William Crighton will kick off his album release tour in the dust and dappled light of the Hunter’s live music paradise – Dashville.
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Dashville’s flagship festival, The Gumball, will see Crighton take to the stage alongside the likes of You Am I, OKA and Dan Sultan on April 23.
Crighton’s bluesy sound, described by former Mercury journalist Nick Milligan as authentic and “darkly beautiful”, rings with a uniquely Australian texture.
Backed up by a band that tears through soulful ballads and earthy rock with wild energy and flooring skill, Crighton’s live show has a dominating presence.
A son of the Riverina, Crighton recently returned from stints in China and Nashville. He now calls the Hunter Valley home.
Crighton headlined Dashville’s Americana-inspired Skyline Festival in October last year.
When his rendition of Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man rattled the gumtrees of Lower Belford, the hair on every neck stood at attention.
Legendary Australian photographer Trent Parke said life inland sat between freedom and “a stifling sense of inevitability.”
It’s a theme echoed in Crighton’s lyrics that touch on death, redemption and justice.
At the album’s darkest point, Priest tells the story of a pedophile clergyman meeting a brutal end.
“I just killed Father David, put him down with my own two hands,” Crighton howls.
Blood, lawmen and mountain ranges illustrate a story dredged from the darkest corner of the Australian psyche.
“I’m gonna run to the mountains. Kosciusko or Burrinjuck.
“If they catch up to me I’ll die in the place I love.”
The album’s centrepiece, Woman Like You, builds slowly, scratching itself into existence before taking shape with a solid, rhythmic pulse.
The tour will take the band from Gumball on April 23 down south to Melbourne.
They’ll play the Stag and Hunter in Newcastle again on April 30 before heading north.
More information on tour dates, tickets and the album can be found at williamcrightonmusic.com
