DOORS OPEN 6.30PM // SHOW STARTS 8PM

RUTH HAZLETON – DAISYWHEEL

OFFICIAL MELBOURNE ALBUM LAUNCH

Thursday February 20th

Doors 6.00pm  (dinner available)

Showtime 8.00pm

DAISYWHEEL  is the highly anticipated first solo album from one of Australia’s most respected folk singers, Ruth Hazleton. A multi-award-winning musician, singer and songwriter, Ruth has toured nationally and internationally in a career spanning twenty-five years.

Armed with an electric guitar and banjo and a collection of traditional and original songs, Ruth will be joined onstage by a full electric band including Guitars, Banjos, (Fiona Steele), Upright Bass (Oscar Neyland), Drums & Percussion (Justin Olsson), Mandolin, Oud and Yayli Tambur (Paddy Montgomery). Daisywheel is a stunning new sound brimming with originality and something to say.

The ten songs on the album are varied, political and strident; whether wrangling with matters of the heart or dealing with themes of injustice, conflict, displacement and defiance. Four songs are original, five are traditional (English, American & Swedish in origin) and one is a Henry Lawson poem that Ruth has composed the music for.

Musically this album is very adventurous; incorporating all of the influences that have shaped Ruth’s musicianship over the years and in many ways escapes strict boundaries of genre. There are flavours of Eastern European music, Middle Eastern music, Celtic music, old-time American music, straight up rock and roll, folk rock, lashes of electronic programming and beats, ambience and a salute to one of Ruth’s great genre loves; British trip-hop and down beat.

“Every now and then I come across an artist who makes me sit up and pay attention. Ruth Hazleton is one such artist. When she sings, I believe her. Her songs are welcome in my ears and my heart.”  - John Schumann (Redgum) 

“Ruth’s new solo release Daisywheel takes this sense of gentle unhurried exploration a step further. New production ideals meet old tunes, old poems are adapted, new songs are written on old themes, traditional tunes find themselves underpinning contemporary lyrics. Like the Daisywheel on the album’s cover everything is cyclic and self-supporting, the final picture is arrived at via any number of musical detours….. Put simply it’s a record with traditional roots that could take its place and hold its own on any current playlist".  - Mick Thomas (Weddings, Parties, Anything)

“Ruth Hazleton’s Daisywheel is a breathtakingly beautiful work of diverse folk music that moves as it informs. Artistically deft and politically relevant, this album unapologetically stands up for First Nations, women, ethnically persecuted Kurds and the planet, taking aim at oppression, religious hypocrisy, war and greed. If an artist's job is to speak the truth of their time, these are the sounds and sentiments we want on our side. – Les Thomas (Unpaved)