11/11/13 MUDGEE GUARDIAN - Australian Idol Winner Opens a Ne
Nov 11, 2013 14:39:56 GMT 10
Post by thebraff (Braffy) on Nov 11, 2013 14:39:56 GMT 10
www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/1898442/australian-idol-winner-opens-a-new-chapter/?cs=1485
AustralianIdol winner opens a new chapter
By SAM PAINE
Nov. 11, 2013, 4 a.m.
Singer Damien Leith will perform at Roth’s Wine Bar on Wednesday.
Damien Leith will come through Mudgee on Wednesday, playing songs from his first independent album at Roth’s Wine Bar.
The Irish-born Australian Idol winner has just released Chapter Seven – his seventh album overall, his first wholly original album in four years, and his first album since leaving Sony and striking out alone.
The album is written, produced and engineered by Leith in the studio he built five minutes from his home – after realising that a home studio and three children did not make a good combination.
He began recording songs while co-writing, and started working to achieve a more professional sound with his equipment.
“I gradually got more and more into it,” he said. “I love it now.”
When he reached the end of his commitment to Sony, Leith considered the contract that was on the table and decided it was “a good time to take the bull by the horns” by starting out as an independent artist.
“It was a big decision,” he said. “It was a tough decision.”
Starting his career out of the success of Australian Idol, he said he had been thrown in with “the big guns” early and had a lot of people involved in directing his career.
“I had a great experience with Sony and I learned a lot,” he said.
Nonetheless, his growing enthusiasm for producing his own material, and the feeling that he was ready to focus on his own material, made him start out as an independent and produce the new album himself.
Chapter Seven is made up of the 12 songs Leith felt best represented him, which he says are characterised by a focus on lyrics, an intimate mood, and a very organic sound.
“This is exactly what I sound like,” he said.
His current tour, which started in Perth on October 31 and will end at the Basement in Sydney in mid-December, will take him through Brisbane, Hobart and Melbourne, and to more intimate venues such as Roth’s Wine Bar in between.
“It’s a big tour, but we’re playing a lot of small rooms,” he said.
“I way prefer it actually - it’s much more my style.”
Because he will be making his first visit to Mudgee this week, Leith will combine songs from his new album with his well-loved versions of classics such as Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and the music of Roy Orbison, to give a full retrospective of his seven-chapter journey so far.
Damien Leith will play at Roth’s Wine Bar on Wednesday, November 13, from 8pm.
