Off the back of new single, ‘Big Things Calling’, the first taste of their forthcoming new album, Melbourne’s The Perch Creek Family Jugband have just announced their national “Dressin’ Up & Shakin’ Down” tour.
Originally from Perch Creek in the North Coast area of NSW, The Perch Creek Family Jugband is four siblings and one stray partner. With humble beginnings as a street jug band led by their eccentric father, Bob Hodgkins, The Perch Creek Family Jugband has been performing and evolving over the best part of ten years. Though Bob has since hung up his jug band hat and handed over the reins, he laid in place the foundations for one of the most engrossing and innovative musical acts doing the rounds of Australia today.
From playing live on Spicks & Specks to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Perch Creek Family Jug Band have a long history of working, touring, playing and living together, but interestingly, given their history and lineage, their new studio album (set for early 2014 release) marks the first time they’ve collaborated closely as a unit throughout all stages of the song writing process.
Realised on a week-long song writing session in a holiday house nestled in the sand dunes of the Mornington Peninsula, new single ‘Big Things Calling’ was the first track to come out of the process. Featuring lush five-part harmonies over a chant-like chorus, with lyrics that hint at the melancholic while remaining uplifting and powerful in their themes of change and reflection, ‘Big Things Calling’ ushers in a new sonic direction for the troupe – one that sees them expanding beyond their traditional jug band roots into a more indie-folk, contemporary sound.
Since returning from the Peninsula trip, the band — Camilla Hodgkins [banjo, keys], Christi Hodgkins [harmonica, trombone, saw], Eileen Hodgkins [banjo-uke, guitar, tap dancing], James Chandler [double bass] and Lear Hodgkins [drums, washboard, jug]; all of whom contribute vocals — have been on a roll with collaborative song writing. The upshot of it all is a brand new album of original material that also sees them experimenting further with harmonies, instrumentation and production, all of which has instilled a new energy and excitement for where the band are at as musicians, individuals and most importantly, as a group.
Now: to take this new sound and the songs that it has spawned (as well as all their crowd favourites) on the road; The Perch Creek Family Jugband are “Dressin’ Up & Shakin’ Down” Australia, and they’re inviting you to join them. Spritzing up each venue on the tour, pulling on their own best threads and hoping you come along in yours, the “Dressin’ Up & Shakin’ Down” tour will see the quintet teaming up with a selection of their favourite acts as well as unearthing some other little surprises for new friends and fans along the way.
Since relocating there two years ago the band has exploded onto the Melbourne scene, earning themselves a reputation as purveyors of quality music and entertaining antics. Like Perch Creek itself, The Perch Creek Family Jugband are at times raging and relentless and at others placid and haunting, performing with a high energy, harmony-driven sound drawing from folk, roots and gospel, favouring instrumentation as diverse as the trombone, frailing banjo, washboard, double bass, overdriven blues harp, musical saw, tap dancing and a whole lot of other stuff including, of course, the jug. A staple on the Australian festival circuit, performing at Woodford Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, The National Folk Festival, Tamworth Country Music Festival and Mullum Music Festival to name a few, the last few years alone has taken them from dusty street corners to The Sydney Opera House, with two successful tours of Europe and the UK in there to boot.
So get all dressed up, and come shake down with The Perch Creek Family Jugband.
Dressin’ Up & Shakin’ Down Tour Dates
Fri 4 Oct – The Joynt, Brisbane, QLD
Sun 6 Oct – Caloundra Festival, King’s Beach Park, Caloundra, QLD
Fri 11 Oct – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
Sat 12 Oct – Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan, VIC
Fri 18 – Sun 20 Oct – Patchewollock Music Festival
Thu 24 Oct – The Vanguard, Sydney, NSW
Fri 25 Oct – The Polish Club, Canberra, ACT
Sat 26 Oct – City Diggers, Wollongong, NSW
Sun 27 Oct – The Vanguard, Sydney, NSW
Sat 16 Nov – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
Thu 21 Nov – Sun 24 Nov – Mullumfest, Mullumbimby, NSW
Fri 22 Nov – The Soundlounge, Currumbin, QLD
Thu 28 Nov – Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Hotel Steyne, Manly, NSW
Fri 29 Nov – The Small Ballroom, Newcastle, NSW
Sat 30 Nov – Diggers Tavern, Bellingen, NSW