Country & Redfern – with a passion

Eight years ago Joe began a song-writing collaboration with good friend, Edmond Kairouz. Joe had sheets of poetry and could hear melodies in his head. Edmond played guitar and accordian. The two produced some four hundred songs, inspired by the music they loved: Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin, Townes Van Zandt, Springsteen, Dylan, Cash; Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Etta James; Gram Parsons, Ray Charles, Joe Henry …

I’m sitting with Joe in a Redfern café, and taking notes furiously. Joe is excited. After eight years he has a band, the Torchsong Country Soul Band, an eponymous debut EP, and an EP launch this month at the Bald Faced Stag in Leichhardt.

“It was Dennis Aubrey at the Harp in Tempe who encouraged Edmond and I to get up and play a song. He came up with the “Country & Redfern” tag. There is a lot of country music in Redfern,” says Joe.

“But I always imagined my songs sung by a female vocalist, so we placed an ad in the street press, and Maree [Byrne] sent us a demo she’d made in Ireland. The first time I heard her voice I just thought it was amazing. In 2004 we started playing as a three-piece – first time, I think, was at MASS in Balmain at St Andrew’s church on Darling Street.”

Joined by Mitch Mitchell on bass, Nick Williams on harmonica and dobro, and Mark Fairhurst on drums (and graphic design!), the Torchsong Country Soul Band was complete.

The EP is a showcase of the band – six songs, six styles – from folk to blue-grass, from country-soul to blues. Recorded at Damien Gerard Studios in May and engineered by Andrew Beck, it will appeal to lovers of rootsy Americana. The sound is accomplished, confident: three-part harmonies, winding guitar and harmonica solos, well-crafted tunes. It’s currently available from So Music (183 King St Newtown), Holey Moley (1/325 King St Newtown), and Freestyle (412 Elizabeth St).

The Torchsong Country Soul Band supported by Bare Bones and Steph Miller. Sunday 14 October from 3pm at the Bald Faced Stag, 345 Parramatta Road Leichhardt. Entry is $6.

www.torchsong.moonfruit.com & www.myspace.com/torchsongcountrysoulband

Photo: Andrew Beck  The Torchsong Country Soul Band

Source: South Sydney Herald October 2007