Wednesday, April 23

MELBOURNE trio Even is one of Australia's great unsung bands.

The trio, which formed 14 years ago, deserves to be as big as Jet and highly acclaimed as You Am I, but the big breakthrough radio hit never came.

The band's ace guitarist/vocalist, Ash Naylor, is one of the country's best axemen, recognised by no less than Paul Kelly, who recruited him for guitar chores a couple of years back (by the way, check out this week's Messenger for a chance to win a copy of Kelly's new DVD Live Apples, which features Ash).

``That was an amazing time for me,'' Ash says.

``It was totally inspiring and the touring group was fantastic. Just incredible.''

Even is certainly recognised internationally and will be heading for the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the UK, along with a few other London gigs with Sebadoh, after its show here in early May.

The band  Ash, Wally Kempton (bass) and Matthew Cotter (drums)  also has toured backing Posies singer/guitarist Ken Stringfellow (who was in Australia as REM's keyboardist at the time), and recently contributed to a Posies tribute album with a version of certified classic Solar Sister.

Keep an eye out for the trio's fifth album and first new release in four years, a self-titled effort which kicks off with first single I Am the Light.

``We're really putting the focus on the new record,'' Ash says.

``Having been around for 14 years, you don't want to bog yourselves down with your back catalogue. You acknowledge it, but at the same time we're putting out a new record. To a lot of people we're a new band, which is sort of funny, given that we're all on the wrong side of 35.''

Catch Even at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday, May 3.
 

Wednesday, April 11 

ANYONE in the mood to get nostalgic about the golden era of Aussie rock should wander down to the Gov this week to see our first genuine singer/songwriter star, Richard Clapton.

The Sydney-based artist emerged in early '70s in an era of introspective Canadian, New York and Californian singer/songwriters, becoming our first songsmith to actually write about the land downunder, mostly penned as he was playing at clubs and coffee houses throughout the UK and Europe.

Clapton is celebrating the 35th anniversary of his debut album, Prussian Blue, with a retrospective concert that will touch on tunes from iconic albums such as Girls on the Avenue, Main St Jive and Goodbye Tiger.

He's probably still best known for Girls on the Avenue, which became his breakthrough pop hit, but also scored plenty of FM airplay with the likes of Deep Water, Down in the Lucky Country, Capricorn Dancer and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Most recently, Clapton revisited some of his best-known songs in acoustic mode on Rewired, as part of the Liberation Blue acoustic series.

Catch Richard Clapton and his band at the Governor Hindmarsh on Friday, April 18.


GREAT to see rising Adelaide outfit Wolf & Cub has signed deal with major music publisher Domino Publishing. The deal covers the US, Europe and the UK.

Domino represents a remarkable array of writers and musicians, including Bonnie Prince Billy, Vashti Bunyan, The Kills, Spiritualized and Robert Wyatt.

Wolf & Cub grabbed Domino's attention with debut album Vessels, and reps were there to see the band play at last year's South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

``Joel Byrne writes great tunes that rock our world and Domino Publishing is proud to have him on board,'' Domino general manager (UK) Paul Lambden says.

The band is currently recording its second album, due to be released on Remote Control's Dot Dash label later this year.