Thursday, November 08, 2012 – Camelot Lounge, Marrickville, NSW
Saturday, November 10, 2012 – The Royal Exchange, Newcastle, NSW
Sunday, November 11, 2012- Junkyard, Maitland, NSW
Thursday, November 15, 2012 – Ararat Live, The Red Room, Ararat VIC
Friday, November 16, 2012 – Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton SA
Saturday, November 17, 2012 – Candlelight Concert – Barossa Regional Art Gallery, Tanunda SA
Friday November 23-Sunday November 25, 2012 – Mullum Music Festival

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CHARLES JENKINS – LOVE YOUR CROOKED NEIGHBOUR WITH YOUR CROOKED HEART

 

Dear music lovers the world over,


Charles Jenkins is coming your way to launch the critically acclaimed new album  “Love Your Crooked Neighbour With Your Crooked Heart” on Silver Stamp Records via Fuse Distribution.  

“A rare talent” – Simon Collins – The West Australian

Charles Jenkins  – male artist of the year nomination Melbourne Age EG Awards


‘Pray My Dear Daughter’ Song of the year nomination Melbourne Age EG Awards

3PBS – Album of the week

Radio National’s Lucky Oceans – Album of the week

“Love Your Crooked Neighbour with Your Crooked Heart continues the marriage of gilt-edged pop sensibility and razor-sharp lyrics that distinguishes Jenkins from the average troubadour….(an) artisan of the highest caliber” 
Patrick Emery – The Age EG

“Another example of Jenkins’ considerable craft”
Iain Shedden – The Australian 

“With these 10 songs, one of Australia’s finest songwriters delivers a collection as finely honed as a Hemingway short story, not a note or phrase wasted or out of place.”
Noel Mengel – Brisbane Courier Mail

Charles Jenkins Touring Oct-Dec 2012

VIC

Sunday October 21 – Northcote Social Club (matinee show), Northcote (band show) with special guests Raised by Eagles.

WA

Thursday October 25 – Norfolk Basement, Fremantle (solo)
Friday October 26 – The Velvet Lounge, Mt Lawley (with Suzannah Espie, Liz Stringer & Chris Altmann)

QLD

Thursday 6 December – The Hideaway, Fortitude Valley (duo with Davey Lane)

NSW

Friday 7 December – Notes, Newtown (band show)

LOVE YOUR CROOKED NEIGHBOUR WITH YOUR CROOKED HEART 

Following the 5-star reviewed 2010 album Walk this Ocean, Crooked Heart was recorded at home in between the volleys of surrounding suburban nail guns. It contains ringing performances of songs with drama, social commentary, tension and beauty. Warm, beguiling and folky. These are songs from the heart – for the heart, the head and the hips – Tales both tall and small – with a twist or two along the way – because sometimes the beauty is in the twist.

Love Your Crooked Neighbour With Your Crooked Heart is more of the stuff that has made Jenkins one of this country’s most admired songwriters.

“He’s too good a writer not to be in your life”
Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald

A distinct country flavour flows through the record – there are horns, pianos, and Suzannah Espie and Douglas Lee Robertson (Icecream Hands) singing up a backing vocal storm on a few others. It’s a stunning, rambling ride down a road less travelled and The Zhivagos are at the heights of their collective and considerable powers.

Don’t miss seeing this magic live when Charles heads your way to launch this splendid album.

To cast a vote for Charles and ‘Pray My Dear Daughter,’ please visit the Age EG Music Awards at www.theage.com.au/egawards.

Visit the brand new website at www.charlesjenkins.com.au
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JULITHA RYAN LAUNCHES ‘THE LUCKY GIRL’

THE LUCKY GIRL – JULITHA RYAN – press release – 2012

Silver Ray keyboard player’s debut album features a big voice – her own – backed by an all- star cast of Melbourne’s most intuitive musicians performing a dramatic and idiosyncratic suite of songs specifically designed to be heard from start to finish.

Julitha will launch The Lucky Girl at Northcote Social Club on 17th October 2012 and Pure Pop Records, St Kilda on 28th October.

Julitha Ryan is extremely impatient to share with you her first solo album The Lucky Girl. Comprising 12 tracks, she is responsible for every keyboard note, every vocal and backing vocal and she’s even dusted off her cello and clarinet for the job.

The all-star rhythm section – Dave Creese, James Lee and Andy Papadopoulos – is fleshed out with performances from violin player and arranger Bronwyn Henderson; drums, percussion, vocals and general mayhem Brett Poliness; Bouzouki by Dimitri Kyriakou, the mellifluous Gregory Day sings on the one and only duet; Hilary Blackshaw on violin, and Caz Gannell played all the hard cello bits. The Wall of Men makes one or two memorable appearances, as do the horns – Matt Habben, Adam Hutterer and Gavin Cornish.

Julitha began her performer’s life as a singer, recording an album in 1986 with contemporary jazz group, Neo-Penguin. This led to stints as a funk singer (also writing brass and vocal arrangements), backing vocalist and keyboard player. During the 90s her musical outlook broadened considerably – from devoted and inspired vocal arranging, cello and clarinet work with a wide range of musical compadres, to the heights of her 10 piano-playing years with instrumental group Silver Ray.

‘Noticed a Julitha-shaped hole on the Melbourne music scene lately? Absent maybe, but working still, Julitha Ryan has been in the studio, recording her first solo album,The Lucky Girl. After rocking out on Melbourne’s stages across four decades (the 80s!), beginning with the pop jazz funk sounds of Neo-Penguin and Mouse and most famously with post-rock trio instrumentalists Silver Ray, it was time for Julitha to make her own album. You will hear familiar chimes – at times akin to the folkness of her earlier band Barroworn and her dominant piano power riffs are richly abundant – and also the new, the multi-textured ambience of a 21st century album.

Most of all, here is her voice. And she can sing. Part rock-bitch, part Con girl (cap C, as in Melbourne University’s Conservatorium of Music), Ryan brings it all to bear on her debut. From start to finish, writing, arranging, singing and playing half a dozen instruments, this is Julitha Ryan. It’s all there – including her trademark Wall of Men mega- male BVs. After 25-odd years at it, she’s ready to be an overnight sensation. Lucky girl.’

Mick Epis, Melbourne journalist

The Lucky Girl is now available for digital download on Cdbaby and itunes.

For more info, cds, hi res photos please ring Karen on 0400 527 365 or email kcpublicity@optusnet.com.au.

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CORB LUND (Canadian Roots Artist Of The Year) Returns To Australia To Launch New Album

Fourth-generation Albertan rancher, former punk / metal bandleader, award winning Canadian roots star Corb Lund will return to Australia this August to perform at the Optus Gympie Muster and launch his new album Cabin Fever.

Corb will launch the record with a special Album Release Party at the intimate Notes Live venue in Sydney’s Newtown on Wednesday
22 August, with his long time backing band the Hurtin’ Albertans.

The tight, dynamic four-piece have wowed Australian audiences for close to ten years, with Corb’s quirky lyrics and rhythmic vocals and
the band’s undeniable high energy and on-stage chemistry.

The charismatic Canadian has built his local fan base through many visits down under over the past decade, including performances at East Coast Blues and Roots, CMC Rocks the Snowys, CMC Rocks North Queensland, Deni Ute Muster and tours across Australia.

Mixing wry observations with imagery from cowboy life and elsewhere, Cabin Fever places Lund in the company of songwriters like Hayes Carll, James McMurtry, and Dave Alvin. He cites his time in the punk/metal band The Smalls in his writing. Lund says, “Chaos and irreverence informs the way I write”.

Written in his cabin in Alberta, New York City, Austin, and Las Vegas, Cabin Fever offers a portrait of a survivalist preparing for the apocalypse (“Gettin’ Down On The Mountain”); a tale of a rural man losing a woman to the allure of New York City life (“September”); an ode to his vintage BMW motorcycles (“Mein Deutsches Motorrad”); the broken-hearted anthem “(You Ain’t A Cowboy) If You Ain’t Been Bucked Off”; new drinking songs such as “Drink It Like You Mean It” and “Pour ‘Em Kinda Strong”; the yodeling introduction and physicality of “Priceless Antique Pistol Shoots Startled Owner”; and another throwback to his punk days, the laugh-out-loud desire to date “The Gothiest Girl I Can.”

Cabin Fever is released on New West, available through Warner Music Australia.

Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans will perform at Notes Live, Newtown on Wednesday 22 August, followed by the Optus Gympie Muster on Main Stage Thursday 23 August and in the Crow Bar Friday 24.

Special guest for the album launch show will be Harry Hookey, the young Melbourne-based singer-songwriter whose rootsy style and witty lyrics make him an easy fit with Corb.

For interviews, images or sounds please ring Karen on 0400 527 365
or email karen@karenconradpublicity.com.

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SUZIE STAPLETON Brings Back The Night!

Suzie Stapleton will launch the long-awaited double A-side ‘My Cons Are Making A Cripple Out Of Me’/’Bring Back The Night’ on August 24th at The Old Bar, 74 Johnston St, Fitzroy.

The singles are the first to be released from her forthcoming EP ‘Obladi Diablo’ with a solo tour featuring launches in England, Spain, Germany and France before returning to Melbourne to The Old Bar for her local homecoming launch.

Suzie’s first EP, the gloriously dirty ‘45 Revelations Per Minute’ was released in 2009 and saw comparisons drawn to Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull. Her charcoal vocals wrap around words channeled from a primal source – sometimes direct, often disarmingly poetic.

In 2007, Sydney-born Stapleton was residing in Melbourne, where she played her first two songs publicly at an open-mic night. She was offered a gig on the spot.

In the few short years since, Stapleton has gigged locally, toured nationally and gained a loyal cult following for her engaging performances, fierce guitar playing, and intelligent songwriting. She has performed and recorded with members of The Drones, Beasts of Bourbon, Tex, Don & Charlie, Powder Monkeys and Temperance Union. 

Her current band features Craig Williams (These Immortal Souls, Lydia Lunch, Maurice Frawley) on drums and Leif Van Den Dungen on bass. Guest cellist Gareth Skinner (Gotye, The Holy Sea, Wagons) also appears on the record.

“The real deal.” — Beat Magazine, Melbourne

“Her rousing voice rekindling PJ Harvey at her brooding finest “— Rip It Up

“Stone fox.” — dB Magazine, Adelaide

 

 For interviews, sounds or hi res images for publication please ring Karen Conrad on 0400 527 365 or email karen@karenconradpublicity.com

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Melbourne Singer-Songwriter SHERRY RICH Releases Lost Album Made In Chicago With The Late JAY BENNETT, Members Of WILCO And The Legendary AL PERKINS

SHERRY RICH
Dakota Avenue. 

Good songs keep. If they’re made right they’ll see your kids grow and mourn the passing of old friends. The ten songs on DAKOTA AVENUE have done both without leaving a shoebox under Sherry Rich’s bed. After ten years, it’s time they met the big old world they were made for.

“DAKOTA AVENUE is the place in Nashville where I lived and where all these songs were written,” she says. “The album was recorded with Jay Bennett in Wilco‘s loft in Chicago between 1999 and 2001.”

The tapes have been dormant so long because other projects have consumed her time — not least the Rich Family Album of classic country songs with her mother, ’60s performer Noelene Rich, brother Rusty and husband Rick; three albums with her acclaimed kids’ band, the Mudcakes, and writing with Ashley Naylor for a long-awaited second Grapes record.

“These songs were written in a very productive period when I first moved to the US in 1998, so they’ve been ready to go for awhile,” Sherry says. “It took Jay’s untimely death to put a fire under it… under me. Sadly he never got the chance to hear the project finished.”

There’s plenty to admire in the detail of DAKOTA AVENUE, beginning with the singing pedal steel of the great Al Perkins (of Flying Burritos fame), through the power pop dazzle of Pandora Mink to the wafting blue chiffon daydream of Same Old Paradise.

But these songs aren’t the swishy kind that sink or swim in Shane O’Mara‘s glistening mix. As a writer, Sherry Rich has a way with mood and setting and longing that recalls the young Bob Dylan’s famous intent “to stay a part of that stuff that don’t change.”

Hotel Song is great example: a song about the small things that harbour big feelings, set in some room on some highway that jogs a similar bittersweet memory in any traveller who can picture it’s peeling wallpaper.

Hopeful Heart is another: not a recipe for a contented life, but a question on behalf of every poor deluded soul who ever imagined they

could see it coming in the beautiful haze “between happy hour and closing time.”

The sucker punch, of course, is Sherry’s voice, a low and easy drawl that weaves like a slow dancing partner with an alluring habit of falling off a key note like cigarette smoke off a painted lip.

The songs on DAKOTA AVENUE are co-writes with some of Nashville’s finest: Tim Carroll, Will Kimbrough, Pat Buchanan and Bob DiPiero are all country and/or rock journeymen with their own roads and stories momentarily intersecting with Sherry’s long trail from Bribie Island to Melbourne to the USA and back.

The band is no less stellar: Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone and Leroy Bach have all done time in Wilco at some point. Mr Sherry Rich, Rick Plant, is a constant companion on a range of instruments. Another page would be required to fully describe the privilege of having the legendary steel and dobro player Al Perkins on board.

But as producer and co-writer of the lion’s share of songs, it’s Jay Bennett’s spirit that looms largest over DAKOTA AVENUE.

“I see this record as a time capsule of my early days in Nashville and also a tribute to Jay and his incredible musicality” says Sherry. “He was at his creative best during these recordings and put in many hours of tireless dedication. He and the other musicians gave their time and sublime talents freely to make it happen.”

If you need to ask why they would do that, you may be unaware of Sherry’s extraordinary past, from the all-girl garage-pop sensation Girl Monstar in the late ’80s to all-star roots-rock bands the Grievous Angels and Courtesy Move via her timeless collaboration with Ashley Naylor, The Grapes.

And if that’s the case, now’s a good time to track some of those albums down. Or you could leave it another ten years. Hers are the kind of songs that keep. — Michael Dwyer, Melbourne.

DAKOTA AVENUE is out now on Pandora Mink Records and is distributed by Vitamin Records.

Melbourne Launch Date:

Saturday, 14 July at Caravan Music Club, 95-97 Drummond Street, Oakleigh

For further gig information please visit www.sherryrich.com

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Barry Adamson’s 2012 “I Will Set You Free” Australian tour rescheduled.

Due to visa delays, Barry Adamson’s 2012
“I Will Set You Free” Australian tour has been rescheduled.

Tickets purchased for the original dates will remain valid for the new dates. Alternatively, refunds can be obtained by contacting each venue directly.

We are sorry for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you in September. Here are the new dates and venue contacts for purchasing tickets:

11 SEPTEMBER TUESDAY – CORNER HOTEL
57 Swan St, Richmond, Melbourne VIC

Tix $45 +bf through The Corner Box Office Phone (03) 9427 9198 or online at www.cornerhotel.com

12 SEPTEMBER WEDNESDAY – THE FACTORY THEATRE 
105 Victoria Road, Marrickville, Sydney NSW

Tix $45+ bf Phone (02) 9550 3666 or online at www.factorytheatre.com.au

14 SEPTEMBER FRIDAY – THE PROMETHEAN
116 Grote St, Adelaide SA

Tix $35+bf (08) 8212 0266 www.theprom.com.au

15 SEPTEMBER SATURDAY – BRISBANE HOTEL
3 Brisbane St, Hobart TAS

Tix $35+bf in advance through oztix outlets and Ruffcut Records Phone (03) 62348600 or $40 at the door

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BARRY ADAMSON I WILL SET YOU FREE

LIVE IN AUSTRALIA, SEPTEMBER 2012

1. Get Your Mind Right
2. Black Holes in My Brain
3. Turnaround
4. The Power of Suggestion
5. Destination
6. The Trigger City Blues
7. Looking to Love Somebody
8. The Sun and The Sea
9. If You Love Her
10. Stand In

Central Control International
CCI019 CD/LP/Digital

“I grew up in an atmosphere where anything was possible. I always felt I was living completely at the centre of things, that the world was mine.” – Barry Adamson.

Thirty four years on from the first album he played on, the seminal Magazine’s post-punk classic “Real Life”, comes an album that touches on the sonic stepping stones he’s used year by year to pave his way to now, his coruscating new album, I Will Set You Free.

The memories and experience from performing and taking his work across the world with Magazine, the Bad Seeds, Iggy Pop, The Gun Club, writing for David Lynch, Danny Boyle, being nominated for the Mercury Prize, scoring an Olivier award-winning ballet, scooping the Best Short Story gong at Italy’s Piemonte Noir festival for his debut work of fiction and writing, directing and editing a movie whilst simultaneously heading back to grace the stage with a reformed Magazine during their triumphant 2009 tour… All of which has directly informed this album, colouring it with a steady, sure-handed experience that emanates from the swagger and fingertip fire of rock numbers Get Your Mind Right, Destination & The Sun and The Sea, to the emotive, yearning noir ballads of If You Love Her and Looking To Love Somebody and the new wave inflicted power pop of Turnaround and Stand In.

Barry has ultimately channelled himself to make an album that is unmistakably Barry Adamson, gravitating finally to the core of who he is and revealing his findings to startling results. Adamson as an artist and an auteur has firmly hit a new peak in his creative stride and, finally free of the shackles of mute obsequiousness, he has created both the album of his career and an album for the year.

“Those used to Adamson in his William Burroughs-reading, jazz playing, cigarillo smoking, King Of Nothing Hill guise, will probably be surprised by this come back rock beast, which probably owes more to his time in Magazine and The Bad Seeds and Iggy’s Berlin period than it does to most of his solo career.” – The Quietus

“I Will Set You Free is the sound of Adamson’s liberation as a songwriter, producer, and arranger. He feels comfortable in his skin on this wonderfully sequenced collection of songs that makes no attempt to hide his past; if anything, he celebrates it as he moves ever forward.” – All Music Guide