31/1/13 The Age - TURNING OVER A NEW LEITH OR NOT
Jan 31, 2013 0:02:28 GMT 10
Post by thebraff (Braffy) on Jan 31, 2013 0:02:28 GMT 10
www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/turning-over-a-new-leith-or-not-20130130-2dkt1.html
Turning over a new Leith, or not
January 31, 2013
Naomi Fallon
He's a singer, a songwriter, a performer and a television personality but Damien Leith's most important titles are that of husband and father.
So it makes sense that one of the artist's most cherished songs is one he wrote for his wife, Eileen Stapleton, and their three young children.
''I do that at every single show, because it's just one of those songs where I know exactly where I wrote it, I know where I was in my life at the time - it's just a really significant song for me,'' he says.
''The chorus, it just says it straight, it comes straight at you - 'you're beautiful and I adore you' … I love singing that song.''
While Leith first wrote the tune several years ago, it was a new version that appeared on his 2012 album Now & Then, and caught the attention of perfume giant Estee Lauder.
''For it to have been picked up and run on a worldwide campaign … that was so special for me - of all the songs to pick that one,'' he says.
''I was over the moon. It's one of my most personal songs.''
When Fairfax caught up with the proud dad, he couldn't help but gush over his children. Although he admits the youngest, Kikki, was quite a shock to the system when she came along nearly two years ago.
''For a while there we were back in the learning curve. The two boys [Jagger and Jarvis] were at a stage where they were kind of doing their own thing and then Kikki came along so we went right back to the start - we didn't even have a cot,'' he says with a laugh.
''But she's just incredible, she's a lovely little thing, so we're just over the moon. The boys adore her and so do we.''
Leith promises that Beautiful, along with crowd favourites Hallelujah and Crying - which were ''real turning points'' for him as a singer - will be included in the set list for his run of The Hits shows.
''The idea is just to give people exactly what they really want to hear,'' he says. ''There's favourites that I have and that the band like to play and then there's a couple of key songs that we know audiences want to hear, so it's hard to choose which ones to play.
''It'll be a big show, so we'll be covering a lot of stuff so hopefully everyone will leave happy.''
A lot has happened in the six years since Leith took out Australian Idol - namely the axing of the show in 2009 - but he's still a fan of the broader talent-show concept.
''American Idol - with all that fighting and bickering - is silly, but I still kind of like the format,'' he says.
''I pity anyone on it purely because I know what it was like and it was so nerve-racking. As time went on it became more and more important.''
Leith was glued to last year's series of The Voice, keen to see how his long-time friend and collaborator Diana Rouvas would fare on the show.
''I thought The Voice was really well done. They all remind me of Idol at the end of the day, they're all different takes on the same thing really,'' he says.
''I think they're really important shows to have. There's been some serious talent over the last couple of years - like Diana - people have gone on to do great things.''
Damien Leith
Where: Canberra Southern Cross Club
When: Friday, February 15
Tickets: 6283 7288
Read more: www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/turning-over-a-new-leith-or-not-20130130-2dkt1.html#ixzz2JT1ot3WA
too Braffy....thank you for posting 
(they did forget author though) and the best of sounds exciting 
