Almanac Music: Not Quite Bob – Yoof: Grace Cummings, Courtney Barnett, Liz Stringer, Van Walker

 

Not Quite Bob – Yoof – Grace Cummings, Courtney Barnett, Liz Stringer, Van Walker

 

Given the loose rules I’ve set for myself on this theme here is a bunch of artists who claim either Bob Dylan as a direct influence or whose work feels to me at least as though Bob songs were playing somewhere nearby when they first picked up a guitar.  All young (young being defined as anything south of my age), all very talented, all Australian and therefore all on your doorstep.

 

 

Grace Cummings

 

If you haven’t heard of Grace Cummings you will.  She first came to notice in late 2018 with a video of ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ and then in 2019 released her first album Refuge Cove, mostly acoustic, very Bobby songs.  Here’s one of them.

 

 

On stage however she is a much more rambunctious performer appearing with grunge meisters King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and recording on their label.  I’d post vids from YouTube but the sound is pretty crummy.  Have a look though, the one from the Croc late last year is fun if not a bit messy.  Her music has become a bit more operatic and polished though.  She has just released an album called Storm Queen.  It is, quite simply, awesome.  Sample here.

 

 

 

 

The title track vid is here.

 

 

A multi-talented threat (Grace is also an actor and a writer) ignore her at your peril.  She’s coming to getcha.

 

 

 

Courtney Barnett

 

Sydney born in 1987, Courtney is however very much a Melbourne sort of artist thriving in the local scene where she first started out playing guitar in local grunge bands in 2010 before starting to record her own albums, inspired as they were by Darren Hanlon and Paul Kelly.  She also played guitar on albums by others including Jen Cloher with whom she established Milk! Records, stable for the best local indie artists we have. To describe her rise as meteoric would involve an immense serving of understatement.  Let’s just say that in 2015 she combined two earlier Eps to become her first album Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit and in May 2016 she was appearing on the Jimmy Fallon Late Night Show and Saturday Night Live.  Here she is from that first album on Fallon.

 

 

 

But before that this song, ‘Avant Gardner’, was the one that brough her to the world’s attention.  A nice, more intimate selection from the Tiny Desk Concert series.

 

 

 

In 2017 she released an album recorded with her male musical doppelganger in Kurt Vile (the subject of a future NQB) called Whole Lotta Sea Lice (no I don’t know wtf that means).  This was a Tiny Desk they did to support the release.

 

 

 

Her latest release (only her 3^rd aside from Sea Lice) is called Things Take Time, Take Time.  It’s another progression in an already impressive career.  Some are a bit put off by the dead pan vocal stylings but I’m not – I think it’s unique and very Bob in it’s way.  Sample the newie here and stay tuned as Courtney keeps adding to her resume in her quirky, beguiling way.

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Stringer

 

Liz’ entry on Wikipedia is quite thin but there’s nothing thin about her catalogue of great albums (6 studio, 1 Live and a couple of plays to boot).  Oh and another with her Milk! Label mates called Dyson, Stringer, Cloher.  Liz has been a staple of the local live scene since her debut album Soon in 2006.  From that debut then we have ‘The Devil and My Daughter’.

 

 

 

 

In 2008 she was invited by Deborah Conway to appear in a road tour called Broad Festival which included a performance by Liz and other young female artists at the Sydney Opera House.   Which set on her on her way.  In 2014 she released a terrific live album called Live At The Yarra Hotel which is a great package of songs of heartbreak, love and loss including this one reflecting on her mother who had passed away.

 

 

 

 

This clip is from a DVD that accompanied the CD; again, a great package that I recommend.

 

Late last year Liz released her opus to date called First Time Really Feeling attached here.

 

 

 

 

Liz has also appeared with other artists in her many local live performances, notably with Van Walker here on ‘Wildgrass’.

 

 

 

 

 

Van Walker

 

Which leads me to Australia’s Van, from a thin Wikipedia presence to a non-existent one.  Van Walker’s absence from the lazy man’s Britannica shouldn’t imply a lack of importance or standing in the local music scene.  From his website then, I can glean, born in Tasmania, adopted home in Melbourne, prolific songwriter of over 500 songs, 6 full length independently released albums between 2008 and 2010 a selection of which were released by Fuse Music in 2012.  His early output led local scribe Patrick Emery in Beat to say this:

 

“If Bob Dylan was born 20 years later and grew up fraternising in Collingwood bars, he would sound like this.”

 

Good enough for me.  Here he is with his brother Cal on ‘All The Leaves Are Shaking’.

 

 

 

 

I’ve got a few of his albums and they’re all really good but this one, Ghosting from 2019 isn’t really good, it’s great.  Sample it here.

 

 

 

 

And from that, the beautiful and haunting ‘Drifting Too Far From Shore’.

 

 

 

Now I couldn’t write a piece including stuff from Van without revealing a distinctly non-Bob aspect of his repertoire which is his gigs and recording with a hard driving R ‘n B outfit called the Heartbrokers.  A supergroup of sorts, the lineup includes Cal Walker, Jeff Lang, Ezra Lee and Ash Davies.  It would be wrong to leave them out.  Negligent even.

 

Here they are on Don Nix’ magnificent ‘Goin’ Down’ (most famously done by Freddie King).  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Not Very Bob at all to finish but who cares.  All of these artists are here, they’ll all be on a stage near you soon I hope and they all belong in the NQB family.

 

 

 

Read more stories from Trevor Blainey HERE.

 

Read more stories from Almanac Music  HERE

 

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