The new year brings with it new beginnings for singer-songwriter Tracy McNeil, who has quit her day job and packed her entire life into a van to tour her new album 'You Be The Lightning'.
“We're going to be touring all year, so it's going to be quite a busy year ahead,” Tracy says.“I really wanted to focus on music and I've got a day job as do most of the people in my band. My partner [Dan Parsons] is the lead guitarist in my band but he's also a singer-songwriter, so we did some touring in Canada last year and realised that it's quite doable with just two of us touring.
“With the record coming out, it's just too hard to burn the candle at both ends and try to hold down a day job and do as much music and touring as I want to do with this record.”
'You Be The Lightning' is Tracy's fifth album. With the record set for a Valentine's Day release, Tracy says that although the timing is unintentional, it is nonetheless convenient.
“The record is thematically about recharging your heart and feeling alive and wanting to make the most of every moment, and finding the love within yourself for yourself,” she explains.
Along with Dan and the rest of her band The Good Life, Tracy has spent more than two years working on 'You Be The Lightning'. “It's a lot of hard work; this is the longest I've ever worked on a record.
“We've worked for over two years on this record, really, from start to finish so I'm very proud of it and I'm proud of the band. It's co-produced by Dan Parsons and myself, we did that together, and mixed by Alex O'Gorman – he's done a fabulous job mixing it.”
Having toiled as an independent artist for years, balancing music with work, Tracy now takes the next, big step in her career with the backing of a label that allows her to maintain creative control.
“It's terrifying but I also have a lot of faith in my band, I've got faith in the songs and faith in the universe; as soon as I made the decision to do that, all this other good stuff started happening,” she says.
“It was when I first stepped off the platform and said 'okay, I'm going to do this for a year', that's when the Cooking Vinyl stuff came through and just some really great things.
“We supported James Reyne of Australian Crawl, that was really cool, and we've got some exciting stuff coming up. Everything fell into place when I decided to take the plunge, so it must be a good sign.”
'You Be The Lightning' is released 14 February.
Tracy McNeil 2020 Tour Dates
Thu 6 Feb - Marrickville Bowling Club (Sydney)Fri 7 Feb - The Junkyard @ Grand Junction Hotel (Hunter Valley)
Sat 8 Feb - Stag & Hunter (Newcastle)
Thu 13 Feb - T-Guitars (Bowral, NSW)
Fri 14 Feb - Transit Bar (Canberra)
Sat 15 Feb - The Quarterdeck (Narooma, NSW)
Sat 28 Mar - The Milk Factory (Brisbane)
Sun 29 Mar - Courthouse Hotel (Northern Rivers)
Fri 3 Apr - The Gasometer (Melbourne)
Fri 24 Apr - Basement Discs (Melbourne)
Sat 25 Apr - The Caravan Club (Melbourne)
Fri 1 May - Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine, VIC)
Sun 3 May - Westernport (San Remo, VIC)
Sat 9 May - Stone Pony (Willunga, SA)
Sun 10 May - The Wheatsheaf Hotel (Adelaide)
