According to celebrated music wag Stuart Coupe, Sydney’s Marvellous Hearts is the result of “what happens when you give crate-digging music fanatics instruments and tell them to make a record.”
And he’s not wrong!
With a sound anchored in the blues, the band traverse sizeable sonic territory, incorporating folk, and flourishes of rock and reggae that all add up to a very tasty musical gumbo.
Frontman Craig Lyons told Newcastle Live the band was born to give songs that he’d written a home – songs that did not fit the traditional pre-war blues aesthetic of his other outfit The Blues Preachers.
“I’d been playing in the Blues Preachers for about ten years and in that band, we played more pre-war acoustic blues. I wrote a bunch of songs that needed a home, so I teamed up with some of the best players around and we put the band together,” Craig explained.
And he wasn’t kidding either, with the band rounded out by lauded blued guitar slinger George Rigatos and drummer Andrew Hutchings. Not to mention the fact that Craig is also no slouch on rhythm guitar and harmonica.
Also, as an added treat for Newcastle punters, when the Marvellous Hearts hit the Stag and Hunter this Saturday night, their sound will be bolstered by the virtuosic hammond and piano playing of none other than Clayton Doley.
We’re very lucky because we’ve managed to grab Clayton Doley on keyboards for this one,” Craig said.
“If you don’t know who he is he plays with Jimmy Barnes and pretty much everyone else in Australian music. – think big Hammond organ solos. He’s an amazing Hammond and piano player.”
No strangers to the denizens of the Mayfield venue, Craig said the band loved playing the Stag because of its commitment to promoting and nurturing Australian live, original music.
“I like the Stag because they love music,” Craig said.
“You’re not just put in a corner. It’s a venue that really loves music and original music and any venue that supports original music deserves support.”
With a sound dubbed ‘music for the soul,’ the Marvellous Hearts will be ripping into tracks from their cracking debut self titled including the rollicking Lovesick Rambling Blues and the Calypso-inspired Babble On that focusses on the pitfalls and pratfalls of the social media age.
Catch The Marvellous Hearts at The Stag and Hunter on Saturday 22 May with a little help from master storyteller Rory Ellis. Get your tickets here.
