In 1973, Indigenous singer-songwriter Vic Simms recorded the pivotal album The Loner from his Bathurst gaol cell. In 2014 his music will get a new lease on life thanks to Brisbane singer-songwriter Luke Peacock. Luke’s assembled a talented bunch of musos, dubbed The Painted Ladies, to reimagine those songs.
“Get Back to the Shadows” is our first taste of that ambitious project. It’s a poignant commentary on discrimination and race relationships wrapped up in a soulful, rockabilly package.
“The thing about Vic Simms’ songs is that they work on so many levels,” Luke explained. “To me as a First Nations man, they give me an instant sense of identity. The characters are people I know, or have known. The stories and the observations seem so familiar to me. They probably would to most people in one way or another. This is not a man who is marching in the streets and preaching politics—he just speaks the truth about his feelings and his life and does it to a groove and a great melody. That’ll move people more than a history book ever could.”
The Painted Ladies Play Selections from “The Loner” hits stores on June 6.