ROUND UP

It’s certainly been a while since my last post – here’s a quick round up of all the news.

Guitars

NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL

The countdown is now on for our shows at The National Folk Festival in the heart of the A.C.T. I’ll be taking the complete band line up with me – we’ll be playing 4 shows across the dates of Thursday April 2nd – Monday April 6th. You can check out the program at the National Folk Festival’s HQ right HERE. We’re also very happy to be joined by special guest drummer (and all round instrumentalist) Michael Carpenter who will be filling in for our regular time keeper Scott Hutchings. We’re looking forward to playing alongside loads of Australian and International acts like Mustered Courage, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Kim Richey, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, Shane Howard and bucketloads more.

AN EAR TO THE EARTH REVIEWED STATESIDE

An Ear To The Earth meets Ear To The Ground (US Music Blog) – obviously that meeting was destiny. It warms the cockles of this old heart to see that even after all this time, An Ear To The Earth is still reaching people – as far as Pennsylvania. Thanks to the folks there for writing such an in depth review.

“Not since I first heard Pokey Lafarge have I been so impressed with an artist’s ability to capture a bygone era. A bit of the 1930s in sonic form, Mark Moldre‘s old soul transports listeners back to the Great Depression’s saddest of speakeasies. It’s quintessential American and straight from Australia. It’s freshly old. It’s minimalistic and full band. This album of contradictions is just what your sophisticated music palate has been dying to hear.”

Read the review in full HERE

And even though An Ear To The Earth came out in 2013 – I’ll happily accept coming in at No. 13 on this list alongside Ryan Adams, Kasey Chambers, The Autumn Defense, Sturgill Simpson and more.

MADELEINE

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Our latest video creation also received a round of positive reviews including these few listed below:

“Somewhere around the alt.country or acoustica pigeonholes would be the easy option to place Mark Moldre. But his Ear To The Earth album took some tangents from those bases. Madeleine (Laughing Outlaw) celebrates one of those default impossibly cool blondes from old Hitchcock movies – in this case, Kim Novak in Vertigo – with a hushed, almost near jazzy, approach that really deserves a wider audience” TheMusic.Com.Au

“Madeleine is a gorgeous shimmering song like the last lonely sway and shuffle on a deserted dance floor” Post To Wire

“Sydney singer-songwriter Mark Moldre has had a prolific year when it comes to producing new music videos. His latest, “Madeleine”, is the eighth to be taken from his album An Ear To The Earth and is one of the smoothest to date” Timber And Steel

Have you seen the clip yet? Check it out below

SPEED DATE WITH THE BRAG

The Brag

As the National Folk Festival dates are creeping closer I had a chat with The Brag. You can check it out HERE.

LIZOTTES
I’m sad to say that I’ll be playing my last ever show at Lizottes, Kincumber on Wednesday 15th April. I’ve played so many shows on that stage that it feels like my own lounge room – owner Brian Lizotte has hand picked a final ‘Live And Local’ line up to say farewell as Lizottes closes it’s doors for good – which includes a who’s who of Central Coast acts that have graced the cubby house stage more times than they care to count. We’ll be playing a few songs each. You can book by calling (02) 4368 2017.
Remember if you’d like to keep up with all the latest news as it happens head on over and like our Facebook Page or follow the goings on at Instagram @markmoldre including news about a brand new product from France – a Mark Moldre Pen Knife (otherwise known as an Opinel) – don’t believe us? Check it out HERE

News From The Road

Stage Shot

As the first leg of our tour to launch An Ear To The Earth now nears it’s end and we begin preparing for our visit to the southern states of the East Coast I figured it was time for a short update. We’ve travelled a few thousand kilometres – playing shows from Sydney to Brisbane sharing the stage with Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy, Zach Miller, Talltails, Jep and Dep and labelmates Bambino Koresh. Tomorrow night (July 7) will see us play our last show for at least a couple of months at Lizottes on the Central Coast with Sydney troubadour Cam MacKellar. Whilst we take a touring break guitarist/producer Jamie Hutchings will continue mixing his brand new solo album (I’ve heard about half of it and you’re in for a guitar-noise/kraut rock/avant-garde treat) and double bassist Reuben Wills heads off overseas with his wife, pianist Sophie Hutchings, for her first tour of Japan.

During the tour we stopped in for a few radio chats at BayFM, 4ZZZ and FBi some of these interviews can now be streamed online – including a couple of songs live in the studio at FBi.

Chat at 4ZZZ : Folk Buddies

Chat and Live Performance at FBi : In The Pines

Along with interviews in Brisbane’s Time Off and Sydney’s Drum Media:

TIME OFF “His 2010 solo debut The Waiting Room earned serious plaudits, and after a lengthy gestation period his new follow-up, An Ear To The Earth, has already proved a more-than-worthy successor. Possessing a vastly different tone to it’s predecessor, the album’s folk-tinged indie stylings are characterised by watertight songwriting, deft imagery and imaginative arrangements, and it has a far coarser feel overall than his previous fare” Steve Bell

DRUM MEDIA “Stepping way out of his comfort zone, singer-songwriter Mark Moldre delivers an album Nick Cave would be proud of” Michael Smith

Yesterday, An Ear To The Earth featured in The Sydney Morning Herald as CD Of The Week with a positive review from Bernard Zuel:

“This is music to drink to. Not to get drunk to, but to have on while you’re gabbing with your mates, while you’re sitting watching your kids play in the shallows and maybe even while knitting in the lodge. There’s a loose, almost ramshackle element to it, as if you’ve popped around the back to find a pick-up band rattling through some old country/folk/blues numbers for fun. Imagine a less garrulous and noisy Tom Waits (for example the New orleans brass and clarinet in Everything I Need Is Here) a late-night Ryan Adams (the droopy eyed Dreamtime Blues) and a kind of Sydney Willie Nelson (I Don’t Know What’s Become Of Her) and you’ll have a sense of the relaxed but never actually soft atmosphere here.” 

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And finally I also had the pleasure of meeting Byron Bay artist Yazz Ward of Sherfay Art and we talked about the upcoming tour – and she drew the portrait below. You can read the interview here.

More gig dates will be announced real soon.

SherfayPortrait

Swallow