Van & Cal Walker - live at Basement Discs - 7 August 2009There hasn’t been a Basement Discs In Store performance for some weeks, so it was a welcome interlude in the ho hum of Friday, to saunter down to Block Place and see Van Walker, with a “cast of thousands”, play his new CD, The Last Record Store, from start to finish.
Originally from Tasmania, Van Walker now is another supremely talented member of the local Melbourne music scene. He writes fantastic songs and appears to have learned his song smithing at the feet of masters. His songs are story songs and tell tales of “misunderstood werewolves, bus driving pariahs, gentle bushrangers, homicidal drifters, lost dogs & odes to old slow computers”
He has the voice too to carry them off – a strong attractive tenor, not to mention the musical credentials to give the songs solid tunes and is moreover a pretty good guitar picker.
As well as his older brother Cal, today there was a large band of musicians backing him – they barely managed to squeeze onto the tiny Basement stage - and included a string bass, keyboard, fiddle, banjo, clarinet and a female backing singer.
In the audience I spotted several other local musicians, Suzannah Espie for one, and Liz Stringer for another.
You can check out Van Walker's music on his My Space page .
Next week Basement Discs present Louis King and the Liars Klub – a local rhythm and blues band, whose new record “That And A Quarter” has been receiving rave reviews.
Originally from Tasmania, Van Walker now is another supremely talented member of the local Melbourne music scene. He writes fantastic songs and appears to have learned his song smithing at the feet of masters. His songs are story songs and tell tales of “misunderstood werewolves, bus driving pariahs, gentle bushrangers, homicidal drifters, lost dogs & odes to old slow computers”
He has the voice too to carry them off – a strong attractive tenor, not to mention the musical credentials to give the songs solid tunes and is moreover a pretty good guitar picker.
As well as his older brother Cal, today there was a large band of musicians backing him – they barely managed to squeeze onto the tiny Basement stage - and included a string bass, keyboard, fiddle, banjo, clarinet and a female backing singer.
In the audience I spotted several other local musicians, Suzannah Espie for one, and Liz Stringer for another.
You can check out Van Walker's music on his My Space page .
Next week Basement Discs present Louis King and the Liars Klub – a local rhythm and blues band, whose new record “That And A Quarter” has been receiving rave reviews.
2 comments:
is it about The Last Record Store that's in Smith St ?
I think so...didn't see any alley cats while there earlier this month. The album is great, playing it right now after bringing it back to the UK.
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