This latest entry for Americana UK’s exclusive series of mini-gig videos comes to our readers from Australia, recorded by Al Carr, who has been playing his brand of fine Antipodean Australicana music for 20 years. He regularly attracts some of Australia’s talented musicians to accompany him, drawn by the strength of his songs.
His most recent album, “The Right Dereliction,” was featured here shortly after its October 2023 release. Carr’s discography includes two more albums (“Empty Skies,” 2020 and “Gutter Truth,” 2017) along with an eponymous EP in 2013. All are still available on CD and vinyl as well as the usual digital and streaming services with the exception of “Empty Skies” (digital, vinyl) and can be bought on his Bandcamp page. If you wait for Bandcamp Fridays to purchase music, 100% of the sales go to the artist.
Carr’s albums make a great choice should you be planning to drive dusty roads across the sparsely-populated Australian Outback as if you were in a scene from the Aussie TV series “Mystery Road.” The songs have a rugged appeal, mining a similar vein as successful contemporaries Paul Kelly and Russell Morris. For each of his albums, Carr has called upon Simon Maiden to finish crafting the songs and Clint Kraus to handle the mixing.
Listening to many of his songs brings to mind the novels of James M. Cain (“The Postman Always Rings Twice”). Carr’s strength is in recounting stories that contain nuggets of mystery for characters struggling through a moment in time. As with Frank Chambers, the protagonist in “Postman,” these characters often find themselves tangled in a figurative web of sticky situations that Carr usually resolves by the final verse. There is a bittersweet sense of hope and positivity that is allowed to emerge and find a glimmer of light at the end of a bumpy road. To Carr, “that won’t end well” is a phrase he’d rather avoid.
In the 13-plus minutes of the mini-gig, Carr sings three of his compositions while playing his treasured Martin HD28V guitar. “It’s been with me for a few years now and is my go-to guitar for songwriting.” The fellow sitting to Carr’s right playing harmonica is Blair Venn, an old friend of his, who also resides in the town of Castlemaine in regional Victoria. “He often helps out playing with me at gigs out in the country when I’m not playing with a full band like I normally would in cities,” Carr noted.
Carr has a gift for words and counterpoint along with a propensity for rocking out. On the three songs in the video, he plays vibrant, plucky strums on his acoustic guitar, punctuated by suspenseful lyrics, of course not at the level of volume on the albums with a band. But like a guy who dates only the girl he connects with best instead of playing the field, less is more, bringing out the essence in these songs. Carr offers some insight in the order they appear on the mini-gig.
‘Sinking Moon’: “This track from “The Right Dereliction” is the centerpiece of the record, the main songwriting idea that the rest of the record was built around. Lyrically, it attempts to capture words of advice from one friend to another.”
‘Those Diamond Notes’: “A song also from “The Right Dereliction” written after listening to a lot of The Band. I’m trying to capture that classic mix of roots and soul that they seemed to nail so well. It’s straightforward enough lyrically. There’s a nod of the head to one’s favorite music and why it’s so important to so many.
‘Colour To the Flame’: “This is a new, unreleased song that will be on the next record, which I hope to record later on this year with a 2025 release date. It’s stripped back here, though a full band will play it on the recording. It’s early stages with some of these new songs in terms of instrumentation, though they are starting to come together.”
All song writing credits are by Alistair Carr. The footage was recorded at Ragged Gum Studios, his local rehearsal space in Castlemaine. It was filmed and edited by Mitch Dillon.
Carr is in the middle of writing for the next album, so gigs are few and far between. However, he is playing solo on some Aussie dates later this year. For updates check his website.
As always, AUK readers enjoy front-row seating with admission free at All-In pricing, which means ticket cost and all fees appear as the total amount a buyer would pay for one ticket. In this writer’s opinion, that should be the way all agencies and venues sell tickets (Three cheers for my home state, Tennessee, which requires every venue to use All-In.)
Alastair really digs deep with his song writing, last saw him with full band@ pub beer garden,KCastlemaine