17th october 2002
LUKE PITTMAN
acoustic guitar, singer/songwriter
Luke Pittman’s a gentle sound, one that nibbles delicately on your ear before slinking into your head and, finally, your soul. It distills the most human of emotions - love, loss, joy, sadness - into three minute songs and leaves them there for you to turn to whenever the time is right. Quite a feat, really, when you consider that singer/songwriter Luke Pittman’s only tool is a simple acoustic guitar and some well chosen words. Oh, and more heart and emotion than one man should possess.
A relatively new addition to the Sydney solo circuit, Luke is, however, no stranger to the stage. After fronting Sydney rock band Presto between 1992-1995, he formed Seasaw, a more acoustic oriented outfit, before going solo half way through 2001. Since then, he has supported The Corrs, Ben Folds, The Proclaimers, Lloyd Cole, The Whitlams, George, Mark Eitzel and Karma County, and headlined many of his own shows around Sydney to packed houses. From this collection of acoustic demo songs you’ll understand exactly why Luke’s short solo career has already been so fruitful. Listen carefully and you’ll hear traces of Elliott Smith’s wistful and gentle acoustic balladry, the melodic sensibilities of Neil Finn, the vocal passion of Chris Cornell and the songwriting skill of Alex Lloyd.
Use a bit of imagination and you’ll hear the sweeping, majestic orchestration that these songs lend themselves to, and that will one day complete the musical picture. It is still difficult however, in a few bare tracks, to summarise the scope of an Artist who has delved into pop, full tilt rock, instrumental soundtracks and who spent his teenage years consumed by 80’s US punk. For now, though, you have the bare skeletons of a gorgeous set of songs, ones that don’t hint at Luke’s potential so much as spell it right out in big bold letters. From the singalong simplicity of ’Can’t Stop Falling In Love’ to the tender emotion of ’Slowly’ and the beautifully crafted melodies of . . . well, every song here, these acoustic demos herald the coming of age of one of Australia’s best undiscovered talents. Or, as Luke will simply be known shortly, one of Australia’s best talents, period.
LAURA IMBRUGLIA
acoustic guitar, singer/songwriter
18 year old Laura Imbruglia was once misquoted for describing her songs as "satirical / political". She would never rhyme those 2 words and expect to be taken seriously. Laura would prefer to call her music "folky/jokey" - satirical acoustic pop. She writes with an emphasis on lyric, with catchy riffs. With influences ranging from Queen to The Carpenters … even The Lemonheads, her quirky numbers offer the audience a music / comedy / trivia game all in one. Laura’s new breed of Folk caught the attention of producers of TV program "Crash Palace", who cast her to sing her songs live on an episode broadcast later this year. Reasonably new to the live music scene she’s already supported the likes of Bluebottle Kiss, Rumanastone, The Stiff Gins, Machine Translations and Big Heavy Stuff. Laura will be released on an acoustic compilation due out later this year, which will feature on National radio waves during Australian Music Week in Oct / Nov.
