Neil Murray

 

NEIL MURRAY
OVERNIGHTING IN QLD, NSW & VIC

Neil Murray is back on the bitumen and heading to
Queensland, New South Wales & Victoria with a
boot load of songs from his latest album Overnighter and the band onboard.

Neil's spent many solitary trips behind the wheel
and the reflections on Overnighter are fuelled by
the loneliness of distance, the truck stop
atmosphere and the chatter breaking through the UHF as the clicks turn over.

Since his early days as a founding member of the
legendary Warumpi Band, Neil's never opted for
the easy road and when he shifted gears to pursue
a solo career, his honest songs kept him in the spotlight.

Neil was awarded the 1995 APRA Song of the Year
for the anthemic My Island Home and his solo back
catalogue of 6 albums includes Far Away, Calm &
Crystal Clear, Broken Song, Spirit, Eddie Mabo,
Late This Night, Good Light in Broome, This
Bliss, Menindee & Long Grass Band and a spoken word recording.

Regarded as one of our most respected
singer-songwriters, Neil's music is seductive,
powerful and proudly Australian and his live concerts attract rave reviews:

"An outstanding singer-songwriter capable of
generating great enthusiasm and warmth in his
audience, Neil Murray was welcomed by fans at the
Woodford Folk Festival with absolute
adoration."   Bill Hauritz Woodford Folk Festival.

The Overnighter tour showcases 12 new tracks and
copies of the album are available at all venues - tour dates follow.

For more information, interviews and images,
please contact Sue Camilleri on 08 89 412 512 or
0408 412 512.  Email: <mailto:soozcam@bigpond.net.au>soozcam@bigpond.net.au

NEIL MURRAY - OVERNIGHTER TOUR DATES
QLD
Bookings:
Fri 25th May   The Sundowner Hotel, Caboolture   07 5495 8666
Sat 26th May   Joe's Waterhole, Eumundi   07 5442 8144
Sun 27th May  The Living Room, Brisbane    07 3367 0127
NSW
Wed 30th May    Sawtell RSL, Sawtell   02 6653 1577
Thurs 31st May  Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba       02 4782 1322
Fri 1st June    The Harp, Tempe     02 9559 6300
VIC
Thurs 7th June  The Limelight Lounge,
Geelong                         03 5221 2191
Fri 8th June            Warracknabeal Hotel,
Warracknabeal                      03 5398 1849
Sat 9th June            Peninsula Lounge,
Moorooduc                             03 5978 8717
Sun 10th June           East Brunswick Club,
Brunswick          03 9388 9794
For artist bookings, please contact Paul Minshull
on 03 9509 1080 or mobile: 0417 018 399.   Email: minshull@bigpond.net.au
<http://www.neilmurray.com.au/>www.neilmurray.com.au
www.myspace.com/neilmurraymusic
 

2 SONGMEN
Shane Howard & Neil Murray
“Solid Rock” meets “My Island Home” - The heart and soul of Australia
On Tour April-May
2 Songmen - Shane Howard and Neil Murray are back on the road in April and May with solo acoustic sets and shared songs and stories, a unique performance concept which thrilled audiences nationally since the tour debut last year.

Shane Howard (founding member Goanna) and Neil Murray (founding member Warumpi Band) are weathered songmen who despite the passing trends and decades, still stand tall in this country. In unity, they are an undeniable force in the evolution of our musical traditions.

Individually, they have contributed to the sound scape with defining songs of depth and meaning. In their songs we glimpse a vision of Australia as an independent, compassionate, free thinking country, where its indigenous heritage and environment are protected and respected to form the foundation of a unique national identity.

In 1982, Goanna was thrown into the limelight following the release of the pro land rights song “Solid Rock” written by Shane. Now an Australian classic, “Solid Rock” remains a landmark rallying call in the history of indigenous protest. Since Goanna, Shane has released eight albums producing songs such as Razor’s Edge, Common Ground, Walk on Fire, Murri Time, Heart of my Country, Flesh and Blood, Talk of the Town, Don’t Say OK, The Rebel Song, The River Knows and Let the Franklin Flow to critical acclaim. In a solo career spanning two decades, the accolades continue with 4 star reviews for his current album ‘Songs of Love and Resistance’.

1n 1995, Neil was awarded the APRA song of the year for the anthemic song of belonging “My Island Home”, originally written for the Warumpi Band in 1985 and re-recorded by Christine Anu in the early nineties. “My Island Home” was a highlight during the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and features in APRA’s Top 30 Best Australian Songs of All Time.

Since 1989, Neil’s solo career has produced five albums and spawned such songs as Clever Man, Big Truck, Far Away, Calm and Crystal Clear, Broken Song, Spirit, Bulukbara Man, Menindee, This Bliss, Native Born, Good Light in Broome, Long Grass Band and Myall Creek.

To celebrate the 2 Songmen Tour, compilation double album collections - Shane’s “Retrospect” and Neil’s “About Time” are offered to concert patrons at any venue for $50. Shane’s “Songs of Love and Resistance” and Neil’s poetry album “Spoken” are also available.

Neil’s sixth album “Overnighter” containing new material is scheduled for release this year.

“There’s been times when the Australian music landscape has looked pretty bleak but I can always count on a Shane Howard song to make me sit up and say, “Yes that’s it or I’ve felt that too!”
He is a gifted songwriter in touch with what matters.
Our tracks have met so often we may as well tour together. With the both of us performing on each other’s songs, it gives them a unique focus and brings more weight and reach to what we do”
- Neil Murray

“Neil Murray’s songs and writings speak to me about Australia, in a way that few other artists can. The loss and longing, the need for those of us, as migrant Australians, to understand this Aboriginal Country and create a new way to belong here. Neil’s never opted for the easy road. The hard edged reality of life on the fringes as well as the poetic grandeur of the landscape are all there in his powerful body of work.
– Shane Howard

CONTACTS:
Interviews/Images:
Sue Camilleri Em: soozcam@bigpond.net.au  Tel: 08 89 412 512 Mob: 0408 412 512
Bookings:
Paul Minshull Em: minshull@bigpond.net.au  Tel: 03 9509 1080 Mob: 0417 018 399
www.shanehoward.com.au  www.neilmurray.com.au  www.myspace.com/neilmurraymusic

2 Songmen
Shane Howard & Neil Murray
March, April & May 2007
VIC
31st March Sat Eel Festival Lake Bolac NSW
19th April Thurs The Brass Monkey Cronulla
20th April Fri The Deck Bar Terrigal TBC
21st April Sat The Heritage Hotel Bulli
22nd April Sun Acoustica Festival Balmain Oval
 

NT
26th April Thurs Diggers Den Katherine
27th April Fri Humpty Doo Hotel Darwin
28th April Sat Nhulunbuy Surf Club Nhulunbuy

Far North Q ueensland
1st May Tues The Shrubbery Mission Beach
2nd May Wed Yungaburra Village Chapel Yungaburra
3rd May Thurs The Clink Theatre Port Douglas
4th May Fri Tanks Art Centre Cairns
VIC
11th May Fri Stones Winery Yarra Valley
 

NEIL MURRAY

‘About Time …… A Song Collection’
Since his recordings in the early 80’s with The Warumpi Band and five subsequent albums released under his own name, Neil Murray has successfully chronicled his passion for what Australia could mean for all of us.

Raised on a farm in Western Victoria, Murray’s quest to discover more about Australia led him in 1980 to relocate to the remote Western Desert Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Kintore. His search for a deeper understanding of our original inhabitants resulted in the creation of much of the music on this collection. A painter of vivid lyrical pictures, Murray has never compromised in favour of his fascinating stories taking precedence over the eclectic music he creates. Elements of rock, country, blues and folk are present throughout this double CD which features tracks from his solo releases and on CD 2 live and previously unreleased studio recordings.

To list all the album’s highlights would take longer than the time you’ll spend listening to both CD’s, so I’ll summarize.

Many of the collection’s most memorable tracks are stories associated with indigenous Australians, like ‘Eddie Mabo’ the land rights crusader (‘took ‘em all on and he won, gave us hope where there was none!’), accompanied by chugging rhythm, splashes of Hammond organ and a chanting chorus ‘Eddie Mabo you’re a hero’.

‘Cleverman’ tells of Tjapaltjarri, a man who walked in from the desert, spent 12 months observing western culture and decided it was better out bush. The acoustic based ‘Broken Song’ is about cultural loss suffered by indigenous Australians as a result of being forced fed religion by missionaries (‘we lined up for rations, we lined up in fear of a God we didn’t understand, our customs they were banned’).

As weighty as these songs are, Murray incorporates humour and good times into the mix with songs like the rollicking ‘Good Light In Broome’ (featuring accordion) and ‘Tom Wills Would’ about the legendary coach of The Native X1, the first Australian (all aboriginal) cricket team to tour England and Father of Australian Rules Football, coming to save the local footy team.

In contrast to the lone acoustic guitar and subtle synthesizer on ‘Tom Wills Would’, ‘Calm And Crystal Clear’ (his 1989 debut single) and ‘Big Truck’ are examples of Murray’s irresistible country tinged rock songs.

On the second CD of live and rare tracks Murray reprises only three songs, preferring to go with another dozen originals and the album’s only cover, a rocking version of Danny Thompson’s and Arthur Thingle’s ‘Dear Me’.

Other standouts include ‘Bulukbara Man’ and ‘Johnny Grey’ with its compelling boogie beat and slide guitar solo (‘I wish I could play the guitar like Johnny Grey’). These live tracks feature Murray’s touring band from the early nineties- The Rainmakers. More recent band line-ups give vent to live tracks such as the bluesy “This Time” and the roots flavoured “Long Grass Band.”

Solo acoustic performances ‘One More Mile’, ‘Holy Road’ and ‘Native Born’ are enhanced by the harmony vocals of Christine Anu and Kavisha Mazzella.

Originally recorded with the Warumpi Band, Murray delivers a rousing version of his best known song ‘My Island Home’ for which he won an APRA Award in 1995 for Song Of The Year.

The breadth of Neil Murray’s talents as a musician and songwriter are on full display throughout his new release.

Murray’s music is powerful, seductive, honest and proudly Australian. His lyrical themes are as relevant to Australia as Woody Guthrie’s are to America.

Quote: ‘Lyrically outspoken, musically eclectic, Neil Murray is as good as Australian music gets’.

Billy Pinnell
All Media Enquires:
Paul Minshull
Fuzzy Bear Publicity, Promotion & Management
minshull@bigpond.net.au
Office Tel 03 9509 1080 (from North America dial 011 61 3 9509 1080)
Mobile 0417 018 399 (from North America dial 011 61 417 018 399)

Visit Neil Murray’s website for further information including full discography and tour itinerary at: http://www.neilmurray.com.au/
Print out and have the memories