DAVE'S DIARY - 16 AUGUST 2005 - PREVIEW EPISODE 7 - SERIES 4
KRISTOFFERSON HEADLINES NU COUNTRY TV ON SATURDAY
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Famed
singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson headlines Nu Country
TV on Saturday night - August 20 - to promote his sixth Australian
tour. The singer has made 82 movies since his debut with Harry Dean Stanton in 1971 in The Last Movie and was cast as a pot dealer in Cisco Pike with Gene Hackman and Karen Black. |
Other early films were Blume In Love, Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (with Dylan), Star Is Born, Convoy and Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea.
He had roles
with fellow Highwaymen in Gospel Road (1973), Hank Williams - The Man
And His Music (1980) Songwriter (1984), The Last Days of Frank and Jesse
James (1986) and Another Pair of Aces (1991).
Kristofferson stars in new movie The Jacket and Be Here To Love Me: A
Film About Townes Van Zandt at recent Melbourne Film Festival.
Queensland born singer James Blundell supports Kris on this national acoustic
tour.
CLICK HERE for a
feature on Kristofferson from the Diary on July 21, 2005.
BILLY WYATT AUSSIE TOUR PREVIEW
 David Dawson, Billy Wyatt & Dianne Grant |
Billy
Wyatt hails from Apache Junction - the historic Arizona city made
famous in the Billy Bob Thornton movie Bad Santa. Billy also won a vast galaxy of fans when he performed at the Nu Country Christmas party at the famed Bush Inn, West Toorak, and the East Burwood recovery party on the Sabbath. Wyatt, 55, returns to Australia in spring and y'all have a chance to see him perform again for Nu Country in the wilds of a footy free Carringbush locale. |
Billy cut
a brace of videos for us at Superstition Skies Restaurant in Apache Junction
on June 14.
The clips - a collage of live footage and Arizona desert scapes featuring
Billy's truck driving spouse - are authentic Americana.
Wyatt's evocative homage to his wife, Working Man's Girl, premieres on
Nu Country on Saturday.
Please let us know if you want to see Billy and his hot Aussie band -
featuring Dead Livers guitarist and Nu Country technician Rodger Delfos
- in Melbourne.
CLICK HERE to read
more about Billy in the DIARY on December 7, 2004.
COUNTRY ENCYLOPEDIA GIVEAWAY
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When
Melbourne academic Graeme Smith began writing his country and folk
music encyclopedia he had no idea of the historic war between the
two genres. Dawson's song was a reaction to the hillbillies' open warfare on the progressives in Sydney, Melbourne, Tamworth and beyond. |
Co-writer
Darcy LeYear (latter day singer for The Wolverines) and former Melbourne
singer B J McKay both recorded the song at the peak of the war.
We feature a snippet of LeYear's video version on Simon Townsend's national
TV show Wonderworld.
You could win Smith's book, courtesy of Pluto Press, by watching our show
Saturday and emailing our web page.
CLICK HERE
for a story on Singing Australian from The Diary.
CLICK HERE to find out how to
win the book.
ALISON KRAUSS RETURN
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Bluegrass
superstar Alison Krauss performs a video for her latest hit Goodbye
Is All We Have from her 11th album Lonely Runs Both Ways
(Rounder-Shock.) Krauss, 34 and winner of Grammy Awards, and band Union Station have long been the most successful artists of her genre. The singer has won wide acclaim for her music that embraces bluegrass and acoustic and prompted many offers to tour Australia. |
Sydney promoter
Rob Potts has been chasing Krauss to tour after fellow bluegrass star
Ricky Skaggs cancelled at the 11th hour.
CLICK HERE to read
about Krauss in the Diary on January 23, 2005.
SIMON BRUCE
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Former
Melbourne musician Simon Bruce busked the streets of London at 13
and cut his second EP in Nashville at 15 with Tommy Emmanuel producing
and Keith Urban guesting. Bruce also toured the U.S. with John Hiatt at 19 and worked the Texas kicker circuit with revered peers Slaid Cleaves and Nathan Hamilton. Now, at the ripe old age of 20, he has released an acclaimed album Restless Thoughts produced by Nash Chambers on the NSW Central Coast. The album is on the indie Essence label set up Nash - brother of Kasey and son of Bill and Dianne. Bruce performs a video clip for his single The Holy Grail on Nu Country. CLICK HERE for a Bruce CD review from the Diary. |
SAM HAWKSLEY
Orange born
singer-songwriter Sam Hawksley won international credit for writing with
peers diverse as Ohio born Nashville singer Kim Richey and Jesse Harris
- guitarist for a then unknown Nora Jones.
Hawksley, 36, has also written with a brace of leading Australians including
Felicity, Melinda Schneider and Russell Morris.
The singer opened for expatriate Australasian superstar Keith Urban on
his 2005 tour to promote his second album Anything You Want on Roadshow
Music.
Hawksley also performs with expatriates Catherine Britt and The Greencards
on an Aussie expo in Nashville in September.
He performs on his video for new single Only Crying on Nu Country
on Saturday.
CLICK HERE for a Hawksley
feature from the Diary on February 12, 2005.
JOSH ARNOLD
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Queensland
born Josh Arnold has made three albums after bursting from the Brigalow
way out west of Toowoomba last decade. |
CLICK
HERE for a Josh review from The Diary.