 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Steve Tallis | |
|---|---|
 Steve Tallis in Fremantle in 2018 (picture Hank Kordas) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 28 October 1952 Maylands, Australia |
| Genres | Blues, World music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician singer composer |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Labels | Zombi Music |
Steve Tallis (born 28 October 1952) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitar player.
Steve Tallis was born in 1952 in Maylands, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth. He started playing music in 1962.
In February 1963, after attending a Louis Armstrong and Trini Lopez concert at the Capitol Theatre in Perth with his parents, Steve was very inspired and told his mother that he wanted to become a professional musician. Surrounded by the traditional Macedonian music of his ancestors and traditional Greek, Yugoslav, Bulgarian and Turkish music, Steve discovered at an early age trance rhythms, improvisation and singing. [1]
Steve Tallis was also influenced by music on the radio at the time, Them, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Loved Ones or Spectrum. He later was influenced by artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or by Bengali Bauls. [2]
He started up many bands throughout his youth, notably My Grandfather's Blues which was awarded "Band of the year" in 1967 during Hoadley's Battle of Bands, organised in parallel to the annual competition Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds.
Praised for his unconventional work, [3] his favourite genre is blues. He described his music as ethnic blues or tribal folk, [2] a mix between blues and world music, with a touch of folk and gospel. [4] He has often been compared to a storyteller. [5] His style has been compared to that "of Van Morrison and Calvin Russell, but with a peculiar originality and a return to the roots of blues." [6]
He has especially been influenced by blues, gospel and Field hollers. He refers today to many musicians who marked his work, such as Leadbelly, John Coltrane, Tim Buckley, Captain Beefheart, Sun Ra, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Kevin Coyne, Son House, Tom Waits, Jack Bruce and Kip Hanrahan. [1] Moreover, his music is still influenced by African, Indian, Haitian or Arab traditional music, on a spiritual level as well as on a rhythmic one.
Trying to go back to the roots of his influences, he studied traditional musics and their spiritual dimension. Many journeys, in India (1997), Pakistan (2003) and Ghana (2005) among others, led him to explore different spiritualities that had a strong impact on his musical production : voodoo, tantra, buddhism, sufism, hinduism or Native American religions. [1]
Steve Tallis has been called a griot [2] or a "blues shaman", [7] his music being entrenched in an oral tradition of storytelling, and his music has been called "tribal or even shamanic folk from an Australian griot open on world music." [8]
From 1975 on, Steve Tallis started a solo career, during which he gathered many musicians to accompany him in making music but most importantly in live performances. Among other recurring bands can be found Broken Things, My Grandfather's Blues, Jellyroll Bakers, Lucy Crown, Bitch, Fried Egg / Unit Structures, Opposition, Steve Tallis Washboard Unit, Zombi Party, Suicide Ghosts, Holy Ghosts, Troublemakers or Snakes of Desire.
In 2001, Steve Tallis released the first part of a limited edition anthology titled Anthology Volume 1 – The Sacred Path of the Fried Egg – From Maylands to the Gates of Hell (1962–2001). It is made of 8 CDs gathering a selection of live and studio recordings, and a booklet. It tells the story of the evolution of his music, his relationship with the city of Perth and its blues scene. Local musicians and friends of Steve are featured in the anthology, bringing back to life the jazz, blues and R&B music scene of the 1970s and 1980s, what led to the anthology being described as a "document of West Australia music culture." [9]
The 2004 album Loko has been produced with members of The Suicide Ghosts, percussionist Gary Ridge and violinist Dave Clarke, [10] and develops the spiritual and shamanistic dimensions already present in the 1999 album Zozo. [11]
He explored Afro-American hollers and classics such as the negro spiritual song "He’s Got the Whole World in his Own Hands" in the 2006 acoustic album Jezebel Spirit, [12] accompanied by percussionist Gary Ridge. [13]
The First Degree, which came out in 2014, was recorded with multi-instrumentalist Skip McDonald, best known as Little Axe, and drummer Evan Jenkins, a friend of Steve Tallis he had worked with in the Apache Dropouts band, and on the recording of the album Zombi Party. [14]
His upcoming album Where Many Rivers Meet, scheduled for 2020, is a solo album recorded in mono, mixing tracks on the electric guitar Gibson SG 1961, acoustic Martin D8 1969 and 12 string acoustic Guild Jumbo 1969, and a cappella Field hollers.
He played with and accompanied many international and Australian musicians, as a guest or playing first parts. Among other great names can be cited Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, Eric Burdon, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, etc. Among Australian musicians, Richard Clapton, Paul Kelly, Chris Wilson, Daddy Cool, Billy Thorpe, Chain, The Triffids, or The Saints can be cited. [15]
Steve Tallis played in many festivals around the world and in Australia, among which can be cited :
He has been described as "one of Australia’s most eccentric and powerful singer songwriters". [17] He has been acknowledged by his fellow musicians as a great bluesman. In his tune "You Don’t Have to Be Pretty to Sing the blues", Dave Hole mentions Tallis among other very famous bluesmen :
Albert Collins sings the Blues
Eric Clapton sings the Blues
Steve Tallis sings the Blues
B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King
In 1978, his song "Dreams" was awarded Song of the Year by The West Australian newspaper. In 1993, Steve Tallis was named singer-songwriter of the year by The Western Australian. In 1994, he entered the WAMI Hall of Fame. [18] In 1999, his album Zozo was elected Album of the Year by a panel of readers from the Australian magazine Rhythms Magazine.
In 2003, Steve Tallis was awarded a fellowship by the Western Australian Music Industry association, backed by the Department of Culture and the Arts of Western Australia. This fellowship allowed him to study, compose and tour in Africa, India, France, Macedonia and Greece. [19]
Steve Tallis has been referred to in a number of reference and anthology books about Australian music, notably in the Who's Who of Australian Rock, [20] The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Population by Ian McFarlane (1999 and 2017 editions), in Further Down the Road – A New Approach to Life by J.F. Hoskin (1983), in Working Musicians by Stephen Smith and John Robinson (1990) or in Jive Twist and Stomp – West Australian Rock & Roll Bands of the 50s and 60s by Murray Gracie and John Mills (2010).
Some of his live performances have also been broadcast on TV, at Blues at Bridgetown festival in 1995 (on ABC TV, tracks from the album Zombi Party), during the Blues Moon over Byron festival or the East Coast Blues Festival (on ABC TV in 1993). Some of his performances have been used in documentaries (Perth Uncovered, 1995).
In 2007, he worked on the release and promotion of his album Loko in France, which was met with great success, called an "a typical yet very blues album" [21] or a "perfect alchemy [...] between blues roots and more contemporanean and avant-garde styles." [22]
Alongside his career as a musician, Steve has always been active in the field of music. He worked for Australia's legendary import record shops, 78 Records (1975–1979) and joined Audex Sound, Australia's leading equipment hire company, in 1976.
In 1983, he created the radio program Spoonful of Blues, that still showcases non-conventional blues music, on 6UVSFM, now RTRFM, a Perth based Australian radio. [23]
He launched his own independent record distribution company, Monkey Music, record store importing and exporting music from worldwide musicians to facilitate their distribution in Australia (1985). The company developed to include studios before closing in 1996.
Steve Tallis was a promoter and tour organiser for international and national touring musicians (1986 to 1993). He acted as a consultant for many Australian musician, bands and record labels, and represented Western Australia at international trade fairs such as Midem and WOMEX (1990 and 2007).
Since 1997, he has passed on his experience of the music industry and of production by teaching professional or self management skills at different teaching organisms, such as the Perth UWA Conservatorium of Music, the WA Academy of Performing Arts or the Western Australia TAFE in Leederville (1992 to 1999).
Taking care of the transmission of music to future generations, he acted as a consultant to the Library Board of Western Australia (1986–2003), collecting music releases for the library to archive and preserve.
From 2015 to 2019, Steve created and managed a new club for local musicians in Fremantle called The Gaslight Club, first located at The Fly By Night Club and later at Ronnie Nights Bar.
His albums are produced by the independent label Zombi Music that he created.
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Steve Tallis | Rock 'n' Roll of Renown | inductee |
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler, professionally known as John Butler, is an American-Australian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He is best known for his time as the eponymous frontman of the John Butler Trio, a roots and jam band that formed in Perth Fremantle, Western Australia in 1998.
RTRFM is a not-for-profit, community radio station based in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, on 92.1 in the FM band. The name RTRFM is a contraction of "aRTy Radio".
Toumani Diabaté was a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he was involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles of music. In 2006, the London-based newspaper The Independent named him one of the fifty best African artists. In its obituary, The Times described him as "a bold and innovative musical visionary".
William Sigurd Bourne was a Canadian musician. He won three Canadian Juno Awards, and was an eight-time nominee. Bourne's music incorporates a variety of musical styles, including aboriginal, African, Cajun, Celtic, country, delta blues, flamenco, folk, funk, gospel, reggae, and world beat.
Alhaji Bai Konte (1920–1983) was a jali from Brikama, Gambia. His grandfather, Jali Ndaba Konteh, was a Konting player who originally brought his family to Brikama from the Kankaba region of Mali. Bai Konte's father, Burama Konte, was also a celebrated kora player and composed several important pieces in the repertoire. Burama Konte, composed the anthem of the 19th century Senegambian hero Mansumaneh Yundum, Yundum N'ko. It was from that piece that the anthems of Sheriff Sidi Hydara and Nyansu Mbasse originated. Burama Konteh was a well-known kora player of his generation. Bai Konte was a regular on Radio Gambia and Radio Senegal's joint program called Chossani Senegambia in the 1970s. He and other griots such as Jali Nyama Suso and Alhaji Abdoulaye Samba used to play live music during the show. Bai Konteh had narrated many epics on that show including the epic of King Abdou Njie and his griot and advisor Ibra Faye. Prominent broadcasters of that show included Alhaji Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof, Alhaji Assan Njie and Alhaji Mansour Njie.
Benjamin Darvill, known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian musician and singer–songwriter, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Grammy award-nominated, Juno award-winning folk rock band Crash Test Dummies in which he played harmonica, mandolin, guitar and percussion before returning to his blues, Beat-Box and harmonica driven solo work in 2000.
Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American blues musician. He plays mostly personalized guitars and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work. From the late 1960s, he worked as a musician and recording engineer in the US and Europe; he played bass in Shanti and was in a disco band called Crystal Grass as well as other bands. He also pursued other works, including producing an album for Modest Mouse. He achieved his breakthrough, initially in the UK, at the end of 2006 when he appeared on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny as Seasick Steve. He has since released a number of commercially successful albums, including I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left, Man from Another Time, and Sonic Soul Surfer.
Azmyl Yunor is a Malaysian independent English and Malay language singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, academic and writer. He is also a journalist and filmmaker by training.
The Western Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Australia Music's night of nights, bringing together local music fans and members of local, national and international industry to acknowledge and celebrate another year of achievements for Western Australia.
Red Jezebel is a four-piece indie rock band from Perth, Western Australia.
Faith in Plastics was a four-piece indie pop/rock band from Perth, Western Australia formed in December 2002 and disbanded in 2007.
Ian A. Anderson is an English magazine editor, folk musician and broadcaster.
Andrew Winton is an independent and solo Australian musician who combines acoustic guitar, lap slide, dobro and seven-string lap guitar/bass, with hollers and stomp.
Lucky Oceans is an American pedal steel guitarist and a former member of country and Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. From 1995 to 2017 he was a broadcaster in Perth, Western Australia with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Justin Townes Earle was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut EP, Yuma (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2009 and for Song of the Year in 2011 for "Harlem River Blues". His father is alternative country artist Steve Earle.
Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon, known professionally as Natalie D-Napoleon, is an Australian/American singer-songwriter, poet, and writer of creative non-fiction from Fremantle, Western Australia. Through fronting the Perth-based ensemble Flavour of the Month, she was a forerunner in the emergence of alternative country music within Australia and was the winner of the 2018 Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize.
Adem K is an Australian independent rock musician and songwriter. As a founding member of the group Turnstyle, Kerimofski is credited with introducing Casio and toy keyboard integration to the Australian contemporary rock music landscape in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Steve Frank Ashley is an English singer-songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, writer and graphic designer. Ashley is best known as a songwriter and first gained public recognition for his work with his debut solo album, Stroll On. Taking his inspiration from English traditional songs, Ashley has developed a songwriting style which is contemporary in content while reflecting traditional influences in his melodies, poetry and vocal delivery.
Kara Grainger is an Australian soul blues and roots rock singer-songwriter, based out of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. She played with the Papa Lips band starting in 1994. In 1998, they were awarded the "Best New Band" award at the Australian Blues Music Awards. They changed their name to Grainger in 1998 and continued to play together until 2001. She signed as a solo artist with Craving Records in 2006.
Ghost Care are an Australian soft rock band formed in Perth in 2019. The group consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Beau Torrance, drummer Luke Del Fante and bassist/vocalist Tanaya Harper. In 2019 they released their debut single Another. Since then, they have sold out multiple headline shows and shared the stage with the likes of The Vanns, Spacey Jane and Pacific Avenue. In 2022, they were nominated for BEST POP ACT in the WAM Awards.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)