There’s a certain nostalgia for the relationships of the past, and delivered with a bit of country twang, Patrick Wilson and the Bare River Queens capture the feeling perfectly with their new album.
Hi Pat, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte, how are you and what are you up to the moment?
Thanks for having me. The band and I have been pretty busy preparing for the album launch. We’re making sure we play a really good show and everyone on the night has a great time. We are also setting up gigs to follow after; including the Bendigo Blues and Roots festival, so there is a lot of exciting stuff happening for us this summer.
So the album isn’t far off getting released, how are you feeling ahead of launching it into the world?
It has been really exciting and rewarding seeing this record come together over the past 12 months. I’m so lucky to have such a great band and sound engineer behind me to help produce something I’m truly proud of. We can’t wait to show everyone what we have been working on over the past year and we hope that our fans like the album as much as we do.
Given this follows on from an EP, how did you find the transition from EP to LP in terms of recording and its creation?
Well I found I needed to be more organised in terms of recording, because I had to work with five other musicians other than just myself. But the Bare River Queens are all so talented and so great to work with it really made it more enjoyable collaborating with them. I was very lucky finding my sound engineer and producer, Thomas Robinson, for the album. He has been my house mate for a little more than a year so it was so convenient to work with him, and he was just as passionate about producing an album as I was.
You also landed a spot at Tamworth Country Music Festival, which is pretty incredible; do you remember the moment you found out?
Tamworth was so great, the atmosphere and the energy from the crowds was enough to make you forget it was 45 degrees. When I found out I was so pumped but really anxious at the same time because I had only played one gig with the Bare River Queens and we were still pretty fresh. But once we were up there we played every single day for at least three hours so by the end of the festival we could play our songs upside down.
While you grew up in the ’90s your sound is more in the ’50/60s realm, when did you find a love for music of this time? Did you grow up listening to it?
Being exposed to my dad’s record collection as a kid really shaped what sort of music I listen to. I can remember listening to the Beach Boys, Roy Orbison and Neil Young in the car and just adoring it. Once I started to sing and play guitar I drew a lot of inspiration from these artists and tried to emulate their sound in my own way.
Your tracks do talk of the love, hardship, heartbreak and hope of rural life, are there any tales on the release that are particularly memorable for you?
No one song really sticks out for me, but the songs that are on the album reflect a time in my life where I had loved and lost, and was in a transitional period for work and career aspects. I suppose the collection of songs on the album symbolise the turning point for me as a musician where I decided to fully pursue my passion.
How did you first come to working with the Bare River Queens?
While studying music at Collarts I was lucky enough to meet some great friends and musicians. We shared the same music interests and thought it’d be great to form a band.
I had been playing around Geelong and Melbourne just as a solo act for a few years but once I moved up to Melbourne to study I wanted to form a band and make more noise. Before I met the Bare River Queens I had recorded an EP with drums, guitar, violin and bass on it, so as soon as I released the record I wanted to have a band and create the same sound live.
When & Where: Album Launch @ The Catfish, Fitzroy – October 30 & Blues & Roots Festival, Bendigo – November 5-8