Aussie artist’s acoustic tour
Australian singer-songwriter Pete Murray is coming to our shores to perform a solo acoustic show. Known for tunes such as So Beautiful, Wouldn’t It Be Good and Better Days, he’ll take the stage at Yonder on Wednesday to perform some old classics and new tunes.
The mini-NZ tour is in the middle of a mammoth 56-date Australian tour, which is his largest ever. He’s excited to offer fans a taste of a brand new body of work. I Am Fire, Murray’s latest single, is one song fans can expect to hear. It was recorded using an acoustic guitar, which he says helped to create a mood that worked well with the lyrics.
“I’m really proud of the new song,” Murray says. “The song was inspired by, I call them, the real heroes of the world – people that stand up against regimes and stand up for humanity and put themselves in dangerous places to go and save someone else. They don’t have guns. They’re just doing the right thing by the world and the people in it.”
The singer-songwriter was inspired by the things he’s seen going on overseas, and the good deeds some people are doing. He wanted to write about those individuals and describe what they might be feeling, who they are and some of the emotions going through them when they’re in these situations. The song has been received really well and Murray has had people explaining their own interpretation of the song to him, too.
“It can be one of the hardest things – one of the very first questions is ‘what’s this song written about?’ I almost don’t want to tell you because sometimes you take that away from people.”
The New Zealand tour will be Murray’s first time performing acoustically around the country. He’s been going through his old catalogue to prepare, and practicing the songs. The last time he was in Tāhuna was for Snow Machine, so this show will be a much more relaxed atmosphere. One thing Murray did suggest is for fans to have a listen to some of his older albums and become familiar with those songs as that’s a lot of what he’ll be playing.
“It’s definitely a lot more intimate. You can tell some stories, have some fun with the crowd and make the crowd feel like they’re part of the show – get them singing along. Just having that intimacy, where it’s just acoustic and vocals, that’s pretty powerful.”
These acoustic shows also force the audience to listen more closely to the lyrics and focus on the performer. Murray doesn’t feel nervous about being solo on stage and confidence is key – if he makes a mistake, he’ll have fun with it and usually it’s something the crowd will remember.
“This is what live music is – I’m bound to forget something or get something wrong, but that’s when you have fun. And I think people really liven up and loosen up – the first thing is to get them comfortable and relaxed, because it’s the crowd that gets quite intense. They’re in a quiet room and no one wants to say anything, and as soon as you get those guys to relax a little bit, it’s really fun.”
Murray’s also really looking forward to seeing the sights and sounds of Aotearoa, as well as sharing his latest body of work with us all.
“I feel really good about releasing this song. It’s one of my favourite songs off the new body of work I have just recorded. I feel this song is very appropriate for the times we live in now. And I’m really looking forward to getting out there and letting people see how these songs were written on acoustic guitar and telling them stories of my life journey so far.”
Pete Murray will perform his solo acoustic show at Yonder on Wednesday, 30 April at 7pm. An added wee bonus to the show is that Pete will be selling an exclusive record/CD, which is only available at the show, featuring recently-recorded acoustic versions of some of his back catalogue. To grab tickets, find out more information on the tour or to hear his new song, I Am Fire, head to petemurray.com
