After her mesmerising Australian debut last year, Canadian folk artist Frazey Ford returns this November for a run of live dates.
“We love Australia and we’re really excited to come back,” Frazey says.
A founding member of The Be Good Tanyas, Frazey released her first solo record ‘Obadiah’ (after her middle name) in 2010 followed by her sophomore album ‘Indian Ocean’ in 2014.
For this tour, Frazey says Australian audiences will be among the first to hear the new music she’s been composing. “I’ve been working out some new material just for this tour actually,” she says.
“My parents were hippies and we all lived in a Greyhound bus when I was a baby, on a commune in Canada."
“I’ve been writing for the past couple of months and I decided to focus on finishing some stuff so I could play it in front of an audience to help me digest what I’m doing with it [and] try it out on the crowd.”
Frazey’s latest offering is a single, her version of D’Angelo’s ‘When We Get By’. “I’m pretty obsessed with D’Angelo’s music,” she says, “and we [Frazey and her band] saw him play live a couple of times on tour; actually the last time we were in Australia he played the Bluesfest, the same one as we did.
{youtube}B5Iqci-Pasc{/youtube}
“Then we saw him in Holland and we’re all very affected by seeing his live show. We love what he does and it occurred to me to try and re-interpret one of his songs in a totally different way. I love him and I wondered if there was something of his I could turn inside-out.”
The sweet, soulful blend of Americana and alt-country Frazey dispenses is complemented by her delightfully quirky persona, such as the sequinned outfits she designs herself then wears on stage, or her self-described obsession with school buses.
“I had one for a while that I used to travel around and camp in,” Frazey says.
“My parents were hippies and we all lived in a Greyhound bus when I was a baby, on a commune in Canada. I have a thing about buses; love them, I love driving them.
“Sometimes for fun I’ll go out to the suburbs and test drive buses that are for sale just because I love them,” she laughs.
{youtube}PXRrySTujn8{/youtube}
With her new single, upcoming tour and fresh material in the works, Frazey says that a new album is on the way, but the organic writing process she undertakes lends itself to letting things happen in their own time. “I don’t start writing an album straight away,” she explains.
“I take my time and I wait till things start percolating and then I really let the music do what it wants to do.
“So I just try to pay attention to what feels really strong and I follow that. I can feel the next thing taking shape, it’s kind of a surprising shape in a way.
“It’s intense, it’s more direct. I’m starting to play a lot more piano and the rhythm has more of an ‘up’ vibe to it.”
Frazey Ford Shows
Wed 15 Nov - Leadbelly (Sydney)Thu 16 Nov - Brass Monkey (Sydney)
Fri 17 Nov - Jive (Adelaide)
Sat 18 Nov - The Old Museum (Brisbane)
Sun 19 Nov - Mullum Music Festival (Mullumbimby)
Wed 22 Nov - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Thu 23 Nov - Caravan Music Club (Melbourne)
Fri 24 Nov – Badlands Bar (Perth)
Sat 25 Nov - Mojos (Fremantle)
