From France and Canada, to New Zealand and back to Australia, husband and wife blues-folk duo, Hat Fitz & Cara have been enchanting audiences with their honest, heartfelt music.
As the duo prepares for their ‘Hand It Over’ album launch tour, Cara took some time to discuss their new sound and international fans.
“There is a bit of classic Hat Fitz & Cara there, but there is also a few of the tracks where Fitzy has stepped back into his old style of playing,” Cara says, discussing the direction of the new album.
“It is a more driven, electric fringe, [with] Hat Fitz energy. Then there's other songs where there is a bit of a gospel vibe throughout.”
With an extensive career, Hat Fitz & Cara have acquired a passionate, international fan base. “We've got a nice fan base over in France. Small but very strong; and the UK as well.
“We started doing live theatre shows and a few of the great festivals over there. Again, it's small, strong, fan bases. And in Canada as well, we've been very lucky to have Canadians respond so well. We put quite a bit of effort into the showcases in Canada.
“We started off together, from the bottom, doing small blues clubs, impromptu gigs where there was just one amp and our wares, a guitar and washboard with two vocals; fifty people from the streets packed into a small joint, that's where we started. Now we're very lucky to have a wonderful on-the-road company, just a lot of support.”
Their new single, 'Hold On', was selected to promote because of how it resonated with their audience.
“I’m looking for something that has a bit of traction between us and the song. ‘Hold On’ was quite poignant when we played it live, just the reaction from our audience and fans. We always trust the fans, they're our feedback gauge,” Cara says.
The creation process for Hat Fitz & Cara is a joint effort with both artists involved from beginning to end – most of the time. “A lot of the stuff we jam [first] and if it feels good to go with we'll start editing it, creating an arrangement,” Cara says.
“Fitzy on guitar, myself on drums – we're just jamming out some riffs that Fitzy has and I'll come up with some vocals and melody lines over his riffs.
“Fitzy, he's quite a riff master. There is one of the pieces on the new album called 'Painter's Guitar', that was solely Fitzy. Then there is ‘Unbound’, the last song that was put together by myself. I put the lyrics, melody and guitar chords, then Fitzy put that beautiful banjo on top of it.”
‘Hand It Over’ is available now.
Hat Fitz & Cara 2019 Tour Dates
Fri 8 Feb - The J Theatre, (Sunshine Coast)Sat 9 Feb - The Old Museum, (Brisbane)
Sun 10 Feb - Mo’s Desert Clubhouse (Gold Coast)
Wed 13 Feb - Harmonie German Club (Canberra)
Thu 14 Feb - Stag & Hunter (Newcastle)
Fri 15 Feb - Leadbelly (Sydney)
Sat 16 Feb - The Metropole (Blue Mountains)
Thu 21 Feb - Old Church On The Hill (Bendigo)
Fri 22 Feb - The Memo Music Hall (Melbourne)
Sat 23 Feb - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne - matinee show)
Sun 24 Feb - Way Out West Roots Music Club (Melbourne)
1-3 Mar - Nannup Music Festival (WA)
Thu 14 Mar - Mojo’s Bar (Fremantle)
Fri 15 Mar - Four5Nine (Perth)
Sat 16 Mar - Nukara Music Festival (Geraldton)
Fri 12 Apr - Coffs Ex Services Club (Coffs Harbour)
Sat 13 Apr - Wauchope Arts Hall (NSW)
