DAVE'S DIARY - 12 MARCH 2006 - PREVIEW EPISODE 9 - SERIES 5
MICK THOMAS HOSTS NU COUNTRY TV
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Gregarious
record label boss and singer-songwriter Mick Thomas hosts Nu Country
TV live from the Harvest Festival on C 31 for this week's episode
- Tuesday March 14. The former Weddings, Parties Anything and latter day The Sure Thing front person took centre stage at Red Hill for the show - 9 p m Tuesday - and 3.30 p m on Friday. |
Thomas is also an accomplished stage musical director with his nationally acclaimed role in stage productions of Over In The West, Run Rabbit Run and The Tank, penned by his brother Steve.
Mick also
performed with his band at the January festival at Red Hill showgrounds.
Thomas, now 46, blazed a unique trail since forming WPA from ashes of
The Never Never band in Geelong in 1978.
WPA enjoyed a 15-year reign with diverse albums and EPs til 1998 - fellow
Geelong refugee Dave Steel was one of the original members.
The band also performed internationally before Thomas cut Dust on My
Shoes and The Horse's Prayer with The Sure Thing.
The singer writes distinctive Aussie songs about sport, culture, famed
locales, social comment and historic heroes such as Tex Morton that connect
with listeners.
Some such as Father's Day and Monday's Experts have become
Aussie standards.
Thomas also composed tunes for soundtracks of TV documentaries Shacks,
The Real Water Rats, The End Of The Game and Left Luggage.
And his creative combos have also released live discs, DVDS and concert
bootlegs.
Thomas performs his tune Something To Fight For on this week's show.
Further info - www.mickthomas.com
BARB WATERS
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Thomas
chose fellow St Kilda supporter and Myrtleford born singer-songwriter
Barb Waters for this episode. She also toured internationally with one of her duet partners Cyndi Boste. |
Barb worked
as a solo artist before playing guitar and singing in 80's bands diverse
as Broken Hearts, Billy Baxter's Hollowmen and Chris Wilson's Crown Of
Thorns.
She supported one of her heroines - Louisiana singer-songwriter Lucinda
Williams.
CLICK HERE for a Waters story from
the Diary on August 13, 2003.
DAN WARNER
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Melbourne
singer Dan Warner released A Likeness of You on Croxton Records
after cutting three albums and 2 EPS with The Warner Bros and Overnight
Jones. Warner also won acclaim with acoustic duo Dan & Al with a four-year reign at famed Corner Hotel. |
He spent two years living in New York, performing with Kevin Garant - guitarist with Weird Al Yankovic and Vanilla Ice.
Warner opened
for Lee Roy Parnell - revered Texan guitarist, singer-songwriter and former
member of singing crime novelist Kinky Friedman's Texas Jewboys - on his
2002 Australian tour.
He has also released The Magic Rider (2005) with Garant
and Warner Corner (2003).
Dan performs his song Fairies this week.
MARCEL BORRACK
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Hawthorn
singer-songwriter Marcel Borrack also followed his dream overseas
to hone his music. Borrack performed in London in 2005 after cutting debut solo disc Help in 2004. He promoted it solo and with his band Peaks And Valleys. Borrack played all instruments, cut his vocals and produced Help in his home studio after a decade of working with bands. The former art teacher has also scored three films and projects for Experimenta Media Arts. |
He played on former Git singer Suzannah Espie's solo disc A Few More Days.
"I thinking
working with pictures and writing for other people has definitely made
me listen to my own music in a different way", says Borrack.
He performs the video of the title track of Help.
MICK HARVEY
Thomas also
included another Mick - Harvey - who performs Hank Williams Said It
Best in his Harvest episode.
Nick Cave's Bad Seeds collaborator performs the latest in a galaxy of
tributes to the late country legend who died at 29 in the back seat of
Cadillac en route to a gig on New Year's Eve, 1952.