Last Sunday at the Croxton and then dates in Sydney, Central Coast, Canberra and QLD

 

We have one more Sunday late afternoon show in the front room of the Croxton bandroom and then we play interstate in October and November.

This coming Sunday we will be joined by the Routines who are Jane Dust on guitar and vocals. Emily Jarrett on keys and vocals and Clare Moore on drums and vocals. They have recently been recording some tracks at our studio, The Ponderosa. They have a really unique sound. 

We will be playing with Stuart Perera back on guitar as he will have  returned from a trip to the UK with his father. In Stuarts absence we did a Sunday with Billy Miller on guitar and vocals and one with Coral Snake Rod Hayward on guitar. The latter show was just the day after the wake for Conway Savages's funeral and we had learned a few White Buffaloes era songs to play at that but the PA setup was not ideal for a full band.

On the Tuesday before the funeral I dedicated the playlist of mys show on TRIPLE R to playing "epic sad shit for Conway". You can listen to it on demand here. 

 

The wake itself was a real celebration of Conways life and had people from all the summers of Conways life in attendance. It thankfully lacked the hyper gloominess and showbiz emotional showing out of many rock n roll funerals. People came from more than just that sometimes grimy and downbeat scene. The funeral was held earlier in the day and was attended by close family.

Bruce Kane, who played with Conway in the Legendary Boy Kings and grew up with him as a teen organized a lot of the proceedings. It was held at a hall in Kew that has been redeveloped by Nicole Fraser and Noel Crombie. Mick Harvey set up a small vocal PA.  I was given the task of being MC and many people got up to speak. Bruce Kane and Jim White, Kaye Louise Patterson, Penny Ikinger, Matt Crosbie (FOH for the Bad Seeds) and Seeds bass player Martyn Casey. 

First speakers were Nick Cave and Warren Ellis via a video from LA.  Nick spoke sweetly and warmly of Conway and they played INTO MY ARMS. 

I was handed the eulogy that had been read earlier by Conways eldest brother, Frank, at the family service. It was about five pages long and all hand written and it was requested I read it, which I did. 

There were musical performances by Kaye Louise Patterson and Jeff Williams (Acuffs Rose), Jess Mcann and Mick Turner, Cash Savage, Jane and Frank Savage and a grand show stomper when Garry Adams joined the latter to end proceedings. It was a very "country" affair. Loose and joyful.

So yes, the next day we regrouped at the Croxton and played with Rod Hayward on guitar. Rod set up his Marshall amp ( a rarely seen beast in inner city Melbourne) and we played  a 90s heavy set. Barry C Douglas captured us playing Gene Clark's In A Misty Morning. Something we hadn't played for twenty five years.

The show was very enjoyable, as was the next week with Billy Miller (for that we played mostly 21st century songs) . The room at the Croxton is extermely good, very clean and newly fitted out with couches and stools and a great PA and stage. We are the only band who plays there and it'll go dark again when we finish . A pity, as its perfect for Sunday afternoon shows. As its not really on the map we've had to promote the shows ourselves and it has been up and down but I'm glad we did it. We just wanted to play in Melbourne more this year. Admission is less expensive if you book online.  Tickets here 

After this we head to Sydney, the Central Coast,  Canberra, Nambour on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

 

October 11th Dave Graney and the mistLY play at Coogee Bunker . NSW
October 12th Dave Graney and the mistLY play LazyBones in Sydney, NSW.
October 13th Dave Graney and the mistLY play Hardys Bay Club in NSW.
October 14th Dave Graney and the mistLY Smiths Alternative in Canberra

 

November 9th Dave Graney and Clare Moore will be playing the Bison Bar in Nambour, QLD.
Nov 10th and Nov 11th Dave Graney and Clare Moore play the Junk Bar in Brisbane, Qld. The 7pm shows on both nights are SOLD OUT but 4pm shows have been added. Here is a link to the Sunday 4pm show.

A recent interview with Dave Graney by Kate Rae here.

Some sealed vinyl copies of My Life On The Plains (1989) and I Was The Hunter And i Was The Prey (1990) were sourced from the original label. The latter sold out pretty quickly but  MY LIFE ON THE PLAINS will be available at our shows only.

We are still working on an album for release in 2019. Its sounding like its going to be a  pretty sprawling affair.  We have recorded roughly 14 tracks and some with multiple versions. Some just myself or with Clare Moore and a really great session at Soundpark with the mistLY. I've been writing a lot of songs and hope to do a minimalist album with Clare Moore as well. Just guitar and vibes, including instrumental songs. (Plans never seem to happen the way they are supposed to though).

I read the novel THE INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison, a classic of African Amercian literature.  Always amazed to read language that was decades ahead of its mainstream appearance. This was written in 1948 and its in a black world from the South up to Harlem and people refer to their "black brothers' and curse people as "mother foulers".

I am currently reading a book called "Englands Green and Pleasant Land", a collection of magazine articles by JW Robertson Scott. This is a paperback published in 1925 and he writes of life in the Englsih countryside. Its poor and grim though its illuminating to see himwriting about city people moving to the countryside. He calls them , "Back to Landers". His writing is that sort of highly distilled voice I have always been impressed by. Sentences happen with great (but casual and easy) impact and contain information others take pages to get down.

I have been listening to a lot of new music but have developed a kink for late 70s AOR. I love to listen to artists from that perdios reactions to Punk and New Wave. Its also fascinating to listen to such expensively produced recordings. It'll never happen again. Artists I am collecting include Carly Simon, Nicolette Larsen, America, Bob Welch and a lot of UK soft rock such as Gallagher And Lyle and Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. I still can't get enough of Family ( or anything with their singer Roger Chapman) , Johnny Mark and Jon Almond (Mark Almond Band) , Genesis, Martin Carthy, Audience and any kind of jazz. As to the latter I picked up a great Bix Beiderbecke re issue album, some Hubert Laws, Milt Jackson, Eddie Lang and an album of Hoagy Carmichael songs by Georgie Fame from 1981 called "Hoagland".

My memoir WORKSHY is still available.  Booktopia has free postage for overseas people.