With more time spent on the road than at home this year, folk troubadour Nathan Hawes embarks on another tour, this time with the backing of a live band.
“I toured for the first three months of the year pretty much and then went on another tour about a month ago,” Nathan says. “They were all solo tours, just me playing by myself with a guitar and kick drum. But for this tour I’ve got a few other musicians playing with me, so it’s a different vibe.
“We’ve been rehearsing a whole heap and the shows are going to have a different energy and dynamic to them. That’s where I can see myself going, having a backing band behind me and a few other elements thrown in there as well. It’ll make things more interesting.”
Having established himself as a barebones, solo-folk act, Nathan has taken the Dylan-esque move of transitioning into a rock style, electric set-up for live shows. But he assures fans he hasn’t abandoned his roots. “I’ve been doing a whole lot of writing with other musicians, so I’m incorporating different sounds into my playing… but whenever I play a set I always play a few acoustic songs to keep that roots-driven vibe; it’s still pretty chilled.”
Nathan’s tour is in support of ‘I’ll Remember’, the latest single from his ‘I Wasn’t There’ EP, and will feature tracks from the record as well as brand new, never-before-heard material. “There’s going to be some new tracks which literally no one has ever heard before because it’s just been me and my buddies playing it in rehearsals, so I can’t wait to get feedback from those tracks,” he says.
“Whenever I do a new track or demo in the studio I send it to a few friends to get their ideas and then rehearse it; if it’s going well, it’ll make the record or the tour [setlist].”
As for another record, Nathan remains tight-lipped about details and dates, but says his next release will embrace the new direction he is taking in his live performances. “It will most likely be another EP; I’m still in the development stage with it but I have some really cool, new tracks I can’t wait to share. It’s a bit of a different direction but I’m really happy with how it’s been going.”
Although Nathan came to national prominence as a contestant on last year’s season of ‘The Voice’, he has deflected the stigma often attached to singing-based reality shows and built a solid reputation as an original musician. “I don’t really know what I was doing then,” he laughs.
“I was kind of thrown into the whole thing and it was a pretty weird experience, but no matter how much money someone threw in front of me to sing another song and act like it’s mine, I was never going to do that. I was always going to do my own music regardless of what people wanted to hear.
“I wouldn’t go back and change anything, just because I met so many good people through ‘The Voice’. I’d still be playing music, but it would have taken longer for me to get where I am today and be writing with some really cool people. It gave me that stepping stone to show my original music to more people.”
Nathan Hawes Tour Dates
Wed 6 Jul - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)Sat 9 Jul - The Small Ballroom (Newcastle)
Fri 15 Jul - Fowler's Live (Adelaide)
