Well aint that just the line up to end all line ups?!
Rattlehand are officially breaking the champagne bottle over their new album this Saturday Nov 26th at the Beetle Bar in Brisbane, featuring Sue Ray warming the stage from about 8:30pm.
Tickets for this event are moving pretty fast but there are still a few left so jump on to www.oztix.com/rattlehand
You can get further details including stage times and links to support act websites here.
Hope to see you there on the night!
If you have a spare couple of hours this evening we strongly recommend you get on down to X&Y Bar in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley to catch a very special event.
Sue Ray will be supporting the amazing Nigel Wearne (Melb) who is touring nationally to support his new solo album. Sue takes the stage at about 8:20pm and Nigel will follow at around 9:30pm.
This promises to be a night of incredibly good alt country/folk tunes and a great opportunity to experience an intimate set with both Sue and Nigel.
You can get all the information you need about the show here.
Hope to see you all there to support both our local musicians and our mates from down south.
Check out this great interview with Sue on Channel C!
Tune in to PBS106.7fm from 3:30 this afternoon (Thurs 29th September) to hear Sue chatting about her songwriting and playing a couple of live tunes from Red Roses.
And make sure you drop in to one of her shows this weekend in Melbourne to catch her superb live show and say G’Day.
Well Sue is finally heading down to Melbourne for some long overdue shows with a few mates from down that way.
You can see Sue live at:
The Empress Hotel, joined by the Hope Addicts, Sunday 2nd October from 4pm
&
The Old Bar, Sunday 2nd October, joined by Kirra Puru and The Bruise from 9pm
And you can hear Sue chatting and playing live on:
PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne, Thursday 29th September from 3:30pm
Spread the word around and don’t miss this great opportunity to see Sue live and hear all the tracks from her latest record Red Roses.
When Sue gets back she will be playing some fabulously intimate shows around Brisbane including this great show with Nigel Wearne and a lovely acoustic evening at the Vinyl Bar.
And if you have a minute, pop by Sue’s facebook page and give her a like so you can keep up with all the latest news and receive exclusive giveaways and promotions.
Hi everyone!
Sue is very pleased to be able to offer a bunch of freebies to you all. For the rest of this week only, you can visit Sue’s bandcamp page here and click “free download” to receive your copy of the single Soldier’s Son!
You should also come along to Black Bear Lodge on Saturday night from 7pm to see Sue perform live. Entry is free and Sue will be joined by amazing alt-country rockers Rattlehand – a night not to be missed.
And if that wasn’t enough motivation, Sue will be giving away a copy of her new album Red Roses during her set!
Look forward to seeing you all there 🙂
The lovely people over at TOM Magazine have deemed Red Roses to be their Album of the Week
You can read an amazing review of the album here at TOM Magazine or below. Thanks so much to Hedi Mailer for giving Red Roses four and a half stars!
If you like what you hear, you can see Sue live this weekend at the Black Bear Lodge! Hope to see you there.
Red Roses (Sue Ray Music)
With its bright, bold harmonica intro and jaunty melodic quality, the opening track of Brisbane singer/songwriter Ray’s second album, Shake It Off, is in many ways classic Sue Ray: an engaging instrumental composition paired with often deceptively dark lyrics. “There’s a storm in a cup and it’s drinking me up dear,” she sings. “Could you maybe pass the salt? There’s a lemon in my eyes and smoke up in the sky / And I’m having trouble keeping up.” Back in 2007, I happened upon Ray playing a show at the now defunct Troubadour and was utterly spellbound. She has the sort of rare voice – deep, dark, gorgeously emotive, and molasses-rich that stirs something within the listener and never quite lets go. She gets under your skin and stays there. The following year, Ray released her debut album. The appropriately named Best Beware was a wonderful slice of lo-fi alt-country and its follow-up, Red Roses, builds on the immense promise of that record.
These 12 songs are evocative, sometimes quietly playful, often sad, almost always wryly knowing and impressively well crafted. Many deal with heartbreak, loss, longing or love gone awry – ‘Love Evermore’, ‘Wish I Was’ and ‘Red Roses’, for example – and showcase Ray’s torch singer vocals to perfection. Whether she is inhabiting the persona of a woman scornful and angry at the loss of her husband (‘Soldier’s Son’) – on which she lets loose with lines like: “This soldier’s son is gonna need a dad / The war was won but there’s no one in my bed / And the well is nearly empty and the milk is turning sour / Guess I’m all the man this house has now” – or reflecting on the letters she writes a lover in her head (‘Another Letter’) – “Wrote you another letter in my head / It’s a shame you’ll never know just what it said” – one thing remains impressively consistent: her heart-rending voice and undeniable gifts as a songwriter. If you’re a fan of the likes of Brandi Carlile or Laura Cantrell, give Sue Ray a listen; chances are you’ll emerge from the experience an unequivocal convert to her passionately original brand of alt-country.
(Heidi Maier)
Sue will be playing an intimate acoustic set at Paddington’s Dowse Bar this weekend from 6pm.
Check out all the details and RSVP at the Facebook Event here.
The very talented Steve Grady will warm the stage for Sue at 5pm, so get there early and enjoy a few (very!) cheap beers and fantastic pizza!
Don’t miss it!
Brisbane’s Sue Ray isn’t really one for labels. Sure, you could call her a ‘singer-songwriter’ or a ‘solo artist’ – but she prefers simply ‘musician’. And when you look at her impressive career to date, you can see why.
There’s been the garage rock bands, the country folk songs, the collaborations – even a stint in a philharmonic choir. And it’s that wide breadth of experience that has been etched all over her new solo record Red Roses.
Confident, considered, warm, spontaneous – this collection of country-tinged songs showcases a songwriter and performer filled with confidence, maturity and a sense of experimentation. Add in Sue Ray’s show stopping voice, a band of exceptional players, and ARIA winning producer Magoo, and you have an album that really feels like the work of someone born to make music.
But then Sue Ray has known nothing else. Growing up in a musical family in Toowoomba – west of Brisbane – she learned from a very early age that music was something to be valued and treasured…that is was more than just wallpaper. So, for the past 15 years she has followed a path that has taken her around the country and the globe.
Moving to Brisbane in 2000, she found herself swept into that city’s music community. With her bands The Fondelles and Sugartown she earned plenty of fans, and soon other artists came calling. To date she has performed on stage and in the studio as a guest with numerous bands and artists including The Gin Club, Darren Hanlon, Baron Field & Shifter. While with her bands – and as a solo artist – she has opened for everyone from Faker, The Apartments, Keith Podger, The Purple Hearts, The Kill Devil Hills, and Halfway to The Wilson Pickers, Busby Marou and Dan Sultan.
Sue Ray sees that connection with any number of artists and genres as key to her growth as a songwriter. It’s about challenging herself to try new things, explore new sounds and mess around with convention. And soon enough it was her talent and dedication as a solo writer and performer that really started to shine through.
As 612ABC Radio’s Mardi Lumsden put it a couple years back: “Sue walked on stage and my jaw hit the ground. Her voice was so strong and confident. Her guitar playing is excellent and her songs heartbreaking. A consummate performer.”
In 2008 Sue Ray released her debut solo offering Best Beware ¬– a mini-album that effectively cemented her spot as one of Brisbane’s most gifted talents. Enjoying strong support at community radio across the country, tracks from the album went on to be nominated for numerous Q Song awards with the song ‘Last Cigarette’ also featured on the 2009 ‘Home’ compilation of Australia’s finest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.
Having spent years touring to most of Australia’s major cities – and plenty in between – Sue Ray started looking further a field for inspiration and last year packed her guitar and went to Europe. Chalking up shows across the continent and the UK, the trip became pivotal to writing and producing the new album. Away from the comfort and familiarity of home, Sue Ray found she had time to reflect and get comfortable in her own skin – to deal with fears and insecurities and let herself be a more vulnerable and open through her music. And as the songs began to take shape they had at their core a sense of honesty and depth that she has managed to keep front and centre across the finished album.
Sue Ray returned home earlier this year and brought together a collection of friends and fellow artists to make the new album at Magoo’s country studio Applewood. Drawn to the no-fuss recording approach of artists like The Cowboy Junkies and Neko Case, Sue Ray’s priority in making the album was to capture the performance, not simply piece together the tracks in the studio – an ambition she has more than just realised.
Hardly one to sit still Sue Ray plans on spending the rest of this year hitting the road to tour and promote the independently released album – released July 29th – and finishing the year with a slot at the Dreaming Festival already on the cards. Whichever way she goes, creatively and professionally, you get the sense that Sue Ray has now, perhaps for the first time, truly found her voice.
New album “Red Roses” coming out 29th July 2011 !
