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M WARD: POST-WAR
Portland Oregan based singer-songwriter M WARD returns to Australia this summer in support of his latest (and greatest) album Post-War. Musically Post-War follows on from 2005's Transistor Radio and Ward's fascination with the sounds of pre-war folk and blues while lyrically some of the themes on Post-War are inspired by two pieces of post-war literature, Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, particularly when they're applied to the ongoing war in Iraq.
"Something that I think about is what is going to happen in the country once these soldiers come home -- what happens to these families that have been broken up," he says. "I like the way these kind of novels had addressed the 'coming home.'"
Post-War is Ward's first "full band" record. The artist recruited percussionists Rachel Blumberg (formerly of the Decemberists) and Jordan Hudson (formerly of the Thermals), who toured with him over the past year and a half, to fill out the record. Multi-instrumentalist Mike Coykendall, singer Neko Case and My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James also contributed their talents.
"This is the first time I've had a core of musicians that I turn to for specific layers of arrangement," says Ward of the album, which he co-produced with Jim James. "It's by far the best record I've ever done and [the most fun] record I've ever made. It's pretty sick to travel and record with your own friends."
M WARD has visited Australia as a solo performer three times previously, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, a harmonica, an upright piano and his own his glorious honey-soaked voice. This time WARD will be bringing his friends; Blumberg, Hudson, Coykendall and Adam Selzer with him, to add some colour to his sepia-toned folk.
"It may be too early to place M. Ward's brilliance as a musician up there with names like Bob Dylan or Tom Waits, but this show – which seemed to go by in a flash while freezing time in the process - helped convince me that in a decade or two, we probably will." Being There Mag.
Don't miss one of this generations great troubadours - M Ward - live this summer.
Tickets for all shows are on sale Monday November 6th.
DECEMBER-JANUARY Friday 29th December: Lorne, The Falls - SOLD OUT!
Saturday 30th December: Melbourne, Corner Hotel Tickets $40.00 + bf available online from www.cornerhotel.com. Also available from the Corner Hotel box office. Phone bookings: 03-9427-9198.
Sunday 31st December: Marion Bay, The Falls - SOLD OUT!
Tuesday 2nd January: Fremantle, Fly By Night Club
Thursday 4th January: Brisbane, The Zoo Tickets $38.50 + bf. Available online from: www.thezoo.com.au. Also Rocking Horse and Skinnys Record Stores.
Friday 5th January: Sydney, The Metro Tickets $40.00 + bf. Available from www.moshtix.com and all moshtix outlets
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