Full Flower Moon Band frontwoman and primary songwriter, Kate 'Babyshakes' Dillon takes a break from the band for an intimate solo show at Studio 188 in Ipswich next month.
Audiences will see a different side to Kate when she performs solo, stripping back her Babyshakes persona to offer a raw and personal insight into her songwriting.
"I love doing solo shows, and at Ipswich it's my chance to play songs that don't necessarily need a band arrangement and are more focused on maybe a bit more sincerity," Kate says.
"It's really satisfying as a songwriter to just play it how it was written; just voice and guitar or sometimes voice and piano, but I love playing guitar live and I love showing people the headspace of me as a songwriter, rather than the bravado of me as a performer."
Where Babyshakes loves to strut and ruffle her feathers in the spotlight, Kate Dillon prefers a more subdued performance that provides a deeper connection between her music and the audience.
"I think the songs that are more intimate, I don't need the persona so much to be able to sing it because it's something that's come from a more vulnerable spot, so there's no need to put on a show face as much, and I'd rather people hear it as my lyrics as Kate," she says, "but all these songs that I'll be playing, they'll totally make it to the band, it's only a matter of time.
"Some of them, the chorus might change by the time we get to record it; there's a fragility to it I like. It's the night and day of the big rock band and then just little old me.
"You know what's funny though," Kate adds. "The more time we spend on the road as the band and with growing audiences, the last solo show I did I couldn't really turn the bravado off, and it ended up feeling like the same Babyshakes.
"So, I might sit on a chair this time, because I really want to do an intimate show," she laughs.
Kate is currently on tour with Full Flower Moon Band in the UK and Europe, returning in October for her solo show at Studio 188 before performing with FFMB for the 4ZZZ 50th anniversary concert, ZED50, in Brisbane at the end of the month.
As Babyshakes and FFMB continue to conquer the world, Kate says there are two things about a show that she gets really passionate about: one is if it's underage and the other is if it's regional. "Because those two demographics are who I was before I moved to Brisbane," she says.
"I grew up in Gympie and I wasn't able to get to see any live music really for those two reasons. When I get to play shows like Ipswich, if there's anyone in the crowd that's in that situation, that's me. I'm playing to me. I've come from the Big Smoke to do my thing to a part of myself that I truly understand."
Kate 'Babyshakes' Dillon performs at Studio 188 (Ipswich) on 11 October. Full Flower Moon Band join The Saints '73-'78, Regurgitator and much, much more playing ZED50 at Roma St Parklands (Brisbane) on 25 October.
