Sunday, September 8, 2013

playing every friday at the cornish arms in sydney rd brunswick

I experience all the varieties of joints wherein I can attempt to manifest the fatality of my life illusion (thanks to John Cowper Powys for that line), in a musical performance mode. After the sublime old ambience of the hall in the Barossa Valley and the warm embrace of the crowd at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide, I am back on my head in Melbourne, treading some hard boards again. (as an aside, I spoke to a vintage couple as we packed up at the Wheatsheaf who were aghast at how INEXPENSIVE it was to get in -$25- to see us play and advised us to charge MUCH MORE!)
For the next three Fridays (that's the plan) I am fighting a  major battle at the Cornish arms in Sydney Rd Bunswick. Perhaps a major battle is putting it too grandly, lets call it a  police action or a jungle firefight. It's close , in-hand fighting anyway. I will have to dig in.
The situation is simple, I am playing a solo show. Two sets. Alone. Davey no mates. Me no amigos. Why the fighting imagery? Just stirring the pot really. I am there to stake the importance of the music in the setting. Theres a lot of staff and food flying through the room. I have to napalm that stuff from my mind.

I have selected my KYAIRI 12 string acoustic and my Ibanez archtop for the shows. I love the warm sound of the latter and the grand, ringing tones of the former. Putting them through my Crate acoustic amp which I have had for about 16 years and am always surpised by. Its powerful and clean. A sansamp set to FENDER helps with the archtop. An acoustic exciter sends the 12 string out ringing and chiming.

The first night I played was the evening prior to the election. There was also a football final on. The big screen. I withdrew into myself and my songs. I have a  lot of songs. Can easily outlast a  football game.I've also been revisiting a  lot of the songs I wrote during teh long, dark HOWARD years. Stuff like "I'm seein' demons", "your masters must be pleased with you", " twixt this world and the next" and "I am your humble servant".


I also played a lot of the songs I have recorded and am working on for my 2014 solo album. In the past I've always really written and arranged songs and then started to play them. Tightly, to a plan. These ones are still all wriggling around and changing. I played a lot of recent songs too.

This week I'm going to be playing a lot of songs from 1992's "I was the hunter and I was the prey". One of my faviourite albums, very dramatic.
We recorded it at the studio of Mathew Fisher in Croydon, London. Mathew played the beautiful organ part on  " a whiter shade of pale" when he  was in PROCOL HARUM.


When this album sat around for 2 years waiting to come out, I was totally devastated. It was the best thing I'd ever done and I was a ghost. I felt like Doc Holliday- supposedly dying of tb but still kicking, years later. This  grand lost moment was in my mind when we made "lure of the tropics" and "night of the wolverine". I had written and recorded these songs and lost them all somehow. Lost that band, the original Coral Snakes. Nothing could touch me.

Look out for the DAMES album coming out soon too. Its a great work. Bravo Clare Moore and Kaye Patterson and Barry Adamson.


the DAMES (Clare Moore writing and playing as part of a trio) play the Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine Saturday 14th September and launch their debut album Sunday, 2pm in the afternoon 29th September at the Northcote Social Club.
Special guests - the Morning After Girls.
.
Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.

Saturday Oct 26th, dave graney and the mistLY will be playing a show at the Post Office Hotel in Sydney rd COBURG.
Sunday Nov 3rd THE DAMES will be playing at the WHEATSHEAF HOTEL in Adelaide.

saturday nov 16th dave graney and the mistLY, YOU AM I , Hoodoo Gurus at Kings Park in Perth.
 
Friday 13th December the DAMES will be at the RED RATTLER in MARRICKVILLE, Sydney on a great double bill with HARRY HOWARD and the NDE
Saturday 14th December the DAMES will be at the HERITAGE HOTEL in BULLI on a great double bill with Jodi Phillis. .

1 comment:

  1. Hi Dave, I must apologise to you for bagging your KYAIRI 12 string acoustic on twitter a while back. You obviously love it. Maybe the exciter was over excited the night I heard you play with the dames at the Retreat Hotel over dinner.

    Brett

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