By JESSE GRAHAM
THE chance to get up-close-and-personal with a living piece of Australian music history will be on offer through the hills this weekend, when Steve Kilbey takes to the stage.
The frontman for 30-year-old band The Church, Kilbey will be performing at Burrinja and Montrose on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November in two special solo shows, which will combine music – old and new – and written words.
Kilbey told the Mail that visitors to the show could expect an intimate event with songs from The Church’s latest album – Further/Deeper – along with classics and readings from his recently released memoirs, Something Quite Peculiar.
“It’s just me,” he said.
“You gain and lose something if it’s The Church – you get the big bloody circus of The Church – with 10 roadies and 5000 guitars, you get all of that, but you don’t get any intimacy.
“You can have me and have all the intimacy.”
He said that, while he hasn’t performed in the Yarra Ranges before, he was looking forward to the show and exploring the hills, time permitting.
“It really is a lovely area – I’m looking forward to checking it out.”
Both Kilbey and The Church have a strong standing in Australian music history, with The Church named by some as the greatest Australian song of all time, and Kilbey becoming an inductee to the Australian Music Hall of Fame, with over 750 original songs penned through his career.
He said that he got his first bass guitar at the age of 16 – 44 years ago – and was heavily influenced by The Beatles and David Bowie, something that reflected in his music.
Now, 34 years after The Church was established, Kilbey said the influences remain, but are more subtly laid into songs.
“I think that, as you get older and older, you start to combine your influences more subtly – a song alludes to David Bowie rather than directly referencing him,” he said.
“It took me a long time before I wrote a song that wasn’t blatantly anyone else.”
“If you’re good enough, eventually you become more than your influences.”
Steve Kilbey will be performing at Burrinja in Upwey on Friday 14 November and Montrose Town Centre on Saturday 15 November – both shows start at 8pm.
Tickets to both shows are $33.
For more information, visit ach.yarraranges.vic.gov.au, burrinja.org.au or call 1300 368 333.
