Saving Grace
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Saving Grace

When Chris Cornell toured solo in 2011, accompanying him on stage was a red phone. Depending on the show, and perhaps on the curiousity of those in attendance, he addressed its significance. At his Melbourne show (October 19, The Palais), he said it was Jeff Buckley’s phone, before raising it to show the faded writing where Jeff had written his name. A YouTube clip tells a different version, so believe what you will. Whatever the story, there is no doubting the lasting influence the singer-songwriter has on his fellow musicians, not to mention the wider music public. Jeff worked as a session guitarist for a decade before gaining a following by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan’s East Village, later discovering his own voice. In 1994 he would release what would be his only studio album, Grace. While readers will have their favourite track, ‘Hallelujah’ is arguably the song that shaped it. The Leonard Cohen cover was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2014. In honour of Jeff, who passed away in 1997, Danny Ross, The Bean Project, Jennifer Kingwell & the Garland Thugs and Mark Spano will reinterpret his songs and those he helped inspire. Beav’s Bar, Geelong – July 26.