Owls of the Swamp, Little Kin, Kotet @ Northcote Uniting Church, Melbourne (18/06/2011)
I arrived at the Northcote Uniting Church on the now somewhat famous route 86 from town. The entrance to the church was surrounded by fairy lights, and a warm inviting glow beckoned me in. The pews of the church were filling up, and a carpet runner down the isle lead to scattered cushions, and more fairy lights marking the edge of the stage.
This night was to mark the launch of Owls of the Swamp Pete Uhlenbruch’s new project. It is primarily a solo project but tonight he was to be joined by a collection of friends and fine musicians, who were also to make up the support acts.
The shy Kirsty Morphett performing under the moniker Kotet (tonight missing the other two members of the core trio Jeremy Dullard and Georg Bjarnason) opened the evening. Kirsty has a lovely voice that she works over a number of styles embracing jazz, pop and folk alike. However she seemed a little lost performing solo, and it was hard to really connect, as both her piano and organ (which she alternated between on opposite sides of the stage) were angled perpendicular to the audience. It felt like she was off in her own little world. That said Kirsty’s lyrics are really thoughtful and moving and I would be interested in seeing Kotet again in any of its many incarnations. It is a revolving ensemble of musicians that expands and contracts from a trio to quartet, quintet, sextet, up to a chamber orchestra of fifteen, allowing Kirsty to showcase different instrumentations of her works. Interestingly, Koto (the ensemble out of which Kotet was borne) released an EP in 2007 titled The Owl in the Woods Knows a nice unintentional link with Owls of the Swamp.
After a short tea break, with a wonderful spread of sweet and savoury food prepared by Pete’s friends, the newly-formed Little Kin took to the stage. These four lovely and equally talented ladies had only met five days prior to performing this their very first gig. With lyric sheets on stands and an unassuming nature, they transported us to an entirely refreshing place, their songs catching snapshots of life experiences. Little Kin presented a great acoustic set on banjo, violin, piano accordion, and zither creating a great soulful folk. Something I loved about their set was the banter between the girls themselves, and the crowd. Midway through the set Ellen Kibble (banjo and vocals) thanked Pete for inviting them to come play, and said “it’s like church but better.” I heard tinges of the Penguin Café Orchestra, and My Friend the Chocolate Cake in their instrumentation. Even though Little Kin’s set was a bit rough around the edges, these girls have a great blend of influences and are definitely onto a good thing! I hope this wasn’t a once off collaboration because I would love to see them grow into a brilliant band!
Behind me the church had been filling up, there was barely a seat spare on the pews, and a handful of people were standing behind them. After another tea and coffee break to reset the stage, Pete thanked us for coming, and his supports for being a part of the bill, explaining that Go With River is about spirituality and nature, and that he chose Kotet and Little Kin to reflect that. As this was the album launch Pete proceeded to play through in album order.
Owls of the Swamp sees Pete being joined by a number of different musicians, and the music they create has a wonderfully organic feel, which extends far beyond the nature-inspired subject matter. Pete’s writing has such an effortless and ethereal quality to it as he coaxes out masterfully crafted folk melodies from his finger picked guitar. He writes from the heart, drawing on life experience and his songs are steeped in a reflective spirituality.
So Far Away is a standout track on this record, and it spoke to me from the very first bars. The yearning in Pete’s voice coupled with the deep mournful sounds of the cello tug at the heart strings. Here Comes the Wind is a wonderfully atmospheric piece with fluid instrumental breaks growing and shrinking which draw to mind time lapse photography of cells splitting, or lava in a lava-lamp. Both By the Riverside and Skyewaters remind me of old Donavan records. This was the first time that By the Riverside was performed as it is heard on the album, and has almost haunting lyrics and a delicately layered texture. Skyewaters’ harmonica and reflective lyrics could easily have been written by the sixties Scottish folk singer. ‘Do you know this was the first time that I’ve ever sat next to the moon’ is such a beautiful lyric but tinged with sadness as the song is about lost love.
For Long May You Run Pete was joined by special guest choir The Wednesdays and invited anyone else who knew the words to join him on stage. It was great seeing such a wide variety of instrumentation and having 10+ singers and instrumentalists on stage was a real treat. The choir remained to close off the set with the title track of the album Go With River which was written for a friend who had died, and that draws the album to a natural state of rest and closure. As the final chords died away the audience was silent for a moment savouring the feeling of peace Go With River has created, before coming to life with applause and cheers. We were treated to an encore by Ellen and Pete singing a cover of an Iron and Wine song, before the room once again erupted in hearty applause. Upon leaving the makeshift stage Pete was engulfed by friends, fans and family all congratulating him on his wonderful album. If you haven’t heard it yet, I suggest you seek it out; it will take you on a complex, yet truly rewarding journey.
Owls of the Swamp will be supporting Old Man River on the Melbourne Leg of his tour at the East Brunswick Club on the 14th of July and Caravan Music Club (Oakleigh) on the 15th of July before Pete heads off on another international tour.
Jillian McEwan
This night was to mark the launch of Owls of the Swamp Pete Uhlenbruch’s new project. It is primarily a solo project but tonight he was to be joined by a collection of friends and fine musicians, who were also to make up the support acts.
The shy Kirsty Morphett performing under the moniker Kotet (tonight missing the other two members of the core trio Jeremy Dullard and Georg Bjarnason) opened the evening. Kirsty has a lovely voice that she works over a number of styles embracing jazz, pop and folk alike. However she seemed a little lost performing solo, and it was hard to really connect, as both her piano and organ (which she alternated between on opposite sides of the stage) were angled perpendicular to the audience. It felt like she was off in her own little world. That said Kirsty’s lyrics are really thoughtful and moving and I would be interested in seeing Kotet again in any of its many incarnations. It is a revolving ensemble of musicians that expands and contracts from a trio to quartet, quintet, sextet, up to a chamber orchestra of fifteen, allowing Kirsty to showcase different instrumentations of her works. Interestingly, Koto (the ensemble out of which Kotet was borne) released an EP in 2007 titled The Owl in the Woods Knows a nice unintentional link with Owls of the Swamp.
After a short tea break, with a wonderful spread of sweet and savoury food prepared by Pete’s friends, the newly-formed Little Kin took to the stage. These four lovely and equally talented ladies had only met five days prior to performing this their very first gig. With lyric sheets on stands and an unassuming nature, they transported us to an entirely refreshing place, their songs catching snapshots of life experiences. Little Kin presented a great acoustic set on banjo, violin, piano accordion, and zither creating a great soulful folk. Something I loved about their set was the banter between the girls themselves, and the crowd. Midway through the set Ellen Kibble (banjo and vocals) thanked Pete for inviting them to come play, and said “it’s like church but better.” I heard tinges of the Penguin Café Orchestra, and My Friend the Chocolate Cake in their instrumentation. Even though Little Kin’s set was a bit rough around the edges, these girls have a great blend of influences and are definitely onto a good thing! I hope this wasn’t a once off collaboration because I would love to see them grow into a brilliant band!
Behind me the church had been filling up, there was barely a seat spare on the pews, and a handful of people were standing behind them. After another tea and coffee break to reset the stage, Pete thanked us for coming, and his supports for being a part of the bill, explaining that Go With River is about spirituality and nature, and that he chose Kotet and Little Kin to reflect that. As this was the album launch Pete proceeded to play through in album order.
Owls of the Swamp sees Pete being joined by a number of different musicians, and the music they create has a wonderfully organic feel, which extends far beyond the nature-inspired subject matter. Pete’s writing has such an effortless and ethereal quality to it as he coaxes out masterfully crafted folk melodies from his finger picked guitar. He writes from the heart, drawing on life experience and his songs are steeped in a reflective spirituality.
So Far Away is a standout track on this record, and it spoke to me from the very first bars. The yearning in Pete’s voice coupled with the deep mournful sounds of the cello tug at the heart strings. Here Comes the Wind is a wonderfully atmospheric piece with fluid instrumental breaks growing and shrinking which draw to mind time lapse photography of cells splitting, or lava in a lava-lamp. Both By the Riverside and Skyewaters remind me of old Donavan records. This was the first time that By the Riverside was performed as it is heard on the album, and has almost haunting lyrics and a delicately layered texture. Skyewaters’ harmonica and reflective lyrics could easily have been written by the sixties Scottish folk singer. ‘Do you know this was the first time that I’ve ever sat next to the moon’ is such a beautiful lyric but tinged with sadness as the song is about lost love.
For Long May You Run Pete was joined by special guest choir The Wednesdays and invited anyone else who knew the words to join him on stage. It was great seeing such a wide variety of instrumentation and having 10+ singers and instrumentalists on stage was a real treat. The choir remained to close off the set with the title track of the album Go With River which was written for a friend who had died, and that draws the album to a natural state of rest and closure. As the final chords died away the audience was silent for a moment savouring the feeling of peace Go With River has created, before coming to life with applause and cheers. We were treated to an encore by Ellen and Pete singing a cover of an Iron and Wine song, before the room once again erupted in hearty applause. Upon leaving the makeshift stage Pete was engulfed by friends, fans and family all congratulating him on his wonderful album. If you haven’t heard it yet, I suggest you seek it out; it will take you on a complex, yet truly rewarding journey.
Owls of the Swamp will be supporting Old Man River on the Melbourne Leg of his tour at the East Brunswick Club on the 14th of July and Caravan Music Club (Oakleigh) on the 15th of July before Pete heads off on another international tour.
Jillian McEwan