Colin Hay is a master of the one-man show. Armed with an acoustic guitar, his rich memorable voice, and decades of road experience, Hay is an entertainer in the true sense of the word. His show takes his audience on a journey through song and stories and if the reviews from his recent tour in the United States are anything to go by,that journey will be an experience not to be missed.

“Hay is a master storyteller of the hilarious kind. Mostly talking about the early days, his family, and life in America, Hay had the crowd doubling over with laughter for what seemed like half the show. Yes, we paid to hear that pure, raspy voice sing those incredible songs, but this was like getting two shows in one.”

Kevin Triebsch,The Atlanta Music Examiner.

The set list for his solo shows is meshed together with new tunes from ‘Gathering Mercury’, tracks from his extensive catalogue as a solo song writer and, of course, from his time with Men At Work.

“I’ve been singing, playing guitar, writing songs, and trying to entertain people since I was 14 years old.” Coin said. “I feel, at the present time, that I may, on any given night, be getting the hang of it!”

Inspired by the loss of his father, ‘Gathering Mercury’ reveals Hay’s emotional depth and musical diversity whilst captivating listeners with his optimism and quizzical, instantly recognizable voice and it has delivered some of the best reviews of his career.

“His endearing narrative approach and his genuine emotion backed with a lilting vocal throughout combined to make a fully entertaining experience.”

Drum Media

DATES

2nd Feb – Boathouse, Launceston TAS @

3rd Feb – Devonport Ent. Centre, Devenport TAS

4th Feb – Theatre Royal, Hobart, TAS

7th Feb – Lizottes, Kincumber, NSW

8th Feb – Lizottes, Newcastle, NSW

9th Feb – Lizottes, Dee Why, NSW

10th Feb – Canberra Southern Cross Club, ACT

11th Feb – Caloundra Events Centre, Caloundra, QLD

12th Feb – Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane, QLD

15\16^th Feb – The Basement, Sydney, NSW

17th Feb – Regent Theatre, Ballarat, VIC

18th Feb – Wangaratta PAC, Wangaratta, VIC

19th Feb – Riverboats Music Festival, Echuca, VIC

22nd Feb – Wellington Ent. Centre, Sale, VIC

23rd Feb – West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul, VIC

24th Feb – Geelong Performing Arts Centre, Geelong, VIC

25th Feb – Playhouse Vic Arts Centre, Melbourne, VIC

“I think we may have cracked it. This may well be the definitive album from Dirty Three.”  – Warren Ellis, November 2011

Dirty Three’s last tour of Australia was in 2009 when they performed their album Ocean Songs in its entirety as part of the Don’t Look Back classic albums series, a run of shows that sold-out across the country. This was a tour that confirmed Dirty Three’s status of one of the greatest live acts in the world.

“Dirty Three assailed and attacked the hot and humid Enmore Theatre on Australia Day with full and absolute effect. Playing in total their classic album ‘Ocean Songs’ we witnessed a band that is ageless and timeless. One of, if not the, greatest band that this country has ever produced.” – Oceans Never Listen

The planets will once again align in 2012 as Dirty Three tour Australia and release their first new album since 2005′s Cinder.

DIRTY THREE

AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND TOUR 2012

Tickets for all shows on-sale Monday 12 December 2012

FRIDAY 9 MARCH

Perth, Astor Theatre

WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH

Auckland, Powerstation

FRIDAY 16 MARCH

Melbourne, The Palace

SATURDAY 17 MARCH

Gippsland, Mossvale Park, One Perfect Day Festival

SUNDAY 18 MARCH

Castlemaine, Theatre Royal

WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

THURSDAY 22 MARCH

Brisbane, The Tivoli

The Stillsons

2011 was a big year for the Melbourne based country roots band, they not only released their sophomore album Earnest, but they also thrilled audiences across Australia with their eclectic live shows, many of them extending up to three hours of original material.

Throughout the early months of the album¹s release, respected music publications and national radio stations were quick to embrace Earnest.

ABC DIG Radio, ABC Gold Coast, ABC Bendigo, and Coast FM963 (NSW) all declared Earnest the “album of the week”.

Amongst countless community stations Australia wide, ABC Radio National and ABC Saturday Night Country were quick to invite the band onto their shows for interviews and live performances. Many of their songs have reached over seas to New Zealand RN, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Cambridge and BBC Ulster.

The author of this website Andrew Watt, writing in The Age gave the album Four Stars, describing the album as “a strangely addictive collection of memorable songs performed with flair and a sly, knowing smile.”

Nick Argyriou of RHYTHMS magazine made the comment, “Earnest manages to meld a dusty sonic chemistry with bold and imperishably robust rhythms during one of the most amiable releases you¹ll hear in 2011. And this is not hyperbole­ trust me.”

Justin Bernasconi (guitar) and Cat Canteri (drums) met in 2006, through a love of each other song writing and harmony singing. The band caught the attention Ben Franz (The Waifs) who joined the group in January 2010, adding his deft touch on pedal steel guitar and vocals.  Joining The Stillsons touring party for a third time is Edmondo Ammendola (Augie March) on the bass.

Earnest was released in 9th September through the bands¹ own label Mountain King Music, and distributed through FUSE Group.

“Hyperactive genre-jumping that shows an impressive ability to translate plentiful ideas into compelling music. Euphoric and sublime.” Four Stars ­Andrew Watt  – The Age

“A classic set of tunes filled with zing, flair, boldness and precision that would be the envy of many song-writing partnerships. Earnest is one of those records that you simply can¹t find fault with” - Nick Argyriou – RHYTHMS Magazine, Sept 2011 (National)

MAMMOTH SUMMER TOUR JANUARY 2012

Friday 6th ­ Cowra Services Club, Cowra NSW

Saturday 7th ­ Nowra Tea House, Nowra NSW

Sunday 8th ­ The Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle NSW

Wednesday 11th ­ Lizotte’s, Newcastle NSW

Thursday 12th ­ Port Macquarie Hotel, Port Macquarie NSW

Friday 13th ­ Valla Beach Tavern, Valla Beach

Saturday 14th ­ Roots Records in-store acoustic show, Bellingen NSW

Saturday 14th ­ Federal Hotel, Bellingen NSW

Sunday 15th ­ Peregian Originals, Sunshine Coast QLD

Monday 16th ­ Ric’s Bar, Brisbane QLD

Tuesday 17th ­ The Palmy Café, Palm Beach, Gold Coast

Wednesday 18th ­ The Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Thursday 19th ­ Secret Show, Byron Bay

Saturday 21st ­ Royal Mail, Ipswich QLD

Saturday 21st ­ The Joynt, Brisbane QLD -

Sunday 22nd ­ Earth Sun Markets, Brisbane

Sunday 22nd ­ Interview on 4ZZZ 102.1FM Artifact 1.20pm

Sunday 22nd ­ She Oak Shack, Fingal Head, Gold Coast QLD

Monday 23rd ­ The Cave, Nobby Beach, Gold Coast

Tuesday 24th ­ The Palmy Café, Gold Coast, QLD

Thursday 26th ­ Secret Show – Australia Day BBQ, Brisbane QLD

Friday 27th ­ Port Macquarie Hotel, Port Macquarie NSW

Saturday 28th ­ Ocean View Hotel, Urunga NSW

Sunday 29th ­ The Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland NSW

A three day event of Blues and Roots performances and workshops throughout Bendigo and surrounding towns, the highlight of which will be a day long family friendly concert featuring 24 acts over two stages in picturesque Rosalind Park on Saturday November 26th.

Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival Inc. is a not for profit community organisation headed by a dedicated committee and backed by an army of volunteers.

The free festival gathered momentum with online community website PlanBig

The site www.planbig.com.au where Colin garnered Australia’s support for his plan and made the idea a reality.

PlanBig is a website where anyone with a plan or an idea can access the resources and support to make their plan happen in the real world.

An initiative of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, it is the contemporary iteration of the bank’s core approach, now drawing on the strengths of social networking to facilitate community outcomes.

“PlanBig has been a huge source of support for my plan,” Colin said. ”Connecting with like-minded people and the support, advice and encouragement has been helpful and motivating.”

Some of the artists performing include Geoff Atchison, Anchor and the Butterfly, Andrea Marr Band, Andrew Higgs Band,  Archer, Nick Barker, Black Aces, Bones Blackwood, Shannon Bourne and many more.

Of course the need for a singer arises from the death of original frontman Steve Gilpin died following a car crash in New South Wales in 1992. At the time the band was perhaps over their peak but they certainly had some great moments after arriving in Australia from New Zealand

Mi-Sex formed in NZ in 1978 and named themselves after the Ultravox song ‘My Sex’.

The first single from their ‘Graffiti Crimes’ album was ‘But You Don’t Care’ which was a good electro-pop song. Their monster was 1979’s ‘Computer Games’ which was a number one hit in Australia but also made the charts in Canada and South Africa.

November 3, Fremantle, Fly By Night

November 4, Perth, Charles Hotel

November 5, Joondalup, The Boulevard Tavern

November 11, Ferntree Gully, Ferntree Gully Hotel

November 12, Prahran, Commercial Hotel

November 18, Doncaster, Doncaster Shoppingtown

November 19, Chelsea, Chelsea Heights Hotel

November 25, Dapto, Dapto Leagues

November 26, Rooty Hill, Rooty Hill RSL

December 2, Sydney, The Basement

December 3, Lake Macquarie, Caves Beach Resort

Baby Animal

Suze DeMarchi and the band have already played at A Day On The Green earlier in 2011 with INXS and Train, and more recently they headed back to their hometown Perth at the invitation of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, to play at his very special live event, “Songs For The Dalai Lama”, alongside Tex Perkins, Tim Rogers, Katie Noonan and others.

On the recording front they have been writing songs for a new album, spending time in the studio cutting demos and preparing to record the new songs.

Suze DeMarchi began singing with Perth bands Photoplay and The Kind in 1982, honing her craft and fine tuning the skills that would make her one of the most dynamic front women Australia has ever produced. After a stint as a solo artist and with band DD & The Rockmen, DeMarchi formed Baby Animals in 1989 with Dave Leslie and Eddie Parise. Their 1991 self-titled debut album spent six weeks at number one, achieving eight-times Platinum status, and the band toured the country extensively before going on to tour the globe with The Black Crowes and Bryan Adams. Baby Animals the album spawned five hit singles, earned the band three ARIA Awards including the prestigious Best Album, and eventually led to an international tour with rock legends Van Halen. For the 12 years from its release in 1991 through until 2003, the album carried the mantle of highest-selling debut Australian rock album.

In 1993 Baby Animals released their second album Shaved and Dangerous, featuring the singles ‘Don’t Tell Me What To Do’ and ‘At The End Of The Day’, and went on to tour the US with Robert Plant. During the next year DeMarchi relocated to Los Angeles.

TOUR DATES: OCTOBER

Sat 8
 October : Caloundra Music Festival
, Caloundra,QLD

Fri 21
 October : Annandale Hotel, 
Sydney, NSW

Sat 22
 October: Annandale Hotel
, Sydney, NSW

Fri 28 October: 
Southern Cross Club Events Centre
, Canberra, ACT

Sat 29 October: Sydney Blues & Roots Festival
, Windsor, NSW

Mon 31
 October: Corner Hotel – CUP EVE
, Richmond, VIC

Over the course of three seminal records, “One Times Two Times Three Red Light”(1993), “Road To Rome” (1996) and “Rippled Soul” (1998), DM3 were critically acclaimed as one of the finest purveyors of the Powerpop genre.  DM3 toured Europe numerous times, playing the club and festival circuit which included the prestigious Roskilde festival. The band eventually called it a day in ’99.

Since the last DM3 album, Dom Mariani has kept himself busy with a myriad of various musical projects. Namely the instrumental project, The Majestic Kelp who released two critically acclaimed albums, “Underwater Casino” (2003) and “Music To Chase Cars By” (2006), and the reformation of The Stems in 2003 and long awaited comeback album, “Heads Up” in 2007. Dom also released a solo album,“Homespun Blues & Greens” in 2004 and in 2005 his twenty years in the music business culminated in the release of the career spanning retrospective, “Popsided Guitar – Anthology: 1984-2004“. His most recent release Rewind and Play for the Liberation Blue label(2010) is an album that handpicks songs from various Mariani vehicles and recasting them in a warm semi-acoustic format.

DM3 reformed in 2009 to perform at The Purple Festival in Spain. As a result of this reformation, 2010 saw DM3 invited to play the prestigious South By South West Festival in Austin Texas, proving to audiences that genuine rock’n'roll from Australia is amongst the finest in the world. The band followed their SXSW stint with a series of concerts throughout Spain where Mariani has a long established fanbase.

This tour sees the timely re-release of Dom Mariani’s career retrospective,”Popsided Guitar” on the Liberation label sees DM3 performing their first shows on the East Coast since the late 90′s. And to celebrate, Mariani has put together a group including Ashley Naylor (Even, Paul Kelly), Stu Loasby (Datura, The Rippled Souls & 6s & 7s) and original DM3 drummer Pascal Bartolone.

Dates

Thu 6^th Oct Mustang Bar, Perth, WA

Fri 7^th Oct  Clancy’s Fremantle, WA

Sat 8^th Oct Devilles Pad, Perth, WA

Thu 13^th Oct The Basement, Sydney, NSW

Sat 15^th Oct Caravan Club, Oakleigh, VIC

Sun 16^th Oct Northcote Social Club, VIC

Tickets for all these gigs will go onsale everywhere at 9.00am on Thursday,4 August.  However, anybody who signs up to the band’s mailing list at www.coldchisel.com before August 1 will actually be able to buy tickets from 9.00am on Tuesday, 2 August as part of a special pre-sale.

As well as all capital cities, the tour will hit six key Queensland regional centres plus other hubs such as Mudgee, Wodonga, Tamworth and the Hunter and Yarra Valleys.

Cold Chisel will wrap up the Australian leg of their tour in the town where they first formed – Adelaide. Then they’ll cross the Tasman for shows in Wellington and Auckland: their first NZ gigs since 1983.

Shows will be staged under specially constructed all-weather Big Top Tents in many towns. There will also be seated arena shows, amphitheatre dates, a club gig in Newcastle and for the first time ever the band will play a handful of very special winery concerts.

Apart from the winery experiences, every ticket for every concert will cost only $99.90 (including all booking fees but excluding any credit card charges and ticketing agency transaction charges).

At exactly the same time as the concerts were being announced at a Sydney press conference, all of the band’s recordings were being unleashed digitally for the first time in a major online launch that included 56 rare and previously unreleased tracks. Meanwhile retailers were receiving the newly remastered and repackaged CD versions of all the classic Cold Chisel albums which are in store now (each of their studio albums now comes with a bonus DVD containing rare and unreleased footage from that era).

This massive catalogue rollout had already been hailed as the most extensive archival project in the history of Australian rock.

Jimmy Barnes has revealed that the original plans for all of this were actually hatched in secret nearly two years ago around the group’s memorable one-off show to over 50,000 people at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.

“We got such a buzz from that gig that it made all of us really want to get our act together”, he explains. “We wanted to do things properly though because we know this band means a lot to a lot of people – especially us! So we had to do it right. That meant taking time to find lots of cool unreleased stuff and getting the albums looking and sounding great.

“It also meant making all the music available everywhere that people might want to get it these days. We agreed that once that was sorted we’d go out and play all those songs right around Australia and New Zealand in a way that we haven’t really done since the early 80s.”

These plans took the better part of two painstaking years to pull together including lengthy archival excavation and remastering activities. However, in January this year everything was suddenly put on hold with the tragic passing of the group’s drummer, Steve Prestwich. Keyboardist Don Walker explains that for two months nobody in the band even discussed whether to continue what they’d all been planning together. “When the four of us finally sat down to talk about it we realised we all felt the same way. Steve was really keen on seeing all these things happen. We all felt it would have been wrong to just walk away from the plans we’d started together.”

As guitarist Ian Moss explains, “It was all another reminder that life is short and you never know what’s around the corner. We miss our brother Steve every single day but the four of us still love playing music together. And we know that people want to hear these songs, so we want to do more of that while we still can. The tour is going to be a celebration of what he helped us create.”

Renowned drummer Charley Drayton (Keith Richards, B52′s, Divinyls) will be behind the kit for the Light The Nitro Tour and one fifth of tour profits will go to Steve Prestwich’s children.

The tour name Light The Nitro refers to the practice of injecting nitrous oxide into the carburettor during a street race, which instantly doubles or triples the horsepower of a conventional engine.

Fans may be interested to know that “light the nitro” is also a line from one of the songs the band recorded over recent months … a new Don Walker rocker called HQ454 Monroe about a man and his beloved hotrod.

Cold Chisel have promised to showcase “one or two” new tunes on the Light The Nitro Tour. The setlist will also feature more than 20 of their classic songs. While Cold Chisel are continuing to make progress on new recordings – including some songs written by Steve Prestwich and some featuring his performances – there will be no new album released for this tour. At this stage a release is pencilled for early 2012.

For the rest of 2011 the group will be focusing totally on supporting their massive catalogue re-release and the Light The Nitro Tour.

Joining Cold Chisel for all but seven of these shows will be special guests You Am I. The group’s singer, Tim Rogers, is a lifelong fan of Cold Chisel and actually joined a disparate group of luminary Australians including Ita Buttrose, John Birmingham and Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie in penning liner notes for one of the new CD reissues.

You Am I’s shoes will be filled on the Sunshine Coast only by special guests, Grinspoon.

Dan Sultan, Stonefield and Even will also appear on various dates and further opening artists will be announced over coming months.

DATES

Thursday, 13 October – Newcastle Panthers

Wednesday, 19 October – Townsville Entertainment Centre

Friday, 21 October – Cairns Showgrounds

Sunday, 23 October – Botanic Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin

Wednesday, 26 October – Mackay Showgrounds

Thursday, 27 October – Rockhampton Showgrounds

Saturday, 29 October – Stockland Park, Sunshine Coast

Sunday, 30 October – Gold Coast Convention Centre

Tuesday, 1 November – Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Friday, 4 November – Stadium Drive Hockey Fields, Coffs Harbour

Saturday, 5 November – A DAY ON THE GREEN – Robert Oatley Vineyards, Mudgee

Monday, 7 November – Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

Thursday, 10 November – Acer Arena, Sydney

Saturday, 12 November – A DAY ON THE GREEN – Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley

Sunday, 13 November – WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

Tuesday, 15 November – Sydney Entertainment Centre

Thursday, 17 November – AIS Arena, Canberra

Friday, 18 November – Gateway Lakes, Wodonga

Saturday, 19 November – A DAY ON THE GREEN – Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley

Tuesday, 22 November – Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart

Thursday, 24 November – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Saturday, 26 November – Sandalford Estate, Margaret River

Sunday, 27 November – Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth

Tuesday, 29 November – Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Friday, 2 December – TSB Arena, Wellington

Saturday, 3 December – Vector Arena, Auckland

The single will be released as a limited edition 7” single, which will be launched at Hi-Fi Bar in Melbourne.

The following description from the bands performance earlier this year at the Famous Spiegeltent says a lot about their approach, for the uninitiated:

“Graveyard Train focus on the morose. Their tales of murder, death, ghosts and redemption are fired through an alt country prism on a moonless night. The end result is something they like to call Horror Country. A howling, rocking, swaggering journey through the backwoods. Campfire tales backed with steel guitar, banjo, harmonica and whisky.

Graveyard Train have been performing their particular take on alt country for several years now and have three releases under their belt. They also have a whole lot of critical acclaim and a diehard fan contingent.”

I just think they are naughty boys, getting caught in the act. They are also one of the most entertaining live bands to appear on the scene in a long time. Go see ‘em as they crawl through your town.

MAY

6 – Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne, VIC

11 – ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT

12 – Old Manly Boatshed, Sydney, NSW

13 – Katoomba RSL, Blue Mountains, NSW

14 – Great Northern, Newcastle, NSW

15 – The Vanguard, Sydney, NSW

17 – The Junkyard, Maitland, NSW

18 – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW

19 – Spotted Cow, Toowoomba, QLD

20 – Tempo Hotel, Brisbane, QLD

21 – Swingin’ Safari, Gold Coast, QLD

22 – Finnians, Port Macquarie, NSW

Adalita

My review of the album makes me certain that this will be a special live show.

“These songs and the way they have been recorded and performed is exactly the right context for Adalita to harness the raw power and presence that she possesses.  This is brave, stark, effecting music, written with its heart tattooed on its sleeve and with its blood pulsing relentlessly. The courage comes not just from the fact of its recording but the confronting way the vocals are mixed for brutal clarity and the lyrics reward that investment. Having made the decision to pursue this direction Adalita has fully committed to the course she’s chosen. The best thing about this record is that it’s completely uncompromised, in both its vision and its execution”.

Thur 7 April, Bended Elbow, Geelong, VIC

Fri 8 April, Karova Lounge , Ballarat, VIC

Sat 9 April, Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC

Thur 14 April, Transit Bar, Canberra, ACT

Fri 15 April, The Great Northern,Newcastle, NSW

Sat 16 April, Sandringham Hotel , Sydney, NSW

Sun 17 April, Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba, NSW

Wed 20 April, Irish Murphy’s, Launceston, TAS

Thur 21 April, Republic Bar, Hobart, TAS

Thur 5 May, Grace Emily, Adelaide, SA