Brad Butcher to Tour “Jamestown”

Brad Butcher earned a place in the new songwriter category of the APRA awards with his single “Believer” late last year. Now he’s set to show everyone he’s no one-trick pony with the release of his sophomore album Jamestown.

Brad was a kid raised on classic music who spent his nights writing songs on a second-hand guitar. He loved music but listened to his head rather than his heart and pursued a career as a cabinetmaker. He later began working in the coal mines, which left plenty of time for him to focus on his true passion. Yet he kept his songs to himself for more than a decade, privately honing his craft until he released his self-titled debut album in 2012.

The recording of Jamestown took him to Shorefire Recording Studios in New Jersey. It was cut live over just seven days with musicians who’ve played with Paul McCartney, Ryan Adams, and Sheryl Crow. Most songs were recorded in the first or second take, creating that sort of spontaneous organic energy we rarely hear on studio albums any more.

That approach means that you know Brad’s going to be able to reproduce this stuff on stage. You can see for yourself when he tours the album through autumn. Jamestown will be release on March 27, the day the tour commences.

27 March 2015 – Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane
28 March 2015 – Currumbin Creek Tavern, Gold Coast
29 March 2015 – TAPS, Mooloolooba
9 April 2015 – 12 Bar Blue, Cairns
23 April 2015 – Frankies Pizza by the Slice, Sydney
24 April 2015 – Goulburn Club, Goulburn
25 April 2015 – Smiths Alternative, Canberra
7 May 2015 – The Grace Darling, Melbourne
8 May 2015 – Babushka Bar, Ballarat
21 May 2015 – Grace Emily, Adelaide
22 May 2015 – The Singing Gallery, McLaren Vale
23 May 2015 – Royal Oak Hotel, Launceston
24 May 2015 – The Homestead, Hobart

Q & A with Brad Butcher

Queensland singer-songwriter Brad Butcher will unleash his self-titled debut album later this month. I caught up with Brad recently to chat about the album, his upcoming launch shows, and what it was like growing up in a small mining town.

You’re releasing your debut album later this month. How does it feel to be on the verge of its release?
It ‘s a great feeling knowing I’m about to finally put it out there. Making the album has been a great learning experience for me and I have made some great new friends. I’ve grown as a performer and a songwriter and I’m very proud of the songs I have and I can only hope that others will enjoy listening to them and get something from them.

What can you tell me about the album?
I have always written songs that are quite personal. I’m a very visual songwriter, meaning I find it easier to describe something I have seen or witnessed rather than to pull the image from thin air. This group of songs is almost a diary of my life and the people in it so far. From falling in love to falling apart, birth, death and about not giving up along the way.

It features the single “Conversations and Complications,” which has been embraced by community radio. Did that take you by surprise?
Everything has been a surprise for me over the last two years. I was surprised that other people thought I could do this. I was surprised with how much I liked the writing and recording process and I was even more surprised to find that people genuinely like the songs. I had a dream of making an album and everything since it was finished has been an unexpected but very welcome bonus.

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