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Boy that was a powerful night. Big ups to Rosie for pushing through the exhaustion barrier.

There's a big difference between a 7.5/10 and an 8.1/10 :-)

Good is good.

Inspiring is better.

Just like any surfer, you are a part of a system, not the system.

It's you and the wave, the sea, the weather.

Mr Wizard, Brother Bill and Rosie have put extra work into craftsmanship over the last 6 months.

It increases the statistical likelihood of good performance.

Then, all you need is a little luck.

Bravo to the chaps.

Good to see our Cellar Dwellers in numbers last night.

The combined work on set list, guitar change overs and the experiments in adding new songs, resulted in a powerful set last night. It was relentless.

Juggernaut

Still grateful every time we get to do it.

And we get to do it a bit more this week.

Come out and see'em, they're on fire :-)

Been a week.

Trying to finish the digital release for Safe Harbour / Rogue State is ongoing. 

It's taken a while and I am well and truly ready to be done with it. May have spat the dummy at least once whilst dealing with technical complexity and websites.

It's a thing.

Big ups to Ross, , Raelynn and Hugo for talking to the lads last week about the new albums.

Sunday out at Windsor was rain soaked. I'm starting to wonder if it's us :-)

On the one hand, the rain is a blessed relief, and will make filming a clip for Lady Grey all the better.

On the other hand, it's wet, some dude slipped and broke something at the show before ours on Sunday (ouch) and well, water gets in everywhere.

By the time we started up yesterday it was 2 hours later than scheduled. That happens.

Congrats to the participants in the band comp. 

We were fortunate that so many people stayed so late into the evening on a Sunday to hear us, especially after almost 6 hours of straight music - at a volume level that was loudly audible from the car park.

Cheers to the Fitzgerald Family for coming out. We had Jo with us, always sure to make us sound better.

We had a good set, in no small part due to the thoughtfulness of Rosie with the setlist and the additional work Bill & Mr Wizard have put in. Mr Wizard's slide has never sounded better.

Also a big shout out to the Mad Lads on sound who wound up driving back to Melbourne the same night. Hope they opted to stop for some sleep along the way.

This week I still have the never-ending-finish-line to cross, with completion of release items and a show on Saturday at the Townie.

If it's quiet on the blog you may still be able to hear my occasional curse word when I find another typo in my artwork :-)

Here's what Mike O'Cull had to say.

STORMCELLAR 

Safe Harbour 

Rogue State 

Review by Mike O’Cull, independent music journalist. www.mikeocull.com 

Stormcellar is an innovative roots music band from Australia that has spent the last 11 years blending many different roots genres with multimedia and human performance. The band has toured the world and performed with blues legends, Mongolian throat singers, American poets, and a vast assortment of other characters. The level of songwriting and play are always high and anyone who has heard the group knows that a new Stormcellar release is always worth a listen. 

Stormcellar fans are in luck, currently, because the band’s new release is really two distinct records that both overlap and stand alone. Safe Harbour and Rogue State are the titles and each one shows a different facet of this talented outfit. Rogue State is a wonderfully-recorded band record full of outstanding singer/songwriter roots rock music the likes of which few bands can replicate. Many of the tracks carry a vibe somewhere between the Stones and Counting Crows. The standout cut is “Pirouette,” which also appears on Safe Harbour, but no bad songs live here. Check out “Goin’ Downtown,” “Down & Dirty,” and “Soul Thing” to see for yourself. 

Safe Harbour is a more acoustic and art-focused record with a concept. The guitar elements on these songs were recorded outdoors at various locations and the environmental sounds of each made part of the recordings. Video was captured along with audio and you can watch the actual takes heard on the record being laid down. The version of “Pirouette” here, recorded on the Dobroyd Sailing Club Pier in Rodd Point, is stunningly emotional done with acoustic guitar, violin, and a vocal. The outdoor sounds bring an unexpected tranquility to the moment, so use your headphones to not miss anything. An instrumental version that’s included is just as beautiful. “Sail Away” is another great song given the same treatment. Vocal, instrumental, and electronically remixed versions are included and each has its charms. 

Stormcellar radiates the confidence of an established band comfortably pushing its creativity in public. All of this music is deserving of your time and fans of lyrical songwriting may find this to be their new favorite band. Play these albums for anyone needing a reason to still believe in perfectly-executed guitar-and-vocal music.