THE BLACK SORROWS The Black Sorrows have earned the reputation as a dynamic live act. There is a level of accessibility to The Black Sorrows that can appeal to the newest of fan. At the helm, Camilleri steers the band through an energetic interplay of solid grooves and well- crafted songs that mix those well-worn ingredients of blues, soul, R&B, gospel, country and even Brill Building pop. Spontaneous (forget set lists) and emotionally driven, Joe ensures that no two performances are ever the same. Camilleri’s mantra is simple “we come to play and leave the audience feeling exhilarated”. The Black Sorrows continue to be one of Australia’s most enduring touring bands and a festival favourite. Membership in The Black Sorrows has always
been loose and fluid with Camilleri being the only constant. In keeping with Joe’s desire to continually move forward, the latest incarnation of The Black Sorrows is - Claude Carranza (guitar/ vocals), Mark Gray (bass/vocals), John McAll (keyboards/vocals) and Angus Burchall (drums). Joe Camilleri continues to write with his long-term writing partner Nick Smith and will release The Black Sorrows’ 18th album in 2016, bringing Camilleri’s career discography ever closer to an incredible 50 releases. The Black Sorrows will be playing at The Grand Hotel, Mornington, on Friday 2 December. Tickets at grand.oztix.com.au or www.grand.net.au
ABBE MAY Re-emerging from a hiatus earlier this year with the catchy pop dittie ‘Are We Flirting’, Abbe May’s followup ‘Doomsday Clock’ unveils yet another side to her personality as she reveals yet another layer of her forthcoming album ‘Bitchcraft’ and a national tour this November/December. The song contrasts a joyous Gospel choir (Featuring May, Joni Hogan and Odette Mercy) with striking, ominous bells that ring throughout what could be May’s most immediate single yet. May suggests there is a chance for hope offered through acknowledgment of our inevitable demise. One of the earliest songs written for ‘Bitchcraft’, Doomsday Clock was developed at a time when May was recovering from a nervous system break down. “My lifeline really was the great love I feel for my infant niece and nephews. It really made me see beyond myself, that I needed to do something more meaningful than pursue this whole sex, drugs and rock and roll thing. I want them to have a good future here on earth. I want to try at least to help guide them through a better world than the one I currently see being willfully destroyed through greed, manipulation and stupidity. I am just a singer but I may as well use my voice for good if it can in any way make the world better for them.” On one level, ‘Doomsday Clock’ is about what May sees as the great fallacy of trickle-down economics and the environmental and social destruction it has caused. On another level, it is about the internal and external struggles of seemingly inexplicable existence and how they mirror each other in crisis and rapture. ‘Doomsday Clock’ reveals Abbe May as an artist who is not content to stay silent in a politically conservative and oppressive environment. “I am disturbed by the political climate in
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Australia. We seem to live in a country that is more concerned with #censusfail than about our government’s horrifying abuses of the human rights of refugees. We have lost our way and it bodes very badly for our future. We are being told to fear refugees by the very people we should be focusing our suspicions on - the vast majority of politicians and the big business they work for. They are the ones keeping everyone hungry. They sold us the trickle down lie. Not the refugees. History has shown how conservative governments deliberately fan the flames of the fear of the ‘other’ to keep control and to distract us. They deliberately gut funding for the arts and for education so as to keep us uninformed and therefore unarmed against their policies which are overwhelmingly geared toward creating massive class divide. This is not a time for artists to be silent. We have a job to do.” Abbe May will be playing at The Grand Hotel, Mornington, on Friday 25 November. Tickets at grand.oztix.com.au or www.grand.net.au