Today’s MMM comes in the form of another anecdote. A few years ago I lamented to a friend about not having any new music to listen to as (and my friends will gladly point out) my small rotation of classics was getting rather tiresome. A simple scribble on a piece of paper led me to discover Australian blues singer-songwriter C.W. Stoneking, and what a treat it was to make such a breakthrough. Playing his first concert in over a year on Saturday night at Sydney’s Opera House was Stoneking, the one they dub “the human time machine”. C.W.’s original material by definition is simply that, original. His 2008 album Jungle Blues is accompanied by a semi-fictional story of his voyage into the Congo where he was shipwrecked, and hence the albums influence was found, and the content written. The ARIA Award winning album was the feature of the performance, falling under the Vivid Festival umbrella of associated acts. Stoneking says his style is:
Hokum Blues”, a musical brew influenced by prewar blues, ragtime, vaudevillian novelty tunes, old hillbilly songs, jazz, and calypso.
If that means nothing to you, perhaps I’ll try… his sound is a gypsy carnival like saloon busting memoir of the 30’s. Better? Perhaps not. In any event, never faltering to embody the character of “C.W.” he’s an act not to be missed…