Singer-songwriter Kim Churchill has seen fire and he's seen rain on his current 'Bright Night Sessions' tour.
Driving around the country in a purpose-built camper van fitted-out as a stage, Kim's recent adventures have seen him encounter the extremes of Australian weather – from firestorms to torrential flooding.
“Recently, we had to evacuate my home-town Merimbula because of the fires down there, and I saw a firestorm, which I had never seen before, so that was quite a full-on thing to drive through,” Kim recounts.
“I didn't know this, but the fires generate their own weather, they generate their own storms and it was the closest thing to Armageddon I've ever seen; it was darker than night at two in the afternoon.”
It's just too bad Kim's van doubles as a stage and not an amphibious vehicle; leaving the fires in his rear-view mirror, he was soon confronted with the other extreme: floodwaters. Yay.
“The Bangalow show was meant to be the first on the camper van stage, but we had to move to the A&I Hall because of rain, which kind of worked out because we were able to sell a bunch more tickets. Now I'm out of fire territory, I'm into the flood territory,” Kim says.
“The weather in Australia at the moment is absolutely ridiculous; one minute I'm cancelling a gig because of the fires and the next I'm sitting under the shelter of the backdoor of my van like a drowned rat, looking out at this soggy, flooded world.”
The 'Bright Night Sessions' tour is Kim's return to his grassroots as a nomadic minstrel, his way of getting back in touch with what he considers the essential foundation of his music career. “The premise of the tour is to personally reconnect with a lot of the really wonderful music communities that I've met over the years,” he explains.
“I feel like I've been so busy with doing things with major record labels and playing shows in capital cities that I've lost touch with a lot of the wonderful people I have met earlier in my career. I'm taking the time to play in a lot of regional towns and play to the wonderful, more grassroots Australian music communities.”
Kim's bohemian wanderings bring him to the delights of Blues On Broadbeach in May on the Gold Coast, a festival Kim credits with playing a pivotal role in building his career. “[Blues On Broadbeach] was very supportive of me when I was starting out and I think that they do a phenomenal job,” he says.
“It's nice to see council backing an event that is put on in a public domain and is supported by the community and supported by the music industry. For what is, and has been for a long time, a very healthy blues and roots scene in Australia, it's really nice to be back at it.”
Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast) is on 14-17 May.
Kim Churchill Tour 2020
Fri 13 Mar - Sooki Lounge (Melbourne)Sat 14 Mar - Torquay (VIC)
Sun 15 Mar - Mornington Peninsula
Fri 1 May - Lot 4 Back Creek Rd (Nethercote NSW)
Sat 2 May - Bamarang Bush Retreat (Nowra)
7-8 May - Bellingen Brewery & Co.
Sat 9 May - Flow Bar (Old Bar)
Sat 16 May - Bar Wunder (Toowoomba)
Sun 17 May - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 22 May - Maritime Museum Of Townsville
Sat 23 May - Tanks Arts Centre (Cairns)
